The on-screen adventures of the Cerritos crew might be coming to an end, but their comic adventures continue this week with the second issue of their new series from IDW. Ryan North and Derek Charm continue their strong work from the prior issue in capturing the style and feel of the animated series.

Last month, North dug deep into Star Trek lore, all the way back to Star Trek: The Animated Series and the mystery of the U.S.S. Bonaventure. This time around, we return to a planet and species introduced in the original Star Trek. Not to give too much away, but this planet was featured in one of my all-time favorite episodes from the original series, a guilty pleasure I’ve returned to many times. An episode that featured Kirk and Spock and… Abraham Lincoln as allies in… a death match! I especially enjoyed Charm’s ability to make these classic aliens and their planet fit into the aesthetic of Lower Decks.

When we last left the Cerritos crew, they were being transported off the Bonaventure by some unknown power, leaving only Commander Ransom behind. Once again, thanks to North’s writing and Charm’s presentation, I could hear the voices of the characters popping off the page. From Boimler trying to give his log entry some deeply needed gravitas to Mariner’s confidence in her abilities to keep her friends safe, the story felt quintessentially Lower Decks. Not to delve too deeply into spoiler territory, but we get the chance to see the Cerritos lower deckers paired with classic characters from Star Trek’s past, which is hilarious while at the same time deepening our understanding of the Cerritos characters. I have always believed that the essence of Lower Decks as a show was to convey the pure joy of exploration, and North captures that here. I continue to love the prose sentences at the bottom of some of the pages, a bit of fourth-wall breaking that really works.

I once again enjoyed spending time with the Cerritos crew. North and Charm have a great handle on this corner of Gene Rodenberry’s world, and I can’t wait to read the next issue.

Creative Team: Ryan North(Writer), Derek Charm (Artist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer), Johanna Nattalie (Design and Production)
Publisher: IDW Publishing
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