Villordsutch reviews Star Trek: The Last Starship #1…
I’m not sure if the writers of this brand new Star Trek comic book from IDW Publishing suffer from linonophobia, especially if it’s loose, or whether it’s more a case of apeirophobia, for they really need to see an end. Heck, why not both! Colin Kelly (Star Trek: Year Five) and Jackson Lanzing (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) have issues with how both Picard and Discovery wrapped up on screen; each show seemed to think everything was neatly tied up, but as this first issue of The Last Starship makes clear, it wasn’t.
In 2401 AD (going by the Stardate 749047.7), the Federation has finally brought the Gorn into the fold, the last remaining antagonists of the galaxy. The future looks unendingly bright. However, before the ink is even dry, fate intervenes. The Burn, last seen in Star Trek: Discovery, sweeps across all four quadrants of the Milky Way, destroying warp capabilities for dilithium-powered ships and wiping out any vessel unlucky enough to be in warp at the time.
Thanks to the bravery of its engineer, a handful of crew members survive aboard the USS Sagan. Returning to Earth, they discover that nearly one trillion people have already perished in the Burn. The Federation’s greatest minds now give its bright civilisation a year left to survive. Their only hope lies in turning to one of their oldest and deadliest enemies. But the Borg delegation that arrives is not who anyone expects—it’s someone who once promised to be there.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #1, it has to be said, already looks like an unexpected slice of brilliance. I won’t go too deep into spoilers, but if I asked you to list some of the weaker moments from both Picard and Discovery, I’m sure you could come up with a fair few. Now, if someone tried to sell you a comic based on those very moments, you’d probably decline and save your money. But with The Last Starship, doing so would be a mistake. The writers appear determined to tie up those loose threads and resolve the unfinished stories.
My only negative—and it’s a very minor one—is that I didn’t really connect with the decimated crew we meet at the start, before the galaxy collapses. Strangely, I felt more sympathy for the stranded souls on the PADD. Yes, the pace is Warp 9, but a little more life given to the future crew would have been welcome.
Thankfully, the frantic pace is captured perfectly by the art team. Adrián Bonilla (Godzilla) and Heather Moore (Doctor Strange) bring Kelly and Lanzing’s words to life with art and colour that convey the urgency of the Federation’s plight.
Star Trek: The Last Starship is simply brilliant. With so many loose ends left dangling across the past Star Trek shows, this series looks set to tie them off. Personally, I’m hoping we’ll see a retrofit of The Burn. Rather than pinning it on a tantrum-throwing Kelpien, could we not revisit it as an Omega Particle mashed up with a dilithium disaster instead? I’m open to non-Kelpien ideas.
Rating – 9/10
@Villordsutch
