Villordsutch reviews Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming #1…
Some twenty four years back, on May 23rd 2001, Star Trek: Voyager wrapped up its run with its double-length finale “Endgame” (for those who are into Marvel, it’s worth noting that Kevin Feige is a big fan of Trek). After seven seasons, one of the most beloved Star Trek series ended, but not without leaving many fans feeling somewhat dissatisfied, even with its big sci-fi, Borg-filled blowout.
To this day, as Voyager is rewatched on numerous streaming services, fans of the show reach the end and are slightly disillusioned with the conclusion to Janeway & crew’s story. Yes, there’s time travel. Yes, there’s the Borg and its Queen. But what happened with the crew of the Voyager when they finally returned home? We wanted to see more of that; we only got morsels, and we wanted the meat!
Now, thanks to IDW Publishing and the writing skills of Tilly and Susan Bridges (Star Trek: Prodigy), artwork from Angel Hernandez (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and colours from Charlie Kirchoff (Star Trek: Resurgence #1), we’re about to find out.
In Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming, we pick up right where “Endgame” concluded. The crew has returned to Earth, with Future & Present Janeway saving everyone. The Doctor urgently needs to get Tuvok to a Vulcan due to his progressing neurodegenerative condition, and Tom and B’Elanna are celebrating the birth of their daughter. But just as everything seems to settle down with a few Admirals from the Pathfinder project (including Admiral Paris), everything changes. When Captain Janeway’s command codes are passed to Admiral Paris, Voyager unexpectedly veers away from Earth again.
I’ve read many Voyager novels, and I even have the Marvel series of Star Trek: Voyager comics from 1996, safely stored in a file, so I was unsure what to expect when opening Homecoming. The expanded fiction universe ranges from “Very Good” or “Really Not Good”. However, I’m happy to say that Homecoming falls into the “Very Good” category.
Writers Tilly and Susan Bridges are fans of their source material. This is very clear. They could have made it easy on themselves and started this on Earth, in a Starfleet headquarters, with a conspiracy, which would have obviously gone right to the top. However, they haven’t. Instead, not only are we beginning where we left off, but we’re also incorporating flavours from previous moments in episodes as we progress. Not only this, but the personalities of the crew members are already there on the pages. We know this crew; it’s clear that both Susan and Tilly do too, as they have captured them in the panels on the page.
Praise is alsodue for the art and colours of both Angel Hernandez and Charlie Kirchoff, respectively. Tily and Susan’s words can only take a story so far, and the talents of these two artists bring this comic book to another level. Their work together here is just brilliant. Also, I’d like to give a small amount of praise to Neil Uyetake (Letters & Design) for having Janeway’s inner monologue/ship’s log delivered within a box, with her rank pips, which is a work of genius.
SEE ALSO: Get a sneak peek at Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming #1 here
Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming is the episode we never got, but deserved. We’ve waited nearly twenty-five years for this, and it is definitely worth the wait.
Rating – 9/10
Villordsutch
