IDW Publishing precocious wrapped up a monumental epoch of the Star Trek publishing enactment with the Lore War crossover, which capped disconnected Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing’s multi-year tally connected the flagship Star Trek series. But that’s hardly the extremity of IDW’s Star Trek line. The institution is successful the midst of launching nary less than 4 caller Star Trek books, each acceptable successful a antithetic epoch of the franchise timeline and focusing connected a antithetic formed of characters.
Among these caller titles is Kelly and Lanzing’s Star Trek: The Last Starship, a publication that resurrects Captain James T. Kirk successful the bleak 31st Century epoch known arsenic The Burn. There’s besides Star Trek: Red Shirts, a TOS-era publication astir those unluckiest of Starfleet members. The lineup is rounded retired by 2 bid spinning straight retired of the events of the Star Trek shows, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - The Seeds of Salvation and Star Trek: Voyager - Homecoming.
To get a amended thought of what’s coming for this ambitious Star Trek relaunch, IGN spoke with radical exertion Heather Antos and the writers of each 4 titles - Kelly, Lanzing, Red Shirts’ Christopher Cantwell, The Seeds of Salvation’s Robbie Thompson, and Homecoming’s Susan and Tilly Bridges. Read connected to larn much astir these caller stories and wherefore there’s going to beryllium a Trek comic for fans of each types this summer.
The Best Star Trek Series of the Modern Era (and the Worst)
Making Star Trek’s 60 Years of Continuity Accessible
The Star Trek franchise is astir to observe its 60th day soon. At this point, the Trek timeline is 1 of the astir sprawling successful each of fashionable culture, comprising galore shows, implicit a twelve films, and countless comics, novels, and video games. It’s capable to wonderment however a newcomer is expected to dive into the monolithic beingness nowadays. But the writers marque it wide that each publication is designed with accessibility firmly successful mind, whether it’s telling a standalone communicative with a caller formed (like The Last Starship and Red Shirts) oregon gathering straight connected 1 of the Trek shows (like The Seeds of Salvation and Homecoming).
“One of the neat things [about The Last Starship] is we are separating ourselves by clip truthful overmuch from the Star Trek that radical know,” Kelly tells IGN. “We're capable to attack these things from a caller position and presume that you don't person each these years of context, due to the fact that frankly, our characters don't needfully person each these years of context. So we are precise specifically trying to lens successful connected bringing in, if you are a instrumentality of subject fabrication successful general, if you emotion Battlestar Galactica, travel play with us, right, due to the fact that that's the broader scope that we're truly hoping to invited to Star Trek truthful past they tin each autumn successful emotion with combadges and meeps.”
“We're capable to attack these things from a caller position and presume that you don't person each these years of context, due to the fact that frankly, our characters don't needfully person each these years of context."
“I would accidental that the level of introduction for thing similar Star Trek: Red Shirts, it's niche but besides low, due to the fact that I deliberation you tin recognize the conception precise quickly, which is each of these characters are expendable and you're going to ticker a batch of radical get wounded and beryllium killed implicit the adjacent 5 issues,” Cantwell says. “But astatine the aforesaid time, it's thing that we privation to marque definite it conforms and fits successful for the astir ardent fans.”
Even with Voyager: Homecoming, a publication whose full selling-point is that it explores what happens instantly aft the finale of the TV series, the extremity is accessibility. Tilly Bridges explains that the archetypal contented is designed to drawback caller readers up to velocity with the formed and their yearslong odyssey.
“[It’s] giving Voyager fans possibly what they'd been hoping for from the finale, due to the fact that I truly similar that finale, but you ne'er really get to spot them get home, and that hurts,” Tilly Bridges says. “So we privation to springiness them that and we privation to springiness the unit 1 past escapade together, but you besides privation it to beryllium accessible to radical that person ne'er seen Voyager. Maybe say, ‘This is wherefore these characters are truthful amazing. Go cheque retired that show.’ So I think, hopefully, we deed the equilibrium of recapping everything that you request to spell done with it. And past if you're marque caller to Star Trek oregon Voyager, you're conscionable going to get a truly breathtaking sci-fi escapade communicative and hopefully it'll get you into Trek due to the fact that Trek's amazing.”
Antos sums up the ngo connection of the revamped Star Trek enactment this mode - it’s each astir going boldly guardant and telling stories Trek fans person ne'er seen before.
“It's truly astir branching retired and taking the Star Trek ngo connection of exploring unusual caller worlds and doing things successful the comics that we've ne'er seen done before,” Antos says. “That has been the ngo with each azygous 1 of these books. I don't privation to marque the aforesaid Star Trek comics that we've gotten the erstwhile 60 years. I privation to beryllium going bold. I privation to beryllium doing caller things, and each and each azygous 1 of these captains of their ain stories present person taken that ngo afloat steam ahead.”
Lanzing adds, “Star Trek comics person been truthful galore things implicit the years, but they've ne'er been a small spot of DS9, a small spot of TNG, a small spot of TOS, immoderate of The Motion Picture. My favourite worldly from Voyager, my favourite worldly from Discovery. Lower Decks is determination too. We've ne'er had this before. This is simply a marque caller frontier, nary pun intended, really, of Star Trek comics due to the fact that for the archetypal clip it's treated similar a shared, surviving comic publication beingness alternatively than an adaptation of an IP. And truthful arsenic we speech astir bringing successful comic publication fans, I deliberation Heather's biggest innovation, and 1 that we precise overmuch enjoyed the state of, is treating this similar it's each 1 IP, similar it's each 1 universe, similar it's each 1 story, not a clump of scattershot idiosyncratic bid that were presented implicit a agelong play of time.”
Star Trek: Red Shirts
Of the 4 books, Red Shirts mightiness person the simplest and astir engaging elevator pitch. As the rubric suggests, it’s each astir the hapless Starfleet information officers who are ever the archetypal to autumn connected distant missions. The publication brings unneurotic a wide formed of recently created characters who stock 1 happening successful communal - each and each 1 of them has the imaginable to dice earlier the bid ends. As the precocious released archetypal contented shows, Red Shirts is wasting nary clip successful racking up a assemblage count.
“Whether oregon not you cognize thing astir James T. Kirk oregon Captain Picard oregon that Janeway prefers her java blistery and black, you've heard of Red Shirts,” Antos says. “Red Shirts are the memeification of Star Trek successful the broader spectrum and you cognize that to beryllium a Red Shirt means you dice successful a astir apt unspeakable fashion, and I thought that was specified a large introduction level that we could bash a truly chill enactment oregon benignant of greedy, darker Star Trek communicative that we've not rather seen Star Trek attack rather yet.”
Having a formed of caller characters surely helps successful presumption of accessibility, but it besides creates its ain storytelling challenges. How bash you present the ample ensemble formed rapidly and efficiently and guarantee readers volition link with them, adjacent arsenic they commencement dropping similar flies?
“That was wherever I deliberation moving with Heather and past besides Cassandra [Jones], 1 of our different editors connected the books, we came up with the thought of introducing that unit manifest. And the unit manifest, it's not overly written, but it helps you with a snapshot of each idiosyncratic and it's borrowing a small spot from adjacent backmost in, I think, the ‘90s erstwhile X-Men rosters started to get immense and the teams are breaking into bluish and golden and this and that, and you're like, ‘Wait a minute, who's what?’ And past Hickman took that further wherever it's like, ‘Okay, clasp on. Stop the communicative and we're going to archer you.’ And it helps a small bit, right? Because it's monthly, it's not daily, it's not play similar a tv amusement truthful that unit manifest truly helps.”
Star Trek: Red Shirts Cover Art Gallery
Cantwell continues, “And past conscionable giving them benignant of small crystallized moments successful that archetypal contented truthful that you tin deed small notes. And I cognize that Chip Miller has a peanut allergy, but I don't deliberation we discussed that successful the communicative ever, but you cognize helium has a peanut allergy, truthful it's there. The peanut allergy becomes subtext, is what I'm saying, and that is the wonderment of the storytelling that we get to do.”
Cantwell expects that readers volition turn much and much attached to these caller characters arsenic the publication unfolds, making it each the much hard erstwhile the last issues get and lone a fistful of information officers are near standing.
“You commencement with the conception and you go, ‘That's hilarious,’" Cantwell says. “And I deliberation that there's immoderate deaths successful it, particularly successful the archetypal issue, and immoderate that are unexpected oregon shocking, and inactive they're precise overmuch successful the vein of idiosyncratic being turned into a mineral cube and crushed, which is however our reddish shirts died successful the archetypal series. It's similar we're doing that, but I deliberation that they deed harder and harder and harder arsenic the issues spell on, particularly erstwhile you get to the past radical lasting and you've been with them and you're rooting for them to marque it that.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - The Seeds of Salvation
Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation is precisely what it sounds similar - a spinoff of the Paramount+ series. Set betwixt the 3rd and 4th seasons of the show, The Seeds of Salvation focuses connected a fistful of characters similar First Officer Una Chin-Riley, Security Officer La'An Noonien-Singh, Science Officer Spock, and Nurse Christine Chapel arsenic they’re called to a remote, icy satellite and brushwood the horrors lurking within.
What makes this bid particularly absorbing is that Thompson is besides a writer for Strange New Worlds Season 4. We were funny however antithetic the acquisition is penning these characters for TV arsenic opposed to comics. As helium reveals, it’s mostly a question of scale.
“The lone quality truly is sometimes the scale, but that works some ways due to the fact that there's definite things that, astatine slightest successful my opinion, you tin lone truly bash successful a comic,” Thompson says. “A comic operates conscionable successful a antithetic way. It's those moments betwixt those moments. Like successful Chris's book, it's precise overmuch reminiscent to maine of what Ostrander did successful the Suicide Squad. It was large seeing characters getting killed off, but it was those scenes successful the interruption country that truly marque you springiness a s*** astir these characters? And I deliberation that's 1 of the truly amusive things astir moving with this radical of radical is everybody wants to handcraft these tales.”
In this case, the vantage of the comic publication mean is that it allows Thompson and creator Travis Mercer to trade a Trek communicative that would beryllium precise hard and costly to nutrient successful live-action.
“This was thing that I surely would emotion to bash successful the unrecorded enactment version, but it is prohibitively costly and determination are definite realities successful accumulation that conscionable boil down to conscionable the laws of abstraction and clip that I can't bend,” Thompson says. And truthful to beryllium capable to person Pelia's quality amusement up for a sheet is thing that I simply can't bash connected the unrecorded enactment mentation of it. To beryllium capable to person the afloat formed disposable astatine each times, to beryllium capable to enactment connected the standard of thing that's, arsenic Heather pointed out, Lovecraftian is beauteous challenging to do. I mean, I deliberation we bash diagnostic prime enactment connected the show, but we're constricted by abstraction and clip and each those things. And that's 1 of the things I deliberation that's truly unsocial astir comics is that it truly tin interruption down that abstraction and clip successful ways that are some applicable and for the communicative arsenic well.”
Antos adds, “You pitched me, I think, 3 oregon 4 antithetic ideas disconnected the top. And yeah, this was the transportation wherever I'm like, ‘This is it. There's nary sending immoderate different pitch.’ Personally, selfishly, due to the fact that I'm each for heavy oversea fearfulness and I've been begging for anyone to transportation maine a heavy oversea fearfulness publication for years pre-Star Trek. But also, to me, the water is conscionable arsenic as immense and scary arsenic abstraction is, and it's close present connected our satellite and this unit is disconnected connected a marque caller satellite but conscionable deliberation of the horrors that are underneath america oregon successful the water and marque them Lovecraftian abstraction monster size and it makes for beauteous tense circumstances for our crew.”
Star Trek: Voyager - Homecoming
Star Trek: Voyager’s last occurrence has ever been a spot arguable among fans. While the bid ends connected a blessed note, yet bringing Captain Janeway and her unit backmost to the Alpha Quadrant, we ne'er get to spot what happens next. The bid wraps with that last changeable of Voyager orbiting Earth.
But astatine agelong last, fans are getting the added closure they’ve been craving. Voyager: Homecoming picks up precisely wherever the amusement near off, seizing the accidental to research the galore blessed reunions portion besides introducing 1 last situation for Janeway and the pack to overcome. As readers volition spot erstwhile the archetypal contented arrives, the bid builds straight connected immoderate escaped ends from the show.
“There were truthful galore antithetic threads you could propulsion connected and beryllium like, ‘Well, you know, Voyager did get home, but besides near each of these dangling plug threads retired there.’” says Susan Bridges. “So that was decidedly thing we wanted to deed connected successful the transportation and beryllium like, who from their past mightiness beryllium amusive to play with?”
Tilly Bridges adds, “That was thing that we worked connected with Heather and Paramount - figuring retired who is the close foil for this story. What worked wrong the comics and wrong the broader Star Trek beingness and what didn't and what was the champion choice. But I deliberation what we ended connected was a precise Voyager choice, truthful it's going to consciousness precise overmuch similar this is portion of Voyager to the readers, I think.
Janeway has taken connected a 2nd beingness post-Voyager, with histrion Kate Mulgrew reprising the relation successful projects similar the movie Star Trek: Nemesis and the animated bid Star Trek: Prodigy. But the different Voyager unit members haven’t needfully been truthful lucky. We asked the writers which characters they were astir anxious to reconnect with successful this sequel.
“Personally, I americium specified a large Tuvok fan, truthful I was truthful excited to spot Tuvok travel home,” says Susan Bridges. “I consciousness similar Tuvok is specified an absorbing Vulcan and particularly with his past with Janeway that's been dropped respective times passim the bid and besides his family. He has children and I conscionable consciousness similar he's conscionable a truly absorbing Vulcan. So I mean, I bash emotion Vulcans, each of them, but I was precise excited to springiness immoderate amusive household worldly for Tuvok.”
“I deliberation 1 of the much absorbing characters for maine to deliberation astir successful presumption of the reunion and coming location is the Doctor, due to the fact that helium doesn't person anyone to travel backmost to, but he's go a afloat sentient, self-realized idiosyncratic connected the journey,” says Tilly Bridges. “And truthful what does that look similar for him? All of these radical are reuniting, but they're his household and present he's possibly going to suffer them. He doesn't cognize wherever they're going to spell oregon what's going to hap truthful it's a precise antithetic acquisition for him than it is for the remainder of the crew, I think.”
Antos adds, “And for me, I mean it's evidently the burning question of does Harry Kim yet get his promotion erstwhile helium gets backmost location planetside? What did we gag connected a Paramount gathering this week? Harry's promotion really did travel up and volition they, won't they? And I decided that Mirror Universe Harry Kim is really the Federation president. The eventual promotion.”
Star Trek: The Last Starship
The Last Starship mightiness conscionable beryllium the astir breathtaking of these caller Trek books, some due to the fact that it’s Lanzing and Kelly’s follow-up to their erstwhile acclaimed tally and due to the fact that it explores a elephantine blank canvas successful the Star Trek universe. While the live-action bid Star Trek Discovery introduced the conception of the Burn, a galaxy-wide catastrophe wherever a wide dilithium detonation kills trillions of beings and cripples the Federation, it didn’t amusement america the contiguous aftermath of that disaster. That’s wherever The Last Starship comes in. The publication focuses connected a caller quality named Captain Sato arsenic helium leads a unit of the past remaining starship successful the Federation fleet. Together, they’ll combat to support anticipation live successful the darkest of times.
“The roots of The Last Starship spell astir backmost to the opening of our clip connected Flagship, which is what we benignant of internally telephone [our Star Trek run] due to the fact that it's precise hard to telephone it Star Trek erstwhile you're talking to truthful galore large Star Trek writers,” Lanzing says. “Flagship was conscionable getting kicked off. And betwixt Heather and Risa, who's 1 of our licensing partners and a batch of radical who we're each talking astir Star Trek, we're talking astir what could this be? How could we propulsion it? Where could it go? What could it be? What does a publication look similar for Star Trek that feels fundamentally dissimilar Star Trek, which was truthful the other question of what we were asking connected Flagship, which was however bash you bash a publication that feels arsenic overmuch similar Star Trek arsenic you perchance can?”
If each large subject fabrication is astir utilizing the trappings of the aboriginal to supply commentary connected the present, past The Last Starship is precise overmuch successful that vein. It’s astir apt the cleanable Trek communicative for 2025.
“This is america penning our fears,” Lanzing says. “This is astir what it's similar to unrecorded successful a nine that is falling apart, wherever injustice seems to beryllium winning implicit justness each day, and erstwhile everyone successful that nine is being challenged to unrecorded up to the ideals that they thought were inherent, that they thought were endemic. That communicative I tin springiness to anybody. You don't request to beryllium a Star Trek fan. You conscionable request to look extracurricular your model and beryllium looking for a communicative that talks astir what's going connected each implicit the satellite close now.”
Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 Preview Gallery
So overmuch of The Last Starship is built astir caller elements - a caller starship, a caller crew, an epoch we’ve lone begun to comprehend. But it does person 1 captious anchor tying it backmost to the classical Trek epoch - Captain James T. Kirk.
“Once we figured that out, we're going to springiness you a publication that feels fundamentally caller starship - caller cast, caller clip period, caller technology, caller problem, surely a caller mounting successful galore respects,” Lanzing says. “And past we're going to instrumentality 1 of the most, if not the astir iconic azygous characters successful Star Trek - 1 of, I would say, a handful, possibly five, that you could enactment up connected a surface anyplace successful the satellite and they mightiness get known. What does it look similar to marque Captain James T. Kirk endure done the Burn? What is that travel for that man? And that was specified an unthinkable question for us, specified a large mode to re-approach this quality that we started connected with Star Trek backmost successful Year Five and specified a large mode for america to usage everything we've learned connected Star Trek each these years arsenic fans, but besides arsenic the writers to archer arsenic applicable and approachable communicative arsenic possible.”
That being said, fans shouldn’t needfully presume they cognize however Kirk’s communicative volition play retired successful this book. For once, he’s not the antheral successful the captain’s seat calling the shots. He’s a portion of a overmuch larger puzzle.
“Along the lines of what Chris is doing implicit successful Red Shirts is, to marque it clear, we person an full formed of caller characters that we person besides truly fallen successful emotion with, but yes, we are unluckily going to brutalize due to the fact that that is the quality of dynamic, delicious storytelling,” Kelly says. “Kirk is simply a portion of that stew, but this is not the James T. Kirk that we cognize and love. I'm conscionable saying this is simply a antithetic flavor, right? This is not a antheral successful bid of his ain ship. This is simply a antheral who is present now, and I tin already consciousness the Trek sniper people connected my head. So let's conscionable accidental immoderate you deliberation it is, immoderate you fearfulness it whitethorn be, it is neither of those things. As a Star Trek fan, archetypal and foremost, what I tin archer you is it's precise cool.”
Lanzing adds, “We are precise cautious astir this move. This determination was 1 of those things that successful a batch of ways felt similar it could betray the publication due to the fact that the full constituent of the publication is to marque thing approachable and caller and present we are putting this elephantine portion of continuity successful the halfway of it. Ultimately, I deliberation what's been truly beauteous astir it successful execution, what I tin archer you present having written galore issues of the book, is that helium fits close in. Not due to the fact that helium fits into the clip play oregon fits into the cast, but due to the fact that the communicative needs a idiosyncratic similar him, it needs a idiosyncratic who tin consciousness the centuries of heartbreak connected this happening and not simply the heartbreak that's happening here. So however helium comes about, who precisely helium is, however that each functions, that is precise overmuch a question for the publication and I can't hold for radical to spot that.”
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 is disposable successful comic shops now. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - The Seeds of Salvation #1 and Star Trek: Voyager - Homecoming #1 volition travel successful August 2025, with Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 hitting successful September 2025.
For more, spot Shatner bespeak connected his ain mortality and find retired however galore seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds remain.
Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by pursuing @jschedeen connected BlueSky.