Begun, the Lore War has. Or at least, the war will kick off next year, as IDW has announced their next big Star Trek crossover event: Star Trek: Lore War.
First teased at the end of today’s Star Trek #500, Lore, the evil version of Data, is using the Orb of Destruction to obliterate the entire universe. At first, he literally remakes the universe in his image but realizes that’s no fun. Instead, he can be god, and watch everyone fight to stop him.
The event will officially begin in Star Trek: Lore War #1, written by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Christopher Cantwell, with art by Davide Tinto. From there it will spin off into the ongoing Star Trek title, Star Trek: Defiant, and TBA special one-shot tie-in issues. Given last year’s event led to the Eisner-nominated Shax’s Best Day, it should be interesting to see what IDW has up its sleeves for this one.
“This is it. The moment we’ve been building to since the Theseus left spacedock and the Defiant was stolen,” said Lanzing via press release provided to Comic Book Club. ”The ultimate STAR TREK comics crossover event – as the heroes and villains of the galaxy must band together to defend its very existence.”
Added Cantwell, “Since the line’s inception, our grander story in both titles has dealt with STAR TREK’s concept of godlike beings and the rejection of those godlike beings — order and entropy as it exists throughout the four quadrants of the galaxy. Who pulls the strings and who dares to cut them? LORE WAR is quite literally the apotheosis of that shared theme, two years in the making.”
As Cantwell notes, this has all been building since the also Eisner-nominated Star Trek #400, which revamped the line, leading into this year’s Star Trek #500. That’s a lot of comics in a few short years, I’ll tell you what!
“The gods are dead, and only one mad android holds the reins of our universe. With absolute power comes absolute corruption… but does it come with absolute control?” stated Kelly. “Featuring the incredible art of Davide Tinto – a newcomer to the Trek world – we’re not settling for anything less than the most impressive and world-ending STAR TREK event that comics can contain.”
And group editor Heather Antos commented as well, stating, “It’s all been building to this moment. No, literally. From the original prelude in STAR TREK #400 two years ago the road map has always led to LORE WAR. When Collin, Jackson, and Christopher first embarked on this mission we asked the question ‘Can a man be both man and a god?’ Well now Lore is answering.”
Star Trek: Lore War #1 hits shops on March 26, 2025, but you can check out Malachi Ward’s cover, below.
