One of the classic jokes about the Star Trek franchise is that anyone in a red shirt is expendable. That comes from the iconic Original Series, and is something that still gets riffed on to this day… Including the upcoming IDW series, Star Trek: Red Shirts. Only to set expectations properly, the new series isn’t a joke… It’s deadly serious.
Those expectations are probably important as the new five-issue miniseries by writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Megan Levens isn’t a parody like John Scalzi’s novel Redshirts, or the frequent jokes thrown around on Star Trek: Lower Decks. Instead, Red Shirts is much closer to a Star Trek take on Suicide Squad, where any member of the team could go at any point. And if you’re expecting a gut-buster, like I erroneously did when opening up this issue… Well, it’s not that.
It’s also, to be fair, not dark and moody. There’s plenty of action here from a gruesome Mugato attack on the first page to the main mission for our titular team as they rocket down to the strange planet of Arkonia 89. Cantwell takes his time setting up a few key characters in this expansive team, only to start killing them off immediately in ways both ironic and unfortunate.
Levens also draws a good Star Trek comic, ably moving from murky noir scenes on the planet to sequences of the characters rocketing down that feel like they’ve been ripped from a Power Rangers TV show.
Would this book have soared a little higher if it leaned further into dark humor and less Expendables-style action capers? That’s the weight of expectations talking, and something that definitely whittled away on a second read of the book. But the short version here is don’t get too attached to anyone you meet in these pages, because true to their red shirt name, most — if not all — of them aren’t making out of this alive.
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 hits stores on July 17, 2025, from IDW Publishing.
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 Rating:
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 Official Synopsis:
The start of an all-new heartrending Star Trek five-issue miniseries by writer Christopher Cantwell (Star Trek: Defiant) and artist Megan Levens (Star Trek), featuring Starfleet’s most intrepid and doomed crewmembers: red shirts. Now, finally, they get their own story.
Led by an experienced officer embedded on the snow-ridden planet Arkonia 89, the crew of the U.S.S. Warren has a small window in which to pin down spies seeking to steal classified secrets and keep Starfleet data out of their nefarious hands.
They face threats not only from their faceless enemies but from the brutalizing elements and wildlife of a planet far from home. The red shirts’ lives and Starfleet’s sanctity are on the line…and no one is safe.
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