There’s a line in the Tim Robinson movie Friendship where he talks about how “there’s a new Marvel out, that’s supposed to be nuts.” It’s a joke line that later turns out to actually be driving people insane when they see it… And I gotta say, that’s sort of how I feel describing IDW’s absolutely hog wild new series Star Trek: The Last Starship. As bold and brave as the already first released issue was, thanks to an advance look at the next two issues provided by the publisher… They are nuts.
The conceit of the book written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, with art by Adrián Bonilla, is that after The Burn, the event detailed in Star Trek: Discovery that found most of the galaxy’s supply of dilithium mysteriously combusting, a new ship is sent out by Starfleet with a special passenger: a resurrected Captain Kirk. But that’s just the start of it, as — spoilers past this point — the first issue not only revealed what happened during The Burn, and brought back Kirk, but also threw in Agnes, the Borg Queen introduced in Star Trek: Picard, and revealed the Klingons as the baddies.
To the Star Trek neophyte, Klingons as bad guys may not be a big deal, but the iconic race was off-screen and absent in later season of Discovery, so the prospect of finding out why they’re not around is pretty tantalizing. And without getting into spoilers for the next few issues, you’ll definitely get a glimmer of an understanding of what happened here, as well as explanations for other big questions about The Burn.
That’s good and all, but what really makes Last Starship thrive is that it channels the same pedal to the metal mentality of the Kelvin-verse 2009 reboot from J.J. Abrams (a character introduced in the first three issues is named “Wowie Abrams,” in case you missed the inspiration), as well as the shocking, game-changing cliffhangers from the first season of Discovery… At least one page of every issue, if not more, left me guffawing out loud at the absolute audacity of what Bonilla’s expert pencils were depicting.
Look, I get that’s not for everyone. There’s something to be said for the slow, careful, scientific approach of most Star Trek, where the characters stand in a circle in the Captain’s quarters, debating ethics. But that can be in balance with something like Last Starship, which reads like Lanzing and Kelly just snorted an entire package of pixie sticks while streaming all of Next Generation on 2x speed, then sat down to write a comic book. It’s a high octane injection of Star Trek at its action best, and isn’t that sort of what you want from a book that brings back Captain Kirk in his shirt-off, kissing ladies, sword-fighting prime?
It also wouldn’t work if the rest of the “cast” in the book, most of which are new, weren’t also great. They’re all clearly drawn Starfleet characters that feel fresh and different, and you’ll enjoy them all equally… Despite the fact that they’re all as disposable as Red Shirts in the first few issues, which features several shocking deaths. Yes, Kirk, Agnes, and Captain Sato of the U.S.S. Omega (who provides a steady counterpoint to the angry, back-to-life Kirk) are the “stars.” But a Starfleet ship is only as good as its crew, and this is one that will be exciting to watch going forward.
Lanzing and Kelly have already proven their Star Trek bonafides with the fantastic main series they anchored for the past few years. But that “Avengers of Star Trek” approach was always fettered by playing between the lines, connecting one canon event to another. Here, they’re let loose in a time period that hasn’t been seen on screen at all, and it is off the rails in the very best way. You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #2 hits stores on November 19, 2025, followed by Star Trek: The Last Starship #3 on December 17, 2025.
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