A brand new Star Trek: Lower Decks comic book series has just beamed down from IDW Publishing! Continuing the adventures of the USS Cerritos, and her crew with an ongoing episodic series. Ryan North noted for his work on the Eisner-nominated one-shot Shaxs’ Best Day published last year, returns to write the series. Beyond proving his talents there, he also wrote the 3-issue Lower Decks limited series from 2022. Point being, North is certainly no stranger to this corner of the Star Trek universe.
So what awaits Boimler and friends as this new series of adventures finally kicks off? What does it have to do with the USS Bonaventure? Will the crew get more than what they bargained for on a derelict vessel? Can Shaxs somehow have an even better day? Read on to find out!
WARNING – Some spoiler discussion below for new Star Trek: Lower Decks (2024) Comic Issue #1
Monotony
This first issue, and I guess by extension the series, opens the same way that a lot of past Lower Decks stories have. That being the fact that the junior officers in Cerritos crew is bored with their position. They’re always missing out on adventure, and even then the problems just seem to solve themselves. It’s not made better by the fact that our crew seem to be missing out on all the fun, no matter how quickly it all gets solved.
It’s communicated to the reader rather well, through a handful of vignettes. Nothing but short scenes that tell an entire adventure (the word adventure doing a lot of legwork here). Complete with witty author notes and giving each of them actual Lower Decks style title cards, it was a delight. It may actually rival the opening scene of pilot episode “Second Contact” for the best way to explain what the Cerritos is all about.
Even the crew banter at the bar is on point. Before starting its own multi-issue spanning story arc, the creative team have proven they know exactly what they’re doing. These characters, their relationship, attitudes toward Starfleet and adventure, are all on full display. It’s easy to write the opening off as a laugh, with no real connection to the wider story, but first impressions are important.
The Bonaventure
The Bonaventure is a particularly interesting way to kick off the series’ story. A ship lost in the space equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle emerges after a century. Cleverly, this whole setup makes this story a sequel to “The Time Trap”, an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series. The series feels like it’s been ignored a lot, at least in comparison to The Original Series. It’s nice to see it paid the respect it deserves, plus little tethers to the past are always fun.
With both shows being animated, it opens up a lot of potential for jokes. I had a lot of fun when the Cerritos crew basically sat down to watch “The Time Trap” to see Kirk’s captain’s log from the incident. I can think of no other way that The Animated Series should be included in the canon. Of course, they poked fun at it. Not mocking it, but like the rest of Lower Decks, treating it with a level of reverence that’s just beautiful.
Seeing artist Derek Charm’s rendition of the Bonaventure was a treat. Every weird detail was included. The ship interior feels like something fresh, but still a very early prototype of the rendition of the Enterprise bridge. It felt like a relic, but proved itself more than technologically able. The crew were desperate adventure, and they found it. Quickly losing control, the ship goes to warp, and everyone except Ransom is beamed away. But how? And to where? It’s the perfect cliffhanger to cap off the first issue.
Issue #1 Preview
Conclusion
This not the first time that Lower Decks has ventured into the comic book world, and it should not be the last. Here, the crew of the Cerritos have never felt more alive. Translating to the comic book medium has never felt more seamless, with the show’s trademark humour and self awareness very much intact. Funny and accessible for Trek fans of all types, this is a book to keep an eye on if you need a little more Lower Decks in your life.
It’s hard to immediately judge this in comparison to North’s other Lower Decks stories. The story hasn’t finished yet. However, as it stands this is still a sign of great things to come. Between fanservice elements that didn’t intrude on the story, and carrying the show’s tone consistently, this has all the ingredients for success. This is more than worth a read, offering readers a comparatively lighter story to the darker elements of other ongoing Star Trek series from IDW.
You can find your own copy of Star Trek: Lower Decks #1, which is out this week from IDW Publishing. Physical copies are available for sale from the shelves of your local comic book store.. It’s also available to order digitally from online book and comic retailers such as Amazon. For all the latest news, reviews, lore discussions, and more, be sure to follow Trek Central.
Issue Credits
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: Derek Charm
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design & Production: Johanna Nattalie
Group Editor: Heather Antos
Editorial Assistant: Cassandra Jones
Coming Up…
ISSUE #2: Mariner, T’Lyn, Rutherford, and Tendi have beamed off the mysterious U.S.S. Bonaventure and onto an equally mysterious surface of an unknown world, significantly raising the statistical likelihood of death and injury! Finally, the crew is up to their necks in adventure. There’s the senior staff’s safety to confirm, a weird planet to escape, and an alien race that wishes to learn more about mentorship…through a battle royale! Enter Jadzia Dax, Montgomery Scott, Kathyrn Janeway, T’Pol, and Jean-Luc Picard as the mentors and the Lower Deckers as the mentees. May the best student live.
RELEASE DATE: December 18, 2024
ISSUE #3: The crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos has just received their personality guidance reports from the counselors of the planet Clarew, and Rutherford feels guilty he’s not engineering at a higher capacity with his implants. He should be operating above 134 percent nominal at least.
The Cerritos’ next mission is a supply run to Tavela Minor, but they first need to stop by the Alecto system to get some supplies to, uh, supply them with. However, just before they warp, they see the Alecto system isn’t only missing; it doesn’t exist. Like at all.
Now they have a space mystery at hand: What could cause a whole star system to disappear?
RELEASE DATE: January 15, 2025
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