IDW Publishing celebrates a very special milestone this week with the release of Star Trek #500! 500 issues of any comic range, from any publisher, is no small feat. And as someone who’s been following the series for a while, I find it almost unbelievable. IDW is celebrating in style, too, with contributions from superstars like Patton Oswalt, and stories set in every era of the franchise you can imagine.
But is this too much? Is this a loving tribute to everything IDW has accomplished? Or is it just another crowded anthology of disparate Star Trek stories? There’s so much ground to cover in so little time. Let’s delve into the celebration that IDW have on offer in this review of the epic milestone Star Trek #500!
WARNING – Spoilers below!
Old Familiar Places
The set opens on “I Knew You Were Tribble When You Walked In”. It was only a matter of time before someone made a Taylor Swift joke in Star Trek. It was scripted by Jordan Blum and comedy icon Patton Oswalt. The story is a sort of tie-in to “The Trouble with Tribbles” from Star Trek: The Original Series, with a couple of panels clearly referencing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s “Trials and Tribble-ations”.
Unconventionally, it’s written from the point of view of a Tribble. Yes, a Tribble. At times it reads like poetry, which for this story is absolutely hilarious. The idea of a Tribble being madly in love with Captain Kirk after getting picked up is so beyond silly. However, it is so silly that it works. The callback to the never-used lyrics to the original Star Trek theme was the cherry on top. A gloriously silly intro to the anthology, albeit one that sets an impossibly high bar.
This is followed up by Jody Houser‘s “Yesterday’s Shadow”, a story set after La’an’s encounters with Kirk through season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I love the emotional beats of this conversation. Much like Stephanie Williams‘ “The Unexpected Mentor”, which is a love letter to Star Trek: Discovery‘s Michael Burnham. Together, they’re a couple of nice, short, one-shots that build on these characters. They present a similar, albeit familiar, trip down memory lane for the shows that we know and love.
Breaking New Ground
Followed by Mike Chen‘s “Latinum Glove”. It’s a very short sequel to the Dog of War miniseries, almost too short. The station’s dog, Latty, is playing baseball in the holosuite with the Deep Space Nine characters. As someone who really enjoyed Chen’s work on the miniseries, it was a treat to return to that world one more time. A shame that the piece was noticeably shorter than the others, even if it was the real “feel good” story of the set for me.
As promised, Star Trek #500 delivers new insights, including a conversion in the anthology that, as promised, breaks a hell of a lot of new ground. For instance Morgan Hampton‘s “What’s a Q to You?” was simply masterful. An exercise in getting the reader involved in the story, and breaking the fourth wall, in a way that I’ve honestly never seen the medium tackle before. Plus it was nice to see Q Junior again following the end of Sons of Star Trek.
We’re also setting up the future of IDW’s Star Trek range. While it’s not the first Star Trek comic to feature the series, Magdalene Visaggio‘s “Go See Cal!” is a great reminder of why we love Star Trek: Lower Decks so much. The same is true about “The Final Masterpiece”, from Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Christopher Cantwell. Following on from the events of Star Trek #23, Lore is building the cosmos in his image. This is to be continued in Lore War #1 in March, and a Lower Decks ongoing series in November.
Issue Preview
Conclusion
Star Trek #500 ticks just about every box that you’d want in a Star Trek anthology issue. There’s something here to appeal to just about any taste, even if the trade-off is the lack of a consistent theme. One minute it’s one of the silliest things I’ve ever seen, the next it’s some really creative fourth-wall-breaking fun. None of the stories fed into each other, but that’s ultimately pretty reflective of where IDW’s Star Trek range has been since the last 100-issue celebration.
Miniseries to suit every taste, every show, every character, and all the team-ups that you’d never see on TV. Covering more of their releases than I can count over the last year and a half has been great. That variety is a solid part of the reason why. Every week was like a completely different glimpse into the Star Trek universe. By teasing an ambitious “Lore War” crossover miniseries event next year, IDW is showing no signs of slowing down. Here’s to the next 500 issues!
You can pick up a copy of Star Trek #500 issue out now from IDW Publishing from your local comic book store or online. Or you can find digital copies via retailers such as Amazon, or the IDW website and app. For more reviews, all the latest news, lore discussions, and more be sure to follow the team here at Trek Central!
NEW SERIES COMING SOON!
Star Trek: Lower Decks joins IDW’s ongoing Star Trek series with it’s first issue beaming down this November!
From the Publisher: Hot off their Eisner nomination for Lower Decks tie-in Shax’s Best Day, stellar duo Ryan North and Derek Charm are kicking off a brand-new ongoing series that’s a big fun adventure on a big fun ship……wherein Dr. T’Ana saves the crew from a virulent, purple-boiled disease that is sure to- Wait, no, everyone’s cured pretty quickly, actually.
Okay…wherein Deep Space 2’s distress call is mysteriously cut off and the crew has to wait, nope, they just needed some help resetting their comms systems.
ALL RIGHT, WHEREIN Mariner gets so totally frustrated with the lack of thrills aboard the
Cerritos that she drags her friends into a holodeck adventure that would definitely kill them in reality! Should totally provide them all with a sense of purpose and well-being, right? Right. Or at least it would have. If the U.S.S. Bonaventure hadn’t shown back up from the Delta Triangle to provide them with a real challenge. It’s time to explore a ghost ship, baby!
Release Date: November 13, 2024
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