IDW Publishing’s Star Trek Halloween celebrations continue this week with Star Trek: Holo-Ween Issue #3. Transformed into monsters to try and stop Redjac, the crew has mostly succeeded. Data is free, and the tide finally seems to be turning. The biggest threat left to face is an angry mob of their compromised fellow officers, who are hungry for monster blood. As scary as Frankenstein’s monster or the Wolf Man is, perhaps the biggest monster is within us, after all.
But how will the crew fight off Starfleet officers? Who can come to their aid now? And what horrors await as we transition to the final issue next week? All that and more in this review of the latest IDW’s Star Trek adventure!
WARNING – Some spoiler discussion below.
Defeating the Mob
Instead of being the epic fight scenes of last week, where Picard was swinging at Redjac, this time they’re fighting off a far bigger threat. Forcing them up against a mob of brainwashed Starfleet officers is an interesting dilemma. It’s solved relatively quickly with phasers, a bit of a letdown, compared to the big moral quandary that they could’ve found themselves in.
That’s not to say I’m disappointed though, the issue barely lets you come up for air. The chase scene is on point, and the ever-changing holodeck program presents an inventive battlefield. They’re in a world where anything can happen, and looking at their monstrous transformations, anything could happen. All the while, off to the side, Beverly and Geordi are frantically trying to fix the other officer’s predicament. It’s a great way to fit all the action on the page at once.
As the crew turns back into monsters for round 2, yet another countdown to permanent brain damage (that obviously doesn’t happen) begins. However, this one’s only counting down for about 5 minutes before it ends. As much as it’s trying to raise the stakes, it being fixed barely 3 pages later is a little annoying. At least the fight through the graveyard, which includes glimpses of ghosts of all sorts of Next Generation characters, is more than entertaining. There’s something gloriously camp about the whole thing that I just love.
Old Friends and Allies
It’s teased rather early on in the comic, as a lone shuttlecraft picks up Beverly’s warning. Of course, none other than Scotty turns up to do battle with Redjac once again. I love how it took advantage of Scotty’s presence in the 24th Century, and his personal connection with Redjac. Watching him properly fight alongside the crew of the Enterprise-D is a lot of fun, building on the rapport established in “Relics”. Although he’s currently on the USS Theseus with Sisko, this is different, it’s a lot more personal.
It’s a great connection but introduced 75% of the way through the story, it does feel like it’s detracting from the Next Generation crew defeating Redjac. They had a totally different approach, and seeing that play out could have been cool. Although, from the end of this, it looks like they might have a whole other battle to contend with. You see, it’s no longer just Redjac that they need to fight!
Right as the issue’s closing out, none other than Armus turns up! The pit of goo that killed Tasha Yar. He’s everything evil, every negative characteristic of a whole race of titans. As far as Halloween Star Trek villains go, this is an excellent choice. There’s also a strong emotional connection over Tasha’s death that could make for a great finale. Really looking forward to seeing Wolf Man Riker fight off an actual personification of fear (or a pool of black printer ink, depending on how you look at it).
Preview – Star Trek: Holo-Ween Issue #3
Conclusion
As a weekly series, Holo-Ween has been an absolute joy from the start. It’s fast-paced, and I’m also not left waiting a whole month to see where it picks up. I hope that there are more series like this in the future because it’s quite a nice format. Leading into the final issue next week, I’m excited to see how all of this wraps up. There are going to be some nice rematches between Scotty and Redjac, as well as the Enterprise-D crew and Armus.
It’s quite the roster for the finale, although I can’t shake the thought that they waited a bit long to unveil this. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fundamentally awesome cliffhanger, but it gives the next and final issue a lot to do. Definitely one to keep an eye on when it comes out next week.
You can pick up your own copy of Star Trek: Holo-Ween #3 out now from all good comic book stores. It’s also available for purchase, both physically and digitally, from Amazon and IDW Publishing’s website. For more reviews, news, lore explorations, and more, be sure to follow Trek Central!
Credits – Star Trek: Holo-Ween Issue #3
Writer: Christopher Sequeira
Artist: Joe Eisma
Colorist: Charlie Kirchoff
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design & Production: Neil Uyetake
Group Editor: Heather Antos
Editorial Assistant: Vanessa Real
The Final Issue…
In issue #4: In this final issue of horror on the holodeck, Redjac pulls in a creature to join him in terrorizing the crew. Step one, feast on the fears of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D crew. Step two, reduce entire worlds to gibbering terror! Can our heroes overtake these evil entities before they lose themselves to the monsters within?
Release date: October 25, 2023
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