Publisher: IDW Publishing (Paperback – 8 September 2026)
Series: Star Trek: The Last Starship (2025) – Volume One
Writers: Jackon Lanzing and Collin Kelly
Artist: Adrián Bonilla
Colourists: Heather Moore (Issues #1 to #3), Lee Loughridge (Issues #4 to #6)
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Length: 176 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Prepare for a dark new era of Star Trek comics with the intense and compelling first volume of the new series, The Last Starship, which boldly goes into one of the franchises darkest periods with some familiar faces.
I have mentioned in a few posts already that there has been a real resurgence in Star Trek comics in recent years, which has resulted in several impressive and unique series. This includes the brutal Red Shirts limited series and the start of a fun new Lower Decks series, just to name the ones I’ve had the pleasure of reading. However, one of the more ambitious Star Trek comics that I have so far come across is The Last Starship, an impressive and inventive new series by the writing team of Jackson Lanzin and Collin Kelly, featuring art by Adrián Bonilla.
It is the 31st century and the United Federation of Planets is made up of worlds and races from across the entire galaxy. With Starfleet still leading the charge to explore and bring together all worlds, the Federation stands on the brink of its greatest diplomatic feat and the promise of peace throughout the galaxy. However, one calamitous event will rip apart everything in an instance: The Burn.
Throughout the entire galaxy, nearly every piece of dilithium, the fuel that has driven space travel for generations, mysterious goes inert, resulting in the simultaneous detonation of all technology that utilised it, including the warp cores of every active starship. As trillions die, no species or organisation is spared from the carnage, including Starfleet, whose entire fleet and crews are destroyed in moments. With no Starfleet to maintain its security or diplomacy, the Federation and the safe future of the galaxy looks doomed.
However, as the galaxy burns, there are still those who believe. One of the last remaining Starfleet captains, Delacourt Sato, is determined to keep the ideals of the Federation alive after The Burn and bring hope to its member planets. To achieve his vision, Sato commissions the U.S.S. Omega, the last active starship Starfleet has. Fitted with advanced transwarp technology by its unlikely engineer, Queen Agnes Jurati of the Borg Cooperative, the Omega is ready to fly amongst the stars, but there are those who do not want Starfleet to recover.
With no one to oppose them, the Klingon return to their warrior roots and launch a new war against humanity, while back on Earth many humans decide that they no longer want anything to do with the Federation. As Captain Sato attempts to solve these problems diplomatically and bring together the remnants of the Federation into an effective coalition, he faces problems his years as a peacetime captain cannot contend with. To succeed, Sato will need a miracle, which Agnes provides by resurrecting a long dead legend, James T. Kirk. But can even a returned Kirk keep the Federation together when all hope seems lost?
Wow, now that was a spectacular Star Trek comic. Jackson Lanzin and Collin Kelly pulled together an incredible story in The Last Ship, ably brought to life by the expressive artwork of Adrián Bonilla. Featuring the first six issues of this new series, this volume of The Last Starship starts off strong and keeps up the carnage the entire way through. Filled with compelling characters, dark betrayals and an intriguing mixture of Star Trek lore, The Last Starship was a brilliant comic that I had a wonderful time getting through.
I must admit I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with The Last Starship, but I ended up getting blown away by its complexity and surprisingly dark narrative. Starting off with a very quick introduction to a few new key characters, the first issue of The Last Starship immediately shakes the core of the Star Trek universe by showcasing the galaxy-spanning calamity known as The Burn and its devastating impact on everyone, especially Starfleet. This was a very memorable start to the series, which Lanzin and Kelly capitalise on by tapping into the inherent hope at the heart of all Star Trek media. Now following Captain Sato, the plot follows his attempt to inspire the galaxy and the remnants of the Federation by launching a new Starfleet flagship, the U.S S. Omega. Thanks to the unlikely appearance of Borg Queen Agnes Jurati (from the Picard series), who provides the means for the Omega to travel the stars, Sato’s plan is made possible. However, that’s not the only crazy thing happening in this first issue, as Lanzin and Kelly make sure to hit the nostalgia button by introducing a resurrected Kirk as one of the series’ main characters, bolstering the new cast.
Following this intense and intriguing start, which contains a lot of big moments that hit some very different Star Trek lore buttons, the plot of this first volume of The Last Starship goes in some powerful directions. Firstly, because the people in this period apparently haven’t suffered enough, there is a Klingon attack that results in even further carnage. The comic does an outstanding job showcasing the ineffectiveness of the more peaceable Starfleet of this period, which necessitates the return of Kirk and his experiences as a fighting captain. The further aftermath of this substantial carnage results in even greater change in the galaxy, which Sato hopes to resolve with a conference on the planet of Babel between representatives from the remaining Federation members. However, between betrayals, greed and selfish agendas, nothing goes the way you’d expect, starting the trend towards the darker period you later encounter 100 years later during the events of Star Trek: Discovery.
This was honestly a brilliant start to a cool new comic series, which makes full use of its grim themes and a setting centuries away from the main Star Trek shows to tell a truly unique story. Serving as a compelling prequel to the later seasons of Star Trek Discovery, Lanzin and Kelly pulled together a distinctive story about the unlikely last Starfleet crew attempting to navigate a post-Burn galaxy. This ended up being a fantastic, character-driven comic, that really tried to show the darker side of the Star Trek universe. Starting with one massive tragedy, and then showing the various disasters that followed it, readers should be ready for carnage, war, and political upheaval on a level Star Trek fans usually wouldn’t see. The resulting focus on characters as they attempt to survive this, or are thrust into it against their will, adds some outstanding drama, with all these figures having to make hard or selfish decisions. While The Last Starship is pretty disaster focused, the authors did try to balance this out by looking at the impacts of hope and principles in trying times. Watching several characters from various backgrounds and origins continue to try and do the right thing is quite captivating, and it’s hard not to feel for the protagonists as their experiences the extreme lows of the Star Trek universe.
As you would expect from any Star Trek comic, The Last Starship is geared heavily towards established fans of the franchise, and I would say that readers need to have a certain level of knowledge about some of the existing shows to appreciate it. In particular, The Last Starship serves as a prequel for the last three seasons of Star Trek: Discovery and deeply explores the events that led up to the dystopian galaxy showcased in this series. The full sequences depicting The Burn in this comic happen very early on, and yet they stick with you, not just because of how devastating they are, but because of the last emotional impact they convey. There are some brilliant scenes in this comic where the full despair of the events and death-toll of The Burn is showcased, including one panel which just shows final messages from various ships (including the Enterprise). I really loved how effectively the creators of The Last Starship explored the full immediate impacts of The Burn, and it was something different to see the devastation in caused as it happened, rather than 100 years after like in Discovery.
The Last Starship also explores other key plot points covered in Discovery, including the disappearance of the Klingons, the formation of the Emerald Chain and Earth leaving the Federation, all of which cause major drama in this comic. Aside from needing to have some knowledge of Discovery to appreciate some of the resulting plot points, The Last Starship also features key characters from other televisions series, including the always iconic Kirk, and Agnes from the first two seasons of Picard, after she becomes a Borg queen. While most general science fiction fans can appreciate the story of Kirk in The Last Starship to a degree, understanding his full history, including his relationship with the Klingons and his previous death, will really add to overall emotional impact of his scenes in this comic. Throw in a ton of clever references or call-backs to various characters and moments from previous shows, and there is a lot for established Star Trek fans to appreciate. I recommend it for those in the mood for something a little darker that still has an authentic Star Trek feel to it.
As I have mentioned a few times already, a key reason that The Last Starship is so impactful is that it features several complex characters caught up in the very worst of circumstances. This includes Captain Delacourt Sato, one of Starfleet’s last surviving captains, who is attempting to bring back hope and the idea of the Federation to the galaxy. Sato proves to be a compelling and desperate character, with much of his storyline revolving around his attempts to apply hundreds of years of peaceful Federation ideals to a universe that no longer wants them. As such, Sato experiences a lot of disappointment and heartbreak in this comic, especially when betrayed by those close to him, but it was very compelling to follow a desperate figure who must change to meet the times he is in.
On the other end of the scale is the newly resurrected James T. Kirk, who finds himself in a future where his mentality and experiences are sorely needed. Once again thrust into a future time he doesn’t understand, Kirk experiences great despair from his very introduction, as he is forced to watch the Federation he helped build get utterly fractured by The Burn. There are a lot of excellent and palpable emotions burning within Kirk throughout this comic, as his barely controlled anger, inability to connect to a future where he is an icon, and a lot of internal pain constantly come to the surface and lash out at key times, including during the volume’s climactic scene. Despite this, there is a certain amount of the old-school Kirk in this resurrected figure, as he inspires many, fights everyone, and even hooks up with an alien. I appreciated this interesting inclusion of one of Star Trek’s most iconic figures into a very different time, and I think that Lanzin and Kelly made the right choice utilising Kirk, rather than someone like Picard or Janeway, whose inclusion would have really changed the tone of the comic.
Aside from Sato and Kirk, The Last Starship featured several other excellent characters, and I really appreciated the range of figures that the creative team introduced and utilised. Of note was Commander Howie (Wowie) Carter, the first officer of the Omega, a relatively young character who proves himself to be a major badass forced to make some major decisions. The son of a chief Earth scientist and political leader, Wowie makes the tough decision to stay with Starfleet, which, thanks to some time dilation, means he watches his parents age and die while Earth becomes even more disconnected from the Federation. The sequences following this time dilation are some of the most emotionally charged in the comic, and it makes you really appreciate Wowie as a character. Another key character I enjoyed was Doctor Zed (full name: Herculion Sabratash Ork’ver Purple Four Zedacitus), the Ferengi Chief of Medicine aboard the Omega. Crude, rude and constantly high, Zed is literally the last doctor Starfleet has, and it was entertaining to see him interact with his more reserved crewmates. Despite this brash outer layer, Zed is eventually showed to be a competent and principled doctor, and he honestly ended up being a favourite protagonist of mine. Throw in several other intriguing characters who will likely get explored more in future issues, and this first volume of The Last Starship has some amazing characters, who Lanzin and Kelly use to full effect to advance their story.
The final aspect of this volume that I need to talk about is the beautiful and complex artwork that is featured throughout it. Drawn by artist Adrián Bonilla and enhanced by colourists Heather Moore (for issues #1 to #3), Lee Loughridge (for issues #4 to #6), the art of The Last Starship was quite striking, perfectly showcasing the unique story in several dramatic ways. Utilising a noir drawing style to match the dramatic tone of the comic are a lot of bold colours, heavy shading and complex depictions throughout this first six issues of the comic, and I loved some of the interesting character designs that the art team utilised. The characters originating from the 31st century have a distinctive futuristic feel to them, while characters from the older series, such as Kirk, have a bit more of a rugged appearance. I also need to highlight the incredible large-scale backgrounds, such as planets, buildings, ships and depictions of space that appear throughout the comic. The artists really capture the scale and complexity of many of these settings, no matter how weird they get. This includes the Ni’Varran Panoptical Diplomascope, a gravity-defying, multi-ringed construct that was a distinctive backdrop for a key sequence in the plot. I also felt that the artists excelled in showcasing the big moments of the plot, including brutal starship battles, intense bits of combat in zero gravity, and the entire carnage of The Burn. The artists don’t hold back in showing the devastation of these events, and you really feel all the action and intense trauma as you view this art, especially with Bonilla’s drawing the despair and sadness of the survivors. The amazing artwork behind The Last Starship was so damn good, and it brought the complex story to life in all the right ways.
Overall, this first volume of Star Trek: The Last Starship was an amazing and captivating comic, that I had a blast getting through. The creative team behind The Last Starship produced a powerful character driven story, loaded with interesting bits of Star Trek lore, and backed up by outstanding artwork. This was an exceptional comic with a darker edge that Star Trek fans are going to love, and I look forward to reading more of The Last Starship as it continues.