Publisher: IDW Publishing (Paperback – 12 May 2026)
Series: Star Trek: Red Shirts (2025) – Volume One
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Megan Levens
Colourist: Charlie Kirchoff
Letterer: Jodie Troutman
Length: 128 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Prepare to see the gritty underside of Starfleet security in the brutal and twisted Star Trek comic, Red Shirts, a fantastic limited miniseries set during the period of Star Trek: The Original Series. (Not to be confused with Red Shirts by John Scalzi.)
Over the last few years there has been a great resurgence of Star Trek comics, with several intriguing series dropping as part of the franchise’s collaboration with IDW comics. I’ve had fun with a couple of these comics, including the highly amusing Star Trek: Lower Decks series, and I’ve been keen for more. That’s why I was very happy when I got a copy of Red Shirts, a standalone series written by Christopher Cantwell and featuring art from Megan Levens and her team. Both Cantwell and Levens are veterans of Star Trek comic, with Levens lending her art to several interesting series, while Cantwell wrote the Defiant series. Their resulting five-issue collaboration for Red Shirts was a fantastic read, with a complex and brutal story behind it.
In space, few organisations are as infamous or undervalued as the red shirts, the humble members of Starfleet Security, who serve as the first line of defence for Starfleet and the Federation as they constantly seek the expand the final frontier. However, in a galaxy filled with hostile alien empires, rampaging monsters, unknown diseases and other destructive horrors, being a red shirt can seem like a curse. However, when Starfleet discovers that an isolated antenna array on Arkonia 89 is being hacked by unknown enemy operatives in a major espionage breach, they call in Starfleet Security to investigate.
Determined to catch the spies, Starfleet sends in a skilled squad of some of their most experienced red shirts. Led by Lt. Midge DeMatrio and assisted by the longest-service security officer in Starfleet, Lt. Webster Cromarty, the team of officers lay a trap on Arkonia 89, waiting for their target. However, it soon becomes clear that this is not the simple mission that Starfleet promised. Even venturing to Arkonia 89 is a deadly task, between the rough landing, the impassable terrain and the deadly local wildlife. Worse, the officers find themselves unprepared for the enemies decloaking above them.
Caught between two deadly hostile forces with different designs on Arkonia 89, the quickly dwindling members of the operation soon find their backs against the wall as they attempt to keep vital intelligence out of the wrong hands. But can these dedicated officers survive against the odds and uphold the honour and security of Starfleet, especially when their own service has seemingly dismissed them for dead?
What an awesome and intense limited series! Red Shirts was something very special, as this limited series cleverly explored the often-overlooked Starfleet red shirts, while presenting its own brutal and complex tale. A particularly dark and compelling Star Trek comic, Red Shirts was an outstanding read that I’m glad I got the chance to check out.
Cantwell came up with an excellent narrative for this limited series, which quickly throws its reader into the action, while presenting a dark story around sacrifice, duty and betrayal. Starting with some very brutal depictions of life (and death) as a Starfleet security officer, you are soon introduced to the scenario of espionage from unknown figures occurring on an isolated planet. With a coarse veteran officer coordinating efforts from on planet, a small team of skilled red shirts converge on Arkonia 89, attempting to lure the enemy spies with valuable classified intelligence. Thanks to some early over-the-top moments, this proved to be a strong introduction to the main story by Cantwell, especially as he sets up several key character arcs, and provides some clever hints about upcoming twists. The comic is soon engulfed in pure carnage, as the security officer’s mission quickly goes haywire. This includes some early and sudden deaths, which help to highlight just how violent this comic is going to be, although even with them I was still surprised by how bad things were going to get.
The plot keeps consistently going downhill for the protagonists as the comic continues, as the titular red shirts do what red shirts do best. Thanks to a combination of enemy agents, local monsters and unexpected arrivals, the remaining security officers are forced to go to desperate lengths to achieve their mission. There are some great sequences in this part of the comic, with intense writing working well with the powerful artwork, and you soon get unwisely attached to the protagonists and their typical Star Trek resourcefulness. Things come to a dramatic head in the last two issues of the series, with sacrifices, additional tragic deaths, and big reveals all reaching a crescendo. Without going into too much detail, there is a wonderfully set up couple of twists, which make great use of background information that had been provided for much of the comic. While I saw the main twist partially coming, the way in which Cantwell implemented it, as well as the full implications it has on the previous scenes, was brilliant. The author hits all your emotional buttons with this fantastic conclusion, including with a fun final nostalgia inducing scene, and you come away from this comic wondering what happened next, and appreciating just how sinister a Star Trek story can truly be.
There is a lot to love about Red Shirts, which has a little something for everyone interested in checking it out. General comic fans will really enjoy the compelling, twist-laded story and the harsh background aesthetics of this gritty comic, with only some very general Star Trek knowledge needed to follow the plot. At the same time, established Star Trek fans will really appreciate Cantwell’s darker take on the franchise, which makes good use of some obscure bits of lore. While in some ways this comic is an over-the-top parody of the classic expendable red shirts trope, Cantwell has written a very serious narrative around it that tries to tell the story from the security officers’ perspective. As such there are some compelling insights into how the red shirts feel about their roles in Starfleet, why they joined a service with such a cursed reputation, and their opinions on the other colour-coded groups of Starfleet officers. I felt the underlying resentment and mistrust that many of the red shirts felt towards Starfleet for constantly putting them in deadly situations and lying to them was particularly striking, and it became a recurring theme with some major implications on the plot. While those Star Trek fans who prefer the lighter feel of The Original Series may not appreciate how grim and bloody things get in this comic, I personally really enjoyed the shocking nature of Red Shirts, which Cantwell expertly channels to make his narrative more impactful and thought-provoking.
I also liked the characters contained within Red Shirts, as Cantwell introduces 12 distinctive Starfleet security officers to serve as the main cast, a diverse group of officers that cover the full range of the security officer spectrum, with raw recruits, dedicated heroes, alien exchange candidates, and living legends within the service, including two of the longest-serving members who have actually survived past the age of 30. Cantwell does a good job of quickly introducing the key characters amongst them, especially with a nifty dramatis personae up front that provides some key details for the reader. While a couple of these characters do get lost in the shuffle of the bigger cast, the reader quickly picks up who the key members are, with some distinctive protagonists gaining a lot of attention early on.
While these protagonists are very intriguing, readers should keep in mind that these are Star Trek red shirts in The Original Series period, so you know going in that the survival rate isn’t going to be high. To avoid spoilers, I’m not going to go into details about these characters and their fates, although readers are encouraged not to get too attached. I was a little surprised about which cast members Cantwell took all the way to the end, although one was less surprising in hindsight. There are some clever twists loaded in amongst the cast, especially for one figure, and I love how well the author set that up. Throw in some excellent examples of some iconic Star Trek races, as well as an antagonist who mega fans of the classic Star Trek shows will be familiar with, and this was a very interesting comic cast. I came away from Red Shirts very impressed with the excellent character arcs Cantwell was able to fit into this limited series, and while brief, you got the most out of these red shirts while you could.
One of the last things I’m going to highlight about Red Shirts was the excellent artwork from Megan Levens, with support from colourist Charlie Kirchoff and letterer Jodie Troutman. This team did an amazing job capturing Cantwell’s intense story with their artwork, and you are thrown headfirst into the intense tale. Starting with some distinctive character artwork around the main cast, including a particularly striking opening panel with one of the key characters, Levens soon develops the settings of Red Shirts, both on the planet and the out in space. The artist’s depictions of the nighttime forests that the protagonists are fighting through works as a perfect backdrop for some of the early carnage, and these are soon supplemented by shots of space, as well as the interior and exteriors of ships, including several classic vessel types. All these settings, as well as the characters within them, are very well drawn, and I appreciate how Levens presented classic Star Trek designs, with some dark and necessarily brutal flair.
The highlight of the artistic work in Red Shirts are the many great and emotional action sequences that Levens draws, especially as that captures the shocking true nature of the comic. There are many great examples of this throughout Red Shirts, although some of the early sequences, including a full-page spread of security officers getting slaughtered, are particularly striking, and allow readers to visualise some of the chaos to come. The main action sequences, located in the centre of the volume, are quite awesome, with the lethal battle in the shadowy forest well highlighted by weapons blasts and big explosions. Levens really doesn’t hold back when it comes to showcasing the bloody damage being done to the various protagonists, and this is not a comic for those looking for a light-hearted Star Trek adventure (although the cover should really give that away). The artists also do a great job capturing the emotional range of many of the characters featured throughout Red Shirts, especially as they hit their darkest moments. The frank desperation of many of the characters as they fight for survival is very evident in the artwork, as are the looks of sadness or resignation that many of the protagonists wear towards the end. I felt that this more shocking style and far more adult content combined well with some of the iconic Star Trek visuals, ships and character models, and it helped to enhance and intensify the already quite intense story that Cantwell pulled together.
Overall, Red Shirts was a gripping and powerful Star Trek limited series that I had an amazing time getting through. With an impressive and clever story from Christopher Cantwell, and some excellent art from Megan Levens, Red Shirts really went to the dark side of the Star Trek universe, and I loved every second of it. A brilliant and bloody take on the classic Star Trek red shirts that comes very highly recommended.
