Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day is written by Ryan North and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Derek Charm and letters by Clayton Cowles.
Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day is available from today, in print and on digital where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
From the team who brought you the Ringo- and Eisner-nominated Shaxs’ Best Day comes a rip-roaring ride full of clever ship high jinks, nonstop badassery, and bombastic punches…because at the end of the day, let’s face it. It’s not Shaxs’ worst day. It’s fascism’s. Shaxs had his best day, but now that the universe has been rewritten by the mad android Lore, he’s about to have his worst. Starfleet has been distorted into a machinery of oppression antithetical to everything it once stood for, and Shaxs has been made into the one thing he despises most in the universe: a fascist. Now free of Lore’s hold over his mind, it’s up to Shaxs to revert everyone in Starfleet back to their old selves and save the cosmos.
Review
Star Trek’s current Lore War event begins to wind down this week with its only tie-in book, Shaxs’ Worst Day. The sweeping event is part of IDW’s plans to bring the current continuity to Trek comics to an epic conclusion. But following an incredibly tightly executed five-part arc can this tie-in replicate that success using the Eisner-nominated team of Ryan North and Derek Charm?
The success of Shaxs’ Best Day is unavoidable. North and Charm were able to meticulously distil the spirit of Star Trek: Lower Decks into a comic book. They took the very essence of Shaxs’ character and were able to find a way to approach him on the page which was endearing to fans whilst still being exciting to read. But the Lower Decks charm and comedy isn’t necessarily the approach which Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Christopher Cantwell has used to make Lore War the rollercoaster success it has become. For anyone concerned that North would turn Lore War in to an outright comedy, that just simply isn’t the case. North meets the Lore War creative team in the middle. Bringing a slightly more grounded approach to the storytelling. It still has some excellent moments of comedy. But it also knows how to plant its tongue in its cheek without compromising what the rest of the event has been setup to do.
In reality Shaxs’ Worst Day offers up a slightly different perspective on events which perfectly fits who this character is. That’s, of course, why IDW would turn to North and Charm to bring this story to life. Having touched the Sword of Kahless, Shaxs is suddenly aware of the changes which Lore has enacted upon the universe. His memories of the true Starfleet as well as the Bajorans war with Cardassia come flooding back, offering him a perspective he had been missing. In doing so the story proves why Shaxs was the perfect character to focus on in this moment. The realisation being that Lore has forced him to become the kind of fascist oppressor he has spent his life fighting back against. It offers North the chance to show Shaxs hellbent on revenge in a reality where his response to his imprisonment can be unfiltered.
Being cut from the Lower Decks cloth does mean that Shaxs’ Worst Day has plenty of surprises and twists in store. North is able to soften the impact of some of what Shaxs is doing by using the Lower Decks tactic throwing everything on to the page. There are, of course, plenty of cameos, Easter eggs and such. The extra fun twist being that North and Charm are able to put a Lore War spin on everything they get to include. Without spoiling too much, it’s super fun getting to see how some of Shaxs crewmates are represented in Lore’s version of reality. Those moments really underpin everything North is trying to accomplish and solidify how his maximalist storytelling can work even with a more sobering story like this.
Being joined for this one-shot story by Derek Charm is undoubtedly the right idea. Not only because the two were multiple-award nominees for Shaxs’ Best Day. There’s a shorthand between writer and artist which is effortless on the page. Charm is as unstoppable as a Borg cube in bringing the Lower Decks aesthetic to the page without missing a beat. Even in this new version of reality the styling of the show is still able to be recognisable and mostly intact. But as with North’s story, Charm is able to accomplish this without compromising on the severity with which the Lore War has impacted the series’ characters. Arriving towards the end of the story also works in Charm’s favour. The scale of the story couldn’t get much bigger at this stage. Particularly with Shaxs’ mission from Worf to destroy all of this twisted version of Starfleet. Capitalising on that opportunity there are plenty of ships and characters which Charm is able to give both the Lower Decks and Lore War styling treatment too. All of which really roots Shaxs’ Worst Day in the heart of Trek lore.
There’s so much more I want to say but we’d be entering in to spoiler territory. As Shaxs’ Worst Day winds up it’s clear exactly why IDW would turn to this creative team to bring this story to life. It really is the perfect meeting of the minds between lighter, more comedic elements of Trek and its ability to tell hard-hitting, character driven stories.
Verdict
Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day is the perfect tie-in to the events storytelling. Ryan North and Derek Charm are able to repeat the success of Shaxs’ Best Day without the book feeling like a retread. Their relationship with the book’s lead makes them the perfect creative team to aid Shaxs in carrying out his lethal final mission.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
