Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming #4 is written by Susan & Tilly Bridges and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Ángel Hernández, colours by Charlie Kirchoff and letters by Neil Uyetake. Main cover art (left) is also by Hernández.
Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming #4 arrives in comic books stores and on digital platforms today. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Captain Janeway and the Voyager crew agree to ally with a collection of Borg deep in fluidic space, and Seven plunges into the collective. They may be Borg, but there’s something…strange about them. Something alluring. Especially when it comes to a particularly individualistic member, Nine. Together, Nine and Seven might be able to build a deflector and help their crew members escape back to normal space—but that’s assuming they stay hidden from Species 8472 bent on their elimination.
Review
We’re returning to Fluidic Space today for the penultimate issue of IDW’s brilliant Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming. Things are going from bad to worse for Captain Janeway and her crew as they find themselves caught in the middle of the war between Species 8472 and the Borg. With so much at stake and the crew seemingly trapped just how is the series going to tee up its endgame scenario?
In the here and now Voyager is caught between a rock and a hard place. Janeway has been forced to align her remaining crew with a group of Borg survivors. Those drones are now their only hope of returning to normal space and home to their families. But given that both Voyager and the wreckage of the Borg cube are trapped in Species 8472’s home dimension they’re at a huge disadvantage when the next wave of attacks comes.
With each issue and each twist Tilly and Susan Bridges have been able to ratchet up the tension in Homecoming. With very few breaks in the fighting there’s not a lot breathing space in issue #4. It’s a rollercoaster ride which sees Janeway making yet more difficult decisions in the hope she will eventually be able to return her crew home. It’s certainly relentless but it’s also some of the best Trek storytelling in comics.
What shines through incredibly well in the Bridges’ writing is the desperation with which Janeway works to save her crew. More than most, issue #4 zooms out to show more action in space but in doing so it also strikes a neat balance with reactionary character work. In that respect Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming continues to bring the best kind of Trek episode into comics.
Despite all of the phaser fire, all of the desperate calls for nanoprobe torpedos there is also still time for a little unexpected character development. Fans of Star Trek: Picard know the direction that series took Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine. Here the Bridges begin to walk a similar path with the character, no doubt picking up on her inevitable anxieties about returning to Earth after so much time – and trauma – in space.
With one issue still to go there had to be room for one last twist and – of course – it lands on this month’s final page. The revelation that there is still much more at stake should come as no surprise. Species 8472’s seething hatred of humanity and the Borg is so well ingrained into the DNA of the book that really it shouldn’t come as a surprise just how far they’re willing to go to destroy us. But when it presents Captain Janeway with one final, devastating choice it feels like the perfect place to round out this penultimate chapter and setup the final showdown for next month.
I’ve heaped so much praise on Ángel Hernández for this series. It’s been so much fun seeing these characters back in comics and this issue cements all of those achievements for Hernández and Charlie Kirchoff. The space battle scenes look brilliant. They’re packed with all the tension and excitement we’ve come to expect from Star Trek. But they’re also delightfully underpinned by the way Hernández capture the desperation of the crew when the image cuts away to their reactionary moments.
Bring on the finale!
Verdict
Homecoming continues to be some of the best Trek storytelling in comics, balancing relentless action with genuine character development. The creative team knows exactly how to ratchet up tension while keeping emotional stakes front and center. If the finale lands as well as this setup, we’re looking at an instant classic.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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