Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #5 is written by Robbie Thompson and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Serg Acuña, colours by J.P. Jordan and letters by Jodie Troutman. Main cover art (left) is by Travis Mercer.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #5 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
Make one last dive into the deep and tentacle-filled waters of the planet Poilant! Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley is no longer herself. Possessed by the ancient hive mind known as the Seed, she’s turned against her crew—and now, aboard a derelict alien ship, she’s raining destruction down on the Enterprise above Poilant. Captain Pike fights to hold the line, but the ship is slipping through his fingers. Miles beneath the ice, Spock and D6 seek answers from leviathan squids, while Chapel and Jinare battle a blizzard to save what’s left of a shattered research team. The cold is merciless. The Seed is watching. And hope is fading. But Chapel won’t back down. If death is coming for her crew…it’s going through her first.
Review
I can’t quite believe we’re here already. But today the final issue of IDW’s brilliant Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation is arriving in comic book stores. The culmination of Robbie Thompson’s enthralling away mission which has seen Nurse Chapel put the entire crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in mortal danger whilst providing us with one hell of an entertaining read. But as with all final issues one question remains: can Thompson stick the landing?
There’s a surprising amount of ground left to cover in this final issue. Thompson hasn’t given himself the easiest road to the conclusion of the story by leaving so much up in the air last month. With stories in space and on the planet left to resolve the final issue has to do a lot of work to bring both to satisfying conclusions. But as all the finest Star Trek stories do, it finds a way to bring both together. Steering the ship neatly into an ending that’s both surprising and satisfying.
Thompson’s understanding of the nature of Trek storytelling is fundamental to the success of The Seeds of Salvation. In bringing the series to a close it comes full circle back to Chapel, her friendship with Jinare and the boredom of everyday Starfleet life which caused the mission in the first place. What’s notable is how Thompson reflects back at Chapel her own feelings of apathy, helping her to come to terms with life in Starfleet. In this regard the ending couldn’t be more neat. But as we know that’s not the most important factor.
The Seeds of Salvation might tie up its plot points neatly, it also needs to be exciting. Which, of course, it is. The issue picks up with Spock in seemingly dire circumstances on the planet. Whilst the Enterprise itself is wrapped so tightly in vines it seems the ship could be crushed at any moment. Thompson drops in some of the characters we’ve yet to really see in the book to emphasise that the series entire cast is caught up in the chaos. That breathless tension remains at an all-time high for the first half of the book. Keeping the reader on the edge of their seat and maintaining the sense danger which isn’t easy given we know the entire main cast will make it out alive.
It’s only as we reach the half way mark that Thompson relents and allows the story to turn a corner. Doing so in typically-Trek fashion and allowing the rollercoaster to ride a wave of relief as the tide turns. Die-hard fans will appreciate how Thompson pivots from good-versus-evil into more traditionally Trek territory as Pike and crew place the final pieces in the puzzle. It twists the story in a final, diplomatic, direction that feels inherently Trek even though a more action-orientated ending would have still felt honest to the story being told.
It’s also not just Thompson who is steering the ship to its conclusion. Serg Acuña, J.P. Jordan and letterer Jodie Troutman still have plenty of work to do to see this book through to the end. We’ve seen the stakes rising across each issue and really there isn’t an issue of The Seeds of Salvation bigger than this one. It’s really out of the box work with the Enterprise (and most of its crew) needing to been shrouded in vines. Stack on top of that the huge creatures Spock, Scotty and the others encounter on the planet and The Seeds of Salvation goes far beyond the confines of even a streaming TV budget. It does so with all the gusto we’ve come to expect over the past five months and ensures the book ends as it begins… beautifully.
Verdict
Robbie Thompson sticks the landing with a finale that balances breathless action with the diplomatic heart that makes Star Trek special. The Seeds of Salvation ends its five-issue run as one of IDW’s strongest Strange New Worlds stories to date.
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