Star Trek: The Last Starship #6 is written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Adrián Bonilla, colours by Lee Loughridge and letters by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by Francesco Francavilla.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #6 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
In the shadow of the Burn, the Federation was left fractured, vulnerable, and nearly lost. Now, its fate hangs in the balance. As the Babel Conference unravels, Captain Sato must protect Starfleet’s ideals while enemies close in on every side. Meanwhile, James T. Kirk embarks on a dangerous mission that will test the limits of loyalty, courage, and sacrifice…
Review
IDW’s Star Trek: The Last Starship is bringing its second chapter to a dramatic close today. Following diplomatic efforts to reunite former members of the Federation it seems all hope is lost. So the Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly-penned series is pinning its hopes back on legacy and the return of James T. Kirk. In doing so the series creates one of its most surprising and inherently Star Trek issues to fdate.
Picking up from last month, Captain Sato’s former-friend Solara has announced the formation of The Emerald Chain, a group that Star Trek: Discovery fans will know well. In this moment we’re tracking one of the most important political decisions made in this future timeline. One that has repercussions through to even the events of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. But at no point does this book make a single obvious decision. Every turn of the page brings with it an unexpected choice, leading us down an avenue that is unmistakably thrilling to read.
Issue #6 marks the return of Jim Kirk who has been MIA for a couple of months. It’s actually been great to see The Last Starship allowing its original cast to flourish rather than solely relying on its legacy captain. His role in this issue is also entirely unexpected. Props to Lanzing and Kelly for having Kirk behave exactly as we would expect him to in a crisis. But having it culminate in an unexpected result. It flips the character’s classic portrayal on its head, challenging him using a more contemporary approach to Trek characterisation.
The stakes increase dramatically and rapidly. What begins as political fallout quickly takes a turn when the Emerald Chain employs technology to block all of the Borg enhancements made to the U.S.S. Omega. That also puts Agnes out of action removing another legacy character from the board. It successfully makes the Emerald Chain a fierce opponent to the Federation and forces Sato and crew into defence manoeuvres. What’s exciting about that is it gives some unexpected characters – Dr. Zed being a prime example – the chance to step up and show their mettle.
There’s a neat sense of closure to this chapter which prepares the series for what comes next. The first chapter was nicely framed as the immediate reaction to The Burn. This second chapter takes the same approach to framing only the device that’s hung on is the initial attempt at rebuilding. Going into the third chapter it feels like the story will take on a more combative approach, giving the Federation and new threat as it attempts to reassert its place in the galaxy. Lanzing and Kelly make the stakes a little more personal by tying the formation of the Emerald Chain to Solara, her relationship with Sato and the time lost over the previous issues as the U.S.S. Omega went on its mission to set up the peace talks.
The layers of the Star Trek: The Last Starship story are all slotting together neatly and it’s really beginning to show just how nuanced and well constructed that narrative truly is. What seemed at first like a fun attempt to stitch together various parts of the live-action continuity is now standing strong as a unique point in the Star Trek timeline.
As ever the visual team of Adrián Bonilla, Lee Loughridge and letterer Clayton Cowles is pushing the Omega’s warp core to full power. There’s a lot of big moment in issue #6, emotionally and physically. So we’re really running the gamut from those big ship-wide reactionary moments all the way down to tightly framed facial expressions and emotional breakthroughs. As ever it all looks so consistently and imaginatively laid out on the page that the entire book flows from start to finish without any hesitation.
Verdict
Star Trek: The Last Starship continues to reward patience, delivering a chapter finale that reframes everything that came before it. Lanzing and Kelly are building something genuinely special in the Star Trek canon. Layered, surprising and unmistakably Trek, issue #6 closes this chapter with confidence and sets the stage for something even bigger to come.
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