Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 is written by Christopher Cantwell and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Megan Levens, colours by Charlie Kirchoff and letters by Jodie Troutman. Main cover art (left) is by Chris Shehan.
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
The start of an all-new heartrending Star Trek five-issue miniseries by writer Christopher Cantwell (Star Trek: Defiant) and artist Megan Levens (Star Trek), featuring Starfleet’s most intrepid and doomed crewmembers: red shirts. Now, finally, they get their own story. Led by an experienced officer embedded on the snow-ridden planet Arkonia 89, the crew of the U.S.S. Warren has a small window in which to pin down spies seeking to steal classified secrets and keep Starfleet data out of their nefarious hands. They face threats not only from their faceless enemies but from the brutalizing elements and wildlife of a planet far from home. The red shirts’ lives and Starfleet’s sanctity are on the line…and no one is safe.
Review
The Star Trek franchise has a long, storied history with the idea of the Red Shirts. The idea of these throwaway characters, often dispatched without ever uttering a line has proliferated itself far beyond the franchise. I’d go as far as to say the pop culture zeitgeist is well aware of what it can mean to put on a red Starfleet Uniform if you aren’t looking over your shoulder at all times. Well as of today IDW Publishing is putting the curse of the Red Shirts in the spotlight with a new five-issue series.
Coming off the back of ending an incredible two-year run with its most recent Star Trek continuity. IDW has tapped Christopher Cantwell, writer on the Star Trek: Defiant series and universe co-mastermind, to bring this unique story to life. Set in the same year as Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), the series takes a group of unknown Starfleet officers with one thing is common, their red uniforms, and thrusts them in to a very special mission which also happens to put them in mortal danger. It’s incredible to think nobody has ever done this before in comics. With the idea of the Red Shirts so prevalent in Trek history this story has been crying out to be written for decades.
Cantwell has more than proven his ability to work within Trek-continuity, taking well known tropes and characters only to then adapt them to new scenarios. Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 is very quickly established as being within the continuity of the series. It doesn’t take much other than a brief cameo appearance from a familiar to swiftly confirm the necessary details. Our first Red Shirt, Chip Miller, is introduced to us as his face is mauled by none other than a now legendary Mugato which also sets up another important aspect of Star Trek: Red Shirts storytelling. It’s gory as hell. Cantwell isn’t holding back whatsoever. Not that I would suggest any of his Star Trek writing has ever been restrained. But the gloves are certainly off as the series looks to thin out its cast moving forwards.
But if you’re picking this up expecting a comedy story purely setup to craft some interesting deaths then think again. Cantwell is diligently setting up a wider mystery which is pretty gripping by the time a final page reveal comes in to play. There’s also far more to our team of officers than merely being expendable extras. Alongside Miller is our other lead Red Shirt Midge DeMatrio. Midge is a much more seasoned officer and a veteran of the Klingon War. Cantwell gives us a brief bio on each of the cast before diving in to the story which helps create a sense of who they are before they start being picked off. More than that though, Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 has a storyline which is rooted in all the best Trek stories.
Megen Levens is a great choice for this book too. Like Cantwell, Levens is a veteran of Star Trek comics and so there’s a visual shrewdness from the outset. Everything is exactly as it should be for the time period. All the classic Trek elements are neatly slotted in to place so that long-time fans are immediately immersed in that world. That frees up Levens to have a lot more fun in developing the look of each of the cast as well as breathing life in to some brutal action sequences. All of which is further enhanced by Charlie Kirchoff’s dynamic colouring.
Verdict
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 is a brilliant start to this new series. Christopher Cantwell takes a running franchise joke and turns it in to a gritty, grounded sci-fi adventure which is purely Star Trek but unafraid to venture in to a little horror when it needs to. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes next.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
