Star Trek: Red Shirts #2 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 #2 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
After weathering the deaths of their crewmates, the Red Shirts who survived hurtling to Arkonia 89 in torpedo casings have rendezvoused with Lieutenant Cromarty in his underground base. Their mission: to bed down and wait for enemy spies to take the bait they’ve laid in a data disk at the base of a subspace antenna. But little do the Federation officers know, they aren’t the only ones looking for unsuspecting prey…
Review
There’s a double dose of Star Trek in comic book stores today as IDW releases the second issue of Red Shirts alongside the debut of Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming. Christopher Cantwell’s gritty, horror-tinged story continues to pick off its victims. Twisting the classic Trek trope beyond recognition, bringing credibility to Starfleet’s canon fodder.
Red Shirts is a series which is acutely aware of itself. Cantwell doubles-down on that awareness, making it part of the magic of the story. Last month for striking a remarkable tonal balance. It felt fresh and new. This month pushes that further, ramping up the action and refusing to hold back. Some may argue that as the cast is entirely original we’ve had little time to get to know them. In some cases that could dull the impact as we see them killed one-by-one. But time-and-time-again Cantwell finds a way to make the deaths in this book matter.
In some ways it feels like Red Shirts is borrowing the best of storytelling from slasher movies. It’s like the I Know What You Did Last Summer of Star Trek stories. Finding new, grizzlier ways to off the cast grips the audience further. Sucking us in to this grim narrative where seemingly no life is too precious. It’s impressive the tone that Cantwell is able to strike here. Even more impressive that it somehow works so well within the confines of a story which still feels inherently Trek.
Ensign Miller remains our eyes and ears on the ground. As with all classic Trek stories Red Shirts is mostly an ensemble piece. But through Miller we’re able to experience much of the sense of tension as things go awry down on the planet. But even then I’m not sure Miller is safe for the duration of the story…
Last issue introduced who the mysterious villains of Red Shirts are. This issue the mystery actually deepens further with the introduction of another shadowy figure. Adding more to the villain plot came as a genuine surprise. It also proved that both Cantwell and Red Shirts still have a few surprises up their sleeves. Whether this is an established character or something else. I’m certainly hooked beyond the simple undoing of the red shirt gimmick.
Megan Levens continues to hit a home run with the artwork on the book. Much of issue #2 takes place outside of the base on the ground. It’s shadowy. It’s gritty. Yet it’s still so full of life and adventure. Without at starship based scenes this issue there’s a lot less extreme lighting and therefore Red Shirts #2 isn’t quite as colourful. But that doesn’t stop Levens from finding new and inventive ways to keep the action engaging.
Verdict
The second issue of Star Trek: Red Shirts continues to tinker with the classic trope through dynamic and – at times – brutal storytelling. Christopher Cantwell’s playfully pushes Star Trek in to new territory whilst gleefully dispatching characters in ever more gruesome ways. But underneath the facade a compelling and uniquely Trek story continues to intrigue and grip the reader.
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