Star Trek: Lower Decks #12 is written by Tim Sheridan and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Philip Murphy, colours by Charlie Kirchoff and letters by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by also by Murphy.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #12 is available from today, in and print and on digital where all good comics books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or buy digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
The Lower Deckers and Cetacean Ops officers Kimolu and Matt continue their mission to replenish Earth’s population of humpback whales! The krill situation is getting out of control, and the songs they sing are just too good to let them die out. There’s also the pesky situation where Ronald (the last whale!) has to occasionally talk that uptight space probe (whenever it shows up) into sparing the Earth from doom and destruction. But Ronald’s getting on in age and won’t be around forever…so the crew needs to find him a love match, stat, or Earth might face its end.
Review
When last we saw the crew of Star Trek: Lower Decks they were arriving in 1985 San Francisco. Tim Sheridan’s hilarious Voyage Home-inspired story continues to show the lighter side of Trek’s social commentary.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #12 picks up right where last month’s issue left off with the away team arriving on Earth. In a twist on the twist it turns out their inconspicuous arrivals was a little more conspicuous than they thought. A great way to use last month’s cliffhanger as a fake out and keep the story moving. Sheridan doesn’t bog the issue down in 80’s nostalgia either. It would have been easy to use a moment like this to lose Mariner and Boimler to 80’s American Easter eggs. But instead things remain pretty much on track as the crew gets right down to business.
This is a dialogue-heavy issue, more so than usual even. Sheridan puts a lot of the narrative weight on Cetacean officers Matt and Kimolu so naturally that brings serious humour. The two are tasting freedom for the first time as well as meeting all the wonderful creatures living in the 1980’s Pacific Ocean. It’s not straight up commentary on environmental issues in the say way Voyage Home was. but Sheridan still neatly manages to evoke some of that just through his depiction of oceanic life. There’s also plenty of room for other classic Trek tropes including a joke at the expense of Red Shirts.
Meanwhile the crew left behind on the U.S.S. Cerritos are dealing with some 1980’s Klingons who are… not quite the threat you might expect. Sheridan has great fun playing with Ransom being left in charge of the ship. Between his log entry and his dealing with the Klingons he almost manages to steal the limelight. But then he is up against a giant octopus, clones of our lower deckers and a genius reveal that Starfleet may just be under the flipper of a shadowy group of cetacean officers.
Philip Murphy is clearly having so much fun on this book. The 1980’s Earth setting might not go too overboard but still offers some real visual whimsy. Whilst having a bunch of scenes underwater also brings out more of the eccentricities of Lower Decks than an average issue. It’s cool to see the series taking on more ship designs from the days of Star Trek: The Original Series too. The franchise had moved on so much by the time of period of Lower Decks that we don’t get too many opportunities to go back to Gene Roddenberry’s original vision.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #12 ties up the arc neatly ready for the series next six-part story. I have a feeling this may have been the hilarious calm before a more dramatic storm. But if the last couple of Lower Decks stories have been about showing us what Sheridan and Murphy are capable of then bravo to them. This team has shown a flare for classic Trek storytelling which perfectly encapsulates all the fun of Lower Decks.
Verdict
Star Trek: Lower Decks #12 is a hilarious sprint through the latter stages of The Voyage Home storyline. Through the eyes of Mariner, Boimler and the U.S.S. Cerritos crew we’re exploring how bonkers a Lower Decks time travel storyline can be.
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