Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Lost Contact #1 is written by Layne Morgan and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Coralí Espuña, colours by Nora Serrano and letters by Neil Uyetake. Main cover art (left) is by Espuña.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Lost Contact #1 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
Caleb, Genesis, Jay-Den, Kyle, and Tarima are all students of Starfleet Academy, the illustrious school responsible for the Federation’s best. One day, they dream to serve as great leaders on board ships of their own, to study the cultural intricacies of sentient life amongst the Galaxy, or to go where no person has explored before. But today, their mission is simply to execute a survey simulation on a lifeless, low-oxygen planet. Or at least, it seems simple… until a huge storm cuts off their contact with their teachers aboard the Athena… and something impossible appears: an alien. Now, they’ll have to work together and use everything they’ve learned in class about first contact to make it off the planet alive!
Review
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy might be facing a short life on the small screen. But thanks to IDW Publishing Caleb, Genesis, Jay-Den and the rest of the cadets have a bright future ahead of them. Today the publisher debuts the first issue of ambitious new series Starfleet Academy – Lost Contact from Layne Morgan and Coralí Espuña.
The series focusses on a subset of the main cast from the show as they embark on a planetary survey simulation exercise (or P.S.S.E.) which is narrated by cadet Genesis. Knowing that Star Trek comes with a built-in audience, Morgan wastes little time in defining who each of the characters is. It could be alienating to some new readers not familiar with the series. However I’m a glass half full kinda guy so I’m anticipating anyone intrigued by this wonderful group of people will immediately pick up their remotes and stream the show.
As we’re pretty much straight down to business Morgan instead picks up on character traits which have become typical for each of the leads. Genesis sees herself as the leader, taking charge and issuing orders to the rest of the group. Caleb rarely stops to think of the consequences before taking whichever course of action springs to mind first. Whilst Jay-Den feels like the mediator between the two as well as the general voice of reason. This first issue doesn’t give much to Tarima or Kyle with each playing a more supporting role.
Morgan’s pacing follows a similar path to an episode of the Starfleet Academy series, setting up the mission and then diving right in. It gives enough space to include Holly Hunter’s Nala Ake and Zeeren Kelrec of the War College, played by Raoul Bhaneja in the show. Their mentorship role translates nicely to the page balancing duty with maternal/paternal concern for the cadets. Of course not everything is going to go to plan, it wouldn’t be Star Trek if it did…
Having neatly setup the premise, the cadets P.S.S.E. mission is quickly sidelined by an atmospheric storm. Trek traditionalists will know that’s going to be an instant disaster for ship-to-surface communications meaning the cadets will be on their own. Left to their own devices the group isn’t able to function like the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise but why would they, they’re all teenagers. Morgan’s approach to keeping the sense of Trek whilst translating the teenage angle to the page works well, neatly sidestepping any Dawson’s Creek-style drama.
S’eekay II offers us a traditionally Trek landscape e.g. rocky and not the most diverse. But Espuña and especially colourist Nora Serrano inject a huge amount of energy into it through the visuals. The atmospheric greens and purples offered up by the simulation and the storm are vibrant on the page, elevating the whole project to match what fans have come to expect from Trek on the page.
Espuña does an inspired job of bringing the cadets to the page from the small screen. As we’re dropped into a mission already underway there’s no time to see the academy itself. Or its cadet uniforms. Instead the cast is right into their space suits ready for the dangerous atmosphere on the planet. That puts a lot of pressure on Espuña to bring Genesis, Jay-Den and Caleb to life through only their facial expressions. Each is recognisable, aided by Morgan’s ability to tap into their personalities so easily.
The end of issue #1 sets up enough mystery and jeopardy to engage the audience. There’s no doubt I’ll be coming back for issue #2. It’s clear that IDW has learned from the success of books like Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation as the five-issue structure works well for this kind of story. With a mysterious alien watching over them and their voices taken by an even more mysterious force field, I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Verdict
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Lost Contact #1 proves that Starfleet Academy’s story doesn’t end when the credits roll. A promising start to what could be a worthy continuation for the show.
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