Star Trek: The Last Starship #8 is written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Hernan Gonzalez, colours by Lee Loughridge and letters by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by Francesco Francavilla.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #8 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
Seeing a solution to the tragedy of the Burn within the singularity on Deep Space Hope, Borg Queen Agnes Jurati leaves the crew of the U.S.S. Omega behind and attempts to assimilate its power. But she’s not alone; Kirk has followed her aboard, determined to ferret out why she and the Borg brought him back to life. Was it to be the galaxy’s savior? Or its demise? The standoff that follows is one for the ages—resistance is futile, after all… …unless you’re Captain James T. Kirk.
Review
James T. Kirk and Hive Mind’s cosmic nightmare continues today as Star Trek: The Last Starship returns for issue #8. I had to take a moment to compute that this is only the 8th issue given how much ground the book has covered. Then I cracked open this issue and saw the breakneck pacing Lanzing and Kelly are running at as Kirk’s place in the story finally comes into sharp focus.
With Hernan Gonzalez on art duties the book is in the middle of a defiantly beautiful arc. Not to take away from the impact of the story, but to put it simply the artwork is stunning. Every panel looks like a work of art which belongs on the wall of a gallery somewhere. Gonzalez packs so much life and subtext into every page that the story is almost as difficult to contain as Borg Queen Jurati who finds herself vying with Vi T’Galatheon for our attention.
There are two storylines jostling for attention throughout issue #8, Vi’s secret mission which opens the book with a very heavy sense of duty. Then there’s the Kirk/Jurati storyline which has a surprisingly equal sense of burden for both characters. The culmination of running these two stories concurrently is an issue which moves swiftly through the current crisis as a mighty page turner.
There’s a crescendo effect to both stories, it felt like the book caught me off guard and wouldn’t allow me to catch my breath until the very last second. Part of that is the way Lanzing and Kelly construct the narrative. We don’t know what Vi is going to do with her mysterious hidden mission. Likewise when Kirk beams over to the station to confront Jurati we have absolutely no idea where it’s going to go. That fear of the unknown is real adrenaline hit that carries us through to the last page. What’s interesting on top of that is this layer of almost cooky, drug trip which is induced to help save the crew.
Kirk’s journey through The Last Starship has been quite unexpected. Having anticipated him taking on a starring role he’s spent much of the recent arcs lurking in the background. Lanzing and Kelly were clearly playing the long game with him, paying off much of his story in this issue as Jurati reveals more of her master plan. It leads us into some unexpected dreamscape-like sequences that feel perfectly in tune with the fever dream the rest of the crew is having, just with a much more dastardly purpose. I don’t want to spoil too much here. But Jurati’s interest in Kirk runs a lot deeper than I could have anticipated and the payoff feels like a true culmination of everything we’ve seen the character accomplish across the franchise.
Back to that incredible artwork, Gonzalez’s already richly textured images are given even more like with Lee Loughridge‘s colours. Vi’s storyline is so heavy and yet playfully jumps around the traditional Starfleet palette of red, blue and gold. Whilst the Kirk/Jurate scenes and the action with the Borg naturally takes on Earthier, green-ish hues. The two sit neatly with each other but have very distinct looks.
The Last Starship is genuinely unpredictable with every issue. Even after the Kirk/Jurati situation seems to be heading towards a fairly certain conclusion I still can’t call what’s going to happen next. Making this the perfect book to switch off to and just enjoy the increasingly wild ride.
Verdict
Star Trek: The Last Starship #8 is as explosive as it is plot-drive. The perfect mix of Trek’s potential for bombasticity alongside its rich history of character storytelling.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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