Star Trek: Red Shirts – Ghost of the 21st Century #4 is written by Gerry Duggan and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Scott Buoncristiano, colours by Charlie Kirchoff and letters by Jeff Eckleberry. Main cover art (left) is by Chris Shehan.
Star Trek: Red Shirts – Ghost of the 21st Century #4 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
Lyna Taval and Harry Deubert infiltrate Captain Miller’s ship, the Baychimo, for glorious battle—on Lyna’s part, if not Deubert’s. There, they’ll finally have the chance to confront Miller and his nefarious organization, Section Null, once and for all. Starfleet will be free from his influence once more, able to move on as the force for good it was meant to be without a splinter at its heart. But Miller is waiting, ready to tighten the garrote around the throats of the agents looking to take him down. Lyna and Deubert are welcome to underestimate him…at their peril.
Review
Well things probably can’t get much worse than this. After a moment of levity, Lyna and Harry are deep in Captain Miller’s ship as the other shoe drops and all becomes gloriously and brutally clear. With just one issue to go, this penultimate chapter is pretty relentless as it hurtles the reader towards a rather dramatic conclusion.
Star Trek: Red Shirts – Ghost of the 21st Century has really flipped the script from the original series. Gerry Duggan has dug deep into the lore of Star Trek and unearthed a story that doesn’t feel a million miles away from some of the franchise’s more contemporary storytelling on both the big and small screen. There’s a lot of life and energy captured in these pages with Scott Buoncristiano dutifully keeping the tension dialled up to maximum from beginning to end.
Lyna and Harry have become compelling leads for this second miniseries. At this stage in the story Duggan has built them up more than enough for the audience to root for them as they run around the U.S.S. Baychimo in search of the truth. There’s a dramatic irony that reads well in seeing them think they’re causing chaos for a group of rogue Starfleet officers, only to find that Captain Miller is perhaps not all that he seems. That’s a classic “gotcha” moment as they finally learn all the information we already have and discover he has been working with the Romulans. Seeing them go through that only endears them more as Miller’s plans are executed.
The thrust of issue #4 comes from watching our pair of heroes running around the ship with the crew in hot pursuit. Miller feels like a looming threat, separated from the rest of the action. That setting works well in setting up the twist which comes towards the end of the issue. Miller’s role has been well utilised throughout Ghosts of the 21st Century, not just tying together the two miniseries but really strengthening the narrative thread by giving us an already fully-formed de facto villain. Should our poor red shirt heroes survive this issue then there’s a definite sense that a confrontation may be looming. Hopefully Miller has some comeuppance coming.
There’s a lot of fun to be had in rushing around the Baychimo and Duggan finds some inventively-Trek ways to augment the action sequences. Ordinarily two offices against an entire rogue crew is probably stacking the odds in the crew’s favour. But with transporters (and a little luck) our heroes are able to get the upper hand. Even a cameo appearance from one of the stars of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe can’t stop Lyna and Harry. Duggan does have one final cruel trick up his sleeve when Miller’s plans for the ship are revealed and that moment leads us into a potentially devastating cliffhanger which is more than enough to bring me back for the finale.
I’ve said it already but Buoncristiano and colourist Charlie Kirchoff do inject a huge amount of life into this book. There’s a lot of movement in this issue, not just with Lyna and Harry darting around the decks but also with the officers chasing them. There are multiple locations and multiple characters all mixing together on every panel and it’s executed flawlessly. It’s not easy to keep things moving without taking a breather but this team manages it with ease.
Verdict
Star Trek: Red Shirts – Ghost of the 21st Century #4 exemplifies what a penultimate chapter in the story should be like. It sets up a final conflict whilst also providing the reader with all the excitement and tension that this story requires. Top notch work and all under the banner of Star Trek.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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