A Sea Of Red Upon Us All: Reviewing ‘Star Trek’ #9

Cardassian “justice” is always swift and truly brutal. The strike of the Red Path is just as swift and brutal. Unfortunately for the crew of the Theseus, they must wade their way through both situations. If they’re lucky, they’ll all walk away. Luck hasn’t been their friend as of late.

There is quite a bit of action and a lot of deep emotional dialogue-heavy moments in this issue. To make sure those land the way they should is something that rests upon the art team’s shoulders. This task is not too much for Mike Feehan, Lee Loughridge, and Manuel Bracchi who joined to ink some pages in this issue.

Overall, there are three major feelings that need to be clear here. For the Sisko scenes, there needs to be an overwhelming direness, as we watch a man deal with and accept his fate. With the Theseus crew, we must feel that their backs are firmly against the wall, before switching to a more hopeful taking back control arrives. All of this is nailed.

There is depth and weight that makes every single scene feel real and tangible. Emotions and body language are clear and powerful in every single panel. Even though most of the setting is typical drab Cardassian architecture, it has a looming personality of its own.  Sisko’s cell and the courtroom feel accurately confined while the station feels open but tight at the same time.

Feehan’s style has an animated kinetic feeling to it while also feeling very weighty and real. That’s why all the elements above work out. We feel that inherent fun fantastical energy that is Star Trek mixed into all those heavier elements.

Part of that comes from the continued solid color choices that Loughridge is employing. Each of the spaces feels totally unique and those unique color palette choices carry through, setting the tone. Cardassian spaces are dark and cold, much like elements of their culture, but the Cardassian station held by cult members is lit differently. In a more dangerous glaring sort of way, speaking to how it’s been co-opted by this group. Of course, the Theseus still has its vivid striking colors in play for different sections that are just so fun.

This series remains a perfect balance of nostalgic continuity-related pieces mixed with the construction of a new universal foundation.

Everything about the trial is so compelling because Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing know the franchise front to back. It feels real and accurate with what we know about the Cardassians, Sisko, and the war. It feels like what the aftermath would have been had the show continued. The scars of the Dominion War would be dark and far-reaching, but the television side and the films never had space or desire to explore them.

There is a ton happening here coming at us quickly between the two settings, but the Hivemind makes it flow and never loses the characters. From Sisko’s acceptance of his fate to the joy that Shaxs is having in the battle (the Romulan sword moment is pure awesome) to how well the Theseus crew works together. We get such a great moment with Lieutenant Descheeni, another original character in the series, coming in to save the day. One of the things that made DS9 and the other treks resonate so much is the great diverse casts with chemistry. This comic has that in spades.

All that stuff about colors and fun mentioned above is part of every element of art in play. Which includes the lettering work that Clayton Cowles does. Not only do all the various types of lettering glide through the pages, but they also have their own uniqueness. Big colorful bubbles for excited words, fonts that grow/shrink, the great red elements of the Red Path bubbles, and the always wondrous loud SFX.

This series fits a ton of dialogue into tight spaces, there is a lot to lay out, and it never drags or feels overwhelming. That’s because the writers know just how much to deliver at any point and Cowles knows how to deliver it most effectively.

I must also point to how amazingly this series uses data pages. We get two stylized ones here, one with some epic Klingon poetry and the other a Cardassian log entry. Both pages are full of the visual elements we attribute to the races giving them accurate interesting flavor, which makes the pages work even better.

Star Trek #9 is now available from IDW Publishing.