A Not So Great Day To Die: Reviewing ‘Star Trek’ #11

Generally, honesty is the best policy. One exception would concern being brutally honest with a (possibly) formerly homicidal android brother. In that case, one might want to choose their words just a bit more carefully.

Star Trek #11 continues to showcase Kahless and his cult The Red Path’s fight for dominance of Klingon society in the third chapter of the “Day Of Blood” event. Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Angel Unzueta, Marissa Louise, and Clayton Cowles pull out all the stops for this issue.

Alongside all the big battles and dire situations, we continue to get a ton of great character moments that have made this new series such a delight. From the confrontation between Data and Lore to B’Elanna and Tom’s relationship heart-to-heart to Sisko and Worf airing their dirty laundry. A major portion of this issue is about honesty, and what that means to different people and relationships. At the core though this theme is more than just good character development.

Everything about the Red Path is about exaggerations, deceptions, and control. Therefore, seeing our heroes, and their current allies, being honest (even to a fault) with each other spells out their differences from their foes. It would be easy to draw that line and call it good, but doing so in a way that fits the characters, universe, and story is next level.

Speaking of drawing, holy crap is Unzueta just so good. One of the things that works best about adaptations is trying to find that happy place between actor’s likeness and something original. Here we have something that skews closer to likeness but not in an uncanny valley or off-putting way. In a more powerful emotional and grounded way. Just those first shots of B’Elanna and Tom are so spot on for their actors but full of their very own lives.

Everything is smooth and detailed, a bit slick, while also having a sharp roughness to it. This fits the overall hard feeling of this moment since we’re witnessing a war essentially. I love how Unzueta chooses to set up the different panel framing, shifting between different positions while keeping us right amid everything. Allowing the background to fade in and out, going from detailed to solid colors, to elicit particular feelings.

The same can be said for Louise’s colors which are nicely seated in the middle of the spectrum. Plenty of sharper colors can be found while much of what we see is toned-down in a more neutral/real sort of way. It fits with the sharpness I mentioned above to give this whole story a more dire feeling. Sure, there are big bold colors, this is a sci-fi story taking place in space and an alien world, but enough of the palette is closer to what we know and see regularly.

Oh, also I cannot forget one of my favorite moments. Where Doctor Beverly Crusher put Sela right in her place. The subject of Tasha Yar and what happened to the character can be a touchy one since Sela’s existence came from Tasha being the prisoner of a Romulan camp. In this moment, the story speaks to this history, while still holding back some, and connects the various bits of Tasha that we knew.

It’s this moment that leads to one of the most thrilling sequences, as Unzueta and Louise send Sela across the planet as a one-woman army. We can feel every movement and bit of energy as it just moves so fluidly across the pages. The stark skies of Q’onoS provide such a dark but bright backdrop, framing the action perfectly.

No matter how wide or tight the space, Cowles finds ways to make the lettering fit so smoothly. There are a lot of words to be shared here but it’s never being dumped on us in an overwhelming way. Every bubble, word, and SFX has a purpose and a flow to it that makes sure they have the right impact. Bringing emphasis where it’s needed and pulling back in a similar fashion.

Star Trek #11 is now available from IDW Publishing.