Are You There Gods? It’s Me, Beverly: Reviewing ‘Star Trek’ #21

Meeting (and chastising) godly beings is a typical Tuesday for Starfleet officers. Basically, a rite of passage at this point. The crew of the Theseus has taken it one step further, inserting themselves smack dab in the middle of a godly board meeting (essentially).

Surely nothing will go wrong for this intrepid crew. Star Trek #21 is an out of this world, Easter egg filled amazing issue from Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Megan Levens, Lee Loughridge, and Clayton Cowles.

If it’s not clear from the previous twenty-one reviews (counting the annual), I’m a massive Star Trek fan. One of the first shows we watched as a family was Star Trek: The Next Generation, but truly ‘my’ Treks were Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. These series hit me right in the prime of adolescence, sticking with me to this day, forming so many ideas that I have about science-fiction, fiction in general, and what Trek means.

While the Trek portion of my brain isn’t the walking talking encyclopedia that the Marvel side is, you better believe I was geeking out here, with all the godly-beings and moments that came into play.

Beyond the geek-out moment, Lanzing and Kelly continue to showcase how much they care about Trek but also how solid as storytellers they can be. Pulling various threads from a franchise that is almost sixty years old, weaving them together in a way that makes perfect sense. As a whole Star Trek has thrived on mostly letting each show stand on its own (with little crossovers and connections here or there). These types of moments where it’s allowed to really completely feel like a connected universe are the best treat.

On paper visiting a place of the gods sounds amazing, and it is, but it also needs the right beats to make it visually work. Such a thing would be constrained with the tech and materials on hand back in the sixties and even the early nineties. The Trek shows of today could pull it off with various computer generation special effects. Comics though, there is no budget, and only the limits of the imagination.

There is no limit when it comes to what Levens and Loughridge are doing together on these pages.

Everything to do with the space within the Pleroma feels otherworldly and beyond conception. Striking visuals, gravity and perspectives being off, and just something more. Even the visual of the various godly beings lording over things in some giant crystal looking space hits so well. Levens has that style that mixes a very animated whimsical sentiment with very grounded detailed elements. Creating something that has a lot of serious edge and heft to it but is also light and fun.

Basically, the perfect feeling for any Trek.

Loughridge’s color palette choices have led the way in this regard for the whole series. Finding the right moments to let things breathe with muted more down-to-Earth (our outside of Earth really) tones, before cranking it up and bringing the whole color wheel into play. Big bursts of colors hovering like a filter over a moment, letting different locations and story beats have their own highlighted color basically.

Also, the visual of the Travelers hangout just being basically a standard office but in space is fantastic. No matter the realm, bureaucracy never changes.

A lot of powerful beings with a variety of personalities, sentiments, and emotional range means a whole lot of visual room to play. Cowles never misses these chances, cutting loose with bubbles, fonts, and other beats to sell the voices of these characters. Giving us little bits so that their sounds become crystal clear in our minds. While also helping break things up since a story like this comes with a whole lot of dialogue, that has to float and feel weightless.

Mission accomplished.

Star Trek #21 is now available from IDW Publishing.