Surfing The Waves Of Eternal Destruction — Reviewing ‘Star Trek’ #23

A famous title begs the question, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? Not if it’s the megalomaniacal android named Lore. No, see, that one, well he dreams of something far grander and harmful than any type of sheep.

In Star Trek #23, he prepares to carry out that dream, destruction of the gods of the universe and the universe itself. All threads have been leading here as Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Megan Levens, Lee Loughridge, and Clayton Cowles put the crew of the Theseus through their greatest trial yet.

Naturally, spoilers will be found ahead.

So, unless you’re the Prophets themselves, now is the time to skip away if you’ve yet to read the issue.

Remember that dream mentioned above for Lore? Yeah, he achieves it here. That’s right, the gods are burning away as is the entirety of reality as we (or well the Star Trek characters) know it, but not before engaging in a little bit of villain monologuing and pushing Sisko to be the one to realize his actual overall plans.

Those include playing at wanting the Emissary position while letting his ship bomb do its job of cooking up the energy to end everything. As broken and evil as Lore can be, one thing that he has always proven to be is extremely smart and cunning. Often two steps ahead of others, including his brother, even if he eventually ends up in a spot of losing.

Jackson and Lanzing constantly surf the fine line between answering the questions of the overall story and plot, while giving characters their growing space. As Lore does his thing, we also get some beats with Scotty questioning himself, Crusher in powerful charge, T’Lir and Lilly Sato getting their forgiveness, and much more. Even the bits with Lore, Sisko, and the Gods are full of juicy character and overall thoughtful nuggets.

What is Star Trek without the technobabble? Still Star Trek, but way less over-the-top science fiction fun that’s for sure. Once more, the Hivemind finds a way to bring more of that to the forefront and keep the Theseus being an extremely overpowered fantasy ship, but hot damn do I love every bit of it. Scotty and Paris working off the math and genius of one far older and wiser Wesley Crusher.

A real meeting of the minds bridging generations of series right there. This is the kind of stuff that makes this series click.

Much like the choices made for the series artistically.

Star Trek, for the most part, balances gracefully on the line between whimsical fun and serious societal issues. With a hefty amount of just pure sci-fi wonder and outlandishness sprinkled on top. Hitting that mix isn’t easy, especially when talking about drawing it all. The right artists though make it sing, and Levens is one of those artists.

Every bit of the story’s dire nature is felt implicitly, without letting us forget that this is big time sci-fi fun stuff. All the emotions are raw and clear, as the action and character motions flow across the page splendidly. Each space that we visit has its own unique qualities, which are boosted by the color palette that Loughridge brings to the table.

There are numerous colors that fit in the middle, a more neutral or toned down appearance, to give the story that foundational beat. Others allow Loughridge to bring out the heaviest, lightest, darkest, and most vivid colors possible. Really allowing the spaces to be distinct and feel authentic, even though none of them truly exist in reality, in a way. As things have gotten more dire in the story arc those heavier ominous tonal colors find themselves growing, giving us more unease.

Our wonder and astonishment are still there but are now tied together with worry and fear, as they are meant to be.

As usual, there are a lot of things to be said and expressed. Our villain has to make his point after all, and the heroes need to speak their peace. Cowles lays it all out so simply but elegantly. Letting the words do most of the work, but altering them in the right ways to really hit home what should be heard or felt. Giving the various words the full emotional infusion that they deserve.

Star Trek #23 is now available from IDW Publishing.