These Were The Voyages: Reviewing ‘Star Trek’ #27

Unfortunately for the cosmos and multiverse, the maniacal android Lore has achieved his mission to wipe out all of existence. At the edge of nothingness, the crew of the U.S.S. Theseus stands very much alone.

With the crossover event “Lore War” moving ever closer, the team of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Mike Feehan, Tess Fowler, Lee Loughridge, and Clayton Cowles continues to lay out the path with Star Trek #27.

Depressing with a dash of hope is not the easiest recipe to nail. These two elements seem diametrically opposed to one another, unable to really share the same space. As someone with depression, I know there are definitely times when that seems to be the case, but then there are those other times (the better ones) where both things very much can be true.

In this one issue, it’s clear how they can exist in the same space.

What stands before us is a hugely character focused piece. One that takes an intrepid crew and allows us to stand alongside them in their truly darkest, most inescapable crisis, and watch how they react. Star Trek fans are no strangers to seeing starship crews at the breaking point, fighting odds that seem daunting. Taking the time to show what toll these moments take on the soul and spirit is not a new concept for the half-century-old franchise.

Captain Benjamin Sisko comes from a show that leaning on that even more than most, which Kelly and Lanzing pick up masterfully here. Everyone comes together here, and we get to see the moments between the moments, as these characters stare the true end of everything in the face while pushing their depression and anxiety aside to focus on hope. The hope that they can find safe harbor in the one thing that remains, The Celestial Temple/Bajoran wormhole, and perhaps gain back all that was lost.

Sisko takes a lot of the spotlight, but this is truly an ensemble piece. With the duo of writers pulling out every thread with these characters, mixing them and showing us how solid a crew they have become in all this time. The way they interplay, bouncing off one another, finding new connections, and new ways to stand strong is a lot of what makes Star Trek as a franchise, and as this series, so damn good.

Feehan is a great artist to capture all of this, and I was glad to see him back on the book. There is a really light, yet deep feeling to the artwork that graces these pages. I mean, right away, the opening page has panel shards of each character going about things as the end looms, each with slightly different color filters, encircling Sisko’s baseball as his log captions dot around the page. It’s brilliant, just dynamic and bold, really living up to the kind of stuff that showcases the what this beautiful storytelling medium is capable of doing.

Since I mentioned the filters, Loughridge is part of the glue holding this series so firmly together, making sure that the color palette always matches the style and tone of not only the given story but the artists that he’s working with. He continues to use varying colors to match emotional tones, but also to just allow the ship and characters to exist in spaces that feel unique. Rather than just all the same standard colors and visuals in every room of the ship.

Speaking of emotions, they are so crystal clear here. From anger to faked happiness to indifferences to determination. Everything that these characters are feeling and emoting, we see it in their faces and their body language. Screaming loud and clear through the pages.

Cowles is another integral part to why things keep working. He slips in little elements that allow voices to remain clear and true, full of the particular personality of the characters and inflections similar to how they were performed in the live action versions we know and love, dropping the bits through the pages as they fit best, matching the pace of the rest of the artwork. It’s never overwhelming or standing in the way, instead dancing in perfect step with what is there.

Gosh, I just have to gush again about the page layouts here.

I was flipping back through the pages as I wrote this review, to better speak to the things listed in the previous few paragraphs, and it just kept striking me how amazing what is on the page truly is. Panels of every shape, size, and placement which move around, on top of, or through others. Thus, allowing each page to feel even fuller and dense, while really livening up the dynamic of how things are presented.

Speaking of which, we can’t end without speaking about the very final page. Even though Fowler is just doing the one final page of this issue, before tackling the full art of the next one, it is a powerful page. Sisko’s fate after entering the temple with his crew, stands bare, and the painted page just hits so hard here.

A feeling that comes off like a mix between watercolors and more solid paints permeates the page. Once again, the paneling choices are bold and visually dynamic, taking us slowly through the moments till the full revelation. Right away it stands part from the feeling of the rest of the issue, by design, and feels very old timey in many respects. Just like the space that Sisko now inhabits.

There is a reason that I keep loving this book, month after month, and cannot wait for the next issue. That reason is expanded in the review above but can be distilled down to one word: passion. It’s beyond clear that everyone involved here has passion for the project, and lets it flow through every single fiber of the series.

Star Trek #27 is now available from IDW Publishing.