Advance Review — Dying A Thousand Deaths ‘Star Trek: Red Shirts’ #1
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
A limited series that centers on characters with half-lives that can be measured in minutes, is a challenge. Unfortunately this premiere issue doesn’t live up to its premise, largely because it’s difficult to connect with these security officers who may not live long enough to see the next issue.
Overall
8/10Pity anyone wearing red in the original Star Trek television series.
Those poor security and engineering officers met any number of deaths in the 1960s’ series – ranging from mundane phaser fire to having their neck broken by an android to being turned into a mineral cube then crushed. Now, a new limited series is putting these disposable background players into the spotlight.
Written by Christopher Cantwell, Star Trek: Red Shirts focuses on a specialized group of security officers who are assigned to a special mission for the Federation. It’s not a spoiler to reveal that not all of this crew meets their end before this first chapter concludes. In fact, a main character, Ensign Chip Miller, barely escapes with his life on the first page. Those horned ape-like Mugato are not to be trifled with!
If all that sounds like a great premise for a five-issue series, it is. Unfortunately, the execution is just OK. Cantwell’s script is serviceable, but has some familiar elements borrowed from other Trek iterations.
The characters, most of which are newly created for this story, don’t jump off the page and make us root for them. That’s partly due to the number of red shirts Cantwell has assembled. Not that you can blame him, given their life expectancy. But the sheer number makes it difficult to connect to any of them. The good news is that by the time the series has run its course, there won’t be many to remember.
Artist Megan Levens does a good job of visually distinguishing among the soon-to-be dearly departed. Most of what Levens depicts is routine, though she does have a funny page where she illustrates a series of panels that portrays a number of red shirt death scenes – from having a skull crushed to being eaten by a giant arachnid.
It’s difficult to imagine carrying this concept with these characters for four more issues. Hopefully the creative team will find a way to make at least a few red shirt matter more to readers – before killing them off. The red shirts, not the readers.
Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 will be available in comic book stores on July 16th from IDW.
