Captain James Kirk Returns To Command ‘Star Trek: The Last Starship’ In September
by Tony Thornley
IDW Publishing’s latest massive Star Trek epic may be wrapping up this week, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t continue to visit strange new worlds. In September, the new centerpiece of IDW’s Star Trek saga launches with Star Trek: The Last Starship and an unexpected familiar face headlines the series.
Helmed by longtime Trek writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, The Last Starship finds Starfleet’s most legendary captain mysteriously returned from the dead, just in time to see his beloved Starfleet fall to pieces. Lanzing and Kelly are joined for this new Trek epic by artist Adrian Bonilla and color art by Heather Moore.
Set during the Burn, a galaxy wide catastrophe that simultaneously destroyed every warp core in the galaxy, there’s only one hope for the Fleet. That is a man out of time and back from the dead- James Tiberius Kirk, the greatest captain in Starfleet history.
This epic comic book series takes place during the disaster first introduced in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, a galaxy-wide disaster which caused the destruction of every active warp core, killing trillions and shattering the peace, stability, enlightenment, and mutual protection the United Federation of Planets provided for seven centuries. Facing a true wild west in space, a mysteriously resurrected Captain Kirk will lead a new crew and ship in a seemingly impossible effort to uphold Starfleet’s mission of unity across the cosmos.
“Forget everything you know about Star Trek,” remarked co-writer Lanzing. “The Last Starship is a new crew, a new era, and a completely different tone; our aim is to be literary, intense, innovative, and most of all, accessible. We’re bringing you into the Federation’s darkest hour through the brilliant, noir-soaked lens of artist Adrián Bonilla with zero homework required.” The Eisner-nominated writer added, “ Longtime Trek fans will have a deep and fascinating reading experience, to be sure – this is a pivotal moment in Trek history that’s never been even glimpsed before – but above all, The Last Starship is a dark and complex sci-fi you can hand to anyone. We’ve spent the last eight years celebrating all that Trek has ever been. Now, it’s time to rebuild it from scratch and discover all it can be.”
“The only familiar face is the one you’d never expect to see in this era: Captain James T. Kirk,” stated co-writer Kelly. “William Shatner’s iconic performance transcends borders – Kirk is one of the great characters of the modern fiction canon with a timeless actor to match. He was also the first Star Trek character we ever wrote – a leader and warrior poet with boundless tragedy and contradiction. Now, we’re honored to be taking this character into truly uncharted, groundbreaking territory in The Last Starship – as the Federation’s greatest pioneer must face down the inferno that threatens to consume his entire legacy.”
The Burn is one of the most fascinating concepts introduced in the NuTrek era. Removing the ongoing Star Trek comics from a familiar era and exploring an event like this might be exactly what they needed. Kirk is the perfect character to lead it, with the mystery of his return driving a huge part of the story as well. I have a suspicion that this will build on Lanzing and Kelly’s past work on Star Trek, both with the just wrapped Sisko epic and their earlier Star Trek Year Five.
Check out the first glimpse at interior art, covers from the debut issue from Francesco Francavilla, Michael Cho, Skylar Patridge, and Malachi Ward, and watch for Star Trek: The Last Starship on September 24th, 2025.
