No Rest For The Weary — ‘Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming’ #1 Reviewed
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
If you ever wanted to know what happened just after Star Trek: Voyager returned to Earth, this is the limited series for you. The familiar characters are put into some overly familiar situations, though, so the story lacks a little originality. Still, it feels like Trek.
Overall
8/10IDW has brought the U.S.S. Voyager out of mothballs and back into the spotlight in its new limited series Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming, which debuted this week. While younger Trek fans may be more familiar with Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and her holograph from Star Trek: Prodigy, this five-parter focuses on what happens just after the Voyager television show ended its run.
For those fans who may not remember all the plot twist from the series, this first issue does a good job of bringing readers up to speed on the seven years Janeway and crew were stranded in the Delta Quadrant — decades from home. Having defeated the Borg Queen in the series’ finale, Voyager was able to use alien technology to get back to Earth.
In Homecoming, written by Susan Bridges and Tilly Bridges, we learn that their celebration at arriving home is short-lived. Instead of relaxing, the ship is invaded by familiar aliens posing as Starfleet admirals.
The Bridges tread some overly familiar ground here. It’s an overused Trek axiom that the brass is either incompetent or evil. And the notion of not knowing who to trust is another familiar tactic used in the final season of Star Trek: Picard. Still, Voyager doesn’t always get the love its fans feel it deserves, so readers will likely enjoy catching up with B’Elanna Torres, Tom Paris, and the others.
Artist Angel Hernandez accurately captures the look of all the main characters, and even has a knack for depicting minor players, like Paris’ father, Owen. The opening chapter is jam-packed with story and dialogue, so a fair amount of Hernandez’ work gets crammed with word bubbles. And, aside from a nice opening splash page, the rest of the book is pretty busy. Neither are Hernandez’ fault; it would be nice if he is allowed to show off more in future issues.
Now that the story has been established, the hard part begins. Will the creative team capture the magic that made some Voyager episodes great or will it feel lost and adrift in the wrong quadrant? It could go either way at this point.
Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming #1 is available at comic book stores and digital platforms on now from IDW.
