Star Trek #1 and Zero Point #1 Push Starfleet Further than Ever Before

For nearly 20 years, IDW has been publishing Star Trek comics. From stories picking up where the shows left off, including the likes of Star Trek: Year Four and Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming, to prequels and tie-ins for various shows and movies, such as Star Trek: Countdown (a prequel to 2009’s Star Trek) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation (a between seasons tie-in focused on my favorite Strange New Worlds character).

More recently, IDW, under the guidance of editor Heather Antos, has been branching out into more Galaxy-defining storytelling. First, the “Hivemind” of Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, with artist Ramón Rosanas, alongside Christopher Cantwell, and artist Ángel Unzueta, told a joint tale that developed the Galaxy post-The Next Generation era in Star Trek (2022) and Star Trek: Defiant. Following on from this, the “Hivemind” with artist Adrián Bonilla have been working on Star Trek: The Last Starship, which brings forth the miraculous return of James T. Kirk as the series lays the seeds for the state of the Galaxy seen in Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Now, writers Christopher Cantwell and Charlie Jane Anders, and artists Dennis Menheer and Isaac-Sánchez González are pushing Star Trek further than ever before as the franchise celebrates its 60th Anniversary. Picking up a few years after Star Trek: Picard Season 3, plus more recent events depicted in the Star Trek 60th Anniversary Special, Cantwell’s new series, the self-titled Star Trek, takes the Enterprise outside of the known Galaxy to somewhere never before seen. Meanwhile, Anders’ Star Trek: Zero Point follows a team of Starfleet’s best and brightest as they work to prevent calamitous events such as the Dominion War and the devastation of Frontier Day from ever happening again.

With all that said and done, let’s dive into my thoughts on the first issues of both Star Trek and Star Trek: Zero Point.

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Star Trek #1

Christopher Cantwell and artist Dennis Menheer’s Star Trek #1 finds the crew of the USS Enterprise-G, captained by Seven of Nine of Voyager and Picard fame, undertaking a daring rescue mission across four planets all on the brink of destruction. This forms a brilliant start to the new series as we not only quickly get to grips with the crew of the Enterprise- some returning faces, some new- but also serves as an incredible showcase for Menheer. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t familiar with his work prior to opening up this issue, but I’m now a fan for life. Menheer’s art is unlike any I’ve ever seen in a Star Trek comic, with a stylization that is uniquely his yet still distinctly part of the Trek world. 

After the rescue mission, we’re given a quick but effective splash page that gives an intimate insight into who this Enterprise crew is. I found this to be some great stage-setting on Cantwell’s behalf for what I’m sure will be some rich character building over the series, and I’d expect nothing less from the creator of my beloved Halt and Catch Fire. Not to sound like a broken record, but this is another amazing look at what Menheer is bringing to Star Trek as he captures so much emotion in these quick glimpses of the characters’ lives.

The most important thing to the success of this new series is Cantwell’s understanding of who Seven of Nine is. Having been first introduced in Star Trek: Voyager, Seven is one of Trek’s most well-developed characters, with her gradual character progression from Borg survivor to Starfleet officer to Fenris Ranger, and now Captain of the Enterprise, all feeling whole and never out of character. I’m really excited to see where Cantwell takes her, and seeing how she deals with this new mission that is taking Seven far away from her wife, Raffi Musiker, for an unknown period of time has already led to some great moments just in this first issue.

There’s so much more I want to dig into in just this first issue. I haven’t even mentioned Lily Sato, the most exciting character return in this series for me as a massive fan of Lanzing/Kelly’s Star Trek run, though knowledge of that storyline is not required for Sato’s role here. But I think a lot of what is being laid down here is best experienced for yourself as the Enterprise embarks on a journey where no one has gone before.

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Star Trek: Zero Point #1

I think the best way to describe Charlie Jane Anders and artist Issac-Sánchez González’s Star Trek: Zero Point is that it is the shadow to Cantwell/Menheer’s Star Trek. This isn’t a knock against Zero Point. Far from it, as I actually liked it even more than its sister book. No, what I mean is that while the adventures of the Enterprise stand out as the bold spearhead of Starfleet, Zero Point follows Starfleet going down a darker path, away from the spotlight, pushing the boundaries of what it is comfortable with. In short, it’s the exact kind of storytelling I love.

At the forefront of this new direction for Starfleet is Captain Raffi Musiker, best known for her starring role in Star Trek: Picard, brilliantly portrayed by Michelle Hurd. Anders captures Raffi perfectly in this first issue of Zero Point by digging down into the weight past decisions hang over. In Picard, it was the spectre of Romulus’ destruction that hung over her. Here, the scars of Frontier Day still linger six years on. It’s these scars that push Raffi to take leadership of this new Starfleet project and the captaincy of the USS Endeavour. Seeing how this plays out, and how Raffi fights against her instinct to spiral, especially without her wife Seven of Nine around, is the biggest draw for me in seeing where Anders takes this story.

But Raffi isn’t the only important piece of Star Trek: Zero Point’s puzzle. Her crew on the Endeavour are also drawing me into this story. The Chief Engineer is a character I’ve long felt was never given their due in their scant appearances in Trek‘s past, and while they aren’t foregrounded in the book yet, I’m excited to see how they develop. But the big excitement when this book was announced was the choice for Raffi’s XO, D’Vana Tendi of Star Trek: Lower Decks fame, now some 20+ years into her Starfleet career and none too happy at having been taken off her science expedition for this new project. The frosty relationship between Tendi and Raffi is the core of this first issue, and one I can’t wait to see play out, be it with or without growing respect between the two.

The characters and their interactions are also where González’s art shines. The expressiveness he gives to everyone is incredible, especially to Tendi, who constantly disparages what this new project entails for Starfleet. Star Trek: Zero Point has a lot more going on than what I have touched on in my few short ramblings here, and I’m on tenterhooks to find out where Anders and González take the crew of the Endeavour next, and whether they can keep Starfleet’s ideals intact as they go to darker and darker places.

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I hope my early impressions of these two new Star Trek #1’s from IDW have whetted your appetite for what’s to come ahead of their upcoming releases this month and next!