In this review of Star Trek: Lower Decks #3, the U.S.S. Cerritos encounters a scientific theory transformed into frightening reality.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #1
Written by: Ryan North
Art and Main Cover by: Jack Lawrence
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: January 15, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Star Trek: Lower Decks #3 begins with the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos establishing second contact with the Clarew whose civilization eerily matches the retro-futuristic advancements predicted by mid-20th century science fiction writers, and whose citizens are also apparently very good guidance counselors.
The core four Lower Decks team of Mariner, Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford share a meal to engage in their usual crosstalk about the day ahead, but the cybernetically enhanced Rutherford instead laments that his performance should exceed current parameters since he is technically a cyborg.
After completing the mission (including command crew evaluations from the Clarew), Captain Freeman orders Ensign Boimler to chart a course for a supply run to Alecto III. The fastidious Boimler is flummoxed as he encounters a navigation error when it appears that the entire Alecto star system has vanished.
Commander Ransom tells Vulcan officer Lieutenant T’Lyn to relay a warning to Starfleet Command as Captain Freeman orders Boimler to proceed to the Alecto system at maximum warp.
Chief Engineer Billups prompts the Engineering team to formulate theories for what might have happened in the Alecto System, which produces some wild scientific theories that are sure to thrill hardcore Trekkies. Rutherford again bemoans his perceived performance failures, but is still quick to pitch in on Tendi’s brainstorming session. However their initial theory of a localized anomaly is quickly squashed as two more nearby systems suddenly disappear from the star charts.
The Cerritos drops out of warp at Alecto and immediately detects the presence of a large, circular void among the remnants of the system. Commander Ransom orders Bajoran officer Lieutenant Shaxs to launch a probe while Ensign Mariner notes that the void appears to be growing. This news prompts T’Lyn to abandon her station and order Boimler to reverse course. As Boimler fumbles, T’Lyn commandeers the helm and programs in the emergency heading away from the anomaly.
Still at the helm, T’Lyn easily fends off both Boimler and Mariner as Captain Freeman demands an explanation. T’Lyn apologizes and tells Freeman that the Cerritos may be in an area of vacuum collapse. Freeman is momentarily stunned by the revelation but quickly orders the crew to maintain the new course heading as she informs Starfleet Command of the danger.
Soon after, T’Lyn outlines her complicated theory to the crew and then stops abruptly without fielding any questions. A bemused Captain Freeman takes over and plays a training video from the “Starfleet Corps of Rhetoric Engineers”. The video features a sentient marble wearing a cowboy hat that breaks down T’Lyn’s theory into a series of relatable metaphors. Freeman also tells the crew about her previous study of the dangers of false vacuum and then displays the Cerritos’ rear viewscreen. The ship is shown travelling barely ahead of the rapidly growing bubble universe that will ultimately consume everything.
Billups and the Engineering team devise a solution to slow the growth of the bubble universe by detonating the warp cores from the Cerritos’ shuttles and Captain’s Yacht. The plan works but Shaxs detects an unidentified energy source emerging from the anomaly which collides with and incapacitates the Cerritos. Before Billups can restart the warp drive, the Cerritos is consumed by the bubble universe as Star Trek: Lower Decks #3 ends.
Analysis
Star Trek: Lower Decks #3 has a lot going on for a regular-sized issue, but that’s not a bad thing. Even though the animated series just wrapped up its own five-year mission on Paramount+, this ongoing comic faithfully continues the story. This issue has all of the hallmarks of a classic Star Trek episode: from an amusing opening to a sudden crisis, to an improvised scientific solution and finally a cliffhanger ending.
Even with a universe-ending crisis this is still the U.S.S. Cerritos, so of course the Lower Deck team lets fly with a few quips along with a possibly unhealthy level of scientific enthusiasm, (Science War), unheard of in any other Trek series.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #3 appears to be immersed in the same universe-ending event currently unfolding in the other two Star Trek titles. Since Lower Decks is set in the time period, it is as T’Lyn might say, highly logical to assume such a theory to be true. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
Ryan North’s writing effortlessly replicates the snappy patter of the Lower Decks animated series. A rising star at Marvel Comics, (including Fantastic Four and the upcoming One World Under Doom), North is as adept at matching the humor and frenetic pacing of Lower Decks as he is at writing superhero drama.
North also adds his own commentary at the bottom of some of the comic pages, expanding on and/or satirizing elements of his own story. Given that Star Trek: Lower Decks is primarily a screwball comedy mixing fast-paced dialogue, slapstick and meta commentary with snippets of drama, these author notes do not detract from the overall reading experience.
British artist Jack Lawrence (Transformers, TMNT) has toiled on numerous intellectual properties, and his renderings of the U.S.S. Cerritos and its crew in Star Trek: Lower Decks #3 are spot on with the animation house style. He also provides some dynamic layouts that aid in his dynamic storytelling.
Clayton Cowles’ lettering employs a myriad of effective styles and techniques including small device sounds, massive ship-quaking impacts and straightforward dialogue text (of which there is a lot; this isn’t just Star Trek, it’s Star Trek: Lower Decks).
Charlie Kirchoff’s deft use of warm and cool colors matches the palette from the animated series. The warp speed effects and the luminescent glow of the planet Clarew are standouts in this issue.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Star Trek: Lower Decks #3 is another winning issue featuring some familiar Trek tropes, requisite Lower Decks humor amid a line-wide universal crisis. Any fan lamenting the loss of the Paramount+ series should warp on over to their nearest comic book shop and pick up a copy.
