In this review of Star Trek: The Last Starship #1, we climb aboard the USS Omega with a new captain and crew to embark on a thrilling adventure with the fate of the Federation in the balance.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #1
Written by: Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly
Art: Adrián Bonilla
Main Cover: Francesco Francavilla
Variant Covers: Skylar Patridge, Michael Cho, Francesco Francavilla
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: September 24, 2025
This review contains spoilers
IDW’s latest Star Trek offering, Star Trek: The Last Starship #1, starts out in the 31st century with Captain Delacourt Sato of the Starship Sagan negotiating with the Gorn to join the Federation. We get sleek, new ship and uniform designs, reminiscent of the later seasons of Star Trek: Discovery. We get action, as the Gorn method of diplomacy involves wild space flight maneuvers. We get excitement when, out of nowhere, everything on the pages literally explodes. All of this happening before the title page spread serves as a fantastic introduction to the rest of a gripping story.
We jump ahead 72 hours to find that Captain Sato, along with three other members of his crew, has survived the widespread chaos, thanks to the quick actions of chief engineer Silyk. An emergency torpedo with transport buffer capabilities crafted with enough space to store the patterns of just four crew members safely carried away Sato, Commander Wowie Carter, and Lieutenants Hana and Valqis. Now back on Earth and meeting with Starfleet, Sato finds out that 96% of all ships and crews have been destroyed by the Burn, putting us about 100 years before the events of Discovery season 3.
Captain Sato, facing the impending dissolution of the Federation due to the Burn and Starfleet Command’s resignation to fate, proposes using transwarp to power a new flagship. The return of Borg Queen Agnes Jurati reveals that her Cooperative has been evolving and gaining knowledge for centuries. She offers to be the chief engineer for the new starship in exchange for access to a specimen at the decommissioned Daystrom Station, a deal that Starfleet Command approves.
Starfleet proceeds to construct the USS Omega, a Frankenstein of a ship built on the frame of an 800-year old prototype with nacelles that glow Borg-green. The crew is likewise cobbled together with a wide mix of species – human (Carter), Klingon (Valqis), Bajoran (Hana), Vulcan / Trill / Andorian (Sato), and Borg. We’ll likely be introduced to more of the crew in the next issue, promising even more diversity, a hallmark of any Star Trek entry.
In the final pages of Star Trek: The Last Starship #1*, Jurati accesses specimen SC 937-01766, revealing James T. Kirk’s body at Daystrom Station. Fans of *Picard* Season 3 will recall the mention of “Project Phoenix” related to Kirk’s body, with new insights now available. The Cooperative has developed recursive intelligence engines that recreate Kirk’s body and mind, as Jurati recognizes the galaxy’s need for a legendary figure to restore order after the Burn, raising questions about how Kirk will adapt to this new context.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 closes out with an unknown Klingon slaughtering other Klingons on a space station, vowing to end centuries of Klingon passivity with a return to more honorable warrior ways in an effort to destroy the Federation.
There’s a lot going on in Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 and writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly do a good job of blending old and new. There are so many easter eggs scattered throughout – mentions of Martok, Nog, the Enterprise, and giant statues of Janeway, Kirk, and Picard. I love the way that elements of both Discovery and Picard are tied in, allowing those stories to be built upon going forward. For fans who like callbacks, you’ll love this one.
Artist Adrian Bonilla and Colorist Heather Moore have put some beautiful artwork on the pages. Early action sequences are filled with bright, warm tones and later replaced with a darker, cooler palette. The few pages of blues and greens for Kirk’s resurrection are excellent.
I know that some fans will bemoan the decision to bring Kirk back again. I say give it a chance. There’s plenty of “new” in this story. Yes, Kirk being revived has been done before, but I think the writers have dropped him into an interesting situation which is full of promise. Will this story hit the mark? We’ll see, but if you’re a Trek fan, especially of the more recent iterations, you’re going to enjoy this one.
Final Thoughts
Most of IDW’s recent Trek offerings have included characters and settings we’ve been exposed to before. While Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 has its share of familiarity, we’re given a fresh environment and character set to allow for an overall new and exciting experience.
