In this review of Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day, whether as a Bajoran freedom fighter, a Starfleet officer, or a Lore-lovin’ Pah Wraith, Shaxs always loves to wreak havoc for a righteous cause. Shaxs attacks.
Star Trek: Lore War: Shaxs’ Worst Day
Writer: Ryan North
Art and Main Cover: Derek Charm
Variant Covers: Robby Cook, Rahzzah
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: May 28, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day spins out of the shocking events of Star Trek Defiant #27, as Shaxs regains his original memories after making contact with Emissary Kahless II’s cosmically powered Bat’leth blade. With Kahless murdered (by Shaxs, oops), the now mournful warrior is tasked by (former) high admiral Worf with laying waste to “mad god” Lore’s reimagined authoritarian Starfleet in a single day.
Challenge accepted.
Shaxs utilizes his ability to improvise large scale mayhem to great effect as he dispatches the entire L.S.S. Enterprise crew, and then commandeers the L.S.S. Cerritos to boot. But Shaxs is only getting warmed up as he sets his sights on the ultimate target, Starfleet headquarters on Earth. Shaxs rigs a holodeck program to simulate a populated bridge and bluffs his way into Earth’s orbit, but his plan hits a roadblock as several ships ambush the Cerritos in orbit.
Undeterred, Shaxs presses forward with his attack (which truly defies simple description) as he unfolds a series of plans within plans to overwhelm (and possibly exasperate) Lore’s Starfleet forces, including an alliance with mysterious species 8472 (Star Trek Voyager).
Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day ends with Shaxs’ gambit apparently successful as Shaxs regains consciousness to find himself in an unfamiliar place populated with dozens of versions Shaxs (either the heroes won the day, or Shaxs is in the strangest afterlife ever).
Analysis
Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day is a great read for fans of animated-style carnage (and also the apparent triumph over authoritarian rule). The outcome has yet to be determined in Lore War, but IDW is promising some changes to the Star Trek universe after Lore War wraps up (soon, very, very soon).
Former Star Trek: Lower Decks writer Ryan North returns to the captain’s chair without skipping a beat, accompanied by artist Derek Charm (Star Wars Adventures). The pair crank up the volume to 20 and rip the knob off as they set loose one angry Bajoran warrior against Lore’s twisted version of Starfleet.
Feeling the burning shame of becoming an unwilling Lore zealot, Shaxs gets to work on his detailed to-do list, although some of his more “creative” attempts are thankfully defused by starship safety protocols. Ever the master strategist, Shaxs’ one-man army is all forward momentum as he unleashes his wrath against legions of familiar faces.
In fact, the gleeful carnage of Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day would not work if the story wasn’t written and drawn in the Star Trek: Lower Decks animated style. Attempting to tell this absurdist story in the typical “live action” (see: realistic) IDW house art style would be a disaster. Star Trek does intergalactic warfare and comedy, but not the broad, absurdist, meta, screwball humor that is exclusively Lower Decks’ domain.
Derek Charm’s art matches the Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series style, and he is able to get away with some rather bloody and violent content (stabbing, lots and lots of stabbing) that would ordinarily slap a mature rating label on Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day, but instead is depicted as much more cartoony than graphic (slapstick, even).
The page detailing Shaxs’ revelation is a striking series of images in primarily black, white and red. Other highlights from Charm’s artwork includes the cool starship battles, the multitude of Shaxs(s) swarming Starfleet HQ, and bonus points for the weird “mirror universe” beard for the Loreverse Brad Boimler, continuing the running gag of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season Five.
Writer Ryan North also continues his irreverent bottom page commentary which is more prevalent and unrestrained in Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day. North maintains the knack for mixing the Trek “tech” speak and the rapid-fire dialogue of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Lore War – Shaxs’ Worst Day is an enjoyable escapist detour from the darker implications of the Lore War, as the reader is funneled into a temporary “pocket universe” where inventive methods of murder, unchecked mayhem and lots of cartoony stabbing are all in good fun. So much fun.
