In this review of Star Trek Deviations: Threads of Destiny #1, we travel into the past with Uhura, where she experiences racism firsthand, and helps in the fight for equal rights.
Star Trek Deviations: Threads of Destiny #1
Writer: Stephanie Williams
Artist: Coralí Espuna
Main Cover: Mark Alvarado
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: February 25, 2026
This review contains spoilers
The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise detects a temporal disturbance and investigates the signal. They encounter a man named Carl who shows them human history through glass screens. When Uhura sees a woman that looks just like her, she gets a little too close to a screen and it transports her to 1963 North Carolina.
Nyota materializes in a general store where colored people are not welcome inside. A store worker harasses her until a colored man named Daniel comes to help. He’s there picking up items for his activist group and offers Uhura a safe place to stay until she can meet back up with her “traveling theater group.”
Meanwhile, Kirk and Spock figure out the time period Uhura was transported to and go through the gateway to bring her home. They arrive a few days before Uhura and get set up to find her signal.
Uhura meets Daniel’s group and they discuss what’s happening with the movement and rallies. Nyota briefly shares her experiences, telling the group she doesn’t know exactly what they’re going through, but understands the struggles. She is struck by the group’s determination and wants to be a part of their fight.
As Uhura is talking to the group, Dr. Martin Luther King stops by to let them know how proud he is of their efforts. He invites everyone to join him next month for a massive march in Washington, D.C.
Kirk and Spock are able to locate Uhura while she’s taking part in a protest through the town. She wants to stay to help the protesters, having been on the receiving end of the injustice upon arriving in this time period and realizing how important this fight is to the future. Kirk and Spock are able to convince her to return with them to help build the future into a time that is fair and just.
Uhura returns, but now realizes that her connection to the past makes her stronger and better prepared for her work in the 23rd century.
Analysis
Writer Stephanie Williams gives us a quick, but significant, story about the racial issues present in American history with Star Trek Deviations: Threads of Destiny #1. Fans of Star Trek know that this franchise has always been about diversity and equality in all forms. This one-shot is another example of that long-standing tradition. Williams is able to tie in some of the biggest names in the civil rights movement such as Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and John Lewis. She’s even able to work Dr. King into the story for a page in relation to the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Williams gives us a tense scene early on when Uhura first arrives in 1963 and encounters the racist store worker. Although the scene is somewhat toned down, it still succeeds in making you feel uncomfortable about the situation. It lets you feel a tiny piece of the hatred that people of color had to endure in those times. It’s a sad truth that it is something that still goes on to this day. The message contained in this story is one of hope for the future, though.
My biggest complaint about this issue is that it’s just too short. The 20 pages that make up the story don’t allow nearly enough time to get into any details or do anything more than scratch the surface of this major issue. To truly let this story fully develop, we would need a much longer series. Even a four-issue mini-series would allow time for things to breathe and deliver a much more informative story.
The illustrations by Gregory Maldonado, inks by Anthony Fowler Jr, and colors by Charlie Kirchoff are reminiscent of the simplistic style seen in the early days of Star Trek comics. There’s a grainy look to the work and each page follows a basic panel layout with muted tones. Character appearance is sometimes spot-on to the original crew, but at other times, bears little resemblance to the actors we’re familiar with. The style fits, though, and doesn’t take away from the overall story.
Final Thoughts
Star Trek Deviations: Threads of Destiny #1 is a one-shot that highlights the importance of racial equality, but could stand to be a longer book. Despite its length, it’s well worth a read. Have fun, comic lovers!
