In this review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #1, a much-needed shore leave for the U.S.S. Enterprise crew becomes a rescue mission into the watery depths of a frozen planet.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #1
Written by: Robbie Thompson
Art and Main Cover by: Travis Mercer
Variant Covers: Christian Ward, Travis Mercer
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: August 27, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #1 begins with Nurse Christine Chapel’s growing dissatisfaction on several recent away missions and she makes her feelings known to the chagrin of Number One, (Una Chin Riley).
The post-mission medical scan is routine, but the debrief in Captain Christopher Pike’s ready room immediately goes off the rails as both Chapel and Una are openly hostile to both Spock and to each other. Pike calls the room to order and announces that the Enterprise is heading to Starbase 19 in the Zeta Quadrant for maintenance and some much-needed R & R.
Later that night, as both women reflect on the day’s frustrations, Chapel contacts her friend Jinare (also from the Klingon War) who is performing promising research on a frozen planet called Poilant, also in the Zeta Quadrant, and she offers to join Jinare’s undersea mission (which is probably her version of rest and relaxation).
Some time later, as the Enterprise arrives in orbit above Poilant, Christine unexpectedly encounters Una in a turbolift and the chill between them is almost as intense as the planet’s surface. Pike summons both officers to the bridge and tells them that the research station has not responded to their hails. Due to the nature of the planet’s unique ice sheath, sensors cannot detect anything below the surface.
A landing party consisting of Una, Chapel, Spock, Scotty (and La’an Noonien Singh?) enters the abandoned research station on Poilant, attempting to discover what happened to Jinare’s team. Chapel explains Jinare’s theory for utilizing the ice sheath’s unique chemical make-up to create protective shields for vulnerable planets, while Scotty pores over the station’s data logs.
The team takes an elevator three miles down to the lowest levels of the facility. The area frozen over, devoid of sentient life and includes a mysterious locked door.
The landing party finds a helper robot named D-6 who explains that the research team went on an expedition into the frozen sea to track down a mysterious signal, (despite warnings from D-6), and they have not been heard from since.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #1 ends with Una ordering D-6 to join them as they pilot one of the station’s submersibles to the same location in hopes of finding the researchers.
Analysis
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #1 gets off to a rough start, with some stilted dialogue and out of character behavior. Writer Robbie Thompson (Marvel’s Silk) attempts to blend humor, sci-fi concepts and suspense with some character development, but only partially succeeds. At times, characters appear to be talking at each other, rather than to each other.
Christine Chapel’s retconned history as a veteran of the Klingon war (in the SNW streaming series) works to explain her growing drive for adventure, (although it feels like more of a La’an thing). It’s clear what Thompson is going for with Chapel’s character, but the execution is somewhat uneven. While the “Zeta Quadrant” is a new addition to (unofficial) Trek canon, Starbase 19 has a storied history in the 23rd Century.
D-6 is a welcome addition as a self-deprecating helper robot, and the first interaction between D-6 and Spock is also amusing. Spock’s role in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #1 is largely relegated to questions or exposition, but at times he comes off more like Sheldon Cooper playing Spock, than the beloved, fan-favorite character.
The series is set squarely in Season Three, as Lieutenant Montgomery Scott is now a crew member. Scott himself is also relegated to awkward comedic status. Chapel butting heads with the more level-headed Number One adds some needed tension but the debrief in Captain Pike’s quarters descends into almost Lower Decks levels of absurdity.
Artist Travis Mercer’s artwork is a looser version of the typical IDW “house style” and produces mixed results. The art doesn’t need photorealism to succeed, but it should clearly distinguish between characters (is that La’an on the research station landing party?) Mercer’s depiction of Christine Chapel shines.
Mercer also experiments with the sequential art format to great effect, representing the passage of time within a single image in both the opening double-page spread and later in the frozen depths of the research facility.
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation #1 gets off to a shaky start with noticeable flaws in both story and art, but the issue isn’t without its charms. The story potential for a dangerous rescue mission into the icy depths of a remote planet amidst interpersonal conflicts, and a mysterious signal remains high.
