Captain Kirk is back. And he’s dealing with the Borg.
The most famous captain in the history of “Star Trek” is meeting one of its most memorable villains in the new comic book “Star Trek: The Last Starship,” a new flagship comic book series from IDW. The series is written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (known collectively as The Hivemind) and illustrated by Adrián Bonilla. You can see two covers for issue #2 below too – one by Joëlle Jones and the other by Francesco Francavilla.
“The Last Starship” is set in a period known as “The Burn.” This is in the space before the events of the Paramount+ series “Star Trek: Discovery.” When a galaxy-wide disaster that destroyed virtually every active warp core has resulted in the loss of trillions of lives while threatening the peace and stability that the United Federations of Planets once offered, Captain Kirk returns with a new crew in an attempt to restore peace in the galaxy … only the Borg have other plans.
Introduced during “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s” run, in an episode entitled “Q Who” the Borg became a favorite villain in the two-part “Best of Both Worlds.” The cybernetic baddie went on to be the main protagonist of 1996’s feature film “Star Trek: First Contact” and popped up in subsequent series “Voyager” (which introduced Borg Starfleet officer Seven of Nine), “Enterprise” and even animated “Star Trek” series “Prodigy.” They are the best. They assimilated Jean-Luc Picard. And they are very scary.
Heather Antos, group editor, told us, “As anyone who’s followed our ‘Star Trek’ comics knows, we love a good villain. And in ‘The Last Starship,’ we’re not just revisiting one of Trek’s most iconic threats … we’re challenging everything you think you know about them. Resistance may be futile … but surprises? Absolutely guaranteed.”
“During our time on Trek, the Borg are something we have very specifically avoided; the Federation’s greatest enemy isn’t something that gets invoked lightly,” series co-writer Kelly said. “But in ‘The Last Starship,’ at the end of Starfleet’s history, it seemed the perfect time for their reintroduction: especially since–after 700 years–their goals reach far beyond assimilation …”
Series co-writer Lanzing added, “Resistance is futile. Even people who’ve never seen or read a word of ‘Star Trek’ have heard of the Borg – and since ‘The Last Starship’ is designed to be any reader’s first Trek story, we couldn’t help but introduce them anew. They’re the last big untouched element of Trek for the Hivemind – and one we’re definitely going to turn on its head.”
As Lanzing hinted at, this is a comic book series which requires zero homework or previous knowledge of the franchise. Ready to jump right in and boldly go?
The first issue of the series debuts on Sept. 24, with pre-orders due Aug. 18.
