Some of Star Trek’s biggest icons, including Picard, Janeway and T’Pol have come together…as villains? The aforementioned characters are some of the franchise’s most popular, and now, in a first look at Star Trek: Lower Decks #2, the young lieutenants of the Cerritos come face to face with holographic variants of their heroes. Yet in a twist, these Starfleet legends are out to kill them.
Both Ryan North and Derek Charm have worked on other IDW Star Trek: Lower Decks comics.
IDW shared their solicitations for December and January, including Star Trek: Lower Decks #2. The book will be written by Ryan North and drawn by Derek Charm, and the solicitation reads as follows:
Mariner, T'Lyn, Rutherford, and Tendi have beamed off the mysterious USS Bonaventure and onto an equally mysterious surface of an unknown world, significantly raising the statistical likelihood of death and injury! Finally, the crew is up to their necks in adventure. There's the senior staff's safety to confirm, a weird planet to escape, and an alien race that wishes to learn more about mentorship... through a battle royale! Enter Jadzia Dax, Montgomery Scott, Kathyrn Janeway, T'Pol, and Jean-Luc Picard as the mentors and the Lower Deckers as the mentees. May the best student live!
The replicas of Picard, Janeway, T’Pol are described in the solicitation as “mentors” to Boimler, Mariner and company.
However, Star Trek: Lower Decks #2’s cover, by Charm, paints a more hostile picture, as the mentors and the mentees have an intense stare-down.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Reinforces Everything Great About the Franchise--While Subverting It At the Same Time
Star Trek: Lower Decks Is For Fans, By Fans
Star Trek: Lower Decks is a love letter to the franchise, albeit one that regularly skewers its tropes, and Charm’s cover to issue two embodies this approach. While the solicitation does not make it clear how the “mentors” are created, given that some of them are long dead, it stands to reason they are replicas, or simulacra of the original. Star Trek, particularly the Original Series, featured alien races who, through various means, could create powerful illusions. This trope can trace its roots all the way back to “The Cage,” Star Trek’s original pilot.
Derek Charm’s cover of Star Trek: Lower Decks #2 not only sends up some of Trek’s more goofy concepts, but also pays loving tribute to them. Every episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks is loaded with deep cut references from across Trek’s 58-year history. Casual viewers need not be concerned with these Easter Eggs, but for long-time fans, they can greatly enhance the episode. Every Star Trek show has been referenced, even Star Trek: Enterprise and The Animated Series, which are often viewed as the “black sheep” of the franchise.
T'Pol's Appearance Is a Historic Occasion for Star Trek Comics
T'Pol Was As Crucial to the Founding of the Federation as Jonathan Archer
Vulcans and humans had been living together more or less peacefully since first contact, but tensions still ran high. T’Pol helped bridge the gap between the two species, and in the process, helped lay the groundwork for the Federation.
Of particular note to fans is that Charm included T’Pol on the cover of Star Trek: Lower Decks #2. The Science Officer aboard Captain Jonathan Archer’s Enterprise, T’Pol, played an important role in strengthening human-Vulcan relations. Originally assigned to Enterprise to watch the upstart humans, T’Pol came to appreciate them and all their quirks and flaws. Vulcans and humans had been living together more or less peacefully since first contact, but tensions still ran high. T’Pol helped bridge the gap between the two species, and in the process, helped lay the groundwork for the Federation.
Star Trek: Enterprise was controversial in its day, but fandom has, much like T’Pol with humans, come to embrace it–warts and all. Later Trek shows and movies revealed the enormous legacy of Captain Archer and his crew. However, the crew of Enterprise, including T’Pol, have been given short shrift in comics. Enterprise has only made one comic book appearance, in an anthology series released to coincide with Star Trek’s 50th anniversary. However, T’Pol’s inclusion on the cover alongside other franchise icons, such as Picard and Janeway, raises the hope Enterprise could return in comic form.
Will T'Pol (and Enterprise) Ever Grace a Comic Book?
Enterprise Fans Will Have Little Time to Celebrate T'Pol's Return
While fans wait for the day when Archer and T’Pol will grace comic book pages, the Vulcan’s villainous appearance on the cover of Star Trek: Lower Decks #2 is a nice tie-over. Placing T’Pol alongside Starfleet legends such as Scotty and Jadzia Dax continues the lionization of Enterprise. The crew of the Cerritos also idolize T’Pol, and for good reason. However, they will not have the time to celebrate with their heroes, as T’Pol, Picard and a gaggle of other Star Trek icons try to kill them.
