IDW’s forthcoming Star Trek: Redshirts is “not your father’s Star Trek,” and it is exactly what fans have been waiting for. The new miniseries, based on a popular joke within the Star Trek community, will take the franchise in new and horrifying directions. It also promises to be an excellent Star Trek comic.
IDW has announced three other Star Trek titles coming in the next few months: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Destruction, Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming and Star Trek: The Last Starship.
Star Trek Senior Editor Heather Antos, speaking with Comic Book Resources, provided some new insight into the series, to be written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Megan Levens. The intention, according to Antos, was to create a book that was “not your father’s Star Trek.” The three variant covers for Redshirts #1 depict the titular characters dying in horrible fashions.
Star Trek: Redshirts Will Be Another Creative Win for IDW
Star Trek: Redshirts Brings Christopher Cantwell and Megan Levens Back to the Franchise
Star Trek: Redshirts is the latest offering from IDW, who just put the bow on one of the greatest StarTrek comic lines in recent memory. Big creative swings were the norm for the line, and Redshirts looked to keep the “sky-blue” thinking that was a hallmark of Star Trek and Defiant, only in a darker, gorier fashion.
Star Trek: Redshirts is based on a popular meme within the franchise. In the classic Star Trek series, crew members wearing red uniforms usually met gruesome ends on away missions. In her talk with CBR, Antos stated she and writer Cantwell tallied it up, and a whopping 45 red shirts died on Star Trek.
Star Trek: Redshirts writer Christopher Cantwell is no stranger to the Star Trek franchise. Famous for his work at Marvel on titles such as Iron Man and Doctor Doom, Cantwell wrote Star Trek: Defiant for IDW. Defiant showed a darker, grimier side to the Star Trek franchise. This makes Cantwell the perfect choice to write Redshirts.
Star Trek: Redshirts Will Not Just Be a "Gore Fest"
Star Trek: Redshirts Will Ask Tough Questions of the Franchise
While the Redshirts meme is often invoked for laughs, it points to an uncomfortable truth about the Star Trek universe: that it is a dangerous and hostile place. With redshirts having a high casualty rate, recruiting them may seem to be a challenge, and Antos stated Redshirts will tackle this thorny issue.
Antos explained further about the moral and ethical issues surrounding Star Trek: Redshirts. Believing the redshirt concept challenges the lofty concepts the Federation claims to hold dear, Antos promised Star Trek: Redshirts will get to the core of this problem, and for this reason, it will be a new type of Trek comic.
There Is Precedent For Darker Takes on Star Trek
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Regularly Questioned Starfleet and Its Ideals
Antos’ comments indicate that Star Trek: Redshirts will be a much darker foray into the final frontier. Traditionally, the Federation and Starfleet embody high moral ideas, to the point that Wesley Crusher famously quipped “Starfleet does not lie.” While Wesley meant well, later shows and movies have shown the darker side of the galaxy.
Perhaps no Star Trek show went as dark and heavy as Deep Space Nine, which is now regarded as one of the franchise’s finest entries.
Perhaps no Star Trek show went as dark and heavy as Deep Space Nine, which is now regarded as one of the franchise’s finest entries. Deep Space Nine regularly questioned Star Trek’s ideals, finding cracks in the foundation. Ideas like Section 31 demonstrated the Federation was not above playing dirty to get what it wanted.
In concepts like Section 31 and the Maquis, Star Trek returned to the examinations of the human condition that Roddenberry intended for the franchise from day one. The Original Series regularly showed flawed humans, both in and out of Starfleet. Utopias like the Federation take work, and Section 31 does the dirty parts.
Star Trek: Redshirts Promises to be a Gripping Read
Star Trek: Redshirts Does Exactly What Gene Roddenberry Wanted of the Franchise
While Section 31 will most likely not play a major role in Star Trek: Redshirts, the same spirit informing Deep Space Nine will be present. That is, Redshirts will hold a mirror to the ideals Gene Roddenberry put forth. Do expendable redshirts contradict Starfleet’s ethics? This series will ask this question, perhaps even arrive at an answer.
