For the past several years, IDW Publishing has provided readers with some of the best storytelling set in the Star Trek universe, with both the flagship Star Trek series and the slightly darker Star Trek: Defiant featuring all-star casts of characters from across the franchise’s nearly 60-year history, as well as new characters, in the kinds of stories that would be difficult to achieve with the restrictions of live-action film and television. Those years of stories are coming to a head in the crossover event Star Trek: Lore War, which brings storylines from both series to their simultaneous climax as the Star Trek universe is remade in the image of one of its most memorable recurring villains.
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Star Trek: Lore War #1 – a collaboration between Star Trek writers Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, Star Trek: Defiant writer Christopher Cantwell, artist Davide Tinto, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Clayton Cowles – introduces readers to Star Trek universe remade in the image of Lore, evil twin brother of the USS Enterprise’s beloved android Data. Rather than playing the role of a distant deity, Lore is a present and active god in this universe, with statues and temples made in his image. Even Starfleet is born of a mission to serve him. Yet pockets of resistance still exist, both those attempting to stymie Starfleet’s expansion and those hoping to attack and dethrone Lore directly. However, the greatest threat to Lore’s control may be the two individuals who still remember the Star Trek universe as it once was.
On its face, visiting an alternate universe where a longtime villain has achieved their goal of domination won’t be all that novel to longtime comic book readers. The X-Men are notorious for this type of thing with the Age of Apocalypse epic from the 1990s being the best-known example (though the more recent Sins of Sinister event is much closer to what Star Trek: Lore War seems to be going for, a universe intentionally shaped by a nefarious being, and that X-Men story even coincidentally borrowed some Star Trek tropes and motifs to imagine its Sinister future, making it and Lore War potentially into serendipitous companion pieces). However, while stories like Age of Apocalypse and even Days of Future Past often become quickly iconic for their distinctive aesthetics (glam rock horror for AoA, gitty industrial post-apocalypse for DoFP), it’s quickly apparent that there’s a headier subtext in the mix with Lore War.
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Lore isn’t truly interested in ruling Star Trek’s universe as a typical villain might. He’s remade the universe to function as he believes it should, or at least better exemplify how he thinks it always has. As god-king of this universe, he is the material that worlds are made from, with some of the most stunning images in the issue being the temples and statues built to him, conveying both his boundless ego and the depth of the faith this universe’s true believers have in him. Yet, while his gestures and actions are grand, his motivations are petty: prove his brother Data wrong.
Lore insists that conflict drives the universe and monologues to his brother on the uses of inspirational but ultimately controlled and feeble narratives about heroes and rebellions, a diatribe reflecting our real-world relationships with escapist fiction during challenging times. In action, Lore props both sides of nearly every conflict up, aiding those loyal to him and the insurgents they fight against as necessary to keep the two factions at odds. Ultimately, Lore’s ideals challenge the moral fiber of the Star Trek universe, testing the utopianism instilled in it by Gene Roddenberry, and asking if narratives fueled by more traditional conflicts are needed for it to survive.
Of course, it isn’t all heady philosophizing. Star Trek: Lore War #1 surveys this new, alternate Star Trek universe, showing readers where the Theseus and Defiant crews wound up in Lore’s new world. Here we find what fans expect from stories in this mold: characters cast in strange new roles and contexts, unusual alliances, and familiar concepts reimagined with an often sinister twist. Lore War #1 delivers all these elements with the potential and promise of more.
Star Trek: Lore War #1 arrives at a time when the Star Trek franchise is going through an identity crisis and while the creators of the comic book event couldn’t have known these conversations would be taking place at the time of its debut the story feels no less timely for it. The Star Trek of the franchise’s golden era, where intensely competent people apply their crafts to problems to uphold a future that is as close to perfect as a 20th-century-human could imagine, is replaced by a world built on conflict for the sake of conflict, where real change is impossible and better futures are beyond imagining. Star Trek: Lore War #1 kicks off a fight for Star Trek’s very soul, as told in a story with a scope like Star Trek fans have never seen before.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Published by IDW Publishing
On April 2, 2025
Written by Christopher Cantwell, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
Art by Davide Tinto
Colors by Lee Loughridge
Letters by Clayton Cowles
