While most people think about Star Trek only in terms of the television series and the movies, the reality is that some of the best and most complex storytelling within the franchise is being told on the pages of comics. IDW in particular has had a handful of Star Trek comics recently that have greatly expanded and enriched the stories of the final frontier and headed to shops this July is another one. Star Trek: Red Shirts: Ghost of the 21st Century #1 heads to shelves on July 22nd, but ComicBook had the opportunity to review the book early—and it’s one that you won’t want to miss as a Star Trek fan.
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Without getting into spoiler territory, Star Trek: Red Shirts: Ghost of the 21st Century does not require you to have read Christopher Cantwell and Megan Levens’ Star Trek: Red Shirts series and it really doesn’t require you to even be that deep into Star Trek lore. You really just have to know one thing and that thing is in the Star Trek world, you really don’t want to be a Red Shirt as they’re the characters who pretty much are sent to die. However, Ghost of the 21st Century offers a little bit of a twist to that. Here, the red shirts don’t simply die. They’re used. With that in mind, this opening issue of a new series takes the grim predicament of the lowly red shirt and makes things more brutal, gorier, and more violent than ever while offering up a story that is part espionage, part crime thriller, and all engaging.
Rating 4.5 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
| Engaging story with easy entry point | Might be a little too gory for some. |
| Incredible art |
Ghost of the 21st Century is a Near Perfect Entry Point (But a Better Thriller)
In Ghost of the 21st Century we follow Harry Deubert, a security grunt conscripted to his role serving in Section Null. It isn’t exactly what he wants to be doing, but it beats where he was before. However, Deubert learns something horrifying and realizes that not only are red shirts being treated as disposable, but they’re being used in a vast criminal conspiracy and when he gets a little too deep, well, that makes him a problem. And a target.
What works especially well about this issue is we get a lot of important information right up front about major elements of the conspiracy. While there is likely a lot more to unpack as things unfold in the story, writer Gerry Duggan does a great job of letting you know at least part of the major villain element in the story. It’s something that makes the book feel less like a Star Trek story and more like a crime thriller from the jump. That’s a very good thing because it widens the story’s appeal and as a reader you never really feel like you need vast knowledge of a rich and complex universe to understand what’s going on. Crime conspiracies are pretty much the same around the galaxy, it would seem and Duggan gives readers a great entry point as well as plenty of tension to keep them paying attention.
Where the issue truly excels, however, is the art. Yes, this issue is gory, full stop. There is a good bit of death and blood, but artist Scott Buoncristiano does an incredible job with it. While the idea of red shirts existing only to die is a little bit of a joke for Star Trek fans, there is nothing about the carnage in this issue that is funny. These are gruesome, grisly deaths and the art really sells it as such. This is a Star Trek book that means serious business and the art is a hug component of that. There’s also a scene in the early pages of the issue that is just as brutal that is absolutely outstanding—but I won’t spoil the context for you so you’ll just have to check the issue out for yourself.
The bottom line is this: Star Trek: Red Shirts: Ghost of the 21st Century is a solid book. The story is written in such a way that you don’t have to have extensive Star Trek knowledge or even have read the previous Red Shirts title to both understand and get sucked into this story. The book very much stands on its own and does an excellent job of grabbing your attention with an intriguing story, gory art, and characters you will be invested in. It’s a book for Trek fans and newcomers alike and it’s a must read.
Star Trek: Red Shirts: Ghost of the 21st Century #1 hits stores on July 22nd. Final order cutoff is June 15th.
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