Star Trek: The Last Starship #7 Goes Full Send Horror in its Most Unexpected Turn Yet (Exclusive Early Review)

Star Trek: The Last Starship has been a fascinating run to date. The series, written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, has taken readers into unexplored territory, taking readers into the era of The Burn in the 31st century and its catastrophic impact on the Federation. It’s offered up some surprising turns—not the least of which being the return of James T. Kirk from the dead. The series has even structured itself in such a way that there are multiple jumping on points for new readers and that includes issue number seven. The issue, which will go on sale May 20th, marks the start of the next chapter and it might just be the biggest and most terrifying one yet.

Star Trek: The Last Starship #7 takes the story into a new territory, both literally and figuratively as the crew of the USS Omega head to the mysterious space station Deep Space Hope at a time when just about all hope for the Federation is lost. However, this isn’t just going to be a trip into the unknown in terms of space travel; this issue takes the series full on into horror territory and it is an unexpected and fascinating entry that will make you genuinely question where things go from here.

Rating 4.5 out of 5

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Star Trek: The Last Starship #7 Pays Off on Seeds Sown From the Start

In The Last Starship #7 things are arguably worse now than they have ever been. Sato and the Omega are trying desperately to keep the Federation together, but things are falling apart at just about every turn, complete with an unexpected death seemingly marking the death knell of the entire organization. However, Sato and Kirk are given a surprising bit of hope, quite literally, when some information about work at the space station Deep Space Hope comes to light suggesting the barest hint of a way forward. However, when the Omega and her crew get to Deep Space Hope, they quickly discover that things are not exactly what they expected. Instead, they are far, far worse, punctuated by a betrayal readers will have by now convinced themselves simply isn’t coming.

Without getting into spoilers, let’s be real for a moment: the big betrayal here is something that most Star Trek fans likely guessed would happen at some point just given the players in the story. That said, Kelly and Lanzing deliver the twist in such a fashion that it feels less like straightforward betrayal and tactical error on the part of leadership, but something far darker, far more sinister, and potentially with vastly more layers than we can see just yet. When you get to the final pages of the issue, you’ll both feel like this was inevitable but also have a deep sense of “what the f—“ because of how brutal it is. 

It’s that atmospheric element of things—the brutality mixed with terror as conveyed both in the writing and the art as events unravel on Deep Space Hope—that make this issue brilliant. While Star Trek is certainly no stranger to elements of horror, The Last Starship #7 goes full send, with what Sato and his crew find on the space station akin to putting Event Horizon and Alien in a blender (just without the chest bursters). It’s a great escalation of the overall story being told in The Last Starship and it ups the stakes dramatically, leaving readers with big questions about what exactly comes next. It’s also very well executed, though the book’s pacing does feel just a touch off near the middle. Even with that, however, the issue is a great read, one that completely changes the trajectory of the story and one that will make those new to The Last Starship want to go back to issue one to see exactly how we got here.

Star Trek: The Last Starship goes on sale May 20th. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!