Tag Archives: star trek: red shirts

Preview: Star Trek: Red Shirts #5

Star Trek: Red Shirts #5

(W) Christopher Cantwell (A) Megan Levens

Only two red shirts remain. The other ten crewmembers on Mission Squawkbox have plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground, been eaten alive by giant alien insects, or been exploded into a million tiny bits by falling torpedoes. Each death has dealt a blow to Ensigns Raad’s and Miller’s morale… Is Starfleet really the paragon of cooperation it claims to be? Or is it willing to expend its members’ lives for the sake of peace? With both Klingons and Romulans breathing down their necks, Raad’s and Miller’s loyalty will be tested. Are they for Starfleet? Or themselves?

Star Trek: Red Shirts #5

Preview: Star Trek: Red Shirts #5

Star Trek: Red Shirts #5

(W) Christopher Cantwell (A) Megan Levens

Only two red shirts remain. The other ten crewmembers on Mission Squawkbox have plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground, been eaten alive by giant alien insects, or been exploded into a million tiny bits by falling torpedoes. Each death has dealt a blow to Ensigns Raad’s and Miller’s morale… Is Starfleet really the paragon of cooperation it claims to be? Or is it willing to expend its members’ lives for the sake of peace? With both Klingons and Romulans breathing down their necks, Raad’s and Miller’s loyalty will be tested. Are they for Starfleet? Or themselves?

Star Trek: Red Shirts #5

Preview: Star Trek: Red Shirts #4

Star Trek: Red Shirts #4

(W) Christopher Cantwell (A) Megan Levens

Ensigns Raad and Miller find themselves on a dark ship and face to face with… Klingons. The two red shirts are accused of being spies, and their captors brutalize and torture them for any information they can get on how the Romulans were able to access a Starfleet subspace antenna feed. Meanwhile, DeMatrio, Amiga, and Lanier engage in a tense starship battle with a Romulan Bird-of-Prey.

If all six remaining red shirts are going to make it off Arkonia 89 alive, someone is going to have to make a sacrifice — but for what? How many red shirts have died to ferret out the Romulans? There must be more to the story than Starfleet is letting on…

Star Trek: Red Shirts #4

Preview: Star Trek: Red Shirts #3

Star Trek: Red Shirts #3

(W) Christopher Cantwell (A) Megan Levens

It’s a race to the top as the anti-Federation spies and the Red Shirts summit the towering antenna on Arkonia 89. The spies seek to escape a transporter disrupter and make it back to their ship with their stolen data, and Raad, Grash, Vesta, and Miller will try to stop them by any means necessary. The climb is made all the more difficult by fire raining from above via a cloaked Warbird captained by a young Romulan and a mysterious Tal Shiar officer.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Lanier, Amiga, and DeMatrio realize a hidden secret about the deceased Cromarty’s base. It just might be their ticket out of this mess alive, but as more lives are senselessly lost, the Red Shirts start to wonder if Starfleet would even care if they made it back at all.

Star Trek: Red Shirts #3

Preview: Star Trek: Red Shirts #2

Star Trek: Red Shirts #2

(W) Christopher Cantwell (A) Megan Levens

After weathering the deaths of their crewmates, the Red Shirts who survived hurtling to Arkonia 89 in torpedo casings have rendezvoused with Lieutenant Cromarty in his underground base. Their mission: to bed down and wait for enemy spies to take the bait they’ve laid in a data disk at the base of a subspace antenna. But little do the Federation officers know, they aren’t the only ones looking for unsuspecting prey…

Star Trek: Red Shirts #2

Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 shows us the classic cannon fodder at times survives to be badass

Star Trek: Red Shirts #1

Prepare for a heartrending Star Trek comic that is unlike anything you’ve seen before. Starfleet’s fearless and doomed crew members finally get their own story as main characters… and no one is safe. Featuring an all-new cast of characters, what is the true purpose of their deadly mission and who will survive? Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 is a fantastic start taking the classic punchline of “Red Shirts” and turning them into an expendable Dirty Dozen.

If there’s some things you can count on when it comes to science fiction, it’s that Star Wars’ Stormtroopers can’t hit anything and their armor is worthless while Star Trek’s Red Shirts die by the dozen. Writer Christopher Cantwell puts the spotlight on a group of Red Shirts recruited for an undercover mission to root out a spy.

Like classic films and shows that bring together a rag-tag bunch of screw-ups, Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 introduces us to each one by one highlighting their personalities and making sure we understand what sort of conflict they’re bringing to the mission that’s sure to go off the rails. But, Cantwell does more than that and delivers winks and nods and the inside joke of how expendable Red Shirts are and how unlikely you’ll meet one over the age of 30. The comic deftly uses the joke and turns it into a badge of honor making out its band of misfits to be more badasses than the color of their shirt denotes.

The art by Megan Levens is good with each character being unique and standing out. With color by Charlie Kirchoff and lettering by Jodie Troutman and the art feels like it’s a good match for the concept that’s both serious and not. The delivery method of how the crack unit gets to the surface is packed with humor but also a hell of a lot of action that you can imagine on the big screen and delivers a smile on one’s face. Like the overall concept of the comic, the art takes itself seriously and not at the same time.

Star Trek: Red Shirts #1 feels like it’s in on the joke. It has moments that feel like it’s played totally straight and serious and others where it haves fun with its expendable concept. The combination creates some great entertainment where you’re not sure if you want the mission to get all cool, stealth, and full of action, or go completely FUBAR and watch the Red Shirts die in creative and hilarious ways. But, the first issue shows, you can actually have both.

Story: Christopher Cantwell Art: Megan Levens
Color: Charlie Kirchoff Letterer: Jodie Troutman
Story: 8.5 Art: 7.6 Overall: 8.4 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review


Purchase: Zeus ComicsKindleGolden Apple Comics

Preview: Star Trek: Red Shirts #1

Star Trek: Red Shirts #1

(W) Christopher Cantwell
(A) Megan Levens
$4.99
July 16, 2025

The start of an all-new heartrending Star Trek five-issue miniseries by writer Christopher Cantwell (Star Trek: Defiant) and artist Megan Levens (Star Trek), featuring Starfleet’s most intrepid and doomed crewmembers: red shirts. Now, finally, they get their own story.

Led by an experienced officer embedded on the snow-ridden planet Arkonia 89, the crew of the U.S.S. Warren has a small window in which to pin down spies seeking to steal classified secrets and keep Starfleet data out of their nefarious hands.

They face threats not only from their faceless enemies but from the brutalizing elements and wildlife of a planet far from home. The red shirts’ lives and Starfleet’s sanctity are on the line… and no one is safe.

Star Trek: Red Shirts #1

IDW announces three new Star Trek limited series: Red Shirts, Strange New Worlds, and Voyager!

Set a course for bold new storytelling.

IDW Publishing has announced the expansion of the Eisner-nominated Star Trek line of comics with three new limited series, each one offering compelling tales that explore different genres and offer new and exciting experiences for every type of Star Trek fan in the universe.

Beaming into comic shops this July, Eisner-nominated writer Christopher Cantwell and awe-inspiring artist Megan Levens present Star Trek: Red Shirts, a five-issue heartrending Star Trek story that is unlike anything fans have seen before. Featuring a brand-new team of characters, the Red Shirts are commonly known as Starfleet’s fearless and doomed crew members. Now, these intrepid and ill-fated red-uniformed individuals finally get their own story, and no one is safe… Who will survive their deadly mission?

Landing in August is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Destruction. Presented by Robbie Thompson – who is also writing on season four of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – and incredible artist Travis Mercer, this five-issue limited series puts beloved characters Chapel, Una, La’An, and Spock – plus a new adorable robot sidekick named D6 – on a classic adventure with plenty of twists and turns as they explore an ice-covered planet and the scary secrets that lurk deep beneath the surface…

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - The Seeds of Destruction

Thirty years after the show made its unforgettable debut, Captain Janeway and the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager are back for one final mission before they head home! From imaginative co-writers Tilly and Susan Bridges and acclaimed artist Angel Hernandez comes Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming this September, a five-issue limited series that offers the final resolution fans have been waiting decades to witness. The final shot of the Emmy-award winning series featured the iconic ship approaching Earth before the screen goes dark… But what if just moments after that, there was one last emergency for the determined Captain Janeway and her brave crew? 

This exciting trio of new limited series comes as Star Trek: Omega approaches, an oversized one-shot which is the denouement of critically acclaimed Star Trek comic series and Star TrekDefiant storylines. On sale June 18, Star Trek: Omega will serve as a heartfelt and emotional journey that should not be missed by Star Trek fans, both old and new. More new Star Trek comics are on the way as well, but those will remain classified… for now.