A starship graveyard on the moon. A captain haunted by failure. A mission that could change the future of the Federation…or end it entirely. Raffi Musiker takes command of the U.S.S. Endeavour—and is immediately handed a classified directive from Starfleet. Follow the guidance of a powerful, untested A.I., built from mysterious technology recovered in the Epsilon Corridor, that can predict threats before they happen. But these missions aren’t exploration—they’re a gamble. As systems fail, pressure mounts, and missions spiral out of control, Raffi must decide who to trust: her crew…or the machine guiding them. Because some discoveries are better left buried. And some warnings come too late. Star Trek: Zero Point #1 is an interesting companion series but feels a little familiar.

Written by Charlie Jane Anders, Star Trek: Zero Point #1 is a good start with an interesting concept for a Star Trek series. Taking place six years after Frontier Day, the comic sets off in a new direction with relatively new characters while also building off of Star Trek’s history. While you don’t need to know about Frontier Day, the event does play a role as a shadow over Star Trek: Zero Point #1. Raffi Musiker takes center stage with an interesting crew and a secret mission.

The secret mission makes Star Trek: Zero Point feel more like it should be called Star Trek: Pre-Cog. The missions are driven by an artificial intelligence to stop threats before they happen. It’s a concept we’ve seen before in so many stories and hopefully Star Trek, with its willingness to discuss moral and ethical dilemmas, will explore that many problems with the concept.

Star Trek: Zero Point #1 brings with it an interesting crew that again feels familiar. It’s a varied crew, going heavy in the alien direction and when brought together, the officers feel more like the various Lantern Corps. than your usual crew. There’s the logical Vulcan as engineer and a Trill counselor but it’s Caitian who looks like Dex-Starr, a Tzenkethi who looks like the Yellow Lantern Arkillo, and finally a Pandronian who reminds me of Marvel’s Slapstick. The variety of characters is great, don’t get me wrong. But, this crew feels like it’s drawing from other things out there visually and in that way slightly distracts.

But, Star Trek: Zero Point #1 is an interesting start setting the ship and its crew to a unique world that feels like there’s actual danger. It puts the ship into a situation that feels different and stands out from the many missions I’ve seen or read. So, the comic does deliver some unique aspects that make it overall feel like a hodgepodge of action and adventure.

The art by Isaac Sánchez González and lettering by Jodie Troutman is good. As mentioned earlier, the characters do look familiar at times but the comic has an interesting mix of familiar and new. It’s the situations that feel like they really stand out such as an opening of reflection on the moon and taking the ship into an icy ocean. It keeps readers on their toes of things they may feel like they’ve seen before while offering something new and different at the same time.

Star Trek: Zero Point #1 is a good first issue that delivers things both familiar and new. It has an interesting premise that hopefully it’ll address as a concept and a crew that is definitely new and interesting. Much like the main Star Trek series, this one is plotting a new course and direction from the franchise that both honors the past while heading into a new future.

Story: Charlie Jane Anders Art: Isaac Sánchez González Letters: Jodie Troutman
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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