Captain Kirk Returns From the Dead in New STAR TREK: THE LAST STARSHIP Comic Set After Picard
Captain James T. Kirk is officially coming back, but don’t expect to see him warping onto Paramount+ anytime soon. This time, the resurrection of Star Trek’s most iconic captain is happening in a new comic book series, thanks to IDW Publishing’s newly announced limited series Star Trek: The Last Starship.
Yeah, Kirk died in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, and yes, Star Trek: Picard revealed his body was being kept in stasis by Section 31. Fans have speculated ever since that the door was cracked open for a return, and now, IDW has swung it wide open.
Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (Star Trek, Batman Beyond: Neo-Year) with art by Adrián Bonilla, The Last Starship takes place during The Burn, a catastrophic event in Discovery’s timeline that shattered warp travel and plunged the galaxy into chaos. The story is set in that murky space between Picard and the far-future events of Discovery Season 3.
“Forget everything you know about Star Trek,” Lanzing says. “The Last Starship is a new crew, a new era, and a completely different tone; our aim is to be literary, intense, innovative, and most of all, accessible. We’re bringing you into the Federation’s darkest hour through the brilliant, noir-soaked lens of artist Adrián Bonilla with zero homework required.”
Lanzing also made it clear that while longtime fans will pick up on key Trek moments, this series is designed for everyone, not just franchise diehards:
“Longtime Trek fans will have a deep and fascinating reading experience, to be sure – this is a pivotal moment in Trek history that’s never been even glimpsed before – but above all, The Last Starship is a dark and complex sci-fi you can hand to anyone.”
The only familiar face leading this new frontier is one we thought we’d said goodbye to for good.
“The only familiar face is the one you’d never expect to see in this era: Captain James T. Kirk,” said co-writer Kelly. “William Shatner’s iconic performance transcends borders – Kirk is one of the great characters of the modern fiction canon with a timeless actor to match.
“He was also the first Star Trek character we ever wrote – a leader and warrior poet with boundless tragedy and contradiction. Now, we’re honored to be taking this character into truly uncharted, groundbreaking territory in The Last Starship – as the Federation’s greatest pioneer must face down the inferno that threatens to consume his entire legacy.”
Star Trek: The Last Starship is just one of four new limited series from IDW this year, and with bringing Kirk back, it’s shaping up boldly go where no Trek comic has gone before.
