{"id":36769,"date":"2026-10-20T17:30:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T17:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=36769"},"modified":"2026-10-20T17:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T17:30:29","slug":"star-trek-lower-decks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/10\/20\/star-trek-lower-decks\/","title":{"rendered":"STAR TREK: Lower Decks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Ryan North<\/strong>, Chris Fenoglio<\/strong>, Johanna Nattalie<\/strong>, Jake Wood<\/strong> & various (Idea & Design Works)
\nISBN: 978-1-684059-62-1 (TPB), 978-1-649361-14-1 (Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: And Lo! A Silly New star Appeared in an Already Pretty Crowded firmament \u20268\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can generally tell how much you love something by how able you are to laugh at and with it\/they\/them. Don\u2019t take my word for it, you can just ask your life partner\/cat\/pub quiz teammates\/fellow trolls before rocking and reeling in their revelations…<\/p>\n

Star Trek<\/strong> debuted on US televisions on September 8th<\/sup> 1966, running until June 3rd<\/sup> 1969: three seasons comprising 79 episodes. Many of them were quite funny.<\/p>\n

A moderate success, the series only really became popular after going into syndication, where it ran constantly in local TV regions throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was also sold all over the world, popping up seemingly everywhere and developing quite a devoted fanbase. Being a third world country, Britain didn\u2019t see the show until July 12th<\/sup> 1969, during the rocket fever surrounding the Apollo moon landings. BBC One screened \u201cWhere No Man Has Gone Before\u201d <\/em>in black-&-white before proceeding to broadcast the rest of the series in the wrong order. \u201cArena\u201d<\/em> was the first episode screened in colour (November 15th<\/sup> 1969), but viewers didn\u2019t care. We were all hooked anyway and many of the show\u2019s catchphrases – quite a few erroneous and some entirely fictitious – swiftly and indelibly entered the popular lexicon of the nation.<\/p>\n

As well as a wealth of US comic books and Japanese manga from various licensees, T<\/em><\/strong>he O<\/strong>riginal S<\/strong>eries<\/em> spawned a British-originated comic strip which ran (from the end of the 1960s well into the 1970s) in Joe 90<\/strong>, TV21<\/strong> and TV21 and Valiant<\/strong>. These have also been collected and I\u2019ll get to them in the fullness of time and space.<\/p>\n

Back in the USA, after that slow start the show became an overwhelming and influential fan-driven phenomenon. The original cast returned in a film franchise and the core concept was repeatedly expanded upon with a wealth of spin-off franchises and formats such as Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/strong>, Deep Space Nine<\/strong>, Voyager<\/strong> and many others. Books, comics, games and more movies expanded the mythology, as did a steady stream of small screen series and shows… and now it\u2019s been sixty years!<\/p>\n

Irreverent, inventive and utterly mired in all the established continuity ever, a fully animated series aimed at what we will kindly call adults was created by writer\/producer\/showrunner Mike McMahan (Golden Axe<\/strong>, Solar Opposites<\/strong>, Rick and Morty<\/strong>, Drawn Together<\/strong>, South Park<\/strong>) and aired between August 6th<\/sup> 2020 and December 2024 – 50 episodes across five seasons.<\/p>\n

Star Trek: Lower Decks <\/strong>was the ninth conceptual iteration of the all-encompassing brand and is the funniest of all of them. It was also popular enough to generate a crossover with current flagship series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds<\/strong>. I\u2019m not going to be the guy who proselytises and bleats on, pointedly explaining why it\u2019s the best. If you\u2019ve seen it, you know I\u2019m right and if you haven\u2019t yet I\u2019m still right and you need to buck your ideas up…<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re taking a timely look at the first graphic novel compilation gathering the material from #1-3 of IDW\u2019s 2023 comic book spin-off.
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\nWhat you might as well know as you\u2019re all here anyway:<\/em> Star Trek: Lower Decks<\/strong> details the fraught, frantic and often self-inflicted lives of some of the support crew and junior ranks of Federation starship Cerritos<\/em> in the late 24th<\/sup> century, specifically following a motley crew of friends as they pursue career advancement. Captained by competent yet deeply unfulfilled Captain Carol Freeman<\/em>, Cerritos is a second-contact vessel, a fleet workhorse following up and doing all the admin, actual deliveries and promise-keeping after glamour boys like Kirk<\/em>, Picard<\/em> or Will Riker<\/em> have done all the gladhanding, scoffed all the banquets, thrashed the covert baddies and scandalised all the conservative element by canoodling with any available space hotties…<\/p>\n

The ship\u2019s senior officers include testosterone-addicted, iron-pumping himbo First Officer Jack Ransom<\/em>; excitable Bajoran-born security chief Shaxs<\/em> and aging foul-mouthed feline (Caitian) chief medical officer T\u2019Ana<\/em>, but our main focus is the daily lives of those they are training for succession and even eventual command.<\/p>\n

Most prominent – or at least loudest and most disruptive – is resolutely rebel rule-breaker Beckett Mariner <\/em>(and Captain Freeman\u2019s intransigent daughter); ambitious, anxious career-obsessed super-suck-up Brad Boimler<\/em>; sweetly inoffensive Orion pirate-princess-turned-science-geek D\u2019Vana Tendi<\/em> and cyborg engineering nerd Sam Rutherford<\/em>, who all bunk together in the bowels of the ship while seeking promotion, recognition, extra sleep, fun and no more scutwork…<\/p>\n

They are all convinced that they have seen everything there is to see but despite that – and the repetitive menial tasks – are all honestly devout and sworn to uphold the tenets of the multi-species United Federation of Planets… even if they\u2019re stuck on (one of) Starfleet\u2019s least important ships…<\/p>\n

Written by Ryan North (How To Take Over The World<\/strong>, How To Invent Everything<\/strong>, Slaughterhouse-Five<\/strong>, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl<\/strong>, Dinosaur Comics<\/strong>) and illustrated by Chris Fenoglio (Star Wars<\/strong>, Batman: The Animated Series<\/strong>, Goosebumps<\/strong>, X-Files<\/strong>), this star-date\u2019s tale starts \u2018All in a Sea of Wonders\u2019 <\/em>as just another case of the awe-inspiring bridge crew mediating a ceasefire between two species who hate each other leads to Cerritos being despatched to the Qvanti system; an odd civilisation that developed starflight rather late in their development and therefore are simultaneous classified as highly-advanced and primitive at the same time…<\/p>\n

Meanwhile on a holodeck and enjoying their well-earned down-time, Mariner, Tendi and Rutherford are trying to enjoy Boimler\u2019s latest fully-immersive fantasy show-plays. Typically, as they roam solid-light smog-filled streets in \u201c19th<\/sup> century London\u201d, they review the so-very-large record of holodeck disasters, AI escapes and universal menaces accidently brought to life and unleashed by meddling with sensibly in place programs.
\n\"\"
\nNaturally, gleefully disruptive Mariner just can\u2019t help herself and as Cerritos hits an undefinable energy field generated by the enigmatic Qvanti, she resets holodeck safety protocols and character parameters. Soon a shockingly smart sentient is aware, seductively refined, coolly likeable, incredibly impatient to see the worlds beyond his eyes. Calculatedly cunning Count Dracula<\/em> is loose amongst them, with all his powers of shapeshifting, elemental manipulation, cloak-waving, heavy-metal rock guitar solos, mind control, counting scarily and laughing sinisterly…<\/p>\n

At least the light-impaler can\u2019t drink actual blood or turn his victims into undead thralls… oh wait, once he upgrades himself, Vlad can do that too…
\n\"\"
\nWhen Dracula emerges amongst the rest of the crew and then down to the Qvanti homeworld – where the veteran Bridge crew are enduring major problems resulting from bad briefing notes, poor communication and smug overconfident assumptions – it\u2019s the end of at least one world as we know it. With Dracula loose in two different Qvanti populations both spending all their time trying to eradicate the interfering Starfleet busybodies, it all gets quite complicated very soon, and it\u2019s time for Beckett to get creative and break something again…<\/p>\n

As is the nature of these things, each individual episode was accompanied by themed extras and that augmented at the end by a gallery of covers and variants by Fenoglio, Troy Little, Derek Charm, Philip Murphy and Robby Cook, plus some smart use of TV show standbys.<\/p>\n

\u2018Badgey Explains it All…\u2019<\/em> reveals sly \u201ccallbacks\u201d scattered throughout the tale which invoke and reference assorted Trek lore onscreen appearances from the other eight incarnations, whilst \u2018<\/em>Rutherford\u2019s Holodeck Hangout!\u2019 <\/em>details other Holodeck alumni. The way Fenoglio brought North\u2019s script to life (non-holodeck-ily) is deconstructed in an Art Process feature which is supported by a beseeching and beguiling \u2018Travel to Qvanti\u2019<\/em> brochure and chance to \u2018Experience Dracula\u2019s Castle\u2019<\/em>.
\n\"\"
\nThese are supported in our Post-Scarcity Federation by ads<\/span> helpful reminders of what can be materialised with the right commands to the \u2018Cerritos Food Replicators\u2019 <\/em>– specialities like Warp 5 Nachos<\/em>, Elote<\/em> and Vegan, cruelty-free Strawberry Dracquiris!<\/em> We offer a peek at \u2018Dracula\u2019s Art Gallery\u2019<\/em>, his personal reflections on Anna Karenina<\/em>, other ways to enjoy Qvanti tourism plus an outworld late look at The New York Comic Con Lower Decks mural<\/em> and even more outrageous in-universe silliness & shenanigans…<\/p>\n

Dedicated to taking itself not at all seriously, Star Trek Lower Decks<\/strong> is an utter delight in comics as much as on screen. Boldly go there now if you badly need a vicarious voyage of discovery and to giggle where no being has giggled before…
\nSTAR TREK: LOWER DECKS May 2023 \u2122 & \u00a9 CBS Studios Inc. Star Trek and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ryan North, Chris Fenoglio, Johanna Nattalie, Jake Wood & various (Idea & Design Works) ISBN: 978-1-684059-62-1 (TPB), 978-1-649361-14-1 (Digital edition) Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: And Lo! A Silly New star Appeared in an Already Pretty Crowded firmament \u20268\/10 You can generally tell how much you love something by how able you are to laugh … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “STAR TREK: Lower Decks”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80,191,113,300,239,102,125,124,225,127,107,30,123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adaptations","category-adventure","category-comedy","category-dracula","category-drama","category-fantasy","category-humour","category-licensed-product","category-mystery","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction","category-star-trek","category-tv-adaptations"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9z3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36769"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36777,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36769\/revisions\/36777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}