In Review: Star Trek (2022-) #13

Synopsis: Arc three of the acclaimed Star Trek ongoing series starts here! Captain Benjamin Sisko’s quest to defeat the killer of gods is at an end, and the Prophets beckon him home to the Celestial Temple. He’s earned his rest, but when Starfleet requests his help to stop a familiar foe, the Tzenkethi Coalition, from launching the largest fleet in their history, Sisko and the Theseus’ crew set out to once again save the galaxy. But there’s a reason this species of spiritually rich, reptilian lizard birds has twice defeated Starfleet in battle. They’re xenophobic, ruthless, and innovative…and confronting them on their home turf, a planet thought to be an organism itself, is as good a death sentence as any.

The Story

Having defeated Kahless in the last issue. Sisko and the crew of the Theseus have returned to Starfleet Headquarters and very quickly find themselves assigned a new mission from Admiral Sato who is Ensign Sato’s father. Captain Sisko is ordered to go into Tzenkethi space to meet up with a member of Starfleet Intelligence who is using the codename Kingsnake. The mission is to investigate what the Tzenkethi are up to as they have been building a fleet of new ships, which could pose a threat to other races in the surrounding Alpha Quadrant. Given that Starfleet ships have not survived their prior encounters with Tzenkethi ships. This is very much looked upon as a suicide mission. But to make matters worse is the fact that Ensign Sato has lost three members of her family to the xenophobic race during prior encounters.

Artwork

Marcus To does a solid job of the artwork and seems to have taken about ten years off of Admiral Janeway with his interpretation of her. Much of this first issue takes place at Starfleet Headquarters with some moments on board the Theseus. So it’s mostly interiors. However, by the close of the issue, we get some stunning visuals of the Tzenkethi Homeworld that are a bit of a tease of what is to come. So overall the art is solid.

Overall

Writers  Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing continue to have fun in the Star Trek universe by allowing some of our favorite characters to meet. This issue opens up with a conversation between Captain Sisko and Admiral Janeway before it gets to the main course. It’s a fun moment and perhaps one of those moments that can only be done in novels or comics. We get some nice easter eggs in the issue. One of which refers back to the movie Star Trek: Insurrection due to the fact that Admiral Sato’s office used to belong to Admiral Dougherty who Sato says was always a snake. 

Overall. This is a fun issue that gives us our first look at the Tzenkethi who were often mentioned on the series, but never really seen.