In Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds—The Illyrian Enigma #1 (of 4)

Synopsis: The Illyrian Enigma picks up where the Strange New Worlds series left off. With Una aka Number One accused of unlawful genetic modification by Starfleet, Captain Pike sets out in search of evidence that could prove her innocence.

The Story

Following up on the episodes ‘Ghost of Illyria’ and ‘A Quality of Mercy’, ‘The Illyrian Enigma sees Captain Pike go against Starfleet to prove First Officer Una Chin-Riley’s innocence. Ordered on a mild run by Admiral April. Captain Pike reluctantly takes on the mission. The crew of the Enterprise also troubled by the arrest of Una gather together to help make a case for the Captain to launch an investigation to learn more about Una’s people. Luckily, there is an Illyrian colony that they can check on en-route to their destination. So the Captain and crew choose to say a simple hello to the colony in the hopes that they can enlist help in order to free Una. 

Artwork

Megan Levens does a solid job of the artwork and captures the character likenesses really well. Added to that is the details that we see around the ship and how accurately the artists manages to capture Pike’s quarters. Charlie Kirchoff does some great colorwork for this issue. I especially loved the final couple of panels where we see the Enterprise in orbit of the Pryllia colony, which is surrounded by asteroids.

Overall

Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson deliver a solid story that will perhaps keep fans satisfied unto Strange New Worlds returns later in 2023. The heart of the story is about Starfleet’s prejudice against genetic engineering and its fear of a repeat of Khan Noonien Singh from the 1990s. However, in the case of the Illyrians, it’s an unfounded fear as they have never attacked Starfleet or Earth and so little is known about them. A point that Uhura is keen to point out to Captain Pike. In fact, the discussion between Uhura, Chapel, and Ortegas in the ships recreation room is what Star Trek is all about. 

This is a really strong opening issue and I can’t wait to read more of this story and find out what happens next month.