In Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds—The Seeds of Salvation #1

Synopsis: In The Seeds of Salvation, Christine Chapel finds herself restless after a string of routine missions. When the chance arises to reunite with her old friend, scientist Jinare, on the planet Poilant, she leaps at the opportunity. At last, Chapel can embrace what Starfleet was meant for: exploring strange new worlds.

The Story

In this story, Nurse Chapel is growing restless after a series of missions to lifeless planets with little chance for adventure. When Captain Pike suggests shore leave at a quiet, uneventful starbase, Chapel decides instead to contact her old friend, scientist Jinare, who is stationed on the planet Poilant. She asks to join Jinare’s research team, turning her leave into an opportunity for discovery.

The very next day, however, the Enterprise intercepts a distress call from Poilant. Attempts to respond are met with silence, prompting Pike to send down an away team. On the planet’s surface, Chapel, La’an, Scotty, and Spock find no trace of life. Inside the research station, they encounter a robot who explains that Jinare and her colleagues ventured beneath the planet’s icy surface after receiving a mysterious signal from within the ice. Using a submarine, the scientists descended below — and never returned. Acting on this information, the away team prepares to take the remaining submarine and continue the search.

Artwork

 Travis Mercer takes a somewhat stylised approach to the artwork, which suits the alien environments of the story but proves a little hit-and-miss when it comes to capturing character likenesses. One sequence I particularly enjoyed was the team’s descent through the research complex in the elevator — a clever series of panels that begins in total darkness and gradually brightens as each floor is revealed. I also appreciated the industrial, utilitarian design of the robot, which felt both practical and visually striking.

Overall

The Seeds of Salvation starts off at a measured pace but gradually builds tension, layering the mystery piece by piece until it fully takes hold.