In Review: Star Trek: The Last Starship #4 – Child Without Fear

Synopsis: First Officer Wowie Carter was once called the child without fear. But with the Federation in freefall and Earth still reeling from a brutal Klingon assault, fear is all that remains—and Wowie is cracking under its weight. The U.S.S. Omega’s mission is clear: Gather the final delegates for the Babel Conference, the Federation’s last, fragile chance at unity. A future of peace still seems possible…on paper. But every time Wowie returns to Earth, the home they once loved slips further into despair. As alliances fracture and chaos spreads, Wowie faces a question no one dares ask: What’s left to save when hope is already gone?

The Story

After surviving the Klingons in the previous issue, the crew of the Omega turn their attention to assembling the various delegates required for a Babal Conference. First Officer Wowie Carter is tasked with making the necessary diplomatic rounds, but the mission comes with an unexpected complication. Because the U.S.S. Omega uses a Borg-derived warp drive, it lacks the protective warp bubble generated by Federation dilithium crystals. As a result, Wowie and the crew are exposed to a severe time-dilation effect, leaving them far more vulnerable to the ravages of time.

Throughout the issue, Wowie repeatedly returns to Earth at different points during his assignment. Each visit reveals that years have passed for his parents, though not always for him. These encounters flesh out Wowie’s personal history and underline the growing ideological rift between him and his family. Earth has withdrawn from the Federation and adopted a strongly isolationist stance, a movement his scientist parents actively support. They disapprove of Wowie’s continued service in Starfleet, seeing it as allegiance to a failed ideal.

By the story’s conclusion, Wowie reports back to Captain Sato, concluding that James T. Kirk may be the best candidate for the Babal mission, despite it requiring a 23-year journey due to time dilation.

Artwork

Adrián Bonilla delivers solid, confident artwork throughout the issue. While the book offers very little in the way of outright action, it compensates with a strong focus on micro-expressions and subtle facial acting, particularly as characters visibly age across the story’s shifting timelines. This quiet visual storytelling is one of the issue’s greatest strengths.

I especially enjoyed the opening pages, which establish Wowie during a workout in the ship’s gym as he reflects on not being particularly fearful. It’s a smart piece of character groundwork that pays off later. As the story unfolds, we learn that this outlook was instilled in him by his father, whom we meet here, who raised his son to fear nothing. That philosophy stands in stark contrast to Wowie’s family in the present, who have become deeply fearful after witnessing the immense death and destruction caused by the Burn.

The dinner table scenes are particularly effective, capturing the emotional tension as Wowie is forced to justify his continued service in Starfleet. His parents believe the Federation has outlived its purpose and argue that Earth should fully embrace isolationism. I was also impressed by how convincingly the artists age the characters during each visit, with clear visual distinctions marking the five-year gap between Wowie’s first and second return, and the much heavier thirteen-year gap between the second and third.

Overall

This was an enjoyable issue that offered useful insight into Wowie Carter and a brief but effective glimpse of his upbringing on Earth. The story adds emotional context to his continued loyalty to Starfleet, even as the Federation itself is increasingly rejected.

I particularly liked the detail that his father built him a replica of James T. Kirk’s phaser. Set more than 700 years after Kirk’s original five-year mission, it’s a small but resonant moment that highlights how Starfleet’s ideals continue to echo long after its golden age.