Star Trek: Voyager – Seven’s Reckoning Part 1 of 4
IDW Publishing
Written by Dave Baker
Art by Angel Hernandez
Colors by Ronda Pattison
Letters by Neil Uyetake
This week IDW Publishing launches its first-ever Star Trek: Voyager mini-series, just in time to celebrate this year’s 25th anniversary of Voyager. Seven’s Reckoning is set during the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager, right between “Scientific Method” and “Year of Hell pt. 1.” We have a review plus a preview of the first five pages.
Cover A by Angel Hernandez
Review
“You like being one of many. A member of an ensemble…but…you are a protagonist. Whether you want to be or not… you are.” – Greeb the Vesh to Seven of Nine
What must it have been like for Seven of Nine to transition from being an ensemble character while assimilated with the Borg to becoming an individual, a person with her own story, aboard the USS Voyager? While the TV show did a good job exploring that transition, this four-part limited comic book series from IDW promises to be a fascinating look at that period of time.
Set shortly after Seven’s liberation from the Collective, Dave Baker’s story begins with the USS Voyager making its long journey home to Earth from the Delta Quadrant and encountering a vessel broadcasting a distress call. But when Voyager answers the call, there seems to be no one alive on board. When Captain Janeway sends Tuvok over to investigate with an away team, she has him bring their newest shipmate along with them, hoping her Borg knowledge could help determine what species built the ship.
Of course, the ship is not empty, but is crewed by a fascinating race of aliens, the Ohrdi’nadar, who perceive all of life as an ongoing story in which some people are protagonists and others are supporting characters or even background extras. But what happens when Seven’s quest to discover her individuality spills over to encourage the alien “extras” to discover their own personhood?
This issue is a well-written setup for what looks to be an intriguing limited series. The story is not without its flaws: There is a completely unnecessary and annoying opening narration, some details of the alien culture are quite reminiscent of themes from Babylon 5, and at points it seemed like we were seeing a Season 7 version of Seven of Nine, rather than the Season 4 version. However, the characters have their well-established voices, the aliens are fascinating, the story is engrossing, and there is delightful and familiar banter among the Voyager crew.
The art by Angel Hernandez and Ronda Pattison is excellent, with strong likenesses of our well-loved characters in the context of a more impressionistic approach to line work. The ships are well-referenced, and the layouts are strong. If there’s a complaint to be had about the art, it’s that Hernandez’s broad details style means that in long shots of the characters, they become quite generic. The coloring in some Star Trek comics is so dark that it’s difficult to make out the details of ships and interiors, but that is not a problem here. Ronda Pattison’s palette does a good job of allowing characters and props to “pop” without darkening the backgrounds beyond recognition.
It remains to be seen how this story will develop over the next three issues, but this is a good start, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.
5-page preview
Available Wednesday
The 32-page comic Star Trek: Voyager – Seven’s Reckoning #1 will be released on Wednesday, November 18. You can pre-order it at TFAW for $3.19. You can also pre-order the digital version at Amazon ComiXology for $3.34.
Keep up with all the Star Trek comics news, previews and reviews in TrekMovie’s comics category.
I really miss Voyager.
I do miss Voyager as a running series and would be awesome as a return run,of living members(if original star trek members could,why not original voyager cast members get a movie as well)?
Debra, none of the main cast of Voyager has passed on… who are you thinking of?
Same!
At least we’ll get Janeway back next year! :)
Yeah so
I miss Janeway and Seven of Nine.
We got Seven of Nine back in Picard though. And my guess is she’ll be a permanent cast member on the show next season. It would be crazy not to since she was clearly one of the most popular characters on the show and who everyone raved about.
I miss Voyager so much.
I miss is too. Janeway was a great Captain and I loved the ship and crew. I also really appreciated last weeks Discovery, which provided a wonderful acknowledgement of the show and it’s legacy in the Star Trek universe.
Now with a possible democratic government next year (?), it would be interesting if Manny Coto would helm a right wing Star Trek series in a counterculture attempt. With Roxann Dawson as the lead and Dwight Schulz, Kelsey Grammer and the uncle of Jack Quaid as further cast members.
Come on, now, aren’t there other sites available to peddle this nonsense?
You tell me. Trekmovie is the only site I participate with. If you know a site more suitiable to me please recommend.
Ah, one of those… What do you mean “possible”? Being a sore loser and having an ego too big to admit you were beaten (badly) and being so incredibly selfish to now endanger a proper transition doesn’t make Trump’s defeat any less real. Wake up.
Four years ago I would have agreed with you. But after those four years I have changed my perception of the US drastically. I now think everything is possible there. I already woke up more than I like.
Ok fair enough. But Trump isn’t the US. Don’t let Trump change your perception of the US. The world is waiting for this idiot to go away so they can get back to business with America. I personally believe that common sense will prevail in the US and that events will unfold how they should, despite the attempts of a few deluded fools.
My perception of the US has changed and I live in the US.
The last four years was one long nightmare. Enough is enough!
Trump and his enablers can go to hell. I’m moving on with my life. I’m done!
What Trump is doing is just so shameful! I mean every time you think this guy can’t get any lower, he finds another rung to step down on. It’s incredible what is happening. He lost and lost by a huge margin and he can’t just accept reality. We have never had anyone in over 200 years not concede an election when it’s brutally clear they lost. He’s now losing by six million votes, TWICE the size he lost in the popular vote last time and by the exact same electoral college votes he won by and what Trump at the time called a landslide. He’s made over 20 useless lawsuits with all but one thrown out the door because his lawyers have presented zero evidence fraud and yet what he’s still claiming. Meanwhile they need the transition to happen to start dealing with the covid mess he is totally ignoring. This man is scum.
This, this right here, is why so many want this idiot gone. Four years of this nut job. He doesn’t care about this country at all, all he cares about is his narcissistic ego and staying in power while his sheep like followers keep enabling him. I can not believe he was ever President in the first place because of situations like this. We have a man child as President who was a disgrace coming into the office and certainly one going out. A total embarrassment the world is watching and shaking their heads at. Can not wait until he’s finally gone.
“A total embarrassment the world is watching and shaking their heads at.”
Well said Tiger2. World leaders are just biding their time until he goes away. He doesn’t even take the G7 summits seriously. He leaves before the end, shows up late, doesn’t participate in sessions (having Ivanka proxy for him. I have nothing against her, but she knows nothing of world politics and has absolutely no business representing the US in those meetings)… So yes he is a total embarrassment and the world is shaking their head, but as I was saying above, they are directing their contempt at Trump, not at the US. Trump is not the US and 4 years of his blatant self-serving tenure can’t make the world forget what the US is and stands for. I’m Canadian so I’m part of this world looking from outside. Biden may not be the ideal candidate but he will be a good start to put this back on track.
I live in the US and a US citizen. I did vote in the election for Joe Biden. Anything can happen in America.
Don’t let Trump make you hate the United States. We are nice people.
Trump is afraid to lose. Joe Biden will be president in January. America is back to business.
Common sense will prevail in the US eventually. The transition will go on as expected.
I was thinking about moving to Canada, Australia, or New Zealand if Trump won the election.
Thank God he lost. Now we have to wait for him to leave the White House.
As a US citizen, I share the same views too.
What exactly would a “right-wing Trek” series be? One in which the Federation builds barriers to keep out unwanted aliens? Or faces some sort of threat from within, such as misguided or “deep state” operatives working to undermine Federation interests? Perhaps a version of Section 31 full of Jack Bauer types, “doing what has to be done” to protect the Federation, even torture, which is depicted as justified and preventing catastrophe? (Come to think of it, “Enterprise” came close to that one on occasion.)
Like it or not, Star Trek is inherently liberal. In some incarnations, it’s been willing to question some of its own liberal assumptions, more (DS9) or less (Enterprise) thoughtfully. But any attempt to remake Star Trek in accordance with right-wing values would be doomed to failure.
“Like it or not, Star Trek is inherently liberal.”
Quite true. I think this is an inherent quality of being open-minded, which Star Trek certainly is and most conservatives are not.
This comic book review somehow has become a partisan thing.
CLOSED
I miss Voyager!!!