Earlier this year IDW announced the Day of Blood crossover event coming to their ongoing Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant series. They have now released more details and a few covers.
Day of Blood
The Day of Blood storyline gets teased with a special prelude issue on Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, May 6th, with a story written by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Christopher Cantwell, and illustrated by Mike Feehan. The series kicks off in earnest in July with the Star Trek: Day of Blood #1 one-shot special and continues on through the next four issues of Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant, arriving in August and September.
“Creating the first-ever Star Trek comic book summer event was our goal from the very beginning of conversations surrounding Star Trek #1’s launch last fall,” says IDW senior editor Heather Antos in a statement. “The fact that both series have been received so well—all credit to the amazing team of writers and artists across the line—is absolutely incredible. We’re only going bigger, badder, and more boldly in Day of Blood.”
Here is a synopsis for the series:
The emperor of the Klingon Empire, Kahless II, will declare war on all those who do not follow the cult of the Red Path! Having raided ancient tombs, claimed near-limitless power for himself, and slaughtered cosmic entities across the stars, Kahless sees the genocide of gods as simply his first step to total domination. The iconic crew of the U.S.S. Theseus, led by Benjamin Sisko, and the renegades who follow a desperate, violent Worf aboard the U.S.S. Defiant must unite for a common cause. Only together can they hope to stop the Day of Blood!
Day of Blood #1 Cover A by Malachi Ward
“Star Trek was the original shared universe…so Collin, Chris, and I are deeply honored to continue to bring a line-wide continuity and intricately planned storyline to the new IDW comics line,” says Lanzing in a statement. “Our very first pitch on this story included two interlocking ongoing titles that could build to a kind of event unlike any that Trek comics have managed before—an inspiring, mind-bending flagship series in Star Trek and a more subtle, dark, and dangerous series in Defiant. It was an absolute pipe dream of a pitch, one that we never imagined would become the backbone of a hit new comics line—nor unite us with a writer of Christopher Cantwell’s caliber, who would push us to constantly deliver next-level comics storytelling, nor masterful artists like Ramon Rosanas and Ángel Unzueta, who would elevate every page with their designs, artistry, and ambition. And now, one year into the line, we’re finally ready to bring it all to a head with our very first line-wide comics event.”
Cover A for Part 2 of Day of Blood in Star Trek: Defiant #6 by Malachi Ward
“Worf has a warning for his one-time friend and captain, Benjamin Sisko: Kahless the Unforgettable, the sovereign of the Klingon Empire and killer of gods, is preparing to unleash something truly horrific on his own people. Converging on the Klingon homeworld, the two crews will have their long-awaited reunion…but even with tempers hot, the two have no choice but to put aside old grievances or else watch the carefully cultivated peace of the Beta Quadrant burn in the fires of holy crusade. With mighty Kahless at their head, the Red Path will not be stopped until all those who do not share their absolute faith are cut down,” says Kelly. “We started laying the groundwork for this story in Star Trek: Year Five, built upon it in Star Trek: Aliens—Klingons, and then will truly kick it off in this year’s Free Comic Book Day prelude, so it’s no exaggeration that Day of Blood is an event three years in the making!”
“I sincerely believe that Day of Blood is the ‘lost episode/movie/epic limited series’ that Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and The Next Generation fans have been dying for. But what’s truly amazing is that beyond those series, we’re tying in a heaping dose of Lower Decks (in the form of Shaxs), the original series (including a reunion of Spock and Scotty) and so many other aspects of this universe. It’s truly a galactic panacea unlike any Trek story I’ve encountered in the past as a fan,” says Cantwell. “What’s also wonderful about this series is that things happen in it that can only exist in the realm of comics in terms of scope and pure sci-fi imagination, all anchored by beautiful core themes of partnership, parenthood, second chances, and the belief in a better tomorrow…whether that be a utopian or a vainglorious one. Buckle in because this is the Trek saga of my dreams!”
Cover A for Part 3 of Day of Blood in Star Trek #11 by Malachi Ward
Day of Blood Schedule
MAY 2023
Prelude to Star Trek: Day of Blood (Free Comic Book Day)
by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Christopher Cantwell, and Ramon Rosanas
JULY 2023
Part One: Star Trek: Day of Blood #1
by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Christopher Cantwell, and Ramon Rosanas
AUGUST 2023
Part Two: Star Trek: Defiant #6
by Christopher Cantwell and Ángel Unzueta
Part Three: Star Trek #11
by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Ángel Unzueta
SEPTEMBER 2023
Part Four: Star Trek: Defiant #7
by Christopher Cantwell and Ángel Unzueta
Part Five: Star Trek #12
by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Ángel Unzueta
In addition to the A covers by Malachi Ward (Prophet, Black Hammer Reborn), additional variant covers for the crossover series will feature artwork from a wide spectrum of phenomenal artists including David Aja, Elizabeth Beals, Taurin Clarke, Chris Fenoglio, Bryan Hitch, Daniel Johnson, Liana Kangas, Megan Levens, Joe Quinones, Rahzahh, Rod Reis, Ramon Rosanas, Marcus To, Ángel Unzueta, Suspiria Vilchez, Christian Ward, Christian Ward, and JK Woodward.
Prelude to Day of Blood cover
Pre-order Star Trek comics
You can pre-order upcoming IDW Star Trek comics at TFAW. You can also pre-order digital editions at Amazon/comiXology.
And for the Prelude issue, visit freecomicbookday.com for more info on picking up a copy.
Keep up with all the Star Trek comics news, previews and reviews in TrekMovie’s comics category.
Alright, some of the comic art is outright clumsy – but this cover of the Klingon (Kahless?) swinging the bat’leth is super cool.
I agree on both counts.
Also, Jackson Lanzing says above that Star Trek is the original shared universe. I hope he was joking, because that’s not even remotely true. I think the Universal Monsters and Godzilla would beg to differ.
is the art coming from high school art class final projects or something? Comically bad (pun intended).
Also: ‘It’s truly a galactic panacea unlike any Trek story I’ve encountered in the past as a fan’
Bro….there have been crew mashups like that for ages…..and I’m not sure if the writer of the series understands what the word ‘panacea’ means. This doesn’t bode well :\
I was thinking the same thing. I keep seeing interviews with these writers that make me think they believe they’re writing the first major Trek series crossover. I think DC, Malibu, Marvel (especially), Wildstorm and Pocket would all majorly disagree. The current series are fun, but they’re not anything overly new. Every few years, a publisher puts out a series combining characters from multiple series. Heck, Peter David’s New Frontier went on for YEARS with that format. And Marvel’s Telepathy War crossed over to every single title they published.