Today, IDW’s first Star Trek Pride Month one-shot has arrived, just a few days before the arrival of June itself. Star Trek: Celebrations #1 is available about your local comic shop and/or public library beginning today!
To mark the occasion, Comics Beat Trek Team’s T4T power couple Rebecca Oliver Kaplan and Avery Kaplan are reviewing the issue. Have you had a chance to pick up your copy yet? Be sure and let The Beat know what you’re thinking in the comment section below this article. Let’s fly!
Star Trek: Celebrations #1
Star Trek: Celebrations #1Main Cover by: Paulina Ganucheau
Lettering by: Jodie Troutman
Design: Neil Uyetake
“The Knight Errand”
Written by: Steve Orlando
Art by: Lauren Knight
Colors: JP Jordan
“Lady Luck”
Written by: Vita Ayala
Art and Colors By: Liana Kangas
“Facemaker”
Written by: Mags Visaggio
Art by: Tench
Colors: Jordan
“Invitation Interruption”
Written by: Stephanie Williams
Art and Colors By: Denny Minonne
“Risian Rendezvous”
Written by: Hannah Rose May
Art by: Jack Lawrence
Colors: Rebecca Nalty
What did you think of “The Knight Errand”?
AVERY KAPLAN: I didn’t really expect to see a Kelvin Timeline story in this issue but it was a welcome surprise! I loved the visual details in this one (especially the adorable/horrifying Moopsy bedsheets). And I am always happy to see more Demora; I wish we had gotten more of her onscreen, so I am always happy when she gets to appear in a book or comic. I do remember that when Star Trek Beyond was released, George Takei had protested the reveal that Sulu was gay, saying that it was a change to the character… Almost a decade later, sensibilities about this sort of update have evolved, and I’m curious if Takei would still feel the same way today. Plus, this story is an excellent overture for Troutman’s awesome lettering.
REBECCA OLIVER KAPLAN: MOOPSY! I want to see “Moopsy speak” in Troutman’s letters. Also, 2024-2025 goals: more trans letterer love!
MOOPSY: Moopsy!
What did you think of “Lady Luck”?
REBECCA OLIVER: While we often talk about what saved us as children, we less often talk about the stories that saved us as adults: for me, the stories that saved me as a questioning kid—Star Trek, among others—and those that saved me as a genderqueer adult—Vita Ayala‘s work in comics, like on Submerged—met today. And I have to say: it’s nice to have Ayala in the world of comics again, especially for Trek‘s Pride issue, which they penned with their friend Liana Kangas on inks and colors.
In the duo’s story, Seven of Nine, whose journey to be officially recognized by the franchise as a lesbian is as long as I am old, gets a shining moment in green while dressing like “Cate Blanchett in Ocean’s 8 swag.” And if you think that means she can pack on Hella-sized verbal punch, then you’d be correct, as this is a story with something to say… and in a Pride story that felt uniquely queer, “Lady Luck” had something unique to say about authentic allyship with other queers and the energy we want to be brought into our communities; e.g. I loved Seven’s pointed line in the vein of Trixie Mattel‘s famous speech: “We don’t want your children.”
For people unhappy with where the duo’s story ended in Picard, this is the story Seven and Raffi deserved. And good news, everybody, more of the story can be found in the Star Trek: Picard audio drama “No Man’s Land.”
What did you think of “Facemaker”?
AVERY: I was super excited for Mags, a longtime and outspoken Trekkie, to write a Star Trek story, and “Facemaker” did not disappoint. I appreciated that this story played to many of Mags’ authorial trademarks, while perhaps pulling some blows (so as to better fit into the Trek universe).
Perhaps my favorite part was the way the 23rd century Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) tech was integrated into the story. This reminded me a bit of a couple of previously Pride Month stories, “Something New Every Day” by Lilah Sturges, Derek Charm, Brittany Peer and Ariana Maher from Marvel’s Voices: Pride (2021) #1 and “No Trespassing: Beware of Dog” by H.E. Edgmon, Lorenzo Susi, Kelly Fitzpatrick and Maher from Marvel’s Voices: Pride (2023) #1. In both those stories, the characters are dealing with the availability and affordability of HRT — as is fitting for stories set in the Marvel Universe, which is meant to reflect “the world outside your window.”
Meanwhile, “Facemaker” shows a world where HRT tech has advanced and evolved, as is befitting the inclusive technological utopia of Star Trek. I think both perspectives are valuable and necessary here in 2024… but I’d personally prefer to visit the world of Trek, thanks!
What did you think of “Innovation Interruption”?
REBECCA OLIVER: A question I never thought of before “Innovation Interruption,” written by Stephanie Williams with inks and colors by Denny Minonne, is why no one in the future has tried to engineer Spider-Bots.
While Star Trek: Discovery‘s Time Bugs come close, the techno spiders designed by the young engineers in this story could come right out of WEBSLINGERS at Disney’s California Adventure—and I like that (plus, Williams has the Spider-Man comics resume to back it up). While I know the real answer has to do with pesky IP law, it can still be frustrating to see futurized Trekno-versions of almost every other aspect of modern tech, except tech developed by competing media companies.
What did you think of “Risian Rendezvous”?
REBECCA OLIVER: I want to shout out Jen and Mariner’s Dirty Dancing moment. Not only is having a queer couple get to live out that historic film moment significant (it wasn’t openly possible for gay characters in the film), but it also has real-world significance, as the Swazyes’ were vocal allies of marginalized communities.
While watching a dance documentary on dance in America, I learned that Patsy Swayze, the mom of Patrick Swayze, who is well-known for his role in Dirty Dancing, was a true badass and hero as one of the only dance teachers in Texas to open her studio to students of color, including the legendary Debbie Allen.
What did you think of the one-shot overall?
REBECCA OLIVER: I want to commend IDW. I have been somewhat critical of the line, but it’s really picked up recently. This one-shot alone encourages me to give some books a second chance.
AVERY: This is exactly the kind of content I’d like to see out of the Star Trek comics, and I hope we get more of it in the months and years to come.
Star Trek should always be progressive, not regressive, and doubly so when many mainstream comics seem convinced that backwards is the way forwards. It isn’t. If you’ve got a problem with it, slingshot yourself around the sun and take it up with the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry.
What Star Trek characters would you hope to see in a future installment of Star Trek: Celebrations?
AVERY: I enjoyed the inclusion of a Kelvin Timeline story, and it makes me feel like the 90s-era shows should get their own stories, too. I’d love to see a The Next Generation story that reclaims “The Outcast,” and obviously, there’s no shortage of narrative fodder in Deep Space Nine.
Finally, while I appreciate the Seven and Raffi story and wouldn’t want to lose it, we could have another story set on Voyager about Seven’s earlier romantic life, or another queer Voy crewmember. And I mean… we sort of got our Enterprise story already, in “Facemaker”!
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to miss out on these stories about the new era of shows, I just want more. Get these queer stories multiplying like embarrassed Dooplers, post haste!
REBECCA OLIVER: I would love a story about Seven’s early romantic life. We—or at least I—have a lot of questions and think there is room in the market for more queer space outlaws, especially women.
Star Trek: Celebrations #1 is currently available at your local comic book shop and/or public library.
Keep up with all of The Beat’s Star Trek coverage here.
