Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Friday, and it’s time for another review. This week, I’m reviewing Star Trek: Red Shirts, a 5-issue comic book mini-series by Christopher Cantwell, Megan Levens, Charlie Kirchoff, and Jodie Troutman.
Star Trek: Red Shirts was published from July to December 2025 by IDW Publishing. Issues run between 28 and 32 pages long.
The Plot
Red Shirts is a gritty sci-fi adventure set on the frigid, hostile world of Arkonia 89, where a contingent of security officers from the U.S.S. Warren — all wearing the famous red uniforms — are sent to uncover and neutralise a spy threat. What could go wrong?
Characters
Ensign Chip Miller
Miller is a young Starfleet security officer who survives a brutal initial mission where most of his crew are killed. He is one of the “surviving” red shirts who is considered “lucky”. He has grown cynical about Starfleet’s use of redshirts, though, when chosen to be part of a security team for a new mission, he still shows bravery.
Ensign Zayna Raad
Raad is another human security officer and Miller’s closest counterpart, working with him at the antenna on Arkonia 89. She is portrayed as highly capable, intelligent, and a skilled combatant (specifically a kickboxing champion).
Lieutenant Midge DeMatrio
DeMatrio is the security chief of the U.S.S Warren. She’s a seasoned human officer in her forties, and a Klingon War veteran, who acts as a no-nonsense, dedicated, and protective leader for her security team.
Lieutenant Webster Cromarty
Cromarty has been stationed alone on Arkonia 89 for months, monitoring a station before the security team arrives. He’solder and hardened, having developed long-term emotional scars from his solitary assignment. He does not take kindly to”babysitting” the new team of Red Shirts, as he is fully aware of the high mortality rate associated with their role and holds a jaded view of the mission’s demands.
Lieutenant Salgado Amiga
Amiga is a lieutenant and a human officer who is part of the core team investigating Arkonia 89. He helps navigate the”chaotic ground-level” situations and discovers the secrets within Cromarty’s base.
Lieutenant René Lanier
Lanier is another human lieutenant, part of the core team left on the ground when others take the antenna.
Lieutenant Jodien Vesta
Vesta is a non-binary Betazoid officer whose empathic/telepathic abilities add texture to the team dynamics. Vesta’scharacter helps to dramatise the emotional toll of the mission—literally feeling the fear and pain around them—while still contributing as a capable security officer.
Petty Officer Grash
Grash is a young Bolian crewmember who brings a mix of enthusiasm and vulnerability. Her role in the antenna climb emphasises courage in the face of obviously lethal odds.
Borvik
Borvik is a Vulcan ensign who, having been rejected from the Vulcan Science Academy, settled for Starfleet Academy. He gives the group a more classically “logical” perspective on risk, sacrifice and the cold calculus of the mission.
Writing Style
Cantwell’s writing style neatly balances the philosophical and the visceral. He treats Star Trek themes such as duty, sacrifice, and the dangers of exploration with sincerity and occasional wryness, but never slides into parody.
The series is highly compelling and very character-driven, with each issue taking time to check in with multiple team members, allowing us to see how different people rationalise being “expendable”. We also get to see how their interactions with one another help bond them as a team.
Prosewise, the dialogue is punchy and contemporary without feeling wildly out of place for Star Trek. Internal monologue and narration are used sparingly, so most of the emotional work is done through reactions and interactions—exactly what you want in a comic, this visual and death-heavy.
Artwork
Megan Levens’ artwork is a highlight of the series. Her designs take familiar Star Trek iconography and give it an edge that suits this story’s harsher tone. Arkonia 89 becomes a terrifying backdrop under her pencils, populated by grotesque creatures and striking alien landscapes.
Colourist Charlie Kirchoff gives the book its signature look: bright, saturated Starfleet reds and Federation blues smashed up against sickly greens, murky night scenes and splashes of vivid, almost beautiful gore.
Rounding things out on the design side, Jodie Troutman’s lettering integrates smoothly, guiding the eye and reinforcing tension without calling attention to itself. Each issue is a brilliant work of art.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Red Shirts is more than an affectionate nod to franchise lore. It’s a gritty, thoughtful, and occasionally harrowing story that invites us to see what it really means to wear red in Starfleet.
If you like your Starfleet stories messy, morally complicated, and full of characters who deserve better than the uniforms they’re wearing, this mini-series earns its place on the shelf.
I’m giving Star Trek Red Shirts a full 10/10.
Have you read this mini-series? What did you think?
As ever, thank you for stopping by to read my review!
Until next time,
George
© 2026 GLT
Categories: Book Reviews, Reading
GEORGE L THOMAS 
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