Comic Review: Star Trek – Lower Decks #13

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

On their way to their interrupted Second Contact mission, Boimler and Rutherford mess with a domestic android, while Mariner avoids a dentist appointment.

OUR TAKE

We kick off the six part story arc that may or may not be the final one of this comic’s run, and…if that’s the case, it’s not off to a great start. The series thus far has just been two issue story arcs, so I guess it’s neat to see what is essentially a self-contained story, which if I had to guess is just a prelude of on ship shenanigans before the plot gets under way, as hinted at the end of this issue when the inhabitants of the planet the Cerritos is heading to are discovered to be missing. However, if that is the case, these are a couple weak plots, even for short comedic ones. Boimler and Rutherford assembling an android that then goes a bit kill crazy is a kind of funny idea, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before in Star Trek, especially in recent Star Trek, and it’s by far the most anemic of that group. Meanwhile, Mariner running from a dentist appointment is…understandable (I myself haven’t been to one in a bit and should probably schedule that), but it seems more like something the irresponsible Mariner of the first four seasons would be doing, while this story is meant to be taking place early on in the fifth season, after she has shed most of those behaviors.

As said, this is probably just meant to be calm before the storm of everyone doing random stuff before the plot of the arc locks them in for the next five issues (and by extension, next five months of publication), but I just wish they had decided on a more interesting story for everyone to do. And worst of all, there’s barely any Tendi! She only gets like one line and a handful of panels! Blasphemy! She’s the best character by far! Anyway, as the cliffhanger at the end of the issue, the people on the planet that the Cerritos were headed to do a Second Contact mission with have mysteriously disappeared, which will likely be the subject of the remaining five issues of this arc and possibly the run of this comic. Star Trek comics have been going through a big shift lately, so we’ll see if Lower Decks manages to survive the current shake up, but in the meantime, let’s hope this arc is good enough to let the series go out with a bang!