If Star Trek Discovery ever made you curious about "The Burn," that 31st Century disaster that crippled the Federation, then the comic series Star Trek: The Last Starship is for you. This series follows the last starship crew left standing after every warp core in the galaxy explodes. And most intriguingly of all, they count the resurrected Captain James T. Kirk as a crew member.
We've seen how exactly Kirk is resurrected centuries after his death, but many questions still remain. Those questions will have to wait, though, as Captain Sato and the crew of the USS Omega are dealing with a major Klingon attack. Star Trek: The Last Starship #3 not only chronicles a bloody battle between the Omega and the Klingon fleet, but it ends with arguably the greatest tragedy in the history of the Federation. Earth has declared independence, abandoning the high-minded ideals it represented for so long.
To break down that shocking twist and the other big developments in The Last Starship #3, IGN spoke with writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing. Read on to learn more and to see an exclusive preview of Star Trek: The Last Starship #4.
IGN: Issues #2 and #3 really highlight the contrast between Kirk and Captain Sato and how the latter is having to confront the necessity of war for the first time in his career. Do you see that as one of the core struggles of the series, where members of the Federation are having to face a new reality after an era of such unprecedented peace?
Collin Kelly: Absolutely. Captain Sato is a child of that peace; Starfleet’s best captain, the Picard of the age. There’s a reason this story began in his shining moment just as it burns. When a fully functioning system falls apart, the ensuing vacuum can give rise to anything …and sadly, just like in our own time, the first thing to rise is violence.
Jackson Lanzing: The dialectic between Sato’s experience and Kirk’s is the center of the entire series - and I think readers can really start to see how that will grow after the events of issue #3. Sato tried to solve the Klingon situation peacefully, but that left him with dead comrades and a hopeless stand. He sees Kirk’s methods as brutal, as ancient - it’s like if the Joint Chiefs gave the nuclear codes to Genghis Khan. But it works - at least, it keeps the Omega alive. But in the process, Sato not only loses something crucial - his innocence - but Kirk witnesses the true wages of that violence: a burning Earth, ready to turn its back on everything it stood for. This is an opening debate about methods and means. It won’t be the last. And it’ll only get more devastating from here.
IGN: We see from Kirk’s monologue in issue #2 that he has all his memories, up to and including his death in Star Trek: Generations. How much is he fueled by his lingering hatred and distrust of the Klingons? How much does he struggle with the question of whether he’s a facsimile of James T. Kirk or the real deal?
Lanzing: It’s his defining struggle. Is this man truly James Kirk? Is he a facsimile? Is he a man given new life or a ghost brought back to haunt his own burning legacy? And are those memories worth anything anymore? In issue #2 and 3, we see the value of his experience as a captain and a warrior against the Klingons - but it involves letting himself fall back into patterns of hatred that he thought he’d overcome. Will that shape a new man from this new Kirk? Or will he find his way back to the legend in this darkest of times?
Kelly: Then of course there’s the biggest question on his mind: why did the Borg bring him back in the first place? Is he a trap for his fellow crewmates? Forget the Burn - is Kirk the sword that will destroy the Federation once and for all?
IGN: We see Sato defer to Kirk during the battle in issue #3. What is Kirk’s official role on the USS Omega meant to be? Is he going to be co-captain, or is this something he and Sato are still figuring out themselves?
Kelly: Kirk’s position as the Omega’s captain was only ever during that emergency - this is Sato’s ship. He might not have the battlefield experience of Kirk, but he has the core trait of every great captain: he’s willing to put down his ego, listen to his crew, trust his instincts, and then execute the best possible solution with the tools provided. In that, he and Kirk are incredibly similar…which will be something we highlight in Issue #4, when we give you the actual answer you’re looking for.
Lanzing: Yeah. “What is my job here?” is a question Kirk - and others on the ship - will begin to ask in the aftermath of that battle… and it’ll will sit at the center of the story of The Last Starship’s second chapter.
IGN: Kirk refers to the Omega as the Enterprise during the battle. Is the ship getting a name change going forward?
Lanzing: He wishes.
Kelly: Yeah, Starfleet registries don’t work like that.
Lanzing: But think of that as a bit of a hint at his mindframe. Some real clues to his future in the book are in that particular decision for eagle-eyed readers.
IGN: It looks like Sato is in command of a full Klingon fleet now. Is that the first step in rebuilding Starfleet’s broken navy?
Lanzing: Wouldn’t that be lovely? That’s how this story might’ve gone in a better time, in a less desperate one. But during the Burn, easy answers like that don’t belong.
Kelly: At the end of issue #3, Sato orders the black fleet “go into the darkness, back to their warrior halls and ancient battlefields,” effectively telling them to "go home". But for the Klingons of the Black Mind…there is no home. Countless Klingons died in the Burn, either blasted apart on starships or stranded on distant colonies, with none of them dying as warriors bound to Sto’vo’kor - so the survivors have no reason left to live. No reason but to punish their ancient rivals, the one organization that was meant to keep them safe…and in the process, effectively commit death-by-Starfleet. Instead, they were sent away in defeated shame. What Sato hears next is “so much screaming it fills subspace…and then they’re just gone”.
Lanzing: Note that we’ve never seen the Klingons post-Burn in any of the series. There’s a reason for that… and it’s those screams and silence that’ll give your first hint.
IGN: We see from the ending to #3 that Agnes seems to hold real love for Kirk above and beyond the reverence she showed in earlier chapters. Is it fun writing a Borg character who can feel these sorts of emotions? Is it safe to assume we’ll learn more about her past and why she’s so attached to Kirk?
Lanzing: Absolutely, on both counts. To me, Jurati is the key to making the Borg interesting - she’s tragic and desperate and dangerous and mysterious. And when her motivations are revealed later in the series, that big moment at the end of issue #3 will likely feel very different than it does right now.
IGN: The series takes a darker turn still in issue #3 when Earth is attacked and subsequently chooses to defect from the Federation. How deep a blow is this to those who remain? Is the question now whether the Federation can even survive without such a key member world?
Kelly: To Sato, the Omega, and almost every surviving officer of Starfleet, losing Earth from the Federation is like being disowned by a parent. Earth has not only geographically been the center of the Federation, it has made itself the cultural center of the Federation as well…and it’s now effectively said, “everyone who isn’t us needs to get out”. As two writers who were literally raised on the ideals of Starfleet, the concept that Earth would cut ties so quickly after the Burn was always a bit of a blow to the chest…but in the world outside our window, we’re seeing how fragile our beloved institutions truly are, when those in charge allow themselves to be ruled by reaction and fear.
Lanzing: Ultimately, that’s why we wrote The Last Starship: to create a devastating collision between the ideals of an eternal utopia and the inevitability of systemic collapse. We’re looking out our window - just like the original series - and telling a story about what we see. Issue #4 is the clearest example of that yet… and with that charter, I think every issue allows Last Starship to push past the boundaries of what’s expected from a Star Trek story and into the realm of the universal. There are a lot of people out there who see Trek as somehow so idealistic as to be removed from reality. This is our counterargument - a story about a world with no easy answers, where Star Trek must somehow persevere. Just like all of our ideals, through the darkest times.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #4 will be released on January 21, 2026. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.
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