In the latest official announcement regarding Star Trek‘s acclaimed line of comics, the new one-shot (revealed via
Writer Stephanie Williams (Batman/Superman: World’s Finest) and artist Greg Maldonado (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) will be spinning this ‘what if?’ one-shot, with the official plot synopsis also revealing a change in setting. Instead of a Depression-era love story, Lt. Uhura will travel back to 1963, into the middle of the Civil Rights Movement.
This special one-shot features Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. In the 23rd century, she explores far-flung star systems with her crew on the Enterprise as part of her mission to communicate and build bridges with life found across the Galaxy. But in the 20th century, humankind was working to build understanding among themselves, with African Americans on Earth championing the Civil Rights Movement and using their voices and acts of protest to end racial segregation and discrimination.
Now, by way of the Guardian of Forever, Uhura is yanked back through time to 1963. There, she’ll join all those fighting for equality and justice and reconnect to why her work as a communications officer is perhaps the most important work of all.
The original Star Trek Deviations comic offered an alternate version of the main timeline, revealing that Romulans discovered Earth before the Vulcans… and turned it into a brutal penal colony. As a follow-up, this new one-shot will ask a very different question: what would Lieutenant Uhura make of an America still within the grip of segregation and racial inequality?
The new story from Willaims and Maldonado has the potential to blur the line between fiction and history (and Trek as both) in the best way possible. Through thhe many comic convention appearances before her passing, actress Nichelle Nichols revealed that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. convinced her to remain Lt. Uhura, during a chance meeting after the show’s first season.
Having even informed Gene Roddenberry of her desire to pursue work outside of the series, it was Dr. King who urged Nichols to change her mind, explaining the political message she was already making as other African Americans marched for a better future:
“No, you don’t understand. We don’t need you to march. You are marching. You are reflecting what we are fighting for.”
Star Trek Deviations: Threads of Destiny
will be released on February 25, 2026 from IDW Publishing.
The new storylines and cover art coming to the
The striking color scheme is just the first dramatic shift to notice, officially welcoming the not-quite-cloned, not-quite-reanimated Captain Kirk into the series’ new age of Starfleet. But as writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing previously explained, the new uniforms go much deeper than fans might asume:
Collin Kelly: “Inspired by the white uniforms from Search for Spock and some of the “retro” aesthetics of the original series, Adrian really wanted to lean in on something hyper clean, but still visually striking and unmistakably Star Trek–we think he hit it out of the park.”
Jackson Lanzing: “The uniforms are also loaded with meaning. We’re also having quite a lot of fun with the colors – red command, yellow ops, blue science, and a particularly odd take on medical. Numbers of stripes have rank significance, even our combadge has a special detail. As longtime nerds for this particular thing, it’s been really validating and fun to craft a whole new system for The Last Starship.”
Fans can witness the debut of Kirk’s new threads when Star Trek: The Last Starship #5 arrives on February 18, 2026. A historic issue, for any fan familiar with the strange reason William Shatner never wore the now-iconic red command uniform in
Before anyone assumes the uniform is related to the doomed fate of Star Trek‘s infamous ‘redshirts,’ the truth is actually much stranger. In the first preview images of Captain Kirk officially waking up in
(1966). Intended to be lime green in tone, the actual result was soon adopted as canon, leading other command officers of this era to also wear gold (seen in Discovery
, Strange New Worlds, etc.).
Without official explanation, it seems red was ruled a better looking color following the film adaptations, becoming the now iconic mark of command crew from
Come Issue #5 this February, that will finally change. Of course, what twists or turns lead to Kirk’s change of uniform, and what events bring him into the captain’s chair, remain a mystery. So even if the return of Captain Kirk is controversial to some, there’s no denying this story is one fans will need be watching closely.
Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 is available now from IDW Publishing.