William Shatner's Captain Kirk returns from the dead just in time to watch Starfleet burn in Star Trek: The Last Starship

Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 cover by Malachi Ward

(Image credit: IDW Publishing)

Captain Kirk returns from the dead in a new Star Trek comic titled The Last Starship, set in one of the most chaotic and least explored eras of the venerable sci-fi franchise, The Burn. As many Trekkers will know, The Burn is the cataclysmic era in which all active warp cores around the galaxy suddenly ignited, killing literal trillions of people and effectively ending the Federation.

As Trekkers will also know, Captain James Tiberius Kirk (first played by William Shatner, then Chris Pine, and currently Paul Wesley) was the captain of the Enterprise in the original Star Trek series, dying in 1994's film Star Trek: Generations - though it's a bit more complex than just that.

Now, award winning Trek comic writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and artist Adrián Bonilla will tell the tale of Kirk's return to a galaxy - and a Starfleet - much different than the one he left. It's being kept under wraps how exactly Kirk returns. But in season 3 of Picard, Kirk's body was shown being kept in stasis (as we said, it was more complicated than a simple death), so it's very possible that'll be the key to his resurrection.

Here's a gallery of covers for Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 by Francesco Francavilla, along with variant covers by Skylar Patridge, Michael Cho, and Malachi Ward, and two interior pages by series artist Adrián Bonilla:

Image 1 of 6

Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 cover by Francesco Francavilla — (Image credit: IDW Publishing)

"Forget everything you know about Star Trek," says co-writer Jackson Lanzing in a statement. "The Last Starship is a new crew, a new era, and a completely different tone; our aim is to be literary, intense, innovative, and most of all, accessible."

"We're bringing you into the Federation's darkest hour through the brilliant, noir-soaked lens of artist Adrián Bonilla with zero homework required," he continues. "Longtime Trek fans will have a deep and fascinating reading experience, to be sure - this is a pivotal moment in Trek history that's never been even glimpsed before - but above all, The Last Starship is a dark and complex sci-fi you can hand to anyone. We've spent the last eight years celebrating all that Trek has ever been. Now, it's time to rebuild it from scratch and discover all it can be."

"The only familiar face is the one you'd never expect to see in this era: Captain James T. Kirk. William Shatner's iconic performance transcends borders - Kirk is one of the great characters of the modern fiction canon with a timeless actor to match," adds co-writer Collin Kelly. "He was also the first Star Trek character we ever wrote - a leader and warrior poet with boundless tragedy and contradiction. Now, we're honored to be taking this character into truly uncharted, groundbreaking territory in The Last Starship - as the Federation's greatest pioneer must face down the inferno that threatens to consume his entire legacy."

Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 goes on sale September 24.

Captain Kirk is currently appearing in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - but that series now has a time limit before cancellation.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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