Comic writer Jackson Lanzing offers more details on upcoming release Star Trek

Benjamin Sisko returns from the Celestial Temple in STAR TREK #1

AUGUST 10, 2022 - Twenty-three years ago, the crew of the Cardassian-built space station Deep Space Nine had their final mission together. And while all of the ongoing threads of the Star Trek: The Next Generation spinoff was neatly tied up with a big gold-pressed latinum bow, one large thread was pulled out and left hanging off the edge of the presentation box. What happens to Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko now? Being pulled to live with the Prophets in the Celestial Temple, everyone left behind had to move on with their lives, most notably his son Jake, his wife Cassidy, and their unborn child.

As we watched, at the same time, the TNG crew sail off into the theatrical realm, the fans of DS9 (or “Niners” as we often call ourselves), desperately wanted a satisfying conclusion. A lot of Niners often felt that our beloved series was the ‘Jan Brady’ of the franchise, not getting as much love as its bigger sister (TNG) or its little sister (Star Trek: Voyager). And most of us resigned ourselves to expecting that resolution would never come.

Until now! As we reported last week, Ben Sisko is leaving the Celestial Temple in a new comic book series, simply titled Star Trek. Speaking with CBR, co-writer Jackson Lanzing reported, “Sisko is back, baby!! Honestly, we can barely believe it. As fans, it’s the story we’ve wanted to see for decades. As writers, it’s one of the great untold Star Trek stories, one we never imagined in a million years we would be trusted to tell. What happens when this legend to both Starfleet and the Bajoran people returns from godhood and is forced to reckon with all he left behind? Not to mention the dangerous circumstances of his return, which are going to make him question all he understands about the Prophets who shaped his life for the last decade.

“The big secret to this series -- how we’re attempting to stay canonical and give the television series the room to breathe -- is by setting this story in the roughly two-year period between the return of Voyager from the Delta Quadrant and the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. If you want to get really technical, the year is 2378, and the entirety of the ongoing series will happen before Nemesis kicks off in 2380.”

We are further treated to other canonically familiar faces in this series. Lieutenant Commander Data will serve as First Officer under Captain Sisko onboard the U.S.S. Theseus (as last seen at the conclusion of the Original Series comic line from the same creators) as well as Dr. Beverly Crusher, who serves as CMO, though her motives for doing so are to try to better understand her own son Wesley’s ascension to a higher realm and hopes that working with Sisko will help her do so.

Other tensions will reveal themselves as Sisko realizes that each day he’s back in a Human form, his memory of what it was to be a Non-Caporial Being begins to fade. He must deal with this while pushing forward with the mission that these same Prophets have put him on while adjusting to a new crew and their personalities.

Other, new characters join the ship as well, including a young Andorian woman named Sato! What, if any, is the connection to that familiar name?

It’s indeed an exciting time to be a fan of DS9, TNG and Enterprise as crews and descendants are combined to solve a dilemma with universal ramifications.

To get the full story and even more glimpses of what’s in store, set thrusters to CBR.com and read the full article.