REVIEW: STAR TREK: HOLOWEEN Is Full of Tricks, but Is It a Treat?

Images: IDW Publishing.

OCTOBER 31, 2023 - With the fourth and final issue of the IDW Comics mini-series “Holo-Ween” just released I have decided to write a review for all four issues together, I myself have only just joined the excellent team here at Daily Star Trek News so am playing catchup on some things and as a comic book fan for over 30 years now I would expect to see more from me on this medium here on the site.

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Let’s start with the synopsis for each issue:

Issue 1:

Writer: Christopher Sequeira

Artists: Joe Eisma, Charlie Kirchoff

Letters: Clayton Cowles

Cover artist: Francesco Francavilla

Acclaimed writer Chris Sequeira (Justice League Adventures) and Eisner-nominated artist Joe Eisma (Morning Glories) are bringing horror to the holodeck in a new four-issue miniseries! After enduring an anxiety-ridden passage through a solar storm, Captain Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise take to celebrating Halloween to reset the mood. But while the Earth holiday involves sweet treats and other festivities, they soon learn that fear is in season when crew members begin to go missing one by one.

The story starts off with Counselor Troi’s log, in which she says how through her empath gift she can sense the anxiety creeping through the crew. I am actually a HUGE fan of monologue exposition and log entries are such a fantastic way to achieve this.

Troi suggests lightening the mood somewhat by holding a party themed around the old Earth custom of Halloween. Personally, would have preferred the Klingon holiday Worf mentions here called “Mkr’an Day” where the children slay aquatic myth-monsters to prove they are fearless…just me?

Initially, two officers go missing and we see more crew members going missing after that. We switch from character to character as they slowly begin to realize something has gone terribly wrong and we experience some excellent horror vignettes.

In Data’s personal log, he goes to the holodeck and ends in a variation of his own 1890s London holo-program to see Medical Security Specialist Albert Bloch or should I say Redjac, aka Jack the Ripper who with Borg Nanites only goes and decapitates Data! The issue ends with RedJac and Frankenstein’s monster having escaped out of the holodeck.

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Issue 2:

Writer: Christopher Sequeira

Artists: Joe Eisma, Charlie Kirchoff

Letters: Clayton Cowles

Cover artist: Francesco Francavilla

Redjac – posing as JACK THE RIPPER – has infiltrated the Enterprise-D and taken control of the holodeck, luring unsuspecting victims and feeding on their fear. 

Not to mention Redjac has turned Data into a monstrous incarnation of Frankenstein. With more and more crewmates falling victim, Captain Picard and his crew decide to fight fear with fear and turn themselves into classic Terran monsters to confront Redjac.

Our heroes find themselves at Redjac’s mercy, having taken over one of the holodecks, and its malign influence has started to make its way through the ship. Counsellor Troi is still using her log for exposition, which is nice.

More Scotty, YES! He has been popping up a lot recently, but this is from a victim counseling session after a previous Redjac experience.

Having already captured some of the ship’s company, which includes Data, Redjac is toying with his victims, using some of the imagery of Halloween to torment the poor souls, all in aid of its own amusement. As Picard says, “A clear pattern to terrify us but keep us alive like a cat with mice!”

Each member of the team adopts virtual avatars inspired by Halloween characters, infusing new personas for their psychological protection. The result is a delightful mix of characters, including Riker as the Wolf Man and Captain Picard donning the persona of Mr. Hyde.

Another good issue. Not as good as the previous issue but that awesome shot of the four of them in character was great and made me smile a lot.

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Issue 3:

Writer: Christopher Sequeira

Artists: Joe Eisma, Charlie Kirchoff

Letters: Clayton Cowles

Cover artist: Francesco Francavilla

The fight for the holodeck is on! The Halloween "away" team, consisting of Troi as the Mummy, Riker as the Werewolf, Picard as Mr. Hyde, and Worf as an amphibious Klingon Mkr'an, are being chased by a mob of crazed Redjac-controlled crew members. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher and Commander La Forge monitor their crewmates' neural outputs in a frantic attempt to keep them from entering irreversible states of psychoses and fully integrating with their monster personas.

Doctor Crusher and Geordi La Forge react as, on the holodeck, Redjac’s fear-motivated Enterprise-D crew members turn on an away team who only have about ten minutes before risking brain injury. Distracted by some strange transporter activity, La Forge races to investigate. He sees that Scotty has beamed himself aboard, eager to help defeat Redjac, and YAY for more Scotty.

He realizes the holodeck is somehow being remotely controlled, from the planet Vagra II. GREAT fight scenes in this issue. However, the story's cliffhanger takes a dramatic turn, intensifying the stakes for the crew and adding a gravely ominous tone.

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Issue 4:

Writer: Christopher Sequeira

Artists: Joe Eisma, Charlie Kirchoff

Letters: Clayton Cowles

Cover artist: Francesco Francavilla

In this final issue of horror on the holodeck, Redjac pulls in a creature to join him in terrorizing the crew. Step one, feast on the fears of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D crew. Step two, reduce entire worlds to gibbering terror! Can our heroes overtake these evil entities before they lose themselves to the monsters within?

With Scotty's presence in the narrative, a unique opportunity unfolds to witness a meeting of different generations. The prevalence of action-packed sequences, featuring more running and intense combat, has been a consistent theme throughout all four issues.

Initially, the sight of our beloved characters donning eerie and peculiar monster costumes may seem incongruous. However, considering their past escapades in the holodeck, it's not entirely unexpected.

Redjac stands out as an exceptional villain, one that I genuinely appreciate, and Scotty's contribution in the finale elevates their personal conflict to new heights. The dialogue remains consistently authentic to each character throughout the series.

As life returns to normal aboard the ship and the crew celebrates Halloween, Worf takes the opportunity to enlighten Troi and Picard about Klingon holidays and their associated rituals. Troi politely declines an invitation to one of the events, instead asking Worf to send her a card from it.

This was an enjoyable story I thought and at four issues, it didn’t run too long either. I will absolutely read it again next year on Halloween as a revisit but on the whole, it was highly enjoyable and a little bit different from the norm.