Star Trek: Red Shirts #2

Star Trek: Red Shirts #2

by Christopher Cantwell, Megan Levens (Artist)

After weathering the deaths of their crewmates, the Red Shirts who survived hurtling to Arkonia 89 in torpedo casings have rendezvoused with Lieutenant Cromarty in his underground base. Their to bed down and wait for enemy spies to take the bait they’ve laid in a data disk at the base of a subspace antenna. But little do the Federation officers know, they aren’t the only ones looking for unsuspecting prey…

Genres: Star Trek, Comics, Science Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2025

Reviews

[Scott Rhee]

The special mission to Arkonia 89 in the second issue of "Red Shirts" sees more of the red shirts dying off one at a time, as they must deal with a giant monster and unidentified spies while guarding top-secret Federation intelligence.



Christopher Cantwell's story picks up in this one, while artist Megan Levens ratchets up the violence and gore. This is pretty dark stuff for Star Trek. I like it.

[The Void Reader]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Star Trek: Red Shirts #2
Written by Christopher Cantwell | Art by Megan Levens

The redshirts are dwindling, and the paranoia is rising. Issue #2 of Star Trek: Red Shirts ratchets up the tension with a claustrophobic setup that feels equal parts espionage thriller and doomed survival tale. After surviving their torpedo-tube drop to Arkonia 89, our unlucky crew reunites with Lieutenant Cromarty in a subterranean hideout that’s less safehouse, more pressure cooker.

Cantwell’s writing continues to balance gallows humor with genuine dread. The mission—baiting enemy spies with a data disk—is simple enough, but the execution is anything but. The lurking threat isn’t just external; mistrust and trauma simmer among the survivors, and Levens’ expressive art captures every twitch, side-eye, and breakdown with sharp precision.

The pacing is tight, the stakes are high, and the question looms: who’s next? With each panel, the series leans harder into its central conceit—these characters were never meant to survive, but they’re doing it anyway, and it’s terrifying. The body count climbs, but so does the emotional weight.

A strong second issue that deepens the mystery and sharpens the knives. If the first installment was a wink at Star Trek’s expendables, this one is a grim nod to their humanity.

Happy reading and live long and prosper 🖖 📚

[Cybernex007]

“The federation has an awfully high body count for such a Utopian vision.”

Whelp, my complaint in the last issue was definitely heard when it comes to the part about actually seeing the red shirts die. That just got ramped up to 11 and they are dropping like crazy, and what I love most about it is how desensitized they all are to this and the disdain they show towards Starfleet because of how common place this is. This is also in stark contrast to our mysterious enemies who actually question each other about putting their own at risk. But the one thing that confuses me is the highly sensitive data being used to lure in the spies, why in the world did they not just destroy it after taking out the antenna? Sure the spies know there is some data here they want, but they won’t be able to detect if it’s still in one piece or even transmit it without going physically. There was no logical reason to leave the data as bait still, its purpose was done and became a major liability which led to a few deaths. Another part of this series I didn’t realize I would appreciate so well is the beginning listing out the characters, showing who is dead, and actually showing some journal logs to recap the last issue…doesn’t help that it’s basically meaningless as the character recap what happened last anyway, but still fun inclusion.

I’m also still a huge fan of Ensign Miller, out of all of them he is the one that has survived being a red shirt and has the scars and memories to prove it. A scar he only has because when the mission he was sent on with terrible intel went south and everyone else died, starfleet just assumed he was dead as well because that’s what Red Shirts do so well. I also love seeing the different ways of working through their roles different species have. For instance Ensign Raad, a human female, offers to be there for anyone who needs to talk…while Ensign Borvik, a Vulcan male, prefers to close off his emotions and keep them controlled, and Lt Zha’Kree, an Arkonian male, prefers to fight it out. Out of those 3 I’m sure you can guess who survived this issue, lol. Once they finally detected the spies, still unable to figure out what species they are, the older security officer that’s been stationed there led. Team out to stop them. Only to run into one of the local giant spider monsters he has called Johnny Boy. It rips the old timer open, his guts falling out, only for one of the spies lasers to melt half of his face. Miller is almost taken out by the spy as well, but Johnny boy chomped the spy in half first. The Arkonian knows the species of Johnny Boy as his bite is poison to it and his species used to hunt and cook the creatures all the time, but as he runs into the battle and tries to bite into it…one of its claws rips his jaw apart first. The Vulcan holds the door open for Ensigns Miller and Raad to get back in, only for Johnny to but a claw through his chest right before they slam the door shut. He dies in Miller’s arms finally deciding to talk about his feelings and how scared he is.

The chief security officer still with them, DeMatrio, is ready to call it…but Lt Lanier isn’t. He climbs up to the roof and blasts at Johnny to get him to run off as he throws down an antenna to amplify the antenna’s reflector dish to block all signals in the area to cut off their ability to call for an escape route. They now see the ship in orbit, even if they can’t identity it, and are ready to take these guys down. DeMatrio orders everyone to gear up as she hands Miler a bag of explosives to use against Johnny when he shows back up. They are able to catch unprintable spies climbing the antenna array, but they are already too high for a clear shot. So they have to climb after them. But the commander of the enemy ship has decided that the risk of his men are worth it, even against the orders of a mysterious compatriot as they rain fire down on the satellite tower as Miller has to grab Raad to stop her from falling.

[Rob Vitagliano]

So, beware, readers, this one gets a little more gruesome, especially with the fate of one of the main red shirts. Yeesh. One of the more graphic deaths I've seen from a Trek character.

Other red shirts start getting picked off like we're in a horror movie, but there's still some left by the end of this one.

Also, the Romulan revealed at the end of the first issue is exactly who you think he is, if you read the flagship run of Star Trek and the spinoff Defiant. I bet Cantwell was excited to bring one of his characters back for another adventure.

Overall, I'm really enjoying this one and look forward to the next issue.

[AJ Easterday]

I'm really not sure how long this series can last with all the characters dropping like flies so fast.

I do find it interesting how critical this story is of Starfleet. I wonder if that's building to anything big.

[Arjun Rajkumar]

Continuing a nice story arc with art on point!