They can tell that the Defiant’s cloaking device is on. They’re registering a distinct subspace anomaly that would be consistent with it...but it’s coming from the surface of the planet. No weapons fire. Worf is a renegade, but he IS a clever tactical mind. He knows what he’s doing in Star Trek: Day of Blood #1. Writers Christopher Cantwell, Collin Kelly, and Jackson Lanzing open a new story with artist Ramon Rosanas and colorist Lee Loughridge. Captain Sisko, Data, Dr. Crusher, and Scottie square off against a ship helmed by Captain Worf and First Officer Spock in an enjoyable Next Generation-era drama.

The crew of the U.S.S. Theseus and the crew of the U.S.S. Defiant have met on the outskirts of the First City. It doesn’t look pretty. They’re in the Tok’Po’Q Industrial Wastes on the capital planet of the Klingon Empire. There’s a red haze in the atmosphere that is anything but charming to anyone but a Klingon. The two crews meet up, but it’s not exactly pleasant. Everyone seems to have some kind of animosity or hostility towards everyone else on the opposing craft. So, it’s not exactly pleasant, but given what’s going on, they’re both going to have to find some way of getting along.

After initial pleasantries are shared, the two crews are forced to deal with politics in the central hub of the Klingon Empire. Cantwell, Kelly, and Lanzing contrast various characters and personalities against each other with a kind of animosity that they normally might not share. It makes for an interesting dynamic that involves various characters from various ends of the franchise, which is kind of fun to read. There are a lot of really intricate dramatic dynamics at work as things heat up for the Klingons. Even with a Klingon captain aboard one of the ships, they’re still outsiders, which should make for a fun adventure moving forward if the writing team can be true enough to the appeal of the Klingons.

Rosanas’s clean-line approach to the art captures all the likenesses of all of the recognizable characters with extremely high fidelity. Data meets Lore, and there’s a young Brent Spiner and...an equally young Brent Spiner on the page. There are the vivid likenesses of an older Nimoy and an older Doohan as well. Loughridge’s color delivers an atmosphere to the page that feels much stronger than special effects and 1990s-era broadcast TV resolution would allow for. It’s remarkably immersive.

There have been A LOT of Star Trek comics over the years. Older series never really managed to capture the feel of an episode as well as the contemporary issues. Day of Blood connects to the Next Generation with such strength that it honestly feels kind of weird that the episode ends where it does, only like...22 minutes into the story. It feels like the story should resume at the end of the commercial break and not...like...a couple of weeks from now as the crossover continues in Defiant #6, which is due out on August 2nd.

Grade: B