PRIDE MONTH 2026! Pride Month often sees us branching out a little in terms of our coverage boundaries. For other outlets “branching out” might mean expanding into experimental or indie work. At Broken Frontier it’s the opposite – this is the month you are most likely to see us making rare forays into the worlds of super-heroes or licensed properties. And in the case of the latter what could be more appropriate for Pride than the franchise that has, from its beginning, looked to embrace a socially progressive purpose? One firmly embodied in IDW’s Star Trek: Celebrations 2026 one-shot this month.
As an anthology this one has particular storytelling challenges for its creative teams. Six stories set across the series’ sprawling history with just five pages each to weave a compelling tale, ensure the reader is invested in its characters, and make their narrative point effectively. There’s a reason that short stories are an excellent training ground for creators because to achieve all that in a handful of pages is no mean feat.
The highlights this year (check out our review of 2024’s Celebrations here at Broken Frontier) include Jamila Rowser and Helena Janečić’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds story ‘Lovesick’, featuring Christine Chapel. Rowser manages the almost impossible in the sparse space here with a story that not only provides character development for its protagonist but also somehow does some serious world-building, with a tie-in mythological queer alien love story factored in. Janečić’s art is an absolute standout, far looser and idiosyncratic than one would normally expect in a licensed comic, with Jodie Troutman’s lettering also feeding into the slightly retro vibe of the whole affair.
The movie timeline gets its own entry in Jarrett Melendez and Kiku Hughes’ ‘Love’s First Bloom’. Bex Glendining’s delicate colours here are particularly notable in the way in which they help shape an alien environment in a sweet story that reveals how the Kelvin timeline’s Sulu met his husband Ben. ‘Worst-Case Scenario Protocol’ sees writer Meghan Fitzmartin, artist J. Clarke and colourist Xenon Honchar taking us on Seven of Nine and Raffi’s holodeck date, with the normal malfunctioning shenanigans, in a story that fits far more into five pages than should be possible. And from the purely comics side of the franchise Ben Kahn, Mikael Lindeberg and JP Jordan chronicle ‘Mx. T’Lir’s Day Out’ which crams both character study and space drama into a satisfying whole.
If you haven’t picked up on it yet it really is to every creative team’s credit here that they craft such solid stories with so little space to work in. Ashley Cooper and Jack Lawrence’s ‘Girlfriends’ (above), for example, where Cooper’s pacing and Lawrence’ high-energy slapstick art embody the frenetic humour of Star Trek: Below Decks. Or Karim Diané writing his own Starfleet Academy character in ‘Klingons Don’t Flirt’ with Andrew Drilon on art and Katherine Shuda on colours providing an atmospheric night out for Kraag and Jokovich.
Star Trek: Celebrations gives us an ideal we can aspire to. A world where queer love is freed from the heteronormative shackles of our reality. A mini-essay by Tilly and Susan Bridges (interviewed here last week at Broken Frontier) on Star Trek’s relationship with LGBTQIA+ themes acts as a fitting coda to a comics collection brimming with positivity and a profound sense of hope.
Ashley Cooper, Ben Kahn, Meghan Fitzmartin, Karim Diané, Jarrett Melendez, Jamila Rowser (W), Jack Lawrence, Mikael Lindeberg, J. Clarke, Andrew Drilon, Kiku Hughes, Helena Janečić (A), Jack Lawrence, JP Jordan, Xenon Honchar, Katherine Shuda, Bex Glendining, Helena Janečić (C), Jodie Troutman (L), Neil Uyetake (D), Adelle Kincel (CA) • IDW Publishing, $5.99
Review by Andy Oliver
