Written by Susan Bridges & Tilly Bridges

Art by Ángel Hernández

Colours by Charlie AKirchoff

Letters & design by Nel Uyetake

Edited by Heather Antos, editorial assistance by Cassandra Jones

Voyager is home. But its work is far from done and the Delta Quadrant has come with it…

One of the most interesting, and confounding, elements of Voyager was always its pace. The seven years across the Delta Quadrant felt like a trudge in the early seasons and while that fell away as the show got progressively weirder and more fun, there’s still a nagging sense of the ending being a little rushed. We got seven years of the Delta Quadrant and barely got seven minutes of the crew reacting to being home.

The Bridges’ script changes that from the very first page and it pays off brilliantly. Some deep cuts (Including a lovely, affectionate gag at the expense of infamous lizard sex/warp barrier breaking episode ‘Threshold’) form the foundation of the story and remind us that this ship is both Starfleet’s finest and Starfleet’s furthest from home. B’Elanna Torres and Tom Paris’ child is minutes old. The Doctor is far more than a factory standard EMH and Voyager’s enemies are far closer than they think and all of this is happening after the crew have been pushed past any reasonable breaking point. The unfairness of what’s happening to them is on every page and it’s earned on every page too as it becomes clear this really is a story only this crew could be part of. The problem here is central to Voyager’s journey but it’s also built in the fact that journey is over. It’s smart, nuanced storytelling and ends with a lovely, classic bit of TNG era jeopardy as well as a sense there’s more going on here than anyone knows.

On the art side of things, Hernández does great work with the perennially impossible task of likenesses of well-established actors. Janeway and Torres especially have a real fluidity to them that captures the energy of the original actors without feeling like they’re scale drawings of people. Kate Mulgrew’s combination of laconic humour and pitbull tenacity is especially on display in a callback to the iconic ‘Year of Hell’ two parter. Also present is the relentless, open hearted determination Roxann Dawson brings to Torres who looks set to be central to the story. Also impressive is the depiction of Admiral Paris and the other members of the welcoming committee. They’re key to the plot, and there’s a beautifully realised angle on one panel that sets the tone without any explanation being needed. This is also where Kirchoff’s colours sing, balancing the neutral palate of the show with flashes of emotion and character and some smart lighting and choices. Uyetake’s lettering is great too and I loved the visual joke of Janeway’s Captain’s Log’s being in text boxes adorned with the four pips worn by the Captain.

Verdict: Homecoming is everything that worked on Voyager, and it thrums with a tangible love for the show and its cast. You want these people to get their big cathartic moment, and you ache for them losing it even as a flash of pity surfaces for the people standing in their way. Voyager is almost home, and while we know it makes it, it looks like this one last obstacle is going to be great fun to see them get around. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart