IDW’s Star Trek Annual Cover A may be the best Trek comic cover in history

IDW’s Star Trek Annual may have the best comic cover in Trek history.

As a fan of comic art, I’m very picky when it comes to cover art. I hate the idea of variant covers and prefer just one, core cover. That way there’s more time and effort put into it, as opposed to trying to coordinate multiple covers at once.

It’s hard to get one iconic cover, let alone multiple for the same book. So when a cover comes out that actually delivers, especially in a day and age of variant oversaturation, it says something about the cover in question. The cover in question is for the upcoming Star Trek Annual 2023, and while it has four total options for collectors to get, the primary cover is the one to get.

Created by Rachael Stott, the cover features Ben Sisko, who recently returned from the Wormhole, surrounded by the iconic captains of Starfleet and some of the core principal characters. Behind Sisko are both James Kirks’ (William Shatner and Chris Pine), Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway, and Christopher Pike (Anson Mount).

To his right are Worf, Quark, and Saru. To his left is Philippa Georgiou, Jonathan Archer, Spock, Seven of Nine, Miles O’Brien, Tuvok, Montgomery Scott (James Doohan?), and what looks to be the Jeffery Hunter version of Pike.

The cover does Star Trek proud

Not everyone could make the cover, there’s only so much space and one can only illustrate such small characters before it such an endeavor becomes pointless. Getting the core captains front of center was the right call, and the axillary characters really help showcase the vibrant and dynamic history of Star Trek as a brand.

It’s hard to get a comic cover to stand out in 2023, but it really feels like Stott nailed this cover.