The Star Trek comics put their canon-nature in jeopardy with one decision

Star Trek's comics may have just ruined their canon status.

2018 Star Trek Convention Las Vegas
2018 Star Trek Convention Las Vegas | Gabe Ginsberg/GettyImages

Several years ago, Star Trek and IDW confirmed that their comics would start to be considered canon going forward. It was a bold move, as outside media rarely ever was considered canon. At times, the franchise has pulled elements from non-television or film sources, like Spock's full name but it never really recognized anything that wasn't a film or movie.

That's been changing and thanks to the series currently going on with IDW, those comics are now considered canon. It started with 2022's Star Trek: Day of Blood mini-series, which brought back Benjamin Sisko from the wormhole. It's continued on from there and it's introduced some ideas that are well received and others that are not.

Now, in Star Trek issue #26, the team behind the current book opted to erase the Kelvin Timeline from history. It's all about Star Trek doing their own Zero Hour event, where Lore, Data's android twin, tries to rewrite history across the multiverse. So it's not going to be permanent but it is now a decision that may affect the canon of the comics.

After all, what happens with the fourth film in the Kelvin timeline, if it happens? How will the movie adapt to the changes in lore that the comic has presented? One would think the memory of the memory of being deleted from existence would be a pretty remarkable one. We're also unsure how they intend to undo all of it.

Plus, if Star Trek 4 is announced before the Kelvin Timeline is reestablished, that pretty much nerfs the entire storyline. After all, if there's a fourth film announced between now and the next major update in the story (Due out March of 2025), then doesn't that pretty much telegrarph the ending of the story? That'll hurt sales of the book.

Why keep reading if you know how it ends?

This event may not directly cause the end of the comics being canon, as it's unlikely the studio heads at Paramount are flipping their tables over because "the comics ruined the film franchise". It's far more likely, however, that the comics side of things will realize that they don't have the freedom to craft the narratives they want and may seek to end their canonicity to have more narrative freedoms.

Still, however this shakes out, it is an interesting storyline that we recommend you check out.