Captain's Log: Raffi Gets the Big Chair — Charlie Jane Anders' Star Trek: Zero Point Launches October 14
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IDW's second new ongoing Trek series puts Raffi Musiker in command of a starship that stops disasters before they happen, guided by an AI with a familiar face. Here's what the creators have said, and why the premise is so Trek.
Captain's log, stardate 103922.0. The Enterprise has gone beyond the galaxy. Back home, someone has to keep the Federation from tripping over its own future, and Starfleet has handed that job to Raffi Musiker.
On October 14, IDW releases Star Trek: Zero Point #1, written by Hugo Award winner Charlie Jane Anders. It is the second of IDW's two new ongoing Trek series for the 60th anniversary, launched beside the Seven of Nine-led Star Trek relaunch we covered earlier this year. The art is by Isaac Sánchez González, with letters by Jodie Troutman.
The premise
IDW's official synopsis: "While the Enterprise vanishes beyond the galaxy, Captain Raffi Musiker commands a starship tasked with preventing tomorrow's disasters today — guided by a powerful artificial intelligence wearing the face of a familiar ally that may know too much, and understand too little about hope."
CBR notes that Raffi, played on screen by Michelle Hurd in Picard, is the protagonist. It also describes the book as sitting in "more ethereal, morally ambiguous, and arguably horrifying territory" than usual Trek, though not pure horror.
What the interview adds
In a September 4 Comics Beat interview, Anders says the book is set about five years after Picard season 3, with Raffi commanding the U.S.S. Endeavor on a highly classified mission. Per that interview, the ship's predictive AI is called Sybil and draws on Data's example, and D'Vana Tendi of Lower Decks is part of the crew. That is one outlet's account of the interview, and I'd read the details as hers to confirm in the finished comic.
Her stated theme is hope versus paranoia, balancing optimism about humanity's future against the survival instincts you need in space. She also names Person of Interest and The Next Generation's ethical debates as influences.
On accessibility she is blunt: "I'm putting all my favorite Trek things into this comic: problem solving, ethical dilemmas, identity crises, and above all, chosen family. At the same time, I'm determined to write a Trek comic that newbies can read with no homework required: there are no easter eggs, no callbacks to deep lore."
Why this is a very Trek premise
An AI that predicts disasters and a captain who has to decide whether to act on a prediction is an old Trek argument in a new uniform. Trek has circled it before: the Prime Directive asks when you may interfere, and The Measure of a Man (TNG S2E9) asks what we owe a mind we built. Put those together and you get a ship that must act before anything has happened, advised by a machine wearing a trusted face.
That is the "hope versus paranoia" question. Paranoia says to stop every threat before it exists. Hope says the future should be earned, not pre-empted. The Federation at its best chooses hope while taking threats seriously, and a story that makes the captain live with the cost of getting that balance wrong is promising.
It also gives Raffi a captaincy of her own. After Picard, it's good to see her take the center seat.
What to watch
- October 14: issue #1 lands on shelves.
- Starfleet Academy and the rest of IDW's slate carry on around it, with the NYCC Star Trek Universe panel on October 10.
Make it so.
Live long and prosper.
Sources: Comics Beat (Charlie Jane Anders interview), CBR, Gizmodo, IDW's published synopsis.
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