In the series finale of Star Trek: Voyager, USS Voyager arrived home from the Delta Quadrant thanks to some minor, large-scale, temporary violations of the order. In the decades since “Endgame” aired, Trekki wondered and speculated as to what the next step in Voyager’s journey would look like. Well, thanks to the upcoming Comic Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming, you will be able to answer these questions.
Homecoming will arrive at your local comic shop (LCS) on September 3, 2025. To mark the opportunity, Comic Beat emailed authors Susan & Tilly Bridges. Do you take up the issue when it arrives?
Avery Kaplan: Star Trek in general and Star Trek: Tell us about your personal history in Voyager in particular.
Susan & Tilly Bridges: Trek has been a part of our lives as long as we can remember. We loved it as kids…and we met each other online writing trek fanfic.
Last year we had a big pledge/wedding party and used the DS9 Klingon wedding as the basis for the ceremony (it was actually the whole ceremony, but with a personal vow added). I created a centrepiece for my custom trekking table, these plastic TVs, each with a different show on the front, with “alien plants” protruding out to the top. And on the back of each there was an LCARS entry about what the plant was, each with a unique joke.
Writing ten jokes about alien plants was not easy. Why did we do that? Because we are writers and cannot help ourselves.
We have had many re-watches of all the full chronological order (in order of release) of Star Trek over 800 hours. It is our happy place.
Star Trek is an inseparable part of the structure of our lives. And the Voyager has special corners of that fabric. Because it was the first time Trek said, “Hey, women can run shows too.” And such expressions are important. a lot.
Everyone should be able to see themselves in the art they love, and that’s doubled for the most comprehensive franchise.
Kaplan: Do you have any favorite episodes of Voyager?
Susan & Tilly: Tilly loves counterpoints because she illustrates everything the trek requires. Susan loves innocence. Because it’s a great Chubok episode that explores a lot of his characters, and Tubok is her sweet Vulcan baby.
But Tuvix is also a really great episode! The fact that it’s so controversial and people keep talking about it and discussing it is because it’s so good. It is the perfect moral dilemma, the problem of not having a “right” solution that anyone can save. The fact that people still feel so strong about it is proof of how good it is.
Kaplan: What research did Star Trek write: Voyager – Homecoming? Have you learned something that surprised you?
Susan & Tilly: We rewatched the finale. And we saw all the appearance of species 8472. Just to take notes on everything that was revealed about them.
But we’ve seen all these episodes many times and didn’t really surprise us, except that the audience knows little about species 8472. That was exciting.
Kaplan: Could certain characters be written in particular difficult or easy?
Susan & Tilly: Only doctors we love so much. And his voice is very easy, perhaps even easier than any of the other in the cast. But looking at him, he’s redundant, the comic pages aren’t that big, and there aren’t that many pages in comic issues.
There is only a lot of space on the page. There are also seven main characters that require space. So we had to cut his line a lot from what he wanted.
Kaplan: Can you give readers some hints on what to expect on their homecoming?
Susan & Tilly: We intend to explore fluid spaces and species 8472. Because there are so many interesting things out there.
When you see Tuvok dealing with a neurodegenerative disease he infected in Endgame, you can see seven people spurring where he finds her on Picard, and B’Elanna and Tom dealing with a brand new parent. You can also see Jane Way struggles with the weight of the decisions she has to make and her absolutely terrible resolve.
But more than that, you will see the meaning of going home for these people. What happens if the rug is pulled from under them after everything they’ve been back and forth (this is a voyagaar and there’s nothing to plan for)?
What do you do to finally return? Are there still lines you don’t cross? Is there anything you can sacrifice to meet your loved one again?
Kaplan: What did the rest of the creative team work with something like returning home?
Susan & Tilly: Amazing! Angel Hernandez is a great artist and his art is filled with such incredible textures and details. He is also very good at drawing cast portraits. After Janeway writes the sad panel, he draws it beautifully. It’s very good.
Charlie Kirchov’s colour really made the angel lines pop and they brought a lot of depth and life to everything.
Neil Uyetake’s letter is Fab, especially his sound effects (we love comic sound effects and the trekking is full of great soundwork so you’ll see a lot of them).
And working with Heather Antos and Cath Jones in the editorial was amazing, not only because they were kind and fun, but because they were really good at their job. They make all the problems better.
Because it’s a true team effort, and it’s far more than the sum of that part, and it’s the centre of the trekking, right? All these different people come together to do great things that no one could do on their own.
Kaplan: Could this story last beyond the miniseries?
Susan & Tilly: The numbers and sales of this series (and hopefully collected trade paperbacks) are a way to love what we do to IDW and want to see more of it. And we certainly want to write more trekking until the end of time! You can help make that happen by supporting books and getting those pre-orders on time.
This could also be a team effort! How Star Trek.
Kaplan: What do you personally order from a food replicator?
Susan & Tilly: The replicator makes what you order completely nutritious, including everything you need. And when you know it, why can’t you always order pizza and never stop?
Completely nutritious pizza, put it in a pie hole all day long.
Kaplan: Could Star Trek exist without IDIC (infinite variety in infinite combinations)?
Susan & Tilly: No. The TOS is truly burned into the concept. And despite IDIC being an ideal in space, it’s exactly the same as it should be the entire United Federation of Planetary Federations (though not always, people are flawed and learn from your mistakes and work towards a better future).
And the Federation is the heart of the trekking, and it’s the foundation of everything. Take it away and you don’t have Star Trek anymore. It wasn’t about very cool ships or amazing technology. It’s about people and their mission: acceptance, inclusion and exploration.
And that’s great, isn’t it?
Kaplan: Is there anything else you would like to include?
Susan & Tilly: It’s a real honor to tell this story, bring this crew home, and give them the reunion we all had been waiting for. Similarly, people say it about a lot of things, but we legally mean it. It’s huge and it means a lot to us.
Writing Star Trek is literally our dream. We want to continue doing it forever. Get Voyager: Homecoming! Tell your family and friends, brokering a peace treaty with your former enemy who came to understand how wonderful the Federation is, and then tell them about the book too!
Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming will be available on LCS starting September 3rd.
Here’s all the coverage of Star Trek on Beat.
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