There is perhaps no brand more synonymous with optimistic sci-fi than the plentiful iterations of the Star Trek franchise. For nearly 60 years, it’s approached futurism with a refreshingly aspirational vision, showcasing the prevailing potential for good in humanity, with powerful messages of coexistence and inclusion throughout its decades of stories. Despite this, nearly all of its stories focus on Starfleet officers, with one fascinating exception creating a crossroads between daily civilian life, education, commerce, and military presence in the Alpha Quadrant, itself of course being Deep Space Nine.

The subject of the eponymous Star Trek series, this setting proved a fascinating opportunity to which many fans flocked. It featured a space station instead of an exploratory vessel as its primary setting, with a diverse cast of various races and flawed personalities walking the same promenade. It’s a fantastic show which, while facing troubled prospects of upscaled home media releases, set up a solid opportunity to explore its world, not through another military lens, but through everyday civilian life. In Webtoon’s new webcomic, Stargazers, the story sets out to do exactly that, while still impressively espousing the values that make the Star Trek everyone knows and loves.

Star Trek Has Never Had A Series Like Stargazers

While some may have perhaps hoped for a brand-new TV series out of last week’s announcement, this latest update provided a different type of evolution for the franchise: joining the vertical-scrolling webcomic world via its largest distributor. But instead of merely taking a more predictable route of bringing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s already-excellent, morally-ambiguous heights to readers on their mobile devices, Stargazers blends young-adult BL romance and stories of civilian life to a setting brimming with diverse life by design. It allows the series to explore topics of identity, love, and career choices beyond the overrepresented Federation life as a Starfleet officer.

Following Leon and his group of friends including his trusty, handy Bajoran friend, Churi, feisty Changeling confidant, Kenga, and former childhood friend-turned-enemy Syrrik (with romantic tension bubbling just underneath), Stargazers explores these characters as they navigate daily life on Deep Space Nine. This includes studying literature about legally-distinct 1950s high fantasy adventures, setting up a talent show for everyone to showcase anything from Ferengi-style knife throwing to juggling, to meeting and dating gorgeous strangers on the Promenade, while on a continuous journey of self-discovery.

There’s quietly a deeper plot beginning to surface in Stargazers, but for anybody who enjoyed Deep Space Nine as it aired, even its calmer slice-of-life stories were perfectly worthwhile. Stargazers may follow Leon as he helps plan the talent show and unearth a nefarious plot soon to emerge, but it also follows his romantic pursuits, first with Ino, and then his enemies-to-lovers dynamic with Syrric, as the two boys clash over whether they want to join Starfleet or choose a different path. But even though the series doesn’t have the same type of gripping, serialized drama for which Deep Space Nine may be known, it’s an ongoing, planned narrative over 40 episodes, written by the fans for the fans.

Stargazers Has Fun Deep-Cut Star Trek References For Longtime Fans

Described not perhaps as a sequel, but as a new series set in the world of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Stargazers is set multiple years after the show’s story ended, and multiple overseeing captains later. The mere sight of Kenga as a hairstylist aboard DS9 is a welcome one, and a good sign of progress, continuing to bridge Changelings and “the solids” like Constable Odo once did. It helps that, as of the recent announcement of Stargazers and Recollection, these are recognized as official canon, with plenty of little references to chew on for intrepid readers to recognize this label isn’t cynically applied.

This appreciation for the fans, beyond promises of canon and surprise Changeling inclusions, manifests in the writing by Jarrett Melendez, carefully incorporating plenty of Star Trek lore. One of the more ambitious ways in which this shows is Stargazers’ faithful recreation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s key locations, as well as the promise to bring to life locations across its directory potentially never seen even in the TV show. But amusingly, another way in which Stargazers makes surprising references for those paying attention, is in its naming schemes, such as for Leon’s dog, Alfie, named after the Alfa 177 canine.

There’s plenty to love about Stargazers, while it still remains entirely accessible to new waves of younger viewers. It’s undeniably the biggest draw of partnering with Webtoon for this release, even as many readers from different demographics unfamiliar with the brand may mistakenly assume it to be a distributor of animated content. The series carries the spirit, world, and tiny details that make Star Trek: Deep Space Nine shine among longtime fans, while bringing something utterly new to the franchise without intimidating newcomers, and any doubters can surely learn to live with it.

Release Date

1993 – 1999-00-00

Network

Syndication

Showrunner

Michael Piller, Ira Steven Behr

Directors

David Livingston, Les Landau, Allan Kroeker, Winrich Kolbe, LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Cliff Bole, Michael Vejar, James L. Conway, Alexander Singer, Kim Friedman, Paul Lynch, Reza Badiyi, Corey Allen, David Carson, Stephen L. Posey, Victor Lobl, Jesús Salvador Treviño, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Alexander Siddig, Anson Williams, John T. Kretchmer

Writers

Ronald D. Moore, Michael Taylor, Bill Dial, Morgan Gendel, Cindy Marcus, Evan Somers, Flip Kobler, Gordon T. Dawson, Jane Espenson, Jim Trombetta, Joe Menosky, John Whelpley, Katharyn Powers, Mike Krohn, Sam Rolfe, Jill Donner, Steve Warnek, D. Thomas Maio, Martin A. Winer, Lisa Klink