Friday 22 May 2020

Eaglemoss to publish lost Gold Key comic, as the Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection gets an extension to 140 issues

Eaglemoss' Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection has been granted it's second extension, pushing the comic collection up to 140 issues, and giving it a chance to come ever closer to completing the mission of reprinting every Star Trek comic from the long and varied publishing history of the franchise. The latest announced issues include some real obscure treats, including many comics that have never been reprinted since their original publication, and in one very special case, a comic that has never before been published at all: The cancelled Gold Key #62!

Series editor Rich Handley announced the news on the Star Trek COMICS : Across Generations Facebook group, and gave details of the first few books in the extended run, up to issue 124. Continue below for the details of each issue (working backwards from 124, which is due in August):

#124: Splashdown
  • Marvel Voyager miniseries Splashdown
    • Written by Laurie Sutton, with art by Terry Pallot and Al Milgrom.
    • A four-part underwater adventure notable as the only time we see the aeroshuttle in action. 
  • Gold Key #62: Trial By Fire
Here's how Handley summarises that bonus story:
As a special bonus, this volume will present the unpublished 62nd issue of Gold Key Comics' Star Trek run. Writer John Warner had turned in a script for this issue, titled "Trial By Fire," but it remained in limbo for decades once Gold Key parent company Western Publishing dropped the Star Trek license. Scans of Warner's script, and of nineteen lightly penciled pages from artist Frank Bolle, have been shared informally among collectors, but thanks to Star Trek comics expert Mark Martinez, Eaglemoss has gained access to the actual script and original art pages for high-quality reproduction purposes. At last, this lost Gold Key tale is being presented to fans in an official capacity.

#123: The Maquis, Soldier of Peace
  • Malibu DS9 miniseries The Maquis, Soldier of Peace
    • Written by Mark A. Altman, with art by Rob Davis and Terry Pallot.
    • As the title implies, features the Maquis, and an adventure for Doctor Bashir.
  • IDW one-shot Flesh and Stone.
    • Written by Scott and David Tipton, with art by Rob and Joe Sharp.
    • A medical crossover, featuring the doctors of TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager!

#122: Blaise of Glory
  • DC TOS (second series) Special #1, which contained two stories:
    • Blaise of Glory
      • Written by Peter David, with art by Rod Whigham and Arne Starr.
      • The return of the comics character R.J. Blaise in an Enterprise-A era story.
    • The Needs of the One
      • Written by Mike Collins, with art by Collins and Terry Pallot.
      • A Spock focused story set between The Search For Spock and The Voyage Home.
  • DC TOS Who's Who in Star Trek
    • Written by Allan Asherman, with more artists than is reasonable to list illustrating!
    • An illustrated encyclopedia of Star Trek, originally published in two issues. Each spread covers a different subject, with extensive illustrations, each handed by a different artist.

#121: The Classic UK Comics, Part 4
  • The final volume collecting the UK TOS comics, originally published as weekly serials and one off stories in various UK childrens magazines.
Handley summarises exactly what will come in this issue:
This volume will feature the storylines from Valiant and TV21 issues #43-118, as well as the 1972 and 1973 TV21 Annuals, the 1972 Valiant Summer Special, the 1978 Mighty TV Comic Annual, and the 1979 TV Comic Annual. Also included will be a one-page Trek strip from a 1970 issue of Radio Times magazine, plus a gorgeous gallery of Star Trek-themed covers. The Enterprise crew sometimes speak out of character in these stories, and the terminology and technology vary from what you might be used to onscreen, but the strips have a uniquely British feel that makes them undeniably enjoyable.

Previously Handley also announced details of issues 117-120, also on the Star Trek COMICS : Across Generations Facebook group. They are as follows:

#120: Untold Voyages
  • Marvel miniseries Untold Voyages
    • Written by Glenn Greenberg, with art by Michael Collins and Keith Williams.
    • An excellent five-part series following the Enterprise crew on adventures set after The Motion Picture. Wide ranging stories include appearance by the young Saavik, the introduction of the red movie uniforms, and a Star trek version of the classic grey aliens.
  • IDW TNG one-shot Sky's the Limit
    • Written by Thomas Zahler, with art Carlos Nieto.
    • A Picard focused story, originally released as an exclusive extra with the Picard Movie and TV Collection bluray set. This will be the first reprinting.

#119: Operation Assimilation
An assortment of mostly Marvel one-shots:
  • Marvel TNG one-shot First Contact
    • Written by John Vornholt, with art by Terry Pallot, Rod Whigham, and Philip Moy.
    • Adaptation of the movie.
  • Marvel TNG one-shot Operation: Assimilation
    • Written by Paul Jenkins, with art by Steve Erwin, and Terry Pallot.
    • Romulans first contact with the Borg, from before the episode The Neutral Zone.
  • Marvel TNG special Riker: The Enemy of My Enemy.
    • Written by Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton, with art by Andrew Currie and Art Nichols.
    • A TNG movie era story featuring Riker and Ro Laren.
  • Peter Pan Records TOS record set comic The Robot Masters
    • Unknown creators.
    • Originally published with an accompanying audio adventure on vinyl, this Motion Picture era story features some robots, and some very curiously drawn Romulans!

#118: The Modala Imperative
  • DC TOS and TNG miniseries. 
    • TOS written by Michael Jan Friedman. TNG written by Peter David. All art by Pablo Marcos.
    • A TOS and TNG crossover series, originally published as two consecutive four-issues series. The TOS story works as a standalone prime directive story focused on Kirk and Chekov. The TNG story revisits the same planet, Modala, a century later, with elderly McCoy and Spock joining the TNG crew to resolve mysteries set up in the first half of the series.



#117: Return to the Forbidden Planet
  • DC Marvel Starfleet Academy issues #6-10. 
    • Written by Chris Cooper, with art by Chris Renaud, and Andy Lanning.
    • The second collection in the series of the superb Starfleet Academy series, a DS9 spin-off featuring Nog at the Academy. Issues in this book include the return of Charlie Evens (from Charlie X), and Captain Pike during a visit to Talos IV.
Another four issues were more officially announced on the Hero Collector blog. Handley recently shared the covers in the Eaglemoss Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection Fan Group Facebook group.

#116: Terok Nor
An assortment of mostly Malibu one-shots, which sadly doesn't use the beautiful cover art of the title story.
  • Malibu DS9 one-shot Terok Nor,
    • Written by Mark A. Altman, with art by Trevor Goring.
    • A DS9 prequel, revealing the story of the building of the station.
  • Malibu DS9 one-shot Lightstorm.
    • Written by Mark A. Altman, with art by Rob Davis and Terry Pallot.
    • A Klingon heavy DS9 tale.
  • Malibu DS9 Worf Special, which contains two stories:
    • Bonds of Honor
      • Written by Dan Mishkin, with art by Steve Erwin, John Montgomery, and Scott Reed.
      • Another Klingon heavy story, now with Worf in action.
    • Unhappy Trails
      • Written by Moose Baumann, with art by Rob Davis and Aubrey Bradford.
      • A western holodeck adventure, of course featuring Worf.
  • Peter Pan Records TOS record set comic The Robot Masters
    • Unknown creators.
    • Originally published with an accompanying audio adventure on vinyl, this wild Motion Picture era story features telepathic dinosaurs!

#115: The Trial of James T. Kirk
  • DC TOS (second series) issues #7-12. 
    • Written by Peter David, with art by James W. Fry, Gordon Purcell, and Arne Starr.
    • TOS movie era adventures, with the latter three issues in the book making up the titles's Kirk on trial story.

#114: Command Decisions
  • Marvel DS9 issues #12-15. 
    • Written by Michael Martin, Andy Mangels, with art by Tom Grindberg, and Bob Almond.
    • The final issues in Marvel's DS9 series, which include two issues in the Telepathy War crossover story (frustratingly which follow the first Starfleet Academy issue in the story, in issue 12 of that series, which is not yet scheduled for reprint), plus a fun tribble focused issue.
  • Peter Pan Records TOS record set comic The Time Stealer.
    • Written by Cary Bates and Neal Adams, with art by John Buscema.
    • Originally published with an accompanying audio adventure on vinyl, and square format as a result, this TOS TV era story features a wizard!

#113: Forgiveness
  • WildStorm TNG graphic novel Forgiveness
    • Written by David Brin, with art by Scott Hampton.
    • Originally published as a standalone graphic novel, this TNG movie era story gives an origin story for the transporter, while the TNG crew concern themselves with the Dominion War. Features striking painted artwork.
  • WildStrom Special, which contained six stories!
    • Bloodline
      • Written by Ian Edginton, with art by Carlos Mota and Keith Aiken.
      • A TOS movie era story featuring Peter Kirk.
    • A Rolling Stone Gathers No Nanoprobes
      • Written by Andy Mangels and Mike Martin, with art by Paul Neary and David Roach.
      • What happens when the Borg encounter the Horta...
    • When the Stars Come A-Calling
      • Written by Ben Raab, with art by John Lucas.
      • A Benny Russell DS9 story.
    • Exercises in Futility
      • Written by Stuart Moore, with art by Gordon Purcell and John Stanisci.
      • A Voyager story featuring Seven of Nine.
    • The Legacy of Eleanor Dain
      • Written by Christopher Hinz, with art by Tommy Lee Edwards.
      • A TNG TV era story of art.
    • The Wake
      • Written by Jeffrey Lang, with art by Steve Lieber.
      • Featuring the old TOS crew in the TNG era.

And that brings us up to date. Issue 113, is due out this week, and the other issues follow weekly from then.

Many of these comics, have never been reprinted before; the series is doing a fantastic job bring books back into print, and digging up those really obscure titles. Handley expects they could finish the job if the series is granted another 20-issue extension. But that all depends on sales, so keep buying!


Finally, in addition to the regular issues, Rich Handley also announced, again on the Star Trek COMICS : Across Generations Facebook group, the latest of the subscriber bonus books, which collect John Byrne's New Visions series. This fifth collection in the series will include the final two regular issues, and some additional stories:
  • #21, which included two stories: The Enemy of My Enemy, featuring Kor the Klingon, and The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, a Pike-era H.G. Wells crossover!
  • #22 An Unexpected Yesterday, featuring Gary Seven.
  • Strange New Worlds, the original annual that lead to the series, featuring Gary Mitchell.
  • More of the Serpent Than the Dove, a Gorn-focused one-shot originally offered as a Humble Bundle bonus.
  • Eye of the Beholder, a bonus story from IDW's second New Visions omnibus, which includes homages to TAS and Gold Key Comics.



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