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Two iconic franchises collide for the blockbuster crossover event of 2015! The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise meets the Green Lantern Corps for the first time in an all-new adventure that spans the cosmos! Don't miss the thrilling first chapter of THE SPECTRUM WAR, as Kirk and Spock make a most unusual discovery on a lost world... igniting events that will change the fate of empires!There are at least seven different covers for this issue! The regular covers are by Gabriel Rodriguez (check out the pencil art for this on the artist's Tumblr), Francesco Francavilla, and Elsa Charretier:
Boldly going... where it all started! Presenting the first comic book adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew! Fully remastered with new colors, Volume 3 collects issues #13-18, including stories such as "Dark Traveler," "The Enterprise Mutiny," "The Hijacked Planet," and more.
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| "Full thrust, for pity's sake!" |
The all-new origin stories of the Enterprise crew conclude with this special issue that focuses on TWO Trek Stalwarts: Sulu and Chekov! Witness their first meeting at Starfleet Academy, and learn how their paths intertwined all the way to the bridge of the Enterprise! Overseen by Trek writer/producer Roberto Orci, this issue sets the stage for Sulu and Chekov’s new adventures in the blockbuster film sequel!Also out in April is a Star Trek ongoing Treasury Edition large-format omnibus. This is the second Star Trek Treasury Edition from IDW, the previous included the first half of John Byrne's Romulan saga. I wonder if the choice of issues here is significant; we're told the ongoing comic series has been laying out hints towards Star Trek Into Darkness, and this collection does include the most obvious could-be-hint of the series so far, at the end of the new The Return of the Archons.
IDW continues to boldly go where no comic book company has gone before—producing beautiful treasury editions of comics deserving of a BIG format! Collecting three issues that tell two complete stories, featuring one story inspired from the original series as well as one completely new tale! Great stories by ace Trek scribe Mike Johnson and stupendous art by Stephen Molnar featuring THE RETURN OF THE ARCHONS and THE REDSHIRTS STORY!Elsewhere in the nuTrek world, Countdown to Darkness finishes in April, and gets a prompt omnibus release:
This is it! Don’t miss the shocking conclusion of this official prequel to next spring’s STAR TREK film sequel! Overseen by STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci, this climactic issue leads directly into the upcoming blockbuster as Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew fight for fate of the Galaxy!
The countdown to the motion picture event of 2013 begins here, in this blockbuster 4-issue prequel mini-series that sets the stage for the upcoming STAR TREK film! Like the best-selling STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN in 2009, this all-new series leads directly into the next movie, with a story by STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci and Mike Johnson (STAR TREK ongoing series), and drawn by the original STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN artist, David Messina! STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN TO DARKNESS is the can’t-miss lead-in to the new adventures of the Enterprise crew!Here's the first look at the combined Countdown to Darkness cover quartet:
Comics legend John Byrne has taken on four Star Trek titles, all collected in this oversized hardcover collection. Assignment Earth recounts the adventures of interstellar agent Gary Seven, Crew recounts a tale from the very beginnings of the United Federation of Planets, Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor is a collection of tales from this famous member of the Frontier Medics Program, and mystery, intrigue, and war abound in Romulans: Pawns of War.Awesome new cover by John Byrne for this:
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| The DC release of Beginnings |
Reprints the very first comics adventures from The Next Generation and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Set during their earliest voyages, join Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Troi, Yar, and Laforge as they learn about eachother and encounter: A de-powered Q who seeks refuge aboard the Enterprise as he attempts to learn what it means to be mortal; A world where warriors see battle as a child's game; A world with dark secrets that threaten both the ship and crew, and more.
Comics legend John Byrne has taken on 4 Star Trek titles, and they are all collected here, in one oversized hardcover collection. "Assignment Earth" recounts the adventures of interstellar agent Gary Seven, "Crew" recounts a tale from the very beginnings of the United Federation of Planets, "Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor" is a collection of tales from the member of the Frontier Medics Program, and mystery, intrigue, and war abound in "Romulans."Byrne has already confirmed, on his own forum, that he will be producing a new cover for the 320 page omnibus. But in the mean time Amazon have a stand in, using his first Romulan comic cover:
This will be a "last chance" to clean up all the little glitches that have persisted thru various iterations, like the Engineer whose name changes mysteriously in SCHISM, and may failure to identify the Organian who pops up at the end of the same series. Also correcting a line of dialog from TOS which was "fixed" by an over-zealous proofreader in THE HOLLOW CROWN. We're also going to see if it's possible to fix the poor resolution on the first issue of A:E, which was my fault since I somehow scanned the pages at the wrong setting.Sounds good. But I really want to know is, when will Byrne be giving us some new Trek?!
He also commented on that issue and beyond: "...the third and fourth issues of FRONTIER DOCTOR we will be visiting a pre-refit Constitution class starpship that will show some of the modifications made to those old warhorses prior to their getting chopped and channeled. So the Bridge, for instance, will be familiar, and yet different -- much in the same way Pike's Bridge is like Kirk's, and yet not."
Starting with the best I think, I have no doubt in proclaiming Assignment: Earth the best Star Trek comics IDW have done to date, surpassing (by a narrow margin maybe) even Klingons: Blood Will Tell and the first Alien Spotlight series. My first impression of John Byrne in Alien Spotlight: Romulans was that his story telling is superb but his art a little dated; and from that I anticipated a 20th century Earth setting would play better for his art style, that seems to have been very true and indeed I have become so impressed by his artistic abilities that I now have a much greater appreciation for his comics in the 23rd century too. Byrne, in art and story telling rarely seems to go wrong, every issue is packed full story (while many other IDW comics have suffered from seeming to skip through a story not squeezing any depth into the 22 pages), remarkably in several issues of the series Byrne doesn't even use all 22 pages, and provides additional 2 and 3 page stories on top of the main feature. His artwork has a definite style that did take me a while to get used to, his way of drawing people is very much his own, but once you do get the hang of it is really quite fantastic; pages of dynamic and interesting panel layout, action and ideas. In short I am fully converted Byrne fan; if his name is on the comic I know it's going to be pretty damned good.
Especially considered this series came from the reliably brilliant team of the Tipton Brothers and David Messina, I was a little under-whelmed by this romp into the mirror universe. The five issue series has a four part TOS tale, showing how Kirk took command of the Enterprise from Pike, with a single issue TNG interlude showing a parallel tale of Picard taking command of the ISS Starbreaker.
John Byrne returns to Romulus for this two-part sequel to his Romulan Alien Spotlight. The story shows the development of the Klingon-Romulan Alliance, and particularly how the Klingons are essentially in control, manipulating the Romulans to be their pawns to fight the Federation as a way round the Organians not letting the Klingons do it themselves.
Well before I even get into the comics, a comment on the title: Early covers for the series had the classic TNG title with the Next crossed out and Last graffitied in its place. Neat, makes sense, works with the play on the title, good job - So then for the final release we don't get that but "Star Trek: The next Generation - The Last Generation", completely ruins the title for me, what a waste of word play. Anyway...
The movie prequel. Well after seeing the film I think this series did a good job of setting up Nero, who was otherwise the most simplistic two-dimensional bad guy ever. It's a bit of a shame that in the actual film Spock seems to imply he didn't really know Nero before, but if you overlook that the backstory presented in Countdown adds a lot.
Hmm... Well for starters, I just don’t see the point in doing a comic book adaptation of a film; they are two completely different forms of story telling, designed from the off to be told in different ways. And I can see even less point in doing one of a film nearly three decades old - if they had done an adaptation of the new film it would least serve as a stop gap until the DVD release! Which brings me to another point, why make a fuss about this being the only TOS film not to have been turned into a comic and then ignore the film released now!
And go, here, for the rest.
Comic News International has posted IDW's solicitations for December. This will be the first time there has been only one miniseries running since the first few months IDW's Star Trek run...:Assignment: Earth omnibus
IDW have announced a few new projects at the recent San Diego Comic Convention. The Star Trek editorial job has been pass on for a second time with Andy Schmidt replacing Andrew Steven Harris as of a couple of weeks ago. According to reports by TrekMovie.com and Newsarama Schmidt has spoken of talks with Pocket Books and has a desire to create a singular continuity between IDW's comics and Pocket Books' prose works - which could see Titan and Sulu/Excelsior stories in the future (some way into 2009), Schimdt has also been quoted as wanting IDW to push forward Trek a bit more, to "go beyond just filling in the gaps and start to drive the bus". Romulans: The Hollow Crown - John Byrne’s previously announced two-part sequel to his Romulan issue in the first Alien Spotlight series. According to Trekmovie the series will now be starting in October - a month later than previously announced, and what recent solicitation have indicated (see below). Also as previously suggested there is still the possibility of addition Romulan sequel stories later in 2009.
Check out this post, for more of John Byrne's development artwork. (I find them a pleasant hybrid of TOS and 
Mirror Images #4:
New Frontier: Turnaround omnibus:
IDW's solicitations for September have been announced which include the last issue of Assignment: Earth, and the first of John Byrne's next story, the two-part Romulans: The Hollow Crown, plus the delayed third issue of Mirror Images and the first of IDW Star Trek Archives omnibus books, which collect older Star Trek comics. Still no sign of Alien Spotlight II... Here are the blurbs for the issues as presented by Comic News i (including the first look at the colour version of the The Hollow Crown cover):
Assignment: Earth #5
The President of the United States is the most powerful person on the planet—but what if the man in the office is an agent of a foreign government? Seven and Roberta journey to Beijing to make sure only Nixon returns from China! John Byrne’s first-ever Star Trek series concludes here!
Mirror Images #3
In the third chapter of this all-new Mirror Universe saga, we jump ahead to a never-before-seen period for the Mirror Universe: the waning days of the war between the Empire and the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. As the Empire's sphere of influence shrinks with every losing battle, we ship out with the ISS Starbreaker, where a young navigator, Lieutenant Jean-Luc Picard, is forced into command of his crippled vessel, and must figure out a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, or sparing that, at least keep himself and his remaining crewmates alive to fight another day.
Romulans: The Hollow Crown #1
Legendary creator John Byrne presents a special two-part sequel to his first Star Trek tale. In chapter one, the first mission of the Empire's new ship and weapon ended in failure, but the Praetor is not done yet! Familiar faces old and new join in a continuation of the tale begun in Star Trek Spotlight: Romulans. Learn who will ultimately wear “The Hollow Crown.”
Star Trek Archives - Volume
First in a new series that collects the very best Star Trek comics from the past three decades. Star Trek Archives: Vol. 1. Best of Peter David collects five Star Trek: The Original Series stories written by fan-favorite writer Peter David (Star Trek: New Frontier). Bill Mumy (Lost in Space) co-writes three issues, and one issue is illustrated by legendary comic artist Curt Swan. The stories in this volume focus on the first crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise—Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, and Mr. Chekov.
And go the original post, here, for more.
On Chris Ryall's blog the IDW editor has released the Joe Corroney cover from the forth issue of Mirror Images:
And this interior page from the second, featuring Orions:
If you check that original post you can also see a pre-coloured version of the Corroney cover.
And finally, according to TrekMovie.com, due to some in-company issues at Tokyopop lately, the first book of TNG manga, which was due out in a couple of months, has been delayed until next year. The third TOS book is still due next month.
You can see some more preview art for that issue amongst the posts at the original posting, here. And, Tom Smith also has a colour version of the cover for the final issue of the series online:
Meanwhile, this week saw the release of the second issue in the Assignment: Earth series (which was one page short itself). "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" is pretty much a crossover between TOS and A:E, with 
