IDW's June Star Trek comics, and other updates

IDW have announced their June solicitations, which include four Star Trek titles, but only one entirely new comic. The rest of the releases are nuTrek omnibus books, which will arrive just in time to get you in the mood for the release of Star Trek Beyond the following month. Continue below for details of those, and other Star Trek comic updates.

That one new comic in June is Legacy of Spock, part four, which is issue fifty-eight in the nuTrek ongoing series. This final issues in the Spock story-line is from the series' regular creative team of writer Mike Johnson and artist Tony Shasteen. Here's how IDW describe it:

The stunning conclusion of "Legacy of Spock"! The fate of the Vulcan people hangs in the balance as Spock tries to prevent all-out war with the Romulan Empire! Will the Vulcans find a new homeworld on which to rebuild their civilization... or does this spell the end of their species? Don't miss the final chapter of this mini-series event celebrating the 50th anniversary of STAR TREK!

There will be two covers for this one, the regular by Tony Shasteen, featuring Spock from three eras (you can see Shasteen's development process for this in an article on 13th Dimension), plus a subscription cover by Alberto Silva:

Details of Manifest Destiny and other Star Trek comics news

Starting in April is Manifest Destiny, a new four-part nuTrek comic miniseries featuring the Klingons, which will be released fortnightly. Continue below for new details of that, and other Star Trek comics news from IDW.

Things From Another World have posted an interview with Manifest Destiny's writers, Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott, artist Angel Hernandez, and editor Sarah Gaydos, revealing some new details about the series. Perhaps the biggest news is a quick note that there will be no prequel comic series for Star Trek Beyond, but that this series kind of fills that event role anyway, as Johnson explains:

We aren’t doing a movie prequel this year, but we wanted to do another event-worthy series to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek. What could be more event-y than a showdown with the Klingons? And this time both sides are out where no one — human OR Klingon — has been before.

As that summary suggests, it seems this series will be exploring strange new worlds from a new perspective, with the Klingon equivalent of our heroes, as Parrott notes:

...who’s the Klingon “Captain Kirk?” What does their “Enterprise” look like? How does the Empire explore? So we did some research into the Vikings and Mongols, just to establish a base...

Parrot also outlined the Klingon-Kirk, someone called Shotok:

There are some great villains in the original series, but outside of Khan, they’re mostly races — Klingons, Romulans, etc. So our goal was to try and create a worthy adversary for Kirk — someone personal, who thinks and acts like he does. Shotok is an outsider who doesn’t conform to the traditional Klingon code of honor. And because of that, he’s dangerous, unpredictable, and a bit of a wildcard when he first encounters the Enterprise.

While Johnson elaborated on the setting:

Madefire to put Star Trek comics in motion

Motion books producer Madefire have entered into an agreement with several publishers, including IDW, to produce motion book versions of their comic books. Those plans include Star Trek releases, with the trailer below showing pages from the nuTrek ongoing series and Countdown to Darkness. The Madefire versions of comics include animated sequences, sound effects and music, and in some titles even interactive elements, with readers being able to move the virtual camera around a setting. You can get a glimpse at what they'll be doing with Star Trek, and other IDW titles, in this trailer:



There's no information on release dates yet, but when they do come you should be able to enjoy the animated versions on Star Trek comics on Madefire's app for apple devices, or via their browser based releases on DeviantART.

Publishing bits: Next Voyager novel, Enterprise relaunch uniforms, more calendars, and French comics

A variety of bits and pieces from all corners of the Star Trek publishing world for you: First up, Kirsten Beyer's next Voyager novel appears to have a title and publication slot. Simon and Schuster now list a Voyager book called Protectors, which is expected in late January, making it nominally the February book, and the first book of the 2014 publishing schedule. Oddly this book is not appearing very widely on the Simon and Schuster site, it only comes up under the author page, not if you just look for Star Trek, or even specifically Voyager novels. I only became aware of thanks to TrekBBS user Madzilla pointing it out.

Much closer to the present, next month's book, the first in the new Enterprise relaunch, Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures, is starting to appear right now. The author, Christopher L. Bennett, posted a sketch of his uniform design for the series on his website. The design combines elements from uniforms before and after the early Federation setting of the novel, and also notes a nice explanation of the different insignias we saw in TOS.

In a completely different area of publishing, there's potentially worrying news for UK Star Trek calendar fans. Last year Danilo published two Star Trek calendars in the UK market, a TOS design, and a nuTrek ships collection. As a result the US calendars, including Ships of the Line, from Universe Publishing, were not distributed in the UK. We were looking safe this year, but now two 2014 calendars from Danilo have appeared, offering either a "movie" or "ships" calendar. At the moment both Universe and Danilo's calendars have been listed by Amazon in the US and the UK, but if it's like last year only each country's calendars will only be distributed locally, so you'll have to rely on secondary sellers if you'd prefer designs from the opposite side of the ocean (which ever side you're on).

There is also going to be a German Star Trek calendar this year, like last year it is being published by Panini. Listings for this initially suggested a May release, but that has now been pushed back to July.

If you are a Ships of the Line fan, be sure to check out Mark Rademaker's latest blog post, he has written about how he has come to design an almost real-world warp ring-ship for NASA, which is also his contribution to the 2014 calendar. He's also posted lots of artwork, like the following image, check out his blog for much more,

Finally good news Star Trek comic fans in France, a couple of days ago Countdown to Darkness was released in French, on Kindle. There doesn't appear to be a physical version at the moment. Unusually for foreign language releases, IDW itself is listed as the publisher, rather than selling on the rights to a local company.

If you're curious about French Star Trek comics, check out my 8of5 Archives report, which lists every comic that's ever been released in a French translation.

Comics round up: After Darkness, August releases, timeline, and latest covers

Lots of comics new for you, starting with news of a new comic series tie-in to Into Darkness, Roberto Orci tweeted to confirm there will be a four-part prequel series exploring the character of John Harrison, coming in the fall:

Ask and ye shall receive. IDW Pubishing IS going to do a 4-issue John Harrison miniseries this fall!

Before then though, we're heading into events after the film. Here's a first look at After Darkness; the three-part comic sequel to Into Darkness, which will comprise issues twenty-one to twenty-three, of the Star Trek ongoing series. Wired posted these two preview pages (pages 10 and 13 from Part 1):

 

Pre-order: Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

Wired also posted an interview with the series writer, Mike Johnson, where he gave a vague outline of where he'll be going next:

You’ll see immediately on the first page of [the story] that it’s very much a sequel in terms of plot. Things happen in the movie that can’t be ignored going forward, and we will see the repercussions play out over the months to come. It’s also a character-based sequel, as we see how the crew reacts to the events of the movie, and what it means for their relationships going forward.

I’m aiming for a combination of two things going forward. First, all-new worlds and stories that expand the galaxy as we know it, and second, a larger epic story about the clash of civilizations. And I’m not just talking about the Klingons vs. the Federation. The map of the Star Trek galaxy is divided into established empires and the great unknown. I want to explore both.”

IDW have also given us some idea of where what's next with the release of their August solicitations, which give us the first details of Star Trek ongoing issue twenty-four, a sequel to Star Trek: The Video Game:

Star Trek (ongoing) #24
Written by Mike Johnson. Art by Claudia Balboni. Cover by Tim Bradstreet, with retail incentive sketch and photo covers.

The adventures of Kirk, Spock and the Enterprise crew continue in an all-new adventure that follows the events of the hit film STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS and the new STAR TREK video game! A classic enemy returns in this story overseen by STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci. Beware... THE GORN!

 

IDW have also released an interactive timeline, explaining the timeline divergence, and placing all the ongoing comics.

They suggest the following chronological order for the ongoing series:

• 2256: #20 - Red Level Down
• 2257:
• #18 - Uhura origins
• #19 - Scotty origins
• 2258:
• 2009 movie
• #15 and #16 - Mirrored
• #1 and #2 - Where No Man Has Gone Before
• #3 and #4 - The Galileo Seven
• #5 and #6 - Operation: Annihilate
• #7 and #8 - Vulcan's Vengeance
• #9 and #10 - The Return of the Archons
• #17 - McCoy origins
• #13 - The Redshirt's Tale
• #14 - Keenser origins
• 2259:
• #11 and #12 - The Truth About Tribbles!
• Countdown to Darkness
• #21, #22, and #23 - After Darkness

If you've missed the ongoing series so far, IDW are going to try and tempt you with their latest 100 Penny Press release (reprints of their comics for one dollar), which is Star Trek (ongoing) #1. Details of that and other upcoming reprints, after the jump:

Preview for the final chapter of Countdown to Darkness

Out this week is the fourth and final issue of the Star Trek Into Darkness prequel series, Countdown to Darkness. StarTrek.com has posted a seven page preview, in which Captain April goes a bit crazy. See that down below (and continuing after the jump).

Also out this week is the latest Treasury Edition, large format omnibus. This time it's got three issues from the Star Trek ongoing series: The Return of the Archons, part one and two, and the single issue Hendorff story. StarTrek.com have also posted a preview of that, which I've not replicated as this is just a reprint. I can't help but suspect it's a reprint with some meaning though; might these be the three most significant issues of the ongoing series, leading us into the release of Into Darkness? The Return of the Archons established some sort of Starfleet conspiracy. And Hendorff has been pretty well established in the ongoing series, with this focus issue giving him a lot of time in particular. I worry for our cupcake in a redshirt!

 

Countdown to Darkness #3 (and #4!) preview

Out this week is the penultimate issue (already!) of the Star Trek Into Darkness prequel comic series, Countdown to Darkness. But first, Cross Cult, who are preparing the German edition of the omnibus of the series have posted a preview of issue four! Here's page one, without any of the text, where the Klingons are looking annoyed about Captain April:

Back to this week, Comics Continuum have posted previews of all IDW's comics this week, so here are the first seven pages of Countdown to Darkness #3 (continues after the jump). Take a moment to check out Sulu's Starfleet issue socks (hopefully the officially licensed versions will follow...):

 

NuTrek comic previews

Out this week are both of this month's nuTrek comics (both featuring Uhura on the cover too); issue two of Countdown to Darkness, and issue 18 of the ongoing series. Here are seven page previews of both (via Comics Continuum), which continue after the jump after the first couple of pages of Countdown to Darkness, where we find a fascinating revelation about the history of the starship Enterprise:

 

New comic omnibus covers

Amazon have updated their listing for the Countdown to Darkness omnibus with a new cover. The four portraits from the individual issue covers have be re-arranged and cropped to fit inside the delta shape, rather than sitting outside of a solid block-colour delta. This new version of the cover bares a much stronger resemblance to the original Countdown cover, which has the exact same arrangement.

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

Countdown to Darkness is due out in April, very shortly after the final issue of the series is published, so that those who want to get it only as an omnibus can still read it before the release of Into Darkness in May. Meanwhile Forbidden Planet have revealed the cover art for Assimilation², Volume 2, the second omnibus of the TNG/Doctor Who crossover series, which is due out any day now. The new cover matches the similar design of the Volume 1 omnibus, this time featuring allies rather than villains along side Picard and The Doctor:

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp, Forbidden Planet.

In other Trek comics news, Joe Corroney has posted a gallery full of his line art (pre-colouring) from the Hive series, demonstrating his insane level of drawing detail! Here are some delicious pages of starship porn (reminds me of some of my greatest Star Trek: Armada battles), there's plenty more on Facebook:

 

More Trek books coming in German

It's a good time to be a Star Trek fan in Germany, with oddles of books on the way from Cross Cult and other publishers. UnrealitySF's Jens Defner has pointed me to some of the updates coming from Cross Cult:

Cross Cult's release of the original Typhon Pact series is due to start in June, and now they have released (on the Star Trek Romane website) the finalised cover art for the series. Here's the tetraptych of covers for the whole series:

Aside from the addition of titles there are just a couple of alterations from the previous version: The Saber class has been turned around so it's no longer running away from the Borg on Bestien (Rough Beasts of Empire); and a different image of Ezri has been used on Nullsummenspiel (Zero Sum Game).

Here's a closer look at the Feuer (Seize the Fire) cover from the Star Trek Romane Facebook page, the rest of the series will probably be posted over the next few days/weeks:

Cross Cult have also amended their design for Der Friedensstifter (Mudd In Your Eye), as they weren't allowed to use the previous version with Harry Mudd on the cover due to likeness rights issues. So they've made Kirk's head bigger to fill the gap. This one is due out about now:

Cross Cult also have some new comics on the way; coming on May 6th is the omnibus edition of Countdown to Darkness. They've posted their version of the cover, translating the byline at the top, but seem to be keeping the title in English. This release will apparently see the return to a simultaneous paperback and hardcover release of comics from Cross Cult, which hopefully will mean a cool new variant cover for the hardcover (their previous hardcovers have been pretty snazzy).

In addition to the omnibus version they have also announced plans to publish issue one, as part of the free comic book day promotion, which comes a few days after the omnibus release, on the 11th of May.

As well as Countdown to Darkness, Cross Cult are continuing with the release of the Star Trek ongoing series in German, with the second omnibus due in April. This one is only coming in paperback, so I guess the hardcover treatment is for special cases now.

Cross Cult aren't the only publisher doing Trek in Germany, Heel, who previously published German Trek novels themselves, and most recently offered the German version of the Haynes Enterprise Manual, are returning with the Klingon/German dictionary, due in April. This appears to be a reissue of the German version of the Klingon Dictionary, which came out in 1998. It has a slightly rearranged cover - They've dropped the Klingon image, and rearranged the remaining elments somewhat:

 
Meanwhile coming from Panini Books in May is a German translation of the Star Trek Vault book, which has been rechristened Star Trek Archive: 40 Jahre Sci-Fi-Kult.

Countdown to Darkness preview and new cover

Promoted somewhat strangely on a website dedicated solely to it, comes this new variant cover for Countdown to Darkness #1. Regular Star Trek ongoing artist Stephen Molnar gives us, "The Enterprise Edition", which will be limited to 1701 copies, and is available to purchase online in the US and UK. It looks like this:

UPDATE: TrekMovie have now revealed another exclusive cover, this one will be available from Hastings Direct, and is illustrated by Stellar Labs, the same studio that did the interior art in the recent Star Trek ongoing mirror universe story:

Countdown to Darkness #1 is out this week, and Previews have posted the first look inside the prequel comic. Here are the first five dream sequence pages. UPDATE: Trekmovie have now posted the usual seven page preview, so here are in fact, the first seven pages (continues after the jump):

 

 

 

 

IDW April solicitations, plus more omnibuses on the way

TrekMovie have posted details of IDW's Star Trek comics coming in April, and it's a bumper month, with extra re-releases timed to ride the publicity wave as the release of Star Trek Into Darkness approaches. Read down for news of other omnibuses releases coming later in the year as well. But first, coming in April:

The Star Trek ongoing series hits it's twentieth issue in April, which means it has surpassed all but one of Marvel's Star Trek comic series in length now, having just pushed the 19-issue Starfleet Academy series down to being the seventh longest running Star Trek series. To get the number five slot it will need beat Marvel's 32-issue DS9 series. Then it's in for a really long wait, to get to the first DC TOS series' 56 issues, Gold Key's 61, and the second DC TOS and DC TNG series' equal 80 issue records!

Star Trek (ongoing) #20
Written by Mike Johnson, art by Claudia Balboni, cover art by Tim Bradstreet, plus sketch and photo covers.

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.

Star Trek Space-Spanning Treasury Edition
Written by Mike Johnson, art by Stephen Molnar, cover art by Tim Bradstreet

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:

Countdown to Darkness #4
Written by Mike Johnson, art and cover by David Messina, plus 1/5 photo-covers, and a CGC graded cover.

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!

Countdown to Darkness omnibus
Written by Mike Johnson, art and cover by David Messina.

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:

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

Also out in April is the new John Byrne mega-omnibus, including all his IDW Star Trek work:

John Byrne Collection omnibus

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:

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

A couple of new Star Trek omnibuses coming later in the year from IDW have also appeared on Amazon recently:

The DC release of Beginnings

June will see Star Trek Classics Volume 4: Beginnings, the fourth book in IDW's Classics omnibus collection. Like all the books in the series so far is repeat of a Star Trek comic omnibus previously released - In this case DC Comics' Beginnings, which collects the first ever six-issue TNG comic miniseries. Here is the blurb from Amazon:

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.

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca.

Shortly after, in July, is another omnibus re-issue, this time it's IDW's own Star Trek/Legions of Super-Heroes crossover series. This was released as a hardcover omnibus last summer, so if you prefer your books a bit floppier (but not as floppy as the individual issue releases) then this is your chance to get the paperback version of the very enjoyable series.

Countdown to Darkness #4 cover

IDW have released the cover for Countdown to Darkness #4, revealing a Klingon as a primary character in the series:

We've seen John Harrison and the Enterprise gang playing with Klingons on Qo'noS in the trailers, so I guess we'll be exploring the background to that element of Star Trek Into Darkness.

Here's the cover without all the titles, as posted by David Messina on his blog, you can also see it pre-colouring there.

And here is an updated version of my mock-up for the omnibus cover. The delta segments on the covers released so far don't actually line up quite right, so I've super-imposed my own over the top, but you get an idea what it will look surely look like:

Countdown to Darkness covers

Amazon have updated their listing for the Countdown to Darkness omnibus, with a cover featuring the artwork from the first issue:

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

I imagine that this will not be the final cover, as the covers for the series so far all show a quarter of a Starfleet insignia, so I imagine the actual final cover will present all four covers, giving us the full insignia image (much like the covers for Countdown, Nero, and the movie adaptation did). Something like my mock-up here, which optimistic guesses the fourth cover will feature John Harrison (and thus that the series will shed some light on who he is):

Unless IDW and Bad Robot are very mean, we only have a month until the next solicitations reveals who is actually on the final cover.

Meanwhile, David Messina has released the artwork for the recently revealed third issue, featuring Spock. Here is the cover without titles:

You can also see it pre-colouring, on David Messina's blog.

Comics update

IDW have announced their March solicitations, and it's all new-timeline stuff in their Star Trek comics. The ongoing series continues its origin stories phase with a Scotty story for the nineteenth issue:

Written by Mike Johnson, art by Claudia Balboni, covers by Tim Bradstreet, plus a photo-cover.

The lead up to this Spring's STAR TREK film sequel continues here, in this official prequel mini-series overseen by writer/producer Roberto Orci. Captain Kirk and his crew will face an all-new adversary that threatens the future of the entire Federation. An exclusive all-new story that sets the stage for the upcoming movie!

The fourth omnibus for the ongoing series is also out in March:

The countdown to the Star Trek movie sequel continues here! In "The Redshirt's Tale," experience life on the Enterprise through a redshirt's eyes! Also, find out how Scotty and his alien sidekick Keenser first meet. Plus, an all-new re-imagining of the classic "Mirror Universe" story!

The Into Darkness prequel, Countdown to Darkness, will conclude in April, and Amazon now have a pre-order listing for the omnibus, which like the original Countdown omnibus will come out the same month as the last issue, so you can get the whole thing before the new film comes out.

But before then issue three will be out in March as well, and it looks like this:

Written by Mike Johnson, art by David Messina, covers by David Messina, plus a photo-cover.

The lead up to this Spring's STAR TREK film sequel continues here, in this official prequel mini-series overseen by writer/producer Roberto Orci. Captain Kirk and his crew will face an all-new adversary that threatens the future of the entire Federation. An exclusive all-new story that sets the stage for the upcoming movie!

IDW have also recently released an updated cover for the first issue in the series, as well as a B cover using the movie's poster: