The Mirror War #2 comic preview, covers, and artwork

The latest issue in IDW's The Mirror War(ad) year-long comic event is available now; with issue two(ad) of the main series within the event released last week. Continue below to check out lots of covers, a five-page preview, and behind the scenes artwork.

While this story is focused mostly on TNG characters, the TNG title was dropped off before the series launched, and this issue might point to why, as it brings in Regent Worf from DS9 along with several other DS9 characters, not to mention more TNG cameos, and event a little love for Enterprise!

The book and series is written by Scott and David Tipton, with art by Gavin Smith, and colour from Charlie Kirchoff. Like the previous issue it's available in no less than four different covers! The A cover(ad) is painted by J.K. Woodward, and prominently features Worf, framed by several of the TNG crew. The B cover(ad) is by Amanda Madriaga and features Sisko and Ro. There's also a rarer retail incentive cover(ad) by Mark Alvarado and also features Ro. And on top of that there's also a really cool Worf cover by Zach Howard with colour by Nelson Dániel, which is an online exclusive - I'm not sure exclusive to where though; the similar issue-one cover was associated with a convention, so maybe we can expect similar.

The Mirror War #1 comic preview, covers, and artwork

Out this week is issue one(ad) of IDW's new mirror universe comic event series The Mirror War(ad) - Although if you're following the series it will feel more like the second issue, as it was preceded by an issue zero(ad). Building on IDW's three previous TNG mirror universe miniseries(ad), this eight issue series, with numerous one-shot side stories also promised, will expand on the story of the remnant of the Terran Empire still active in the 24th century, and the grand ambition of mirror-Picard and crew. The core series in the event is written by Scott and David Tipton, with art by Gavin Smith, coloured by Charlie Kirchoff. 

This first issue is offered in no less than four covers! The A cover(ad) featuring mirror-Picard and a montage of other characters and ships, is by J.K. Woodward; who created the look of the IDW TNG-mirror universe crew in their first miniseries, and has been involved in some capacity with all the subsequent outings. The B cover(ad) featuring echoes of Barclay, is by Amanda Madriga. There's then a rarer retail incentive cover(ad) by Mark Alvarado, featuring a shattered vision of Data. Finally there's the most elusive cover of all an online exclusive convention cover(ad) offered as part of the New York Comic Con last weekend, which features Picard, as illustrated by Zach Howard and Nelson Daniel.

Continue below to check out all those covers, a five-page preview, and artwork from the book. Look out for cool stuff including the Enterprise-D's captain's yacht in action, and black versions of the Insurrection-style dress uniforms!

The Mirror War: Data comic covers, blurb, and art teases

IDW's TNG mirror universe comic series The Mirror War(ad) is due to get its first character focused one shot in Data(ad), details of which have been announced in IDW's latest round of solicitations. Taking a break from the main eight-issue run, December will bring the first of four one-shot side-steps in the year long comic event. The Mirror War: Data takes on a different creative team to the core series, with Celeste Bronfman writing and Roberta Ingranata providing artwork. Here's the blurb for the book:

The spotlight turns to Data in this one-shot set in the Mirror Universe of The Next Generation! Expand upon the world of The Mirror War!

 Data and Barclay’s relationship has been strained since Barclay returned from the Prime universe. When Barclay becomes preoccupied with revenge, Data determines to help him right past wrongs so that the human can return to peak operating efficiency. Can the two put aside their differences and work together?

The comic will be offered in three covers, all featuring Data and Barclay. There's the A cover(ad), also by Roberta Ingranata, the B cover(ad) by Ejiwa "Edge" Ebenebe, or a more elusive retail incentive cover by Tom Ralston. Continue below to check them all out.

The Mirror War #0 comic preview, plus behind the scenes art and new cover

This past week brought the launch of the new TNG mirror universe comic, The Mirror War(ad), with issue #0(ad) setting the scene before an eight-part series, and four character-focusesd one-shots carry on this mirror epic for most of the next year!

This first book in the series is written by Scott and David Tipton, with art by Carlos Nieto, and colours by DC Alonso. It is offered in three different covers, with the A-cover(ad) also by Nieto featuring a flag waving Picard and crew. The B-cover(ad), more tightly focused on Picard and Data, is by Ejiwa "Edge" Ebenebe. The final cover by Tom Ralston, is a rarer retail incentive variant(ad), and also features Picard and Data, with a space battle to one side. Continue below to check them all out, plus a five-page preview from this book, some behind the scenes art from the series, and a new cover for a future issue too!

IDW The Mirror War comic updates

IDW 's big Star Trek event for the next year or so is The Mirror War(ad), the latest entry in their occasional mostly-TNG based mirror universe continuity, and their latest round of solicitations, other cover releases, and some artist teases, give us a few hints of where that series is going. Continue below to check out new covers and art:

The latest announced issue, The Mirror War #2(ad), is due out in November, and will be written by David and Scott Tipton, with art by Gavin Smith (as is the whole main series in this year-long event). Here's the blurb, noting an appearance by "The Obnoxious Okona":

Return to the Mirror Universe of The Next Generation with this brand-new series from writers David & Scott Tipton! 

When one of Picard’s secret supply caches is raided by “The Obnoxious Okona”—putting an obstacle in the way of the crew getting to Faundori—the Captain vows revenge. Meanwhile, Worf remains on their trail…

The book will be offered in three different covers, and all three have already been revealed, with more characters due to appear identified from the artwork. 

The A cover(ad) by J.K. Woodward prominently features Worf, alongside a Klingon Bird of Prey, La Forge, Beverly and Wesley Crusher, and a Cardassian. The B cover(ad) by Amanda Madriaga meanwhile brings us Benjamin Sisko and Ro Laren. Ro is also prominent on Mark Alvarado rarer retailer incentive variant cover.

IDW mirror universe comic updates

IDW and their artists have announced new mirror universe comic details for both the new Mirror War series starting later this year, and other releases. Continue below for the latest.

Following the announcement of the TNG mega-series The Mirror War back in May IDW have been a bit quiet on actual release dates for the series, but the new solicitations for October releases have now pinned issue #1 down to a release that month. There's also been an update in the creative team, with Gavin Smith now filling art duties on the series. As previously announced, Scott and David Tipton will be writing.

The series also seems to have been rebranded slightly, referred to simply as Star Trek: The Mirror War, rather than being under the TNG banner specifically. Here's the blurb for Star Trek: The Mirror War #1:

Return to the Mirror Universe of The Next Generation with this brand-new series from writers David & Scott Tipton, where familiar faces and exciting new surprises await around every corner!

To conquer the Mirror Universe, Captain Picard must first seize control of the ship-building planet of Faundori! The only problem? Faundori is inside Klingon-Cardassian Alliance territory…

The book will be offered in three different covers, with the main one painted by J.K Woodward. IDW have released previews of this with the full cover treatment and the art only:

Hallmark reveals Klingon Bird of Prey to join this year's Star Trek Keepsake decorations

Hallmark have revealed a new addition to their range of Star Trek Keepsake Christmas decorations this year, in the form of a convention exclusive ornament. With the Klingon Bird of Prey joining the line-up, this makes 2021 a two-starship year for Hallmark, who have already announced La Sirena from Picard, alongside TOS figures that make up the rest of this years range. Continue below to check out the latest preview images of them all. 

IDW return to TNG's mirror universe in The Mirror War

IDW have announced a big new comics project set to start later this year. After a little while away from the mirror universe they are returning in 13-issue year-long event, Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Mirror War.

Following up on the previous three TNG mirror miniseries Mirror Broken(ad), Through the Mirror(ad), and Terra Incognita(ad), the series will begin with an issue zero one-shot in September, with an eight-issue miniseries to follow. That will be interspersed with tie-in character-focused specials, the first of which will focus on Data and release in December. IDW promise that:

the 13-part saga will chart Mirror Picard’s path of conquest across all of the Mirror Universe, stoking the wrath of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance along the way.

The series will be written by Scott and David Tipton, who previously wrote all the preceding TNG mirror comics (and many other IDW Trek titles). The #0 issue will be illustrated by Carlos Neto, who also worked on several of the previous TNG mirror books. Here's how IDW describe that issue:

...a new story of “Mirror Picard” as he’s summoned to Earth to face the wrath of his emperor, deftly weaving threads from past Mirror Universe tales in a way entertaining to newcomers and the initiated alike.

UPDATE: IDW's August solicitations, in which The Mirror War #0 is the only Star Trek release (rather than September?), include this blurb as well:

Get caught up with the Mirror Enterprise-D before its crew—helmed by Jean-Luc Picard—faces new threats and challenges in the upcoming Mirror War event!

Following the failure of the attempt to steal ships from the Prime Universe, Picard and the Mirror Crew are called back to Earth to report to the Emperor personally… so long as they can survive the trip!   

This issue will be offered in three different covers; either cover A by Carlos Nieto, Cover B by Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe, or a retail incentive cover by Bex Glendining. IDW have released the A cover so far:

Hallmark brings little starships back to the Christmas tree, plus their latest Mirror Mirror figurines

Hallmark have revealed their 2021 Keepsake Christmas decoration range, which includes three new Star Trek releases - Those include the expected continuation of the Mirror, Mirror Storytellers range, and the welcome return of Hallmark's little starships to hang on the tree too. Continue below to check them out.

Last year was the first without a little ship since the Star Trek collection began in 1991 - We got a big ship instead, see below - But the smaller format is thankfully back this year. The starship for 2021 will of course be the latest hero ship, the star of Picard, La Sirena. So far Hallmark have just released a fairly low resolution rendering of this in their Dream Book catalogue, so we'll have to wait for a clearer look of the real thing closer to release. La Sirena is expected in October, and will include sound features, with clips from the show.

Year Five covers and updates, and other Star Trek comics news

IDW have released their June released, which include two Star Trek titles. Continue below for the details of those, and other Star Trek comic updates.

June will see just one new Star Trek comic, the finale of the magnificent TOS: Year Five series. As with the rest of the three-part story, issue twenty-four is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, with art by Stephen Thompson. Here's the blurb:

Their journey has taken them to the edge of the known universe and beyond. They’ve faced down impossible odds, conquered incredible enemies, and now, here in the shadow of home, their mission will come to an end... and nothing will ever be the same. The crew of the Enterprise will put it all on the line in the grand finale of Star Trek: Year Five from showrunners Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly (Gotham City Garage, Green Arrow) and artist Stephen Thompson (Satellite Falling, Die Hard: Year One).

As usual the book will be offered in two different covers, with the main by Thompson as well, and a more elusive retail incentive cover by JJ Lendl. So far just the latter has been revealed:

Mego Q and Locutus coming soon, and Saru in the wild

Mego's Star Trek action figure range is expanding with new characters from TNG and Discovery, including Saru who arrived last year, and Q and Locutus who are starting to turn up now. Continue below to check out all the latest preview images from Mego.

All of the new figures are quite ambitious designs for Mego figures, but I think Q's(ad) striking red and black judge's robes are definitely the most eye catching:

Discovery round-up: There Is a Tide... previews, and loads of season 3 behind the scenes photos

This week brings us the penultimate episode of Discovery season 3, There Is a Tide.... As ever CBS have released previews in the form of a trailer and images from the episode. There's also lots of new behind the scenes content from across the season that's popped up in the last week, so continue below to check out all that, and other Disco updates.

Here's the blurb and trailer for the episode (which you can also watch on StarTrek.com if you prefer):

After capturing the U.S.S. Discovery, Osyraa seeks a meeting with Admiral Vance while Burnham and the crew must overcome unimaginable odds as they attempt to regain command of their ship.

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Hell's Mirror, mirror-Khan comic, covers and excerpt

Out this week is IDW's latest mirror universe comic, Hell's Mirror. The TOS story, a one-shot, features Khan Noonien Singh, with a suitable twist for his mirror-self.

The book is written by J.M. DeMatteis, with art by Matthew Dow Smith, and colours from Candice Han. You can find this in two different covers, either the main one, also by Smith, or a retail incentive by George Caltsoudas. Naturally both feature Khan.

By way of a micro-review, it's a cracking tale, with a very satisfying alternate life for Khan. My favourite of IDW's growing collection of mirror universe stories by far.

Continue below to check out the covers, and a five-page preview:

Discovery: Die Standing excerpts, and other Star Trek novel updates

Out this week was the latest Star Trek Discovery novel, John Jackson Miller's Die Standing. The book features Philippa Georgiou, in three guises; her younger prime timeline self, the mirror universe Emperor at the height of her power, and the Emperor again, once displaced into the prime timeline and forced to seek out new opportunities. Continue below for print and audio excerpts from the book, plus some other Star Trek novel updates.

But first, via StarTrek.com Miller wrote up a great tease of what the book has to offer. Here's a sample:

While we didn’t know her for very long, Captain Georgiou appeared again in a Short Treks episode, as well as in previous novels Desperate Hours and Drastic Measures. Die Standing, which I wrote in coordination with Kirsten Beyer of the Discovery writer’s room, opens even earlier in the character’s Starfleet career, with her serving aboard Archimedes as a young lieutenant. And once again, she’s forced to figure out a way to work toward a goal, while staying within the rules.

By comparison, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius — better known as the emperor of the Terran Empire — is bound by no rules at all. Instead, she makes the rules, and isn’t shy about enforcing her will — brutally, if need be. We meet her in the Mirror Universe episodes of Discovery Season One, at the height of her reign; Die Standing first encounters her somewhat before that. A lot of things are different in her world’s history, but one thing isn’t: the dying words of another emperor, Vespasian. “An emperor ought to die standing,” the ancient Roman said, and Emperor Georgiou certainly would have, had Burnham not spirited her away from her regime’s destruction.

Star Trek comics updates: IDW releases resume from June

IDW have released their latest solicitations, for August release, with just one new Star Trek title on the cards. Meanwhile regular releases are set to resume from June (following the recent Covid induced pause), with rescheduling of already announced titles filling up the schedules towards the end of the year already. Continue below for an update on all IDW's Star Trek series.

So first up, let's check out the newly announced book. The final issue in the latest DS9 miniseries, Too Long a Sacrifice has officially been announced. Issue four continues with the same creative team of writers Scott and David Tipton, and artist Greg Scott. Here's the blurb:

Everyone is a suspect on a space station one murder away from plunging into total chaos. Constable Odo has a suspect in his sights, but there's one final piece to this dark puzzle that will change everything he thought he knew-not to mention life on Deep Space Nine-forever. Don't miss the shocking conclusion to this space noir from David & Scott Tipton (Star Trek: Mirror Broken, Star Trek: The Q Conflict) and Greg Scott (Gotham Central, The X-Files)!

The book will be available in three covers, either the A cover by Ricardo Drumond, a B photo cover, or a retail incentive by J.K Woodward. So far only the photo cover has been released.

A closer look at Discovery's prop design

Discovery's props range from the beautifully ornate reimagining of the Klingons, to the newly robust take on TOS classics, and a whole bunch in between. I've sought out the work of some of the team that brought those props to life to take a closer look. Continue below for phasers, tricorders, helmets, swords, and even a bazooka!

However what really excited me when I came across the work of Ray Lai who designed many of the props in the series, were some of the more mundane items, giving classic Trek forms a new spin. Like this delightful set of engineering tools:

Hallmark previews 2020 Star Trek Keepsake decorations

Hallmark have released lots of new images of this year's range of Keepsake Christmas decorations, including of course all the Star Trek pieces in the collection. This year the Star Trek offering is going in a completely new direction; instead of franchise-spanning assortment of ships, figurines, and small scenes we've grown accustomed to in recent years, this time everything is one theme, all inspired by the original mirror universe episode Mirror, Mirror; and they're all interactive!

As part of Hallmark's Storytellers range all the pieces this year, and over the next couple of years too, interact with each other to tell the story from the episode; with every decoration featuring light and sound functions. Which characters you get will determine which bits of dialogue are activated when they start playing off of each other (you'll need to get a seperate Hallmark's Keepsake Power Cord to power and connect them all). As the collection expands over the next few years you should be able to build ever more elaborate "performances".

The highlight of this initial wave is the impressive USS Enterprise tree topper, which sits upon a pyramid of Starfleet deltas, which illuminate, and form a base for further upward lighting of the ship. The ship itself also has lit parts. This piece does include its own power adapter, and also comes with a remote (also delta shaped) to activate the performance (or you can press a button on the ship itself). On it's own it plays the Star Trek theme music, and if connected to the other Storytellers it starts telling the story too. Jake Angell is credited as the designer of this decoration:

Star Trek comics update: Delayed releases, Khan, Gary Seven, and other Year Five covers, and more

Lots of Star Trek comics updates today, but maybe the last big update in a little while, as the comics industry goes into hibernation over the Covid-19 crisis period. Continue below to check out a bunch of new covers, artwork, and other updates. But first, an update on what's going on with comics right now.

A couple of weeks ago Diamond Comic Distributors, who distribute comics from all the big comic companies, announced that owing to the increased uncertainty throughout the production and sales network, and wishing to play a part in stopping the spread of Covid-19, they were suspending shipping to retailers from April 1st onwards. Following this IDW, the Star Trek comics publisher, announced they would be reducing planned publications, initially through to July.

Of course that means all the currently planned Star Trek comics will be delayed by at least a few months. In fact they were already a bit behind anyway, with solicited March releases not making it out by the end of the month.

Delayed will be Year Five from issue 11 onwards (that issue was originally due in February), the Khan focused TOS mirror universe one-shot (which was expected in March), the new DS9 series Too Long a Sacrifice (which was due to start in April), and the reissue of Debt of Honor (due in June). Before everything ground to a halt, StarTrek.com did put up a preview for the imminent release of Year Five #11, but the issue didn't quite manage to make it to the real world.

Presumably this could have knock on effects for as-yet unannounced planned releases later in the year too - Or if we're lucky maybe we'll just get bumper releases to catch up!

Anywho, to see us through the next few lean months, some of the Star Trek artists have been sharing their recent creations. Here for instance is a striking George Caltsoudas cover for Hell's Mirror, the TOS mirror universe one-shot featuring Khan:

The Borg assimilate Hallmark itty bittys

Hallmark have unleashed the Borg Collective on their itty bittys cuddly toys, with their latest waves of releases focusing on characters from First Contact and Voyager. Continue below to check out the cute collective, and some other Hallmark updates:

Just released are the latest pair of itty bittys, based on First Contact. Available separately are "Borg Picard" (aka Locutus) and the Borg Queen:

Star Trek costumes, props, miniatures, and concept art heading to auction

There are two big TV and movie auctions coming up in the next couple of weeks (from Profiles in History and Julien's Auctions), and both feature numerous Star Trek lots, offering many costumes, props, miniatures, and pieces of production art from several Star Trek movies, and all of the classic live action TV series. Continue below to check out some of the highlights.

If you're a fan of The Motion Picture you might be able to get hold of something interesting, as several of the lots from Profiles in History are from the film. My favourites are a couple of pieces of Robert Fletcher costume concept art, mainly because Spock's "meditation garments" are so gloriously unusual!