IDW omnibuses

IDW's December solicitations revealed/confirmed two new omnibus books on the way: The 100 Page Spectacular format must be doing quite well, as a third volume for 2012 is on the way. They describe the Winter 2012 edition as follows:

Explore the amazing worlds of Star Trek through our continuing series of 100-page spectaculars! How do you deal with killing a legend? Find out in the story of Captain Harriman, the notorious commander of the Enterprise when Captain James T. Kirk was lost and presumed dead. Guest starring Dr. McCoy! Discover the devious inner workings of the Romulan military! Re-enter the Mirror Universe as Kirk's Doppelgänger plots to overthrow his superior... Captain Pike -- And more!

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

The solicitation credits Marc Guggenheim, Scott Tipton, and more as writers, with art from David Messina, J.K. Woodward, and more. From that it's clear Captain's Log: Harriman, and probably the first issue of Mirror Images will feature. The Romulan story could be one of many; the first Alien Spotlight: Romulans has already been reprinted in the first 100 Page Spectacular, but that still leaves an opening for the second Romulan story in the Alien Spotlight series, which seems like the most likely candidate from the vague description. Other options include the rest of John Byrne's Romulan saga, or the TNG series Intelligence Gathering. The 100 page format should also accommodate a fourth single issue story as well.

At the decidedly more generous end of the omnibus scale, December will also see the latest edition of IDW's bulky omnibus series, with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Omnibus. The solicitation confirms the contents as IDW's early TNG miniseries:

Star Trek: The Next Generation Omnibus collects 4 graphic novels into one monstrous book! The Space Between, Intelligence Gathering, The Last Generation, and Ghosts.

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

Meanwhile over in the Czech Republic the Star Trek: The Original Series Omnibus just came out, translated into Czech by Anthony Martin for Nakladatelství BB/art:

Mega update #5: Simon and Schuster

Lots has been going on in the past few months from the various Simon and Schuster imprints that now deliver us new Trek prose:

All four books of the Typhon Pact series are now available. Since my last updates there are now excerpts up for the last three books in the series on Simon and Schuster's website: Seize the Fire, Rough Beasts of Empire, and Paths of Disharmony. You can also find and excerpt from the latest Myriad Universes book, Infinity's Prism, which was released at the end of last year.

Also already out is the second book in the new Starfleet Academy series, The Edge. The cover was released on startrek.com before publication, and looks like this:

The next book in the series, out in April, now has a title: The Gemini Agent, and has apparently been pushed back from April to June release date, if the listing on Simon and Schuster's website is accurate. Correspondingly the listing on Simon and Schuster's online catalogue for the as yet untitled fourth book in the series notes a September publication date, moved from the initial May listing.

The Simon and Schuster catalogue has also been updated with new (preliminary) covers and blurbs for several forthcoming books:

DTI: Watching the Clock is on its second stand-in cover, but according to Christopher L. Bennett on his blog not the final. This version is apparently an element of the final cover though, and is a rendition of the clock at the Royal Greenwich Observatory:

Bennett also talks a bit about his work on the novel on his blog; have a read.

The next Voyager relaunch book, Children of the Storm, has a new cover and blurb:

In the aftermath of Destiny, the third novel in the Voyager series that takes original characters—and all new ones—into the Star Trek universe.

Three Federation starships—the Quirinal, Planck and Demeter —have mysteriously vanished, and a contingency plan is developed for the crew to search for the missing ships. An unknown alien race who call themselves the Children of the Storm is at fault, announcing to the Federation that they do not negotiate with destroyers of worlds—and it is not the Borg being referenced, but the Federation itself!

So does the next Vanguard book, the anthology, Declassified:

In this fifth Vanguard novel, the stakes are raised for all those embroiled in the mystery of the Taurus Reach.

Four great Alpha Quadrant superpowers—the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Tholian Assembly, and the Romulan Star Empire—have all taken tremendous risks in their race to learn and control the ancient technologies of the interstellar hegemons known as the Shedai. Go back into prehistory and see the reign of the Shedai as it really was; follow journalist Tim Pennington as he investigates the most bizarre story of his career; see how the Cold War of the original Star Trek era plays out between two groups of colonists; and get a glimpse of the lighter side of life aboard Starbase 47….

This cover has been confirmed as not final, owing to being too similar to previous covers in the series according to the author Dayton Ward. You can see a larger version of the unused cover art on the artist, Doug Drexler's, blog.

The TOS novel A Choice of Catastrophes too has a new cover and blurb:

An all-new novel based on Star Trek: The Original Series—one of the most popular television series of all time!

It is mid-2268. The Enterprise, under the command of Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, is returning from a mission to deliver medical supplies to one of Starfleet’s most distant installations. All is routine until the Enterprise comes within a light-year of the planet Mu Arigulon; the ship is suddenly thrown from warp and suffers a momentary power cut. There’s only one injury—a minor one, and the Enterprise is again underway. Before the ship can reach full speed, it hits another distortion, this one much worse. There are a few more physical injuries, but what’s more worrying is an officer that’s entered into a coma…for no apparent reason.

The ever impressive Unreality SF also recently posted an interview with the authors, Steve Mollmann and Michael Schuster, who describe the books plot as follows:

While McCoy has to find a way to save the lives of a handful of people that have inexplicably fallen into a coma as well as the lives of everybody aboard the Enterprise when the ship is threatened by a destructive space phenomenon, Kirk et al. are exploring a mysterious planet that seems abandoned by the civilisation it was once inhabited by. What they discover is a terrible crime in progress, and they will need all their skills to put a stop to it and capture the perpetrators before they escape.

Mollmann and Schuster also revealed the book was initially pitched as a potential new movie timeline novel, with the idea in mind it could be tailored to either timeline, as is the case with it eventually falling into the prime timeline. They also offered a summary of a story that is from another timeline, Tears of Eridanus, their story in the recently released new Myriad Universes anthology. The point of divergence in this story is:

...the death of an obscure young computer scientist called Surak who died in a surprise terrorist attack. Consequently, his place in history is empty, but it is soon occupied by somebody else who will be familiar to readers of certain Vulcan-related novels. The result is that the planet is embroiled in a millennia-long period of clan warfare, preventing its people from shaping and affecting interstellar affairs as they did in the ‘original’ universe.

The lack of Vulcans to vie with the Andorians causes a lot of changes in ‘Federation’ history, and the lack of Romulans to vie with the Klingons certainly has some major repercussions too!

The authors talk extensively about these two stories and their previous Trek offerings in the Unreality SF interview.

Finally the online catalogue also gives us a new cover and blurb for the post-The Undiscovered Country novel, Cast No shadows. Which the author James Swallow has also posted on his blog, albeit with this longer version of the blurb:

The year is 2300, and seven years have passed since the events of the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. A space station orbiting the Klingon colony Da'Kel is being used as a staging area to undo the disastrous fallout from the destruction of Praxis. With the help of aid supplies from the United Federation of Planets, reconstruction is in progress–but the peace process begun by the Khitomer Accords is still fragile.

Unknown to either the Federation or Klingon representatives warily watching one another over Da'Kel's skies, a third group is plotting. Unnoticed by security, a civilian transport ship with a skeleton crew docks at the station. The ship transmits an ancient Klingon proverb–"Traitors cast no shadow"–before destroying itself in a massive blast of subspace energy that obliterates the space station.

Meanwhile, light years away in a Starfleet penal complex, former officer Valeris is in counselling with her Betazoid therapist. But the process is proving difficult, as Valeris refuses to let down her defenses. She has little hope of ever regaining her freedom or returning to her native Vulcan; guilty of murder and treason against the Federation, she believes she will never be able to go home again. An observer has also been watching - none other than Spock himself, recently retired from Starfleet service and now a representative of the Federation Diplomatic Corps. Spock has come to Jaros II to see Valeris because he believes he is to blame for failing to prevent her attack. He is as marked by that incident as Valeris, carrying the guilt of what he was forced to do...

 The novel has also been moved forward, from October to August.

Shattered Light blurb

The Simon and Schuster online catalogue has been updated again, this time with the first blurb for the next Myriad Universes anthology, Shattered Light. It goes like this:

It’s been said that for any event, there are an infinite number of possible out­comes. Our choices determine which outcome will follow, and therefore all possibilities that could happen do happen across alternate realities. In these divergent realms, known history is bent, like white light through a shattered prism—broken into a boundless spectrum of what-might-have-beens. But in those myriad universes, what might have been . . . is what actually occurred.

THE EMBRACE OF COLD ARCHITECTS. “Mister Worf—fire.” With thosewords, William T. Riker defeated the Borg—and destroyed Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Now, a heartsore Captain Riker must carry on the legacy of thecommanding officer and friend whose death he ordered. But crises face himat every turn, from Cardassian aggression to the return of Data’s creator,Noonien Soong. But it is Data’s creation of a daughter, Lal, that may prove to beeveryone’s undoing. . . .

THE TEARS OF ERIDANUS. Commander Hikaru Sulu of the Kumari—finest ship of the Interstellar Guard, the military arm of the Interstellar Union that includes Andor, Earth, and Tellar—is sent to rescue an observation team on a primitive desert planet. The world has many names—40 Eridani A-II, Minshara, T’Khasi, Vulcan—and its savage natives have taken the team hostage, including Sulu’s daughter, Demora. Even as Captain Sulu negotiates with the fierce T’Pau, Demora meets the elderly S’oval, and with him the only hope for the planet’s future. . . .

HONOR IN THE NIGHT. Former Federation president Nilz Baris has died. After losing Sherman’s Planet to the Klingons thanks to poisoned quadrotriticale, the agriculture undersecretary parlayed that defeat into years of political battles with the Klingon Empire, and eventually the Federation’s highest office. Now, the Federation News Service wants the story of his life, a quest that digs up many secrets—including the mystery of why his final words were “Arne Darvin.”

Shattered Light cover

The Simon and Schuster online catalogue has been updated with the cover for the next Myriad Universes anthology, Shattered Light, out at the end of this year. It looks like this:

Latest Star Trek prose

Simon and Schuster have updated their online catalogues with loads of new Trek blurbs:

Typhon Pact: Zero Sum Game
A spy for the Typhon Pact—a new political rival of the Federation—steals the plans for Starfleet’s newest technological advance: the slipstream drive. To stop the Typhon Pact from unlocking its secrets, Starfleet Intelligence recruits a pair of genetically enhanced agents: Dr. Julian Bashir and Sarina Douglas­—for whom Bashir has long harbored passionate feelings. The two must infiltrate a world controlled by the mysterious species known as the Breen, find the hidden slipstream project, and destroy it. Meanwhile, light-years away, Captain Ezri Dax and her crew on the U.S.S. Aventine play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a Typhon Pact fleet that stands between them and the safe retrieval of Bashir and Douglas from hostile territory.

Typhon Pact: Seize the Fire
Shortly after making the stunning revelation that it has joined with Federation’s newest adversary—a coalition of galactic powers known as the Typhon Pact—the Gorn Hegemony suffers an ecological disaster. Fortunately, the Gorn had already been investigating traces of an ancient but powerful “quick terraforming” technology left behind by a long-vanished race — a dead civilization that may be responsible for habitability of many of the worlds on the Gorn frontier and beyond. When the U.S.S. Titan begins pursuing this potent technology as well, in the hopes of using it to heal the many grievous wounds sustained by the Federation, it is unclear how dangerous such planet-altering technology can be, even when used with the best of intentions….

Typhon Pact: Rough Beasts of Empire
The Romulans have a divided empire, with the original Romulan Star Empire joining the Typhon Pact and the nascent Imperial Romulan State establishing relations with the Federation. Numerous factions within the two Romulan governments vie for power and undivided leadership, and Machiavellian plots unfold as forces within and without the empires play political games. Spock, still on Romulus in pursuit of his goal of reunifying the Vulcans and Romulans, finds himself in the middle of these political battles.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Sisko returns to life in Starfleet, a lonely, fractured man now divided from his family, a set of circumstances brought about by his fears of what the Bajoran Prophets forecast for him and their recent abandonment of him. Kira Nerys has left Deep Space 9 and the Bajoran Militia to follow a religious path on her homeworld. Elias Vaughn suffers a debilitating injury during the Borg attack that leaves him comatose, with no prospects for a return to health. Finally, the Tzenkethi are introduced as an anti-democratic species, who genuinely believe it foolhardy to trust to the will of the masses when individuals clearly have strengths that suggest where they would best serve the people. Given those beliefs, the Tzenkethi also involve themselves surreptitiously in the struggle for power amongst the Romulans.

Myriad Universes: Shattered Light
What began as the exploration of one Star Trek parallel universe explodes with the introduction of six new alternate realities.

Set across history, touching upon every series, and written by a variety of Star Trek authors, each story in Myriad Universes: Shattered Light presents a unique alternate vision of the Star Trek universe, taking pivotal moments from its history and extrapolating the shocking changes that follow those deviations.

In these divergent realms, known history is bent, like white light through a prism—broken into a boundless spectrum of what-might-have-beens. But in those myriad universes, what might have been…is actually what happened.

New Frontier: Blind Man's Bluff
The next exciting Star Trek: New Frontier novel from New York Times bestselling author Peter David!

Following the dramatic events seen in the previous novels, After the Fall, Missing in Action, and Treason, Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur now face an uncertain future, as their lives and the very fate of Sector 221-G are thrown into utter chaos. With a storyline concurrent with The Next Generation, and picking up at a point where there have been significant changes, new and old readers alike will be captivated by this series.

And there is also this revised cover for Nightshade (can't quite make out who the author is...):
Finally, David Mack has announced on the TrekBBS that he has just signed the contract to write his next Mirror Universe novel: Rise Like Lions.

IDW review catch-up

So, I am Way behind on my IDW reviews, the last one I did was The Enterprise Experiment (which I blame for creating my review delay period as the final issue was three and a half months late getting to the UK!). So here is a little review catch-up for all but the most recent series to have finished since then.

Assignment: Earth
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.

The notion behind this series is that it is the Gary Seven TV series that never was, and for this series it really works; the pacing and the framing of certain shots (while not sacrificing anything from the comic book format) really give a sense of television. However we also get the added benefit of looking back at the setting from a modern perspective, allowing the books to be peppered with historical references and give some really nice incites into the era.

Each issue of the series has it's own title, which is something of a rarity and much appreciated - IDW have done many series of done-in-one stories, yet so few of those stories are assigned anything more than an issue number, seems odd to me. The stories fit with the era and the themes of Assignment: Earth; lots of espionage, conspiracy, futuristic technology and alien intervention. We get an issue tying in with Tomorrow is Yesterday, and a sequel to the episode Assignment: Earth.

I think the balance of this series just right, we get a really good mixture of history, fun spy stories, exciting science fiction ideas and a general sense of fun. I cannot wait for the next series Assignment: Earth stories; this one was practically flawless and fun throughout.

Mirror Images
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.

The TNG tale I really enjoyed, as a single-issue story it seemed a lot more focus, it had a story to tell and got on with it. The TOS story on the other hand really seemed to drag on. Each issue of the series seems rather light on content, each with its own little sub-plot building up the series arc, but none of the issues' individual stories felt very big or engrossing. Messina's art is its usual top quality, but there are a lot of big empty panels in this series because there just isn't the story to fill the issues. Overall a disappointment for me. If you like TOS (and Pike, I'd say Pike was the biggest draw for me in the series) and the mirror universe you'll likely enjoy it for what it is, otherwise I'd give it a miss.

Romulans: The Hollow Crown
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.

I really enjoy seeing the political side of Star Trek, so this is very much my kind of story. But that's not all this series about; its main characters include the family of the Romulan commander from Balance of Terror (and the preceding alien Spotlight). It's a very well crafted and thoroughly engrossing story, and I can't wait to see where it continues to in the forthcoming Schism series. Another win for Mr Byrne.

The Last Generation
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 Last Generation is the first Myriad Universes comic, and it's nice to see the concept expanding across from Pocket Books even if the level of crossover is limited to the title. Andrew Steven Harris previously gave the amazing Alien Spotlight: Borg, so I was looking forward to seeing what he came up with next, and was not disappointed. The series shows us the TNG gone wrong after Captain Braxton of the 29th century made a mess of the timestream and went and got the Federation president assassinated at Khitomer. The first four issues show how Picard's resistance movement on Klingon occupied Earth plan to undo the changes and area a lot of fun, with your usual alternate reality bringing familiar faces together in new ways kind of thing. The final issue goes back in time and gives a slightly confusing conclusion where Braxton's attempts to stop what seemed to be the end of the universe are halted by Picard and co so that the Federation can live on - with the TNG gang now lost back in time and started another alternate timeline! I don't know if Harris was hoping to set up for a sequel here; Braxton's motivation for changing the timeline in the first place seem to have been left wide open for some future story telling to actually fix the timeline. But I digress, confusing time travel stuff aside the series is a lot of fun.

Now the art on the other hand... It is a complete mystery to me why Gordon Purcell's artwork is apparently so popular - so what if he can do decent likenesses of the cast, so can every other artist IDW use! I find Purcell's artwork clunky, and in particular his way of drawing people in poses looking incredibly unnatural and awkward. He did a better job making the comics visually engaging in this series than The Enterprise Experiment, but I'm still not won over by him and am sure if the series had been illustrated by someone else I would probably have enjoyed it twice as much.

Altogether though, not a bad effort, but room for improvement...

Countdown
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.

The series is also a sequel of sorts to TNG, with mixed results. Irrespective of how obvious it was to do so I'm glad to see Data back, he's my favourite TNG character and that was pretty obviously the intent if Star Trek XI had been The Search for Data. Making him captain of the Enterprise and dumping Picard on Vulcan I'm less pleased about, but it's some years into the future, and in some ways good to see the TNG characters diversifying as they move on through life, not forever on the Enterprise like the old TOS crew...

The series was illustrated by David Messina, so obviously looks fantastic and has plenty packed in to enjoy, there's never a dull moment visually or story-wise. Another winner for IDW I think.

The Wrath of Khan
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!

Anyway, we all know the story, Mr Schmidt did a perfectly adequate job chopping it into three parts, well done. And then we get to the art, which can be reasonably summed up as "yuck"; a big fuzzy blurry mess throughout with painfully odd facial expression from page to page. About the only part of the art that I found in any way presentable was the nice swirly nebula effects...

In conclusion, get the recently released bluray and enjoy the film as it was intended.

IDW July

Comics Continuum have released IDW's solicitations for July, which include the following Star Trek titles (plus one new cover, and some newly reused cover art):

Crew #5
What lies at the literal end of the universe? The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are going to find out when they try to discover how entire star systems can simply vanish!

Mission's End #5
The curtain comes down on the original five-year mission. Who will survive the Archernarian civil war? What finally drives Spock and McCoy out of Starfleet? And what happens when you take the most powerful weapon in the known universe... and actually set it off? Join Captain Kirk and the crew for the final mission of the USS Enterprise.

Wrath of Khan #3
The action-packed movie concludes in the final issue of this three-part, bi-weekly extravaganza! Kirk versus Khan to the death!

Spock: Reflections #1
What could drive a man to abandon all he knows and go to live with the Federation's sworn enemy? In the follow-up series to the Star Trek: Countdown movie prequel, readers see for the first time the real motivations behind Spock's decision to live on Romulus, and follow as he looks back on what brought him to this place in his life. From the team that brought you Star Trek: Mirror Images!



The Last Generation omnibus
In this first-ever Myriad Universe tale, Starfleet is no more. The Federation lies in ruin and the Klingons have conquered Earth. But a resistance, led by Jean-Luc Picard, seeks to free humanity from Klingon rule. Now, finally, it may have the means to do it: An android named Data, who has scrutinized the timeline and discovered that things are not as they should be.



Archives #5: Best of Kirk
This six-issue collection includes the fan-favorite "Trial of James T. Kirk." As the Klingons and Nasguls pursue their vendetta against the captain, a deadly bounty hunter is eyeing the price they've placed on his head. But if the Kirk is fortunate enough to survive the encounter, will he survive the attentions of his own Federation, eagerly looking for a scapegoat to preserve universal peace?

Comics previews

Comics Continuum have posted five-page previews of IDW's releases for next, which include three Star Trek titles:

The Last Generation #5, here's a new cover, by Nick Runge:
Alien Spotlight: Tribbles, here's some thoughtful (and hungry) tribbles:Mission's End #1, here's some giant millimpedes!See all five pages and covers of all three, here.

The Typhon Pact

Further to its earlier report, TrekMovie has now reported some new details on the Typhon Pact meta-story coming in 2010. Margaret Clark has now revealed the story will be told in a miniseries, called "The Typhon Pact" (which will be larger than a trilogy but otherwise unspecified), which like Destiny will feature multiple captains and crews and settings throughout. Clark also noted that at present there are no plans for a stand-alone Aventine novel, but Captain Dax and the Aventine will be a part of the ongoing 24th century meta-story.

The article also updated the contents of the next Myriad Universes book, Shattered Light, which now looks like this:
-An Arne Darvin story, staring with an alternate Troubles with Tribbles, by Scott Pearson
-A Sulu story, featuring Sulu and his daughter in the movie era, by Steven Mollmann and Michael Schuster
-And a TNG story by David R. George III

Vesta design, new 24th century meta-story and a whole heap of novely news, oh my!

TrekMovie.com has posted a rather massive report on Pocket Books' plans for the next couple of years, with all sorts of new (and uber-exciting) info. Lets start with... a design for the Vesta class (USS Aventine). The now former-Trek editor Marco Palmieri mentioned a while ago a design was being worked on, and now TrekMovie has released a concept design, by Mark Rademaker, the same artist who designed the smaller slipstream starship, the USS Spirit, in this year's Ships of the Line calendar:

The design will be used in the 2010 Ships of the Line, and more excitingly, on planned future novels featuring the Aventine! Which leads into the really big news I think: Following on from Destiny in 2010 will be a new cross-series meta-story, incorporating the new Aventine book (or books), TNG, Voyager and Titan. The Federation will face a new alien threat, called "The Typhon Pact" which, as editor Margaret Clark, has described "is comprised of non Federation members who "watched the Federation insidiously 'Root Beer' their way across the Galaxy and they realize the Federation is down and it is time to move."

Before that (or starting it?) is TNG: Losing the Peace, which Clark has described as follows: "we see Picard trying to deal with the vast array of civilian casualties and how the Federation deals the want and need…this is something we have never seen in the 24th Century…" We've also got a new cover for that novel:

There's also big news for the Voyager section of this big adventure, the second new Voyager book now has a title "Unworthy", which will see, amongst other Voyager regulars, the return of Seven to Voyager and a cameo from Neelix. Voyager will be on a new mission exploration and accompanied by a number of support ships. And one more big bit of news, Chakotay will no longer be captain after "dealing with having his soul ripped out" due to the "apparent death of Kathryn Janeway" in Before Dishonor.

Away from all the 24th century excitement there is also a new description of Enterprise: The Romulan War: "Because of things that unfolded in "Kobayashi Maru," the Vulcans have to come with a horrifying fact and they realize that there is something they have to do. Vulcan is going trough upheaval after the rediscovery of Surak’s teachings and the society is not as stable as what we see in the 23rd century. T’Pol realizes what their involvement in a war could wrought on Vulcan society and she does something that horrifies her partners in the coalition, but will eventually lead to the foundation of the United Federation of Planets and the Vulcan that we see in the Kirk era."

In less exciting news there are also some delays to the schedule (at least in part due to Marco Palmieri's departure). The third Myriad Universes anthology, now titled Shattered Light, has been delayed until August 2010, it will still include three short novels, including a TNG story by David R. George, and a Sulu story by Scott Pearson. The Seven Deadly Sins anthology has also been pushed back, to March 2010 and the latest Corps of Engineers omnibus, Out of the Cocoon has been pushed back to December 2010. Finally the hardcover omnibus of the Crucible trilogy planned for release along side the new movie, as been cancelled.

Finally some little newsoids:
-The latest run of reference books haven’t done so well it seems, so no more of those for now.
-No return to original ebooks for now.
-A deal is being worked on for new audio books.
-This cover for the next New Frontier book may not be final:

-But these new covers for the next two DS9 books are:

-2010 will see something slight unusual, David Mack's Mirror Universe story The Sorrows of Empire is to be expanded and published as a stand-along novel.

And last but not least here's what the schedule now looks like for the next two years:
-Jan 09: TOS: Errand of Fury: Sacrifices of War, by Kevin Ryan
-Jan 09: Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows
-Feb 09: A Singular Destiny, by Keith R.A. DeCandido
-Mar 09: Titan: Over a Torrent Sea, by Christopher L. Bennett
-Apr 09: Voyager: Full Circle, by Kirsten Beyer
-Apr 09: NF: Treason, by Peter David
-May 09: Vanguard: Open Secrets, by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
-Jun 09: TOS: Troublesome Minds, by Dave Galanter
-Jul 09: TNG: Losing the Peace, by William Leisner
-Aug 09: DS9: The Soul Key, by Olivia Woods
-Sep 09: DS9: The Never Ending Sacrifice, by Una McCormack
-Oct 09: Voyager: Unworthy, by Kirsten Beyer
-Oct 09: Enterprise: The Romulan War, by Michael A. Martin
-Nov 09: Titan: Synthesis, by James Swallow
-Dec 09: Vanguard: Precipice, by David Mack
-Feb 10: TOS/Mirror Universe: The Sorrows of Empire, by David Mack
-Mar 10: TOS novel TBA
-Mar 10: Seven Deadly Sins
-Apr 10: TOS era reprint
-May 10: TOS: Unspoken Truth, by Margaret Wander Bonanno
-Aug 10: Myriad Universes: Shattered Light
-Dec 10: CoE: Out of the Cocoon

IDW February

Comic News i and others have posted IDW's solicitations for February next year, which include two Star Trek comics, an omnibus and the first look at J.K. Woodward's cover for the forth issue of the The Last Generation miniseries:

The Last Generation #4
In an alternate timeline in which the Klingons have conquered Earth, Jean-Luc Picard leads a dire struggle against the brutal grip of the Empire's iron fist. But a daring assault against the Terran Warlord's flagship leaves the rebellion with its most devastating loss yet, while the Klingon warlord Worf himself faces off against his hunted, mortal enemy: Hikaru Sulu.


Countdown #2
STAR TREK makes a triumphant return to the big screen this summer, but your first look at the upcoming blockbuster can only be found in this exclusive comics tie-in presented by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman! The origin of the villainous Nero continues here as tensions between the Romulan and Vucan empires reach a breaking point, with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance!

Mirror Images omnibus
In the "Mirror, Mirror" episode Star Trek: The Original Series, an evil Kirk commanded the I.S.S. Enterprise for the Terran Empire. But how did he rise to power, in a universe where treachery is rewarded as much as accomplishment? In Mirror Images, witness Mirror-Kirk's efforts to unseat Captain Pike and seize command.

Corroney's Last Generation cover

Joe Corroney has made a post on his myspace blog with his latest artworks, which includes his cover for the third issue of the The Last Generation series, which looks like this:

See the original post for Farscape, Indiana Jones and The Phantom artwork as well.

The Last Generation preview

TrekMovie.com recently posted an article previewing the The Last Generation series. The article revealed the title for the first issue: "Do Not Close Your Eyes", and gave us the first look at an interior page from that issue:

The article also gave some new details on casting: "All the members of the Next Generation crew are present (including Pulaski, Wesley and Tasha Yar) and most of them are members of Picard’s ‘Resistance’ cell. There will be cameos for characters from Voyager, Deep Space Nine and even The Original Series". The comments from Andrew Steven Harris also noted that the USS Excelsior is the last Starfleet ship left in the alternate future of the story.

Read the full article, here.

IDW January (is exciting!)

ComicNewsi.com have released IDW's solicitations for January, which includes the first issue of a tie-in series for the new movie!

The Last Generation #3
In an alternate timeline in which the Klingons have conquered the Federation, Jean-Luc Picard leads a desperate struggle against the brutal grip of the Empire's iron fist. But as Terran Warlord Worf continues his scorched-Earth attacks on the planet, Picard's rebellion harbors an unlikely turncoat in its midst, with potentially devastating consequences. And should the Klingons seize control of the newly-awakened android Data, they will have perhaps the most powerful computer weapon in the galaxy...

Countdown #1
-Story by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman • Written by Tim Jones & Mike Johnson • Art and cover by David Messina!
The countdown to the motion picture event of 2009 begins here, in the exclusive comics prequel to the upcoming blockbuster STAR TREK! JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman present the origin of Nero, the mysterious Romulan who will ultimately threaten the survival of the entire universe. Don't miss this first chapter in the story that brings STAR TREK back to the big screen!

The Gary Seven Collection
Collecting four issues of the fan-favorite Star Trek comic books released by DC Comics in the 1990s, written by Howard Weinstein and Michael Jan Friedman, IDW’s Star Trek: Archives, Vol. 3: The Gary Seven Collection explores the continued adventures of alien-agent-on-Earth Gary Seven. First seen crossing paths with the crew of the USS Enterprise in the 1968 Star Trek second season episode “Assignment: Earth,” Seven is stationed on Earth by his otherworldly overseers to prevent nuclear war. And he’s not alone. Along with his secretary Roberta, his “cat” Isis, the Beta 5 computer and his multi-function Servo, Seven must protect the Earth to insure the creation of the United Federation of Planets. Find out the whole story in this exciting collection!

The Last Generation Woodward covers

Andrew Steven Harris has made a new blog post revealing J.K. Woodward's covers for the second and third issues of The Last Generation. Woodward will apparently be doing a cover for each issue of the series. Here's the third issue:

And here's the second (as posted on Woodward's website):

See the original article for pencil sketch versions of both covers, and lots of info on Woodward, including some info about his artwork for Keith R.A. DeCandido's Klingon Alien Spotlight.

Andrew Steven harris on his Last Generation

TrekWeb have posted a (huge) interview with Andrew Steven Harris, discussing his forthcoming Myriad Universes miniseries, The Last Generation, and his tenure at IDW as Star Trek editor.

First, a pretty extensive summary of the miniseries: "Last Generation spirals out of the finale of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in which an assassination plot threatens the historic Khitomer peace conference between the Federation and the Klingons, their homeworld now dying after an ecological disaster. In the movie, of course, Kirk derails the conspiracy just in time. In Last Generation, for reasons that become apparent later on, Kirk's rescue comes a moment too late; the conspiracy succeeds, the peace talks collapse, and the Federation and Klingons slide inexorably toward war. But, because the Klingons now find themselves in a battle for their very survival, they fight even more ferociously than ever before, leading to their eventual conquest of Earth.

The series itself begins seven decades after the failure at Khitomer; the Klingons now rule the planet, while Jean-Luc Picard champions a rebellion against them, struggling to liberate Earth. But for the Resistance, the situation has grown increasingly desperate-Worf, the Terran warlord, begins tightening his grip, and it's quickly becoming now-or-never, do-or-die. The rebellion's final hope lies in the computer brain of an android named Data, invented for the sole purpose of scrutinizing the Empire for weaknesses.

Instead of potential weaknesses, however, Data discovers a single, fundamental flaw underlying the entire foundation of Empire: It was never meant to conquer Earth. History has fractured, and the Empire, as it is now, was never meant to exist. When Picard recognizes that the cracks in the timeline all converge on Khitomer, he realizes that their only chance for survival has become to travel back to the past and repair the damage.

But this isn't as philosophically obvious as it sounds-the members of his Resistance have all lived inside the fist of the Empire's brutality for years, losing countless friends and family to unrepentant Klingon bloodlust. To some, the idea of changing time-even correctly-to transform their occupiers into trusted allies remains unthinkable, virtual madness.

So, with the Resistance racing against what may be its final days, Picard must contend with the splintering dissent that infects all guerrilla movements, holding his insurrection together by sheer force of personality, all while struggling against an overwhelmingly superior enemy and searching for a way to rethread history itself. It is, shall we say, not exactly a stroll through the vineyards."

On the characters: "in addition to alternate versions of Picard, Worf, and Data, you'll see a character from the Original Series, a character from Voyager, and a few other nifty surprises along the way. (A fan of "Yesterday's Enterprise"? You'll be happy here.) There's also a character who's only ever appeared in a Pocket Books novel". Plus an extensive role for Wesley Crusher apparently.

Harris reassures readers that despite all the timelines and time travel stuff hinted at he will not be utilising the "reset button" to wipe the story out of existence at it's conclusion

On the relationship between IDW and Pocket Books which led to the series falling under the Myriad Universes banner Harris commented that when he took on the Star Trek editing job he was sceptical about trying to tie to two companies work together, seeing it as limiting to be tied down to a whole other extended continuity. However as time went on he saw the light and started to forge a relationship with Pocket, starting with the New Frontier miniseries and continuing now in Myriad Universes.

Commenting on his successor as Trek editor, Andy Schmidt: "I think Andy's a stellar choice (no pun intended) for the Trek editor spot, a consummately skilled writer and editor who's extremely well-connected with high-level professionals in the industry. So I think we'll see some top-notch projects coming off his desk, whatever they may be". Harris notes that Schmidt has already indicated a greater effort to tie in with Pocket, and also notes IDW and Pocket have good relationship from shared projects on other franchises, so the future is bright for further collaborative efforts.

Read the full interview, at Trekweb.

IDW November

ComicNewsi have posted IDW's solicitations for November, which include four Star Trek titles, two comic books and two omnibuses, including a surprising fifth issue of Mirror Images (originally announced a s a four issue series):

Mirror Images #5
Final issue! Captain Pike has remained one step ahead of Kirk's machinations so far, but how long can his luck last? And has he lost an ally in Mr. Spock? And on what side is the Enterprise's hidden power player: Leonard McCoy? The final gambit in James T. Kirk's rise to power is played!

The release also came with a cover, however it appears to be a David Messina cover for the third issue of the series (the TNG side-step). UPDATE: It's apparently a page of interior art from the third issue (according to one of the writers):

UPDATE 2: To add more confusion, in Comics Continuum's version of the solicitation listing the image is shown as a cover with titles and very oddly "issue #4" marked on it (which makes no sense, issue four is not the TNG one...)


The Last Generation #1
Starfleet is no more. The Federation lies in ruin. And the Klingons have conquered Earth. But a resistance, led by Jean-Luc Picard, seeks to free humanity from Klingon rule. And now, finally, it may have the means to do it: An android named Data, who has scrutinized the timeline and discovered that things are not as they should be. A crucial moment, buried in the past, has gone awry—and as the Klingon warlord Worf closes in, time itself is running out... For the first time ever, IDW Publishing proudly joins forces with Simon & Shuster's Pocket Books division, to deliver a Myriad Universe title in conjunction with the Star Trek alternate-universe prose novels of the same name. Plus, a special bonus excerpt from one of the Myriad Universe novels!

The solicitation specifies 32 ad-free pages, so looks like that excerpt will eat up all the usual editorial content space.

Archives #2: The Best of The Borg
"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships..." Ever since those chilling words reverberated throughout the bridge of the Enterprise, the Borg have been the most dangerous and relentless adversary of the entire Star Trek universe. Now, collected for the first time, their most fearsome adventures on the comics page! Reprinted from both the Marvel and DC Star Trek runs, these stories are must-reads for any fans of the Collective!

Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment omnibus
Dorothy Fontana, the writer from the original TV series, as well as The Animated Series, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine, co-writes Star Trek: The Enterprise Experiment, an all-new tale set in the unexplored fourth year of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s legendary five-year mission. A sequel to the classic episode "The Enterprise Incident"—originally written by Fontana herself—where Kirk and Spock found themselves trapped on an Enterprise out of phase with space itself and facing a plot of revenge from Romulans!

The Last Generation cover

IDW editor Chris Ryall has released a cover for the first issue of the forthcoming Myriad Universes comic series TNG: The Last Generation:

The cover is by J.K. Woodward and is a homage to the John Byrne cover for the X-men story Days of Future Past (the alternate timeline from which has been visited in the Trekverse before in the X-men crossover issue Second Contact). See the original report for a comparison to the very similar original X-men cover.

Massive Update Part 2: Comics

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".

Because Schmidt is so new to the job the plans for the next year are not entirely clear, so for now there are just a handful of confirmed series, though Schmidt plans to have even more comics out next year than what IDW have put out this one. What have been announced are:

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.

The Last Generation - What was first announced as a TNG mirror universe series by Andrew Steven Harris has evolved into a Myriad Universes style what-if? story. Illustrated by Gordon Purcell and starting in November, The Last Generation will, in five issues, tell the story of an alternate timeline where Kirk failed to prevent the assassination of the Federation president at the end of The Undiscovered Country and a galaxy where the Federation and Klingons went to war, with the Klingons eventually conquering Earth. The series will be set around the same time as early-TNG and will feature Worf, Sulu, and Picard leading a resistance on Klingon occupied Earth.

Alien Spotlight II has been pushed back from starting soon to early 2009. Keith R.A DeCandido is still down for the Klingon issue illustrated by J.K. Woodward and Scott and David Tipton have been announced as the writers of the Q issue. TrekMovie claim those are the only two confirmed for now, which would seem to question whether or not Andrew Steven Harris will still be writing the Ferengi issue, and/or which of the previously announced writers and featured Aliens will still make the cut (the last Alien Spotlight series juggled many of it's creators after the initial announcements)

As we know John Byrne is working on a plethora of projects and proposals for IDW, and at least one will see light early next year, the most likely candidates are either a second Assignment: Earth series or the (five or six part) prequel series which currently has a tentative title of "Crew". In an interview at Newsarama Byrne mentioned the second Assignment: Earth series would likely take place over the same span of time (late 60s to early 70s) as the first series. Meanwhile on his own forums he has revealed some details about Crew: "The story follows one particular character from cadet to lieutenant, and not all aboard the Enterprise, or even cruisers." The story will apparently feature characters from the Pike era, and as shown in sketches on his forum will have an appearance by Captain April. Also on his forums John Byrne has revealed some of the starship designs he has been working on for the series, like these:

Check out this post, for more of John Byrne's development artwork. (I find them a pleasant hybrid of TOS and Enterprise designs - though somehow doubt that was intentional)

John Byrne also mentioned on his forums recently that another series idea he has had (but currently sidelined for any further development while he works on other ideas) was something featuring the adventures of Balok and David Bailey (from "The Corbomite Maneuver").

Beyond the many works of Byrne, coming in early-to-mid 2009 might be some sort of tie-in comics project for the new movie, with potential involvement by director JJ Abrams and co-writer Robert Orci.

In the more near term IDW’s solicitations for October have recently been announced. They are back down to two issues (plus an omnibus book) this month, which are as follows (new cover art for The Hollow Crown #2):

Mirror Images #4:
The struggle for control of the I.S.S. Enterprise heats up! An already suspicious Captain Pike takes steps to snuff out Jim Kirk’s mutinous plans permanently, sending his first officer on a dangerous suicide mission! Can Kirk fight his way out of Pike’s plot, or has he been outwitted for the final time?

Romulans: The Hollow Crown #2:
The best laid plans go often astray… but with so many conflicting agendas, whose plans will see fruition, and whose will fail? Court intrigue, assassinations (attempted and successful), weddings, promotions, and Klingons at every turn! This concluding tale from the annals of Star Trek by John Byrne ends with a bang—literally!

New Frontier: Turnaround omnibus:
Peter David celebrates the 10th anniversary of New Frontier with this all-new tale featuring characters from his hit novel series. The most dangerous experimental vessel in the galaxy—a prototype time ship—has vanished, and it appears that the man who stole it is none other than Starfleet Admiral Edward Jellico.

Finally David Messina has, on his blog, released a couple of character designs for September’s TNG side-step issue in the Mirror Images series, here’s young mirror Picard:

Check out Messina’s blog for more.