IDW's December comics

Comics Continuum have posted IDW's December solicitations, which include three new Star Trek comics, and an omnibus:

Star Trek (ongoing) #28
Written by Mike Johnson, with art by Erfan Fajar, cover by Fajar and a photo-cover.

The climactic chapter of the Klingon-Romulan War! Kirk and the Enterprise have one last chance to prevent galaxy-wide cataclysm... but at what cost to the crew? Star Trek Into Darkness writer/producer Roberto Orci oversees this all-new story set in the aftermath of the blockbuster film!

Khan #3
Written by Mike Johnson, with art by Claudia Balboni and David Messina, cover by Paul Shipper, and a photo-cover

The exclusive never-before-seen origin of STAR TREK's greatest villain continues here, in the official tie-in to the blockbuster hit STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS! The legendary Eugenics Wars lay waste to the planet as Khan fights to preserve his empire! An all-new epic overseen by STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci!

Star Trek Annual 2013: Strange New Worlds
Written by John Byrne, who also produced the photo-montage artwork and covers

A special extra-length, one-of-a-kind "fotonovel" sequel to a beloved classic! Years ago, James Kirk saved his ship, but the price was the life of his oldest friend in Starfleet -- or was it? The crew of the starship ENTERPRISE faces a staggering discovery in a brand-new "episode" of the original STAR TREK.

Star Trek Classics #5: Who Killed Captain Kirk?
Written by Peter David, with art by Tom Sutton and Gordon Purcell, cover by Jason Palmer.

Someone aboard the starship Enterprise has killed Captain Kirk-or so it seems. While the captain recovers, it falls to his crew to uncover the facts behind the case and learn whether one of their own is a cold-blooded killer. Add in the unwanted arrival of the Klingons and Kirk's nemesis from his academy days, Finnegan, to take charge of the investigation for an action packed adventure.

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

Latest Starships Collection previews and info

The Official Starships Collection's project manager has been discussing the series with Facebook fans, and shared some more photos of future ships. Below is the not-final Jem'Hadar cruiser. The molded details are done, but they're still working on the paint job. Ben Robinson commented:

One of the reasons it's not quite finished is that I'm trying to see if there's a way of introducing a hint of purple to it because that's how I think of hem in the show. It has to be very subtle - it's actually reflected light from the engines. As you can see, the first attempt (in the back) is a little too much...

In this second photo we can see a too-purple version, in comparison to the not-as-purple-as-desired foreground model:

Robinson also answered a few questions about forthcoming ships, including confirming the running order for some issues, which is slightly different to that currently listed on the Collection's website. Issues twenty-nine to thirty-one will be the Jem'Hadar fight, Nausisan raider, and the Valdore.

He also explained the conspicuous absence of any TV-era TOS designs in the first thirty or so issues. They are coming eventually, but for now they're focusing on the more intricate designs of the later series:

The TOS ships are very plain and for a lot of people they aren't going to make sufficiently exciting models. For long term fans we will get to them. There is nothing I want to do more than the Fesarius! In the meantime we're doing more 'modern' interpretations of them - the TMP Klingon battle cruiser and Enterprise versions of the Tholian web spinner and the Romulan B-o-P are all on the way.

He also spoke about some of the major alien ships, noting that he plans to do all the Klingon designs we've seen (and highlighting that includes quite a few introduced in Enterprise). He also hinted at plans to do the Romulan science vessel from The Next Phase, and had this to say about the Borg:

Borg ships are tricky to model - the sphere caused me more grief than any other ship and I don't think the factory have forgiven me yet. I'm reckoning to do the sphere, ideally the FC cube, maybe the tactical one, Queen's ship and rogue Borg ship from Descent. And, yes, I know that they aren't all on the list of 70 that's floating around.

Further expanding on possibility of drift from the early list of 70 ships that's been in circulation, he suggested the following ships are also likey to show up in the series (responding to a long wish-list of ships):

...some of those are very much on my radar and will almost certainly be in the first 70. Specifically, I'll be surprised if we don't get: Antares, D'Kyr, J'h battleship, Negh'var, Botany Bay, Rhode Island, and armoured Voyager. From the JJverse I'm expecting the Vengeance and then a Klingon ship...

He also spoke the possibilities of mirror universe ships:

At the moment I'm not planning to do anything that reuses the same tooling (apart from the A, which is a special case) but I understand there is an interest in the mirror universe ships so it's tricky. If/when we reuse the tooling that'll be the first thing we do.

Elsewhere, Entertainment Earth and Big Bad Toy Store have updated their listings, with issues nine to twelve (USS Defiant, Borg Sphere, USS Reliant, and USS Thunderchild), as well as the first special (Deep Space 9), available for pre-order. That also means the first look at some of the covers and official model photos:

For full coverage of the entire Starships Collection, check out my index page.

Star Trek Online's latest Romulan ships

Star Trek Online have added a couple of sleek new designs to their Romulan fleet. The Ar'Kif and Ar'Kala class tactical warbirds are supposed to be the first new designs from the ship designers of the Romulan Republic.

Ar'Kif class tactical warbird:

Ar'Kala class tactical warbird:

Ar'Kif class tactical warbird retrofit:

For more information on the new designs see STO's blogs on the design process, and in-game stats and abilities.

Mike Johnson teases future nuTrek comics

Comic Book Resources have posted a interview with the nuTrek comics writer Mike Johnson, discussing the forthcoming arcs in the ongoing series, and the Khan prequel series. Johnson gave specifics of how the next ongoing issue will be launching into the five-year-mission:

...we're on the five year mission now. It runs smack into the galactic threat of the Klingon-Romulan conflict, but after that (with the crew members that survive) we will be going into deep space. We might run into familiar faces and places out there in the stars, but for the most part it's an opportunity to tell stories that take the Enterprise to new places we haven't seen in comics, film, or TV before.

At the beginning of #25, we find the Enterprise docked at a Starbase on the edge of unexplored space, with their five year mission getting underway in the aftermath of "Star Trek Into Darkness." And we'll meet a new member of the crew with the same last name as a current iconic Enterprise bridge mainstay.

He also gave a few hints toward the future of the series, including the possible return of April, and the promise to expand upon some of the new crew members introduced in Into Darkness:

April doesn't show up in this arc because he's still stewing in a Starfleet rehabilitation facility back on Earth. But he's definitely in the mix for the future. A past captain of the Enterprise who was in league with Alex Marcus and has no love for the Klingons is just too juicy a character to leave on the bench.

I love Zahra, a redshirt who appeared in an original series episode. She plays a bigger role coming up, and we have matched the name to a background actor we saw in "Star Trek Into Darkness." We are also planning to give backstories to other new crew members we glimpsed in the last movie, like the android-looking guy on the bridge.

Comic Book Resources also posted a three page preview of issues twenty-five. Those Romulan weapons look a bit familiar don't they:

Johnson also talked Comic Book Resources and Geek Magazine about the Khan series, continue after the jump for highlights from both interviews:

USS Vengeance is the target in new Star Trek pinball

Stern Pinball have announced a new Star Trek pinball game, based on the nuTrek films. They have three different versions of the pinball machine available: The "Starfleet Pro", "Vengeance Premium", and "Enterprise Limited Edition". Each edition has ever more elaborate features, including more intricately designed casings, and extra features on the table; every version has an "animated" USS Vengeance as the centrepiece, with the higher end versions also featuring the USS Enterprise and asteroids dotted around the board.

Here's how Stern describe the game:

Inspired by the Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness films, the newest Stern machine puts players in Captain James Kirk’s chair of the U.S.S. Enterprise, embarking on a journey to protect and defend the planets of the Federation.

Stern’s Star Trek pinball machine features all the bells and whistles a Star Trek fan would desire. With adrenalin-filled battles, high-definition artwork, cosmic LED lighting and classic musical scores, the Star Trek game will evoke the sensation of flying through space at Warp Speed to rescue Spock and defeat the U.S.S. Vengeance.  The newest game from Stern includes an animated battleship, three lightning fast ramps, three flippers, resettable memory drop targets and much more.

Star Trek is Stern’s first all-LED Pro Model. The playfield features seven multicolored LED paths that lead gamers on easy-to-understand color-coded routes. There are six missions for casual players matched by 18 complex treks to immerse enthusiast players deeper in the game. As players attack an oncoming threat with three action-centered flippers, the all-LED playfield will captivate onlookers and enhance the player experience with features like phaser flashes and photon torpedoes.

Players will instinctively know exactly what to do when they approach Star Trek pinball – destroy the U.S.S. Vengeance, a key action-packed feature on the playing field. From the very start, players will have the chance to unlock special opportunities, collect tantalizing bonus features and win a series of accolades called The Captain’s Chair. Star Trek aficionados can expect the classic battle between the heroic Enterprise team and the villainous Khan as well as run-ins with Nero, Klingons and the Narada.

And here's a promotional video:



Continue after the jump for more photos of the pinball machine, and check out Stern's site and Ars Technica for more information.

How to make a Star Trek title sequence

Ready for another behind-the-scene look at Into Darkness? This latest video comes from Andrew Kramer, who made the end-title sequence (with all the swooshy planets). He tells us all about the tricks they used to make the sequence, and also destroys a Lego Millennium Falcon!



For more behind-the-scenes goodies, and everything else you need to know about Into Darkness, check out my guide page.

Starships Collection Akira class

The Official Starships Collection's project manager has been sharing photos on the collection's Facebook page again. This time he's treated us to a look at what I think is one of the coolest ships in Trekdom, the Akira class. This is the final model, although it's not been signed off by CBS yet. While it is meant to be the USS Thunderchild the name is not on hull, as it turns out it wasn't on the model in the film either.

The Akira class is to be the twelfth issue of the series, which means we'll be able to get it early next year.

UPDATE: John van Citters, master of all things Trek at CBS, tweeted this starship-gasm of a photo, with a whole fleet of Akiras!

Also lurking back in the depths of van Citters' twitter photos was this nice shot of the fleet with many of the ships from the first few months worth of issues:

For full coverage of the entire Starships Collection, check out my index page.

Review: Into Darkness on bluray

Star Trek Into Darkness has been available for digital download a few weeks now, and was released on bluray and DVD in the UK last week, with the US release today! With the horrible mess Paramount have made distributing the extra features (more on than later), it was tempting to consider boycotting this release. Alas I don't have the strength of will to resist new Trek coming to my library! Plus I really like the film, so no matter what this release doesn't offer, it does at least give me a film I want to watch. So before I get to the other stuff on the discs (and not on the discs), lets have another look at the film itself (spoilers abound):

The Film

I watched the film twice at the cinema, read the novelization, and then sat back and waited for it to drop into my bluray player. I enjoyed the film immensely on the big screen, and found that hasn't diminished at all watching it again at home. Sure this is a modern block-buster, with some emphasis on visual spectacle, unrelenting pace and action, and yes there are a few things that drive a nit-picking trekkie insane. This wouldn't be the first time Star Trek has played fast and loose with the speed of the plot warp factors though, and in the grand scheme of things I don't find such issues detract that much from what is overall a good film. Plus for every decision I'm not so enthusiastic about, there are those I think are inspired creative choices. The use of the National Ignition Facility as the warp core for instance, is brilliant; never has Trek tech felt so real, complex, or powerful. I think the nuTrek cast are also brilliant, and in particular Benedict Cumberbatch has made Khan something far more menacing and chilling than the character's previous outings.

With a title like Into Darkness one might have expected this film to be casting a shadow over the optimistic future of the Star Trek universe. But if you feel this film tarnishes said future, I think you're kind of missing the point. The darkness of Marcus and Section 31's readiness for war is what the whole film is showing us the Star Trek world opposes. Overtly through Scotty's reaction to events, and more subtly through Kirk's journey from seduction into vengeance, to ultimately allying with Khan to resist the true source of darkness in the film, we are shown how the heroes of the Federation feel about such paranoid politics of fear. Which is of course what makes the film all the more interesting and relevant to today, with allusions to interventionism, drone warfare, terrorism, and the dangers of fear driving our politics.

At the end of this film we are left, again, with the crew set up to go and explore strange new worlds. While I did enjoy this outing, I hope that promise is fulfilled through more than the opening scenes in the next instalment. I also hope the next film continues to tackle the issues of today, but I hope we can shift to other problems in our world, maybe a strong environmental theme? Into Darkness did leave some big obvious open doors for continuation. Do we want to see a Klingon war? If we get that I certainly hope it's more interesting than just a lot of battles. While I'm hoping for more of an exploration theme next time around, I certainly wouldn't be upset if Khan-berbatch found himself defrosted once more too; it would seem almost a waste not to have more of such an amazing performance.

Continue after the jump for my thoughts on the extra features, both those on my standard retail copy, and those not offered to most customers:

More gloriously colouful TAS posters

StarTrek.com have supplied more details about the new TAS poster series, which I first posted about a few days ago. Juan Ortiz has been revealed as the artist, and like his current TOS series, the posters will be released in batches of four (although there's still no indication when this will start). Ortiz commented on the different direction he has taken with this series:

I wanted to move away from the TOS prints a bit. I knew that I wanted more color in these and not necessarily have them be retro-looking. I call it my Star Trek into Brightness set. I just felt it was natural to go in that direction. Maybe someday I'll attempt the motion picture series and complete the bridge.

StarTrek.com have so far previewed the first two quartets. Here are the four designs from the second set:

Continue after the jump to see the rest of the first set designs:

ThinkGeek's coolest Star Trek product yet

ThinkGeek's dedication to bringing Star Trek to the kitchen continues with their new Starfleet delta silicone ice-cube tray; giving you the perfect Star Trek accent to your favourite syntheholic beverage or soft drink.

ThinkGeek also propose a genius alternative usage: Making chocolate Starfleet deltas using the molds.

This is one of three Star Trek ice-cube trays released this year! Earlier in the year a nuTrek style delta tray was available as a promotional give-away from various sources around the release of Into Darkness. While later in the year DST have a TNG tray on the way, featuring both TNG insignia and Enterprise-D shapes.