NEW ONGOING STAR TREK SERIES FROM IDW!!!

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by Trek Survivor, Jun 17, 2011.

  1. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    But that was spinning out the adaptation (with bonus scenes) to maximise a guaranteed best seller, cashing in on the successes of "Countdown", "Nero" and "Spock Reflections".

    Not too sure if these figures tally with IDW sales, but I have been doing a course in Creative Writing and the lecturer mentioned the rule-of-thumb financial realities behind the current trend with trilogies to tell a story arc. A best selling trilogy can certainly hold (or increase) its audience, but a regular or mediocre trilogy will probably sell just two-thirds of Volume 1's sales for Volume 2, and two-thirds of Volume 2's sales for Volume 3.

    If IDW stays with duologies, chances are the sales will reset every second issue instead of following the law of diminishing returns.
     
  2. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Location:
    Bristol, United Kingdom
    Yes, I think balancing storytelling against marketing common sense is an issue. I enjoyed the movie adaptation. The pace was good, although the fight scenes were a bit bland, and it evoked the characters really well. Scotty came across as less of a buffoon but that might be my brain subconsciously editing him to be more like I want him to be - lol.

    I also read the first four stores again and, while I'd prefer a bit more depth, they do flow very well, get to the heart of the (basic) stories, and entertain. Overall, there's a lot to enjoy here and they series is shaping up quite well.
     
  3. Nightowl1701

    Nightowl1701 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2011
    Location:
    Orlando, FL
    What, no one has "The Redshirt's Tale" yet?
     
  4. Fer

    Fer Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2009
    Location:
    Pittsburgh PA area
    I just got it and read it, but I didn't have much to say besides "I liked it!" and other obvious AOL-worthy comments. But what the heck...

    I was surprised to find out this was the adaptation for "The Apple." This was more of what I was hoping for when Pocket announced the "Lower Decks" TOS relaunch years ago; learning about the background characters' personal lives and then getting to see the events that lead to their deaths through their eyes.

    And the fact that all four survived in this universe where they didn't in the Prime universe is a very interesting twist!

    Being an old-school comic book reader (I started reading when Marvel was touting "Still only 35¢!") I'm still very fond of done-in-one stories, and this one did not disappoint.
     
  5. Brikar99

    Brikar99 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2002
    A longer story with lots of fun action or a complex plot is great, but if someone can tell a good story in one issue, I say bring that on too.
     
  6. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    Agreed. It had lots of little surprises, and some may end up being more easter eggs for the next movie. All those critics saying the regular two-parters need to be three-parters instead might be surprised that this one-shot is quite fulfilling.
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I don't think that's a fair comparison. Arguments about optimal story length aren't some universal rule, they're about each individual story and what pacing works best for it. I don't think anyone's saying every story needs to be longer by some constant ratio, just that the particular 2-parters they've read in this series don't feel like they've fleshed out their material fully enough, that it's not enough length to really do a full adaptation/reworking of what was originally a 50-plus-minute story. Whereas a story designed to be a one-parter would tend to be conceptually tighter and more focused and could well work better at that length, since it's not intended to be a full episode adaptation.
     
  8. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    Well, I didn't form the impression out of thin air. It has been a constant whinge from some camps that the two-parters should be three-parters.

    Good stories can be long and good, or short and good. This one happens to be short and good.
     
  9. Fer

    Fer Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2009
    Location:
    Pittsburgh PA area
    I've been content with the two-parters, but I do hope that since they're trying out some one-parters that this means they're willing to be a little more flexible with the format. I wouldn't mind the occasional three-parter.

    And I know it will never happen, but I'd love it if the comic adaptation of Trek Into Darkness would just be done as issues 23 through 28 of the regular Star Trek comic, like Marvel did with Star Wars when they adapted The Empire Strikes Back. Most likely it will be its own separate mini-series, though.
     
  10. Drago-Kazov

    Drago-Kazov Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2012
    I really liked the Cupcake story. Nice character piece.
     
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Yes, they're saying these particular 2-parters would work better as 3-parters. Because these particular 2-parters are meant to be adaptations of longer stories, i.e. the original TOS episodes, and they feel that the 2-issue versions of them are more cursory than the original episodes were. It's a complaint about those specific storylines, not a claim that shorter stories are always bad as a universal rule.
     
  12. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Location:
    Bristol, United Kingdom
    I haven't had the chance to buy this comic yet so I can't start whining but I agree that the optimum length of a story depends on what elements there are to the plot. One-shot stories, particularly character pieces, can work very well and I'm especially interested in seeing a story focusing on one of the supporting cast. In fact, one of the reasons why I'd like to see longer stories is to give the supporting characters a chance to be more than just ciphers delivering technobabble and plot points. I'm hopeful that I'm going to enjoy this story. :techman:
     
  13. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    When did I ever say that?

    I was talking about the IDW "ST Ongoing" two-parters. I said absolutely nothing about "universal rules".
     
  14. Nightowl1701

    Nightowl1701 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2011
    Location:
    Orlando, FL
    One observation, on page 9: Unless McCoy's got two blond nurses, we may have just gotten our first glimpse of Ultimate* Christine Chapel - and she's not Alice Eve.

    * More and more, I'm thinking of the Abramsverse as "Ultimate Star Trek," like the Ultimate Marvel Comics.
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    What you said was, "All those critics saying the regular two-parters need to be three-parters instead might be surprised that this one-shot is quite fulfilling." So you were definitely implying that those critics were applying a simplistic universal rule about story length, that they were incapable of believing that a short story could ever be fulfilling. Which I don't consider to be a fair interpretation of their critiques.
     
  16. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!

    Some of them WERE saying they needed to be three-parters. Or did I just dream it?

    But I never said anything about it being a "simplistic rule". You put that term into the discussion, not me. Of course there's no such rule; I'm not arguing so. If anything, some of the best writing is when a writer tweaks or even breaks supposed accepted rules.

    There were people on this bbs speculating that the redshirt and Keenser one-shots weren't even going to be worth buying. They said that if the two-parters needed more issues to tell a decent story, they doubted IDW could do it in a one-shot.

    This is doing my head in. Forget I ever spoke.
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2012
  17. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2001
    Just read it last night and what a fantastic read it was. I think it was the best issue so far. Nice little lower decks story. Very well written. Nice how they made "Cupcake" into one of the TOS redshirts.

    [​IMG]

    Yeah, he was revealed to be named "Hendorff" a few issues ago, but I never made the connection.

    One little nitpick though... McCoy looked to be holding a hypospray with Spock's blood, but it was red.
     
  18. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2008
    Location:
    A type 13 planet in it's final stage
    So... what universe-splitting temporal wizardry expains Hendorff's hairline?:vulcan:
     
  19. Caretaker

    Caretaker Commodore Premium Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 1999
    Location:
    Silver Spring, MD, USA
    The same unknown one that explains why alternate reality Christopher Pike appears to be significantly older than Jim Kirk. :D
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    My point is that just because they said that about those particular stories, that doesn't automatically mean they'd feel the same about every story.



    I'm not saying you believe that, I'm saying you implied that they believed it.


    Okay, that clarifies things. You could've just said so in the first place and saved us both some trouble.