So, I came up with my own ship and crew playing some Star Trek Online and was just chatting with a buddy of mine about it. He asked me if I ever wrote any fan fic, and if I did now- would I use my crew? So I told him it'd be a cool thing to do. Within minutes we were tossing plot ideas around. By the end of the night I had a story down. Then I tweaked my STO crew to fit the story, and added some new characters from scratch. I'm not looking to fit this in canon or anything. But I would like some feedback on my ideas and maybe a few helpful pointers. I consider myself a big Trek fan honestly, and really just made this account to get some insight from those better versed than I. I don't wanna write this with the ignorance of like... Damon Lindelof or anything. I don't wanna break any of the rules. Like... transporting to Qo'noS from Earth. But I have alot of ideas for sure. I wanted to capture a TNG vibe, but with some of the trappings of DS9. I guess the foreword I wrote for the comic might clear some things up... "It is a time of uncertainty for the Federation... In the weeks following the end of the Dominion war, alliances between the federation and the Romulans have become strained. rumors spread about spies and saboteurs. many suspect the end of the alliance altogether. and despite surrender, leftover resistance from Dominion forces stranded in the Alpha Quadrant, have been attacking civilian and military targets at random. meanwhile, some say that the Klingon empire, despite now being under general Martok’s leadership, will still jump at any chance to go to war again... even against an ally. In response, Starfleet has commissioned a series of “peacekeeping” vessels to maintain order in the Alpha Quadrant. ships specifically designated and armed to settle disputes, combat dominion remnants, and ensure that the peace they’ve found... is going to last- by any means necessary." 'My' ship is called the U.S.S. Fortune. It's one of these 'new' vessels. Put together from Defiant and Galaxy class vessels. This is partly because Starfleet wouldn't have the time or resources to create an entirely new class of ships at this time- especially not with Voyager recently lost. The Fortune is bigger than your average Defiant class vessel though. By almost 2x. Some of the excessive firepower has been swapped out for things like Holodecks... more crew quarters. That sort of thing. The interiors, especially the bridge, will look definitely like your average Galaxy class vessel but with tweaks for sure. And yes, the title is "The Next Frontier" Someone gave me crap for it, but I could care less honestly. I have a full character roster, a pilot "episode" plotted out, tons of sketches, designs, ideas, future 'episode' ideas, the works. Here is the 1st issue cover. And all the price stuff is just for show. I'm not actually selling this. It'll be free to read online in it's entirety when I'm done.
Thanks! I appreciate it. Now that principle line art is underway, I'll post some of the character concept/design sketches here. I don't have any biographies written out, but I have near-full backstories for all of these characters in my head. Even the ones you don't see here. There's five more crew members to the senior staff to put down here. Which I'll probably post tomorrow sometime. Also, can anyone double check this for me- my story starts a month and a day after the end of the Dominion war. I have it at stardate 52946.6 is that correct? I used a stardate conversion thing, but I'm not 100% convinced that's accurate.
Thanks =] Some more senior staff: Some info on the pilot "episode" "On it's maiden voyage, the USS Fortune stumbles onto a trade-ship dealing in Orion slave girls. When reported to Starfleet Command... Captain Lucas is ordered not to pursue. However matters are quickly complicated when one of the slave girls escapes and requests asylum aboard the Fortune. Finding themselves caught between a bleak and unethical order and the sinister wits of a brand new adversary- the crew of the USS Fortune will have to make the ultimate sacrifice to come out on top."
So far I am liking what i see, looking forward to this project, cannot wait to see more on the characters and your brilliant vessel, will we get more images of that at any point plus the low down on it, weapons, crew complement and such?
I'm actually working on a series of go-to key frames (so to speak) for the Fortune. Different angles I'll end up using a lot and such. I'll post those as I get em done. I'm still working on finding a happy medium for crew compliment and weaponry. I'll post specs soon. To get an idea though, firepower-wise, it's about a step under the Defiant, pretty much on par with a Galaxy class vessel despite being smaller than one. And I'll go ahead and post the last three main characters now. Again, thanks. =]
Front view of the U.S.S. Fortune It's total on-board capacity is around 750 people. It's crew at present is approximately 550. It has four torpedo launchers, and six phaser banks. And a wealthy compliment of antimatter mines. It's gutsy, but not quite as powerful as a Galaxy Class ship when all is said and done. Nevertheless when it comes down to it, it's still a lean, no-nonsense ship that nobody would want to mess with. Interestingly enough, Starfleet has given this division leeway into refitting their ship with new weaponry at their own discretion, so long as none of the weaponry violates the second Khitomer Accord of course. The captain frequently does business with a Ferengi merchant named Nim. On more than one occasion I imagine, they would purchase a new ship's cannon, or phaser turrets, et cetera... So the weapons compliment would vary through the stories. Even crew armaments.
Your drawings are fantastic. I draw myself and I've thought about doing an online comic of my own and your stuff is really impressive. The story sounds really solid, too. I can't wait to see more!
Thanks! I'll tell you right now though, the hardest part is ship design. Things roll along smoothly and then bam, you remember you gotta design a ship. After you think up a design you actually like, drawing it can be a pain in the neck! Those big fins on either side of the Fortune are a nightmare, perspective-wise. Drawing a bunch of key-shots to use in the pages later on is always wise. Luckily my ship is visually based off the Defiant, so I have at least some frame of reference whenever I go to draw it.
That reminds me of a piece of advice I read years ago about designing cartoon and comic book characters: Design something easy to draw, because you're going to be drawing it a LOT! If only it were that easy!
I went over some of those character designs MANY times trying to simplify. The original look for the doctor took me an hour to capture his look properly. I already knew that took way too long. The next day I got it down to 15 minutes with a redesign. As for the ship, I'm going to fall back on reusing lineart. Some frown on that, but even the shows re-use certain shots of the ships. i.e. going to warp, orbiting a planet. All that jazz. So here's hoping it's an effective loophole.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with reusing artwork. I'm a firm believer that what matters is what ends up on the final page, not whatever shortcuts one might take to get there.
I wholeheartedly agree. Also, what do you guys think- should I show a page at a time, as I complete them, or wait to show the entire thing (as in the first issue) for when it's finished?
Will definitely do so! I figured I'd share this today since I'm on a roll with these panels. The uniforms are indeed very similar to some from Star Trek Online. It's a design I fell in love with, and tweaked to fit my needs for this story. It made sense to me though, new division- new uniform. I wasn't about to make every character in starfleet don this uniform. It's an exclusive look to the peacekeeping division. I felt it was unique enough for that. Also, I brought back the blue for science and medical. That's something I missed throughout DS9 and Voyager.
The uniform is perfect, definitely seems like it would for sure suit peacekeeping missions, this is shaping up nicely, going to be a great comic series
Guess who makes a cameo in the beginning? I couldn't resist. Was so proud of how this turned out I had to share.