Rank the Trek Comics Publishers

[JD]

Over the years Star Trek's comics have passed through several different publshers, unlike the prose books, which have pretty much found a stable home since the release of The Motion Picture. Now, thanks to the Comics Collection DVD and Comixology I've read at least a few stories from most of them, with Gold Key, the first Marvel era, and Tokyo Pop being the only ones I've never read any stories from. While they've all had good stories, I do think some have done a better job with the franchise than others.
Here would be my ranking:
DC/Marvel - These two tie for first place for me thanks to DC's TOS movie era series, and Marvel's Starfleet Academy and Early Voyages comics.
Wildstorm: I've really enjoyed all of their miniseries I read, and several of them also tie directly into novels, which is a big plus for me.
IDW- I haven't read everything they've done, and while the stuff I've read has been good, none of it has reached the level of the other publishers' best stuff.

 

[Danlav05]

IDW
Marvel (2nd run)
WildStorm
DC
Malibu
Gold Key
Marvel (1st run)

 

[ryan123450]

Marvel 2
DC
Wildstorm
IDW
Malibu
Marvel 1
Gold Key

I haven't read any Tokyopop so I can't rate them but I've read at least 2/3 all the others, excluding Kelvin tie ins.

 

[Garth Rockett]

DC - They produced a lot of very solid Trek stories over a long period of time. The art was always solid at worst and very good at its best. I also have fond memories of this era, as this is when I became a fan.
IDW - They got off to a shaky start art-wise but they've been consistently good for quite a while now. They've done some interesting things with the property, especially with some of the crossovers they've done with other franchises. I wish we could get a full-on Enterprise mini, though.
Malibu - I was disappointed when DC didn't get the DS9 license but Malibu really surprised me by turning out some really good work. The art was always really good and I liked a lot of the miniseries and specials they did. I wish we had gotten to see the adaptation of "Caretaker" they solicited. Does anyone know why this never came out?
Wildstorm - technically a DC imprint when they had the license, but they operated out of a separate editorial structure so we'll evaluate them separately as well. They made a really good attempt to tie in with the novelverse, and I liked how they spread their output amongst the existing properties at the time.
Marvel - the second run in the 90's was really good. I liked that they expanded out beyond the established TV series with things like Starfleet Academy and especially Early Voyages, but at times their output suffered from the art trends of the era it was produced in. The DS9 ongoing was uneven, also. The original 80's run was okay but nothing to write home about.
Gold Key - I've only read a handful of these. What I have read is interesting as a curiosity but nothing I want to go back to over and over again.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I wish we had gotten to see the adaptation of "Caretaker" they solicited. Does anyone know why this never came out?

As I understand it, Malibu didn't actually acquire the license for Voyager. They intended to, hence offering "Caretaker" before all the i-s were dotted and the t-s crossed, but the licensing deal fell through. The ending of their Deep Space Nine mini-series The Maquis was supposed to end with a scene set aboard the Voyager.

 

[Garth Rockett]

As I understand it, Malibu didn't actually acquire the license for Voyager. They intended to, hence offering "Caretaker" before all the i-s were dotted and the t-s crossed, but the licensing deal fell through. The ending of their Deep Space Nine mini-series The Maquis was supposed to end with a scene set aboard the Voyager.

Interesting, I never heard that. I remember seeing the solicitation back in the day, and always assumed they did in fact have the license. They referenced Chakotay's Maquis team in a backup in Deep Space Nine #18, so they were certainly expecting to go ahead with the series at one point. IIRC, it was also around that time that Marvel bought Malibu, so I'm sure things were in a state of flux in their offices at that time.

 

[Trek Survivor]

DC - biggest and best body of work, including a fantastic TNG run
Malibu - some interesting stories and good effort on the DS9 comics
IDW - ups & downs, and I'm disappointed there was no ongoing until 2011, but there is a lot to like in the output here.
Wildstorm - I liked a lot of the TNG stories they did
Marvel/Paramount Comics - I found a lot of this pretty hard to work through, but there were some good stories as well (loved Star Trek Unlimited)
Gold Key - I love the genuine feel of imaginative freedom represented in these comics. As a faithful continuation of the TV series, it's poor; as a great example of the potential of the franchise, it's a lot of fun.
Marvel (1st series) - trying to work through these now and just terrible

 

[publiusr]

Gold Key was a lot of fun. In one, you saw white coat lab techs in the space station from 2001.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Does anyone know if IDW has officially discontinued the Gold Key Archives series? Volume 6 is way, way late -- over a year since Volume 5, and it seems like they were doing a couple volumes a year before that.

That would make the third reprint series that petered out before reprinting the entire Gold Key run. The last few dozen issues have never been reprinted. I had high hopes that IDW would get the job done. Alas, it appears not.

 

[Therin of Andor]

That would make the third reprint series that petered out before reprinting the entire Gold Key run.

Eaglemoss is now putting one Gold Key story at the end of each volume of their subscription graphic novel hardcover reprint series. I wonder if that caused IDW's delay?

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

1. DC
2. IDW
3. Gold Key
4. Malibu
5. Marvel (both runs)

 

[Therin of Andor]

Very hard question, as nostalgia vs quality. I have very fond memories of the first Marvel run (post-TMP), the LA Times Syndicate's daily strips (compiled by Nostalgiaworld) and DC's first run. Remember, DC suffered a long hiatus before recommencing at #1 after the ST V adaptation, but I always felt the colours in Series II were too dark and intense (although TNG was ok), plus Arex, M'Ress, Konom, Bryce, Bernie, Thimon, Sherwood and Bearclaw had to be dropped from the post-ST V comics.

DC (Series I)
WildStorm
Marvel (1st run)
IDW
Marvel Paramount
DC (Series II)
Malibu
Gold Key.