Favorite Trek comics?

[GHS]

Now that we've had a couple Managa anthologies, and a good number of issues put out by IDW over that last year, I was wondering if anyone's list of favorite Trek comics have changed?

Although I was pleased with the Klingons mini-series that just came out, my favorites are still all pre-IDW:

The Wildstorm Special (short stories from all series)
Enter the Wolves by Weinstein and Crispin
Ordover and Mack's DS9/TNG miniseries "Divided We Fall"
DC's Star Trek Annual 3 (the Scotty romance) by Peter David
Peter David's Annual 2 (2nd series) "Starfleet Academy"
The Convergence TOS/TNG crossover by Weinstein and Friedman
Kevin J. Anderson's "Gorn Crisis"
Mangel and Martin's Tribble issue, DS9 #14 for Marvel
Issue 8 of Marvel's first run from 1980
The Lt. Saavik/Ensign Valeris story from DC's TOS Special #2

I can't think of any Maliubu or Gold Key comics that would make my list

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I thought that one where because of a sick telepath on board, Kirk and co. land right in the middle of Dante's Inferno, was pretty weird. Cool, but still weird.

 

[Therin of Andor]

"The Origin of Saavik" two-parter (DC Series I)
"All Those Years Ago..." (DC Annual, Series I, #1)
"The Final Mission" (DC Annual, Series I, #2)
"Double Blind" two-parter (DC Series I)
"Debt of Honor" (DC hardcover graphic novel)
"New Frontier: Double Time" (WildStorm one-shot)
"TNG/DS9: Divided We Fall" (WildStorm mini-series)
"Andorians: The Old Ways" (IDW Alien Spotlight).

 

[Therin of Andor]

But that list is leaving out plenty of other great issues. I enjoyed each of the first (post-TMP) Marvel run, even though they paled in comparison to DC's efforts after ST II. I liked the addition of Arex and M'Ress, post-ST IV. And PAD's post ST V stuff (DC Series II), even though so many things were stymied by the then-ST Office. And the "Ashes of Eden" graphic novelization. And Malibu's DS9. And Marvel/Paramount's efforts. And WildStorm's graphic novels.

And even a few Gold Keys.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I loved Marvel's "Starfleet Academy" series and DC's first TOS series.

 

[GHS]

Babaganoosh said:
I thought that one where because of a sick telepath on board, Kirk and co. land right in the middle of Dante's Inferno, was pretty weird. Cool, but still weird.

That was by Peter David's near the end of DC's first go at the license

Yeah, that one was pretty crazy...that issue really stood out compared to the surrounding issues when they reprinted that whole run as "Who Killed Captain Kirk"

 

[Christopher]

^^The whole "heroes travel through an illusory Dante's Inferno" thing had been done at least once before in comics, in an Uncanny X-Men annual by Chris Claremont. So maybe PAD was paying homage to that story. Or maybe comic-book writers are all really into Dante for some reason...

 

[Mike Farley]

The Mirror Universe Saga in DC's first Trek series remains my favorite sequel to Mirror Mirror.

The first two DC Trek Annuals depicting the first and last missions of the TOS era Enterprise are also gold.

 

[Geoff Thorne]

You missed out on a free book, Mike.

PM your status, damn you, sir!

 

[C.E. Evans]

My list:

1. DC's run of TOS during the movie era (both before and after Star Trek V). I actually credit this as really cementing me as a Star Trek fan.

2. DC's Debt of Honor graphic novel by Chris Claremont and Adam Hughes. Two of my favorite comic book creators working on a Trek story? 'Nuff said.

3. Marvel's Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Loved a comic featuring characters never seen before. Really wished this series was still running today.

4. Marvel's Star Trek: Early Voyages. Awesome series that I think took full advantage of being a TOS prequel. Another that I wished could have continued.

5. Wildstorm's Star Trek: TNG-The Killing Shadows. It was great seeing a good ole' fashioned action story in which Picard and crew simply start taking names and kicking butt...

 

[ClayinCA]

I loved Marvel's Early Voyages, Starfleet Academy and Hidden Years titles, and like Therin, I enjoyed most of the first Marvel series (especially the issue with McCoy's daughter).

But DC's Trek was it for me. The first series, while not perfect (I hated the Sutton/Villagran art team and lived for fill-ins by people like Gray Morrow and the great Curt Swan), was the first time anybody showed what could really be done with Star Trek in the comics format, with continuing stories, sub-plots, and rich characterization (all but the latter of which seems missing in the IDW comics I've read). Things like the oft-admired Mirror Universe Saga and the "Who Killed Captain Kirk?" storyline made DC's Trek my favorite comics reading at the time, and despite my lack of fondness for the artwork, I still like reading those issues today.

DC's second series, though, still written by Peter David but now drawn by James Fry, Gordon Purcell, and especially Arne Starr, was the golden age of Star Trek comics. "The Trial of James T. Kirk" explored continuity in a wonderfully fun way, and the RJ Blaise character provided a great foil for Kirk, a plotline sadly curtailed by the ridiculous edicts of the time. When Howard Weinstein took over, the book continued in a slightly more serious direction, but without losing any of the high quality which readers had come to expect.

I do hope that we'll get something as good as those Bob Greenberger-edited Trek comics again one day (sorry IDW, but you're not even close yet, though it seems like you're on the right track).

 

[JoeZhang]

It's quite ironic with IDW - while the novels have moved towards a much tighter shared universe and story lines that run over a number of novels (a la DC and Marvel Comics), the IDW comics remind me more of the old novels - which were self-contained and had no impact.

The single issues have been OK (except for the borg one-shot that had a number of problems) but I don't see any long-term draw for regular comic fans to pick up issues on a regular basis.

 

[KRAD]

The comics market has completely changed since the DC days. The only way Trek comics will succeed is to do miniseries that can be collected into trade paperbacks. You're not going to get an ongoing series that lasts dozens of issues. At least, not until the market changes again.

 

[GHS]

Yeah, the only good thing about the current market is that no one dares put out a Trek comic with crappy artwork any more.

I agree with everyone who liked Marvel's Captain Pike series. A big problem there was that the best issues were the first ones (#1, 3, and 4). Once they'd done their spin on "The Cage", they didn't have anywhere to go but down. In today's market, they wouldn't have even tried to stretch the run out past 6 issues.

 

[Trent Roman]

KRAD said:
The comics market has completely changed since the DC days. The only way Trek comics will succeed is to do miniseries that can be collected into trade paperbacks. You're not going to get an ongoing series that lasts dozens of issues. At least, not until the market changes again.

I'm missing something. Wouldn't the need to produce arcs easily collected into trade paperback compilations seem to argue against the one-off issues Joe was complaining about, and favour on-going storylines? For that matter, the majority of comic book trades I see (at the bookstore, admiteddly, which perhaps biases things) are part of extensive or ongoing series (Ultimate Spider-Man/X-Men/Fantastic Four, House of M, Civil War, etc.).

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[KRAD]

^ The ones that are part of big-ass storylines also involve characters who have been comics mainstays for 40 years.

However, for something with shorter legs in the industry, as it were, the best approach is to do individual stories in five- or six-issue lumps.

 

[foravalon]

Plus, quality versus quantity man. With the exception of the writings of David Tischman in "The Space Between" and possibly the first batch of Year Four (the Only IDW's I haven't read, why? Tischman.) I've been blown away by the caliber of all of their books, from the artwork inside and on the covers, to the writing, to the quality of the paper. These are simply the best comic fare that Trek has offered yet. With the company's coordination efforts with the current top-notch crew at Pocket on top of that, for me this beats out the massive runs we got from Marvel and DC any day. Right on you guys, make mine IDW!

 

[ClayinCA]

Well, I have to say that Tischman's writing has been what's kept me away from IDW's line. Has the writing gotten better on "Year Four"? I saw that Gordon Purcell has taken over the art, which is strongly encouraging, and I will definitely be getting the Dorothy Fontana-written stories; what have the recent ones been like?

 

[KRAD]

^ Er, okay. That's like not reading any of the novels because you don't like my work. It's not like I write all of them, or Tischman writes all of the IDW stuff.

Anyhow, Blood Will Tell is one of the best Trek comics ever produced, and the Alien Spotlight issues have all been excellent so far.

 

[JoeZhang]

KRAD said:
^ The ones that are part of big-ass storylines also involve characters who have been comics mainstays for 40 years.

However, for something with shorter legs in the industry, as it were, the best approach is to do individual stories in five- or six-issue lumps.

I'm not sure that will work with the comic audience (who are a significant portion of who needs to pick this up) - A 6 issue mini-series with an arc in it - yes, A series like Star Trek year 4 which is a series of self-contained issues coupled with a series of one-shots? I don't think it fits the market place.

All of the franchise titles (Highlander, Bs9, GI Joe etc) suggest that in the long-term one-shots are meet with every decreasing sales unless you have an ongoing arc somewhere for people to discuss and follow.