DC Comics' Star Tek (1st Series)

[Steve Roby]

I really enjoyed that series, for the most part, though I remember being ticked off by certain events preceding the events of Star Trek IV. Still, I remembered the Marvel comic a couple years earlier and was thrilled by how much better the DC comic was.

I eventually became (briefly) one of the letterhacks who wrote in to the letter column, and had a few letters published. Heck, I even got a neat freebie out of it: Bob sent out advance photocopies of the first issue of the initial DC TNG miniseries to get some letters that could be printed before the miniseries was over. (I still have my copy, Bob.)

 

[TheAlmanac]

I discovered the second series as it was coming out (through a chance encounter with the first issue of "The Trial of James T. Kirk"), and that awakened my nascent Star Trek fandom...

My appreciation for Peter David's writing on that title (and some confusing references to the first series in the letter column) led me to track down his work on the previous run, which (being at the end of that run) had further references to previous adventures, along with a bunch of well-established supporting characters, which meant I "had" to go back even further, until I'd picked up just about every back issue.

I'm with everyone else who admires how well the comics "fit" in between the movies--which is all the more impressive when you consider how they had to adapt on the fly as the movies came out. Because of the relative lack of tie-ins set in this period (and the Okudachron's 2285/2286/2287 dating for ST III-V), I often think of the comics as what "really" happened during this period, since spacing out those movies actually makes sense that way.

I'd love to pick up the DVD-ROM and travel back down memory lane myself (it's easier than cracking open the boxes with the issues themselves, and it would allow me to fill in those last few gaps), but Amazon is not my friend on this one, so I still have to find a willing accomplice with a US shipping address to help me out. :/

I've never seen the appeal of "Double Blind." I don't find the story particularly interesting. None of the characters "felt" right to me. The story had an awkward tone that was off-putting to me at thirteen. At thirty-six, I look back on the story as an exercise in fanwank. (Seriously, we just had to see Duane's novel characters in the comics? Seriously?)

Although some of that setup strains credulity (in addition to The Big Six, we're supposed to buy that there are also a whole set of other Lieutenant Commanders and Commanders who had previously served on the Enterprise and just followed their shipmates to Excelsior), I can understand how the story happened, given the tie-in environment of the period.

After all, wasn't Duane the bestselling of the Star Trek novelists at the time? In that sense, it's not so different from having PAD write a New Frontier comic book story...

Also, I suppose it helps if you're really into cats.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I really enjoyed that series, for the most part, though I remember being ticked off by certain events preceding the events of Star Trek IV. Still, I remembered the Marvel comic a couple years earlier and was thrilled by how much better the DC comic was.

I eventually became (briefly) one of the letterhacks who wrote in to the letter column, and had a few letters published. Heck, I even got a neat freebie out of it: Bob sent out advance photocopies of the first issue of the initial DC TNG miniseries to get some letters that could be printed before the miniseries was over. (I still have my copy, Bob.)

One name that sticks out from the Hailing Frequencies Open page was Kiril Kundurazief...if I remember correctly.

 

[Steve67]

Could someone please provide a link for the Star Trek comics CD-ROM?

 

[Christopher]

Actually a DVD-ROM:

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Com...3407311-1710926?ie=UTF8&qid=1249148274&sr=8-1

Hey, it's on sale for 30 bucks. I paid 40 when it first came out, and that was with a discount.

 

[indianatrekker26]

I still have all my star trek comics, which is why i didnt buy the CD. I have the entire first marvel run, first DC run(TOS/TNG), second DC run(TOS/TNG), entire second marvel run, all of the wildstorm stuff, up to the IDW stuff. Granted, some of the older issues from back in the day or no longer in the best condition, but i still read them all the time. I know just about every panel by heart.
Here's my personal top ten story list, including material from all the above:
10.Retrospect(DC I, TOS Annual#3)Incredible Scotty story
9. The Way of the Warrior(DC II, TNG#33-36) Great story where Q turns the crew into klingons to prove how terrible they are as a species.
8. Klingons: Blood Will Tell(IDW) best story yet from IDW in my opinion
7. Timecrime(DC II, TOS#53-57)Great time travel story where the Klingons and the federation are allies in Kirk's time. The timeline has to be fixed
6. The Worst of Both Worlds(DC II, TNG#47-50). The Enterprise falls into a parallel universe where the Borg won.
5. The Modala Imperative(DC II, 8 issue mini) A cross-over story involving both TOS and TNG.
4. The Trial of James T. Kirk(DC II, TOS#10-12) This story was built up from the preceding 9 issues, involving the repurcussions of Kirk's actions involving the klingons in star trek III.
3. Star Trek: Early Voyages(Marvel II, entire series) I can't pick a favorite story with this series, the whole thing was so good.
2. War and Madness(DC II, TNG#71-75)
Great story involving the tholians, the borg and the klingons, set shortly after "All Good Things,,,"
1. The Mirror Universe Saga(DC I, TOS#9-16)
IMO, the best star trek comic ever written

 

[KingstonTrekker]

I LOVED this series. I can remember picking up the first issue at the neighbourhood convenience store. I was 13. I went on to enjoy all of the comics produced by DC.

 

[GHS]

I was thrilled when Len Wein reintroduced Arex and M'Ress to the post-ST IV stories, loved the way Peter David was developing them up to the hiatus, and then devastated when M'Ress had to be redrawn as an antelope woman (from Issue #1 of Series II).

M'Ress (below left, b/w) was redrawn (original art was previewed in "Amazing Heroes" magazine #170, Aug 1989, page 99), and replaced by Lieutenant M'yra (below right, in colour), a reddish hominid woman with antelope horns and a devil's tail, in the first issue of Series II.

I can't recall - was the M'yra character used as Sulu's romantic interest the same way M'ress was (or did any romance actually develop with M'ress - it's been awhile)?

Would the relationship had that resulted in Demora have necessarily contradicted any romance during the first DC run, or are the comics compatible with The Captain's Daughter?

 

[GHS]

also, another issue I'd recommend from the first series is "Retrospect." It was Annual 3, written by Peter David, easily one of his best stories he's ever written. I dont want to spoil anything though, for people who have discovered these classic comics through the CD

Yeah, I thought "Retrospect" was head and shoulders above anything else in the first DC series; the reasons being the space David had to tell the story and the freedom he had (it contained almost no action).

At the time the series first came out, I didn't pick it up, having felt burned by Marvel's Star Trek comic a few years earlier. My feelings at the time were that the art wasn't any better and that the original characters they'd introduced were uninteresting.

What made DC's first run better than Marvel's had a lot to do (again) with freedom and space. I think by that time, the standard comic length had increased by 5 pages, and DC was able to reference episodes from the TV series as much as they wanted, unlike Marvel. So the DC run had much more intriguing plots, although the dialog wasn't much better. At that time, comic book scripters were still obliged to end every statement with an exclamation point - the only exceptions being if they wanted to use multiple exclamation points!!!

I think that rule had evaporated by the time Peter David came on board. I thought the quality shot up with his arrival, although his work on the 2nd DC series is superior, IMO.

 

[Christopher]

I can't recall - was the M'yra character used as Sulu's romantic interest the same way M'ress was (or did any romance actually develop with M'ress - it's been awhile)?

I believe M'yra was shown pursuing Sulu rather aggressively, with Sulu being intimidated and resisting. With M'ress, it was more mutual, I think.

Would the relationship had that resulted in Demora have necessarily contradicted any romance during the first DC run, or are the comics compatible with The Captain's Daughter?

Demora was an adult in 2293, so she would've already been a teenager at the time of the DC comics. The Captain's Daughter showed Demora becoming an intermittent part of Sulu's life starting before TWOK, but he wasn't in any kind of romantic relationship at the time, having had no contact with Demora's mother after their initial tryst. The main inconsistency is that TCD doesn't assume a great deal of time elapses between the movies, so I think they'd be hard to reconcile in those terms.

At that time, comic book scripters were still obliged to end every statement with an exclamation point - the only exceptions being if they wanted to use multiple exclamation points!!!

That was because the low quality of the printing process at the time often made periods disappear, so comics writers had to use exclamation points for visual clarity. (This is why a certain comics author is always credited as Elliot S! Maggin. He got so much in the habit of using exclamation points for periods that he absently wrote his byline that way once, and upon seeing it, DC editor Julius Schwartz was amused and immediately issued the dictate that Maggin's name was to be written that way from that point on.)

The blurriness of the printing process (and the use of all caps) also led to a rule forbidding any comic book writer from using the word FLICK.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I can't recall - was the M'yra character used as Sulu's romantic interest the same way M'ress was (or did any romance actually develop with M'ress - it's been awhile)?

Sulu had a love triangle going during the first twelve issues of the second series. And then, all of the newbie characters -- like M'yra and Ensign Fouton -- got written out. (In the case of R.J. Blaise, she disappeared mid-story.)

Would the relationship had that resulted in Demora have necessarily contradicted any romance during the first DC run, or are the comics compatible with The Captain's Daughter?

I don't think that Demora precludes Sulu from being a skirt-chaser.

The comics could work with The Captain's Daughter, post-Star Trek IV, anyway.

 

[Andrew Harris]

The blurriness of the printing process (and the use of all caps) also led to a rule forbidding any comic book writer from using the word FLICK.

Actually, that very last part of your post is an urban myth (which also applies to the name CLINT). But for years I thought it was true as well.

All is explained here:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/07/23/comic-book-legends-revealed-217/

 

[Steve67]

IDW is publishing some of the DC stories in trade paperback in the Star Trek Archives series. Volume 6 is the Mirror Universe Saga and Volume 7 is The Best of Klingons, reprinting #1-4 of the Federation-Klingon war as well as the "Maggie's World/Judgment Day" two-parter from issues #31-32. They're due out September 29 and November 29, respectively.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Actually a DVD-ROM:

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Com...3407311-1710926?ie=UTF8&qid=1249148274&sr=8-1

Hey, it's on sale for 30 bucks. I paid 40 when it first came out, and that was with a discount.

Hey Christopher does the complete collection also include the comic version of Ashes of Eden?

 

[Therin of Andor]

And then, all of the newbie characters -- like M'yra and Ensign Fouton -- got written out. (In the case of R.J. Blaise, she disappeared mid-story.)

Yep. Richard Arnold was worried the Series II original characters would become the new Konom/Bryce/Bearclaw, etc. and declared that no ongoing new character could last longer than a story arc. Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!

I wonder how the Fouton storyline would have played out had Arex taken on security instead - as hinted at in a Series I lettercol? Arex ultimately did shift over to security when Arex and M'Ress dropped into "New Frontier".

 

[Therin of Andor]

does the complete collection also include the comic version of Ashes of Eden?

Yep. It only omits the Klingon language variant issue of "Starfleet Academy" and the two "X-Men" crossovers.

 

[Steve Roby]

I'd love to pick up the DVD-ROM and travel back down memory lane myself (it's easier than cracking open the boxes with the issues themselves, and it would allow me to fill in those last few gaps), but Amazon is not my friend on this one, so I still have to find a willing accomplice with a US shipping address to help me out. :/

Have you checked the local comic shops in Winnipeg? I'm in Ottawa, so I couldn't get it through Amazon either, but my usual comic shop was able to get the DVD for me through Diamond, the comics distributor. That was last year, but it may still be possible.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I'd love to pick up the DVD-ROM and travel back down memory lane myself (it's easier than cracking open the boxes with the issues themselves, and it would allow me to fill in those last few gaps), but Amazon is not my friend on this one, so I still have to find a willing accomplice with a US shipping address to help me out. :/

Have you checked the local comic shops in Winnipeg? I'm in Ottawa, so I couldn't get it through Amazon either, but my usual comic shop was able to get the DVD for me through Diamond, the comics distributor. That was last year, but it may still be possible.

Checking my Diamond retailer account...

Diamond still has it in stock. It's called the "Star Trek Complete Collection DVD," and the item code is JUL085429.

It's currently listing for $49.99 US.

 

[GHS]

It's ironic these classic comics should come up now. Over the weekend, I was going through some old folders on my hard drive, and there was an outline for an SCE story with Nancy Bryce and Liz Sherwood that I worked on for a long time. The outline is horrifically long -- even in its unfinished state, it's thirty pages -- but it was very much a labor of love, and certainly a valentine, to these characters who so were formative in my Star Trek experience.

So Pocket writers are free to use characters created for comics or games by other companies with the Trek license?

Just out of curiosity, any chance your outline could be reworked for a short story or novel, or do you think the plot is doomed never to see the light of day?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

It's ironic these classic comics should come up now. Over the weekend, I was going through some old folders on my hard drive, and there was an outline for an SCE story with Nancy Bryce and Liz Sherwood that I worked on for a long time. The outline is horrifically long -- even in its unfinished state, it's thirty pages -- but it was very much a labor of love, and certainly a valentine, to these characters who so were formative in my Star Trek experience.

So Pocket writers are free to use characters created for comics or games by other companies with the Trek license?

Technically, since it's all owned by Paramount, then yes, characters can be used. In this particular case, I asked Bob Greenberger if he had any objections if I used Nancy Bryce and Liz Sherwood for this story. As long as I didn't do anything to them that annoyed Peter David, he said, we'd be golden.

It had some other comic book characters, too, like Grand Admiral Steven Turner and Vice Admiral Rittenhouse. Lyndra Dean, the reporter from The Mirror Universe Saga plays a key role. And Kaaj, from the Star Trek: Early Voyages comic was one of the story's key characters.

Just out of curiosity, any chance your outline could be reworked for a short story or novel, or do you think the plot is doomed never to see the light of day?

I don't think it will ever see the light of day. It's so engrained in one particular moment of Star Trek history that it wouldn't work elsewhere, with other characters. And there's no market for it now. Its time has passed.

All I will say about it is that it made the engineering in Ring Around the Sky look small. We're talking starships on unpowered ballistic trajectories, suited engineers with magnaboots attached to hulls with jerry-rigged harpoon guns, and Starfleet's wildest towing job.

It's possible that the backstory I created for Liz Sherwood, to reconcile her FYM appearance in Gemini with her movie-era appearance in the comics, may turn up in something else that's not Star Trek-related, because it was a neat idea. Dark, but also neat.