Countdown to Darkness - Review and Discussion

[F. King Daniel]

My thought is that April's Enterprise in this universe was the ringship version.

It's not. There's a flashback to April's mission to Phaedus, and you see the ship on page 12. To me, it looks to be about halfway between the Matt Jeffries Enterprise and the NuTrek Enterprise.

Ah! ah!! Wanna see! Wanna see!!

I wanna see too! I just read on Trekmovie.com that April's first officer is...

Spoiler: xo

Alex Marcus. Flashing back to the Peter Weller/Admiral Marcus rumours!

 

[Allyn Gibson]

It's not. There's a flashback to April's mission to Phaedus, and you see the ship on page 12. To me, it looks to be about halfway between the Matt Jeffries Enterprise and the NuTrek Enterprise.

Ah! ah!! Wanna see! Wanna see!!

I wanna see too!

I don't have a scanner, sorry.

The nacelle pylons look straight rather than curved and their mounts are set further back on the secondary hull. Also, the nacelles aren't as tricked out as the film's Enterprise.

I just read on Trekmovie.com that April's first officer is...

Spoiler: xo

Alex Marcus. Flashing back to the Peter Weller/Admiral Marcus rumours!

Ah. That's interesting. That could be the link into the film, then.

 

[SalvorHardin]

It's not. There's a flashback to April's mission to Phaedus, and you see the ship on page 12. To me, it looks to be about halfway between the Matt Jeffries Enterprise and the NuTrek Enterprise.

Ah! ah!! Wanna see! Wanna see!!

I wanna see too! I just read on Trekmovie.com that April's first officer is...

Spoiler: xo

Alex Marcus. Flashing back to the Peter Weller/Admiral Marcus rumours!

Here you go

Spoiler: Countdown 2 spoilers

 

[F. King Daniel]

Thank you very much!

 

[F. King Daniel]

I just realized...

Spoiler: dating

April vanished twenty years ago, and at that time had been commanding the Enterprise for ten years. That's before the timelines split.

I hereby officially announce my retirement from trying to make any sense of this!

 

[SalvorHardin]

^ Is that retirement like one of those infamous Nimoy retirements?

 

[The Wormhole]

^^I was just about to comment on that myself.
EDIT: That is the date issue, not the various definitions of retirement.

 

[MFB]

Spoiler: dating

He said he was captain for ten years. But not necessarily captain of the Enterprise.

 

[F. King Daniel]

^ Is that retirement like one of those infamous Nimoy retirements?

Maybe.

But with this and the reported new Gorn backstory in the videogame...

Spoiler: Gorn

They're conquerors from another galaxy who reach ours via wormhole.

...I'm not so sure there's any point in trying to reconcile old and new Trek anymore. Old Spock aside, it looks like they're treating it as a true reboot, a loose adaptation of the old, and not an alternate timeline beginning in 2233 + visual upgrade as I'd previously believed.

 

[Christopher]

^Again, the tie-ins are not technically canonical. Whatever "oversight" there may be from Orci, they're still largely the creations of people other than Abrams's Supreme Court. It's a mistake to assume they're on the same level as the movie canon. Until the actual movies contradict something from canon before 2233, we can't draw any indisputable conclusions from what the tie-ins propose.

 

[Ronald Held]

Isn't part 2 out today?

 

[Markonian]

I just realized...

Spoiler: dating

April vanished twenty years ago, and at that time had been commanding the Enterprise for ten years. That's before the timelines split.

I hereby officially announce my retirement from trying to make any sense of this!

Captain for ten years - not necessarily captain of the same ship for ten years.

 

[ryan123450]

^Again, the tie-ins are not technically canonical. Whatever "oversight" there may be from Orci, they're still largely the creations of people other than Abrams's Supreme Court. It's a mistake to assume they're on the same level as the movie canon. Until the actual movies contradict something from canon before 2233, we can't draw any indisputable conclusions from what the tie-ins propose.

Not that I doubt what you're saying, but I've not kept up with the interviews and statements. Where did they talk about the canonicity of their tie-ins?

 

[SalvorHardin]

^Again, the tie-ins are not technically canonical. Whatever "oversight" there may be from Orci, they're still largely the creations of people other than Abrams's Supreme Court. It's a mistake to assume they're on the same level as the movie canon. Until the actual movies contradict something from canon before 2233, we can't draw any indisputable conclusions from what the tie-ins propose.

Not that I doubt what you're saying, but I've not kept up with the interviews and statements. Where did they talk about the canonicity of their tie-ins?

This is the latest comment on the matter from January, while talking about Countdown

How canon is this?

Orci: We get asked that a lot, and it’s our understanding that canon is that which is filmed. As a strict Constitutionalist, I don’t support a change in the definition of canon during my tenure. Perhaps future courts can take up the issue, but in the meantime the comics are as close to canon as you can get without being on film.

http://www.startrek.com/article/orci-johnson-talk-countdown-to-darkness

 

[BillJ]

How canon is this?

Orci: We get asked that a lot, and it’s our understanding that canon is that which is filmed. As a strict Constitutionalist, I don’t support a change in the definition of canon during my tenure. Perhaps future courts can take up the issue, but in the meantime the comics are as close to canon as you can get without being on film.

Which means not at all.

 

[Ketrick]

How canon is this?

Orci: We get asked that a lot, and it’s our understanding that canon is that which is filmed. As a strict Constitutionalist, I don’t support a change in the definition of canon during my tenure. Perhaps future courts can take up the issue, but in the meantime the comics are as close to canon as you can get without being on film.

Which means not at all.

Without being too serious about a fictional universe, I have to say: No, it means just what it says unless Mr. Orci is being facetious.

 

[JD]

^ Is that retirement like one of those infamous Nimoy retirements?

Maybe.

But with this and the reported new Gorn backstory in the videogame...

Spoiler: Gorn

They're conquerors from another galaxy who reach ours via wormhole.

I know when I read about that on either Trekmovie or one of the other sci-fi sites they said that came from a source that doesn't usually report on Trek or sci-fi, so there might be reason to question the accuracy of that.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Not sure there's a need for the Gorn to be from another galaxy. I guess it depends when they're supposed to have arrived... If they only just did, that's harder to hammer back into continuity.

"Bound" established during Enterprise's 22nd Century, that their hegemony was known about by the Orion Syndicate - a member of whom poured Archer a drink they had created, warning the less he knew about them the better.

 

[Caretaker]

Okay, just read the digital version of the issue two. Not to bad - based on the leaked plot summary of STID, I think I am now seeing where this is going (and it's beginning to feel a lot more like the movie prequel ala the earlier Countdown that I had been expecting). Enjoyable.

Also, ignore my earlier theorizing about April's Enterprise - I had based those only on the five page preview.

 

[Saul]

Ah! ah!! Wanna see! Wanna see!!

I wanna see too! I just read on Trekmovie.com that April's first officer is...

Spoiler: xo

Alex Marcus. Flashing back to the Peter Weller/Admiral Marcus rumours!

Here you go

Spoiler: Countdown 2 spoilers

Thanks very much. Was expecting to see something more like the TOS Enterprise. Oh well.