DC Trek reprints/digitals?

[Doctorwhovian]

It seems like a lot of the DC comics Star Trek stuff hasn't really been reprinted that much or available digitally, apart from the GIT corp CD (Which I believe is mostly out of print) and some storylines such as Who Killed Captain Kirk and the Mirror Universe saga. If anything, Marvel's comics seem to get reprinted more often! (Such as in IDW's omnibuses of the TMP era and Pike Early Voyages).


Now, I know the DC art wasn't the best, and the series had some continuity issues such as giving Kirk the Excelsior and giving Spock his own ship for a while (But isn't all Trek EU non canon anyway), as well as practically it's own supporting cast (Bearclaw, the Klingon guy, the return of M'ress and Arex from the cartoon etc.) in addition to the regulars-and of course there's the second series which looked nicer but was more limited due to Paramount stepping in or something like that. However they were a major improvement IMO over the Gold Key and TMP-era Marvel stuff.

Is there any major reason why a lot of the DC stuff is sort of ignored? Some kind of rights issue?

 

[Trek Survivor]

No copyright issue, I think IDW just doesn't believe it would be a big enough seller to justify print editions of more of this material.

A shame really; I don't like reading comics on a computer screen, and would happily pay for decent reprints of the whole DC back catalogue!

 

[F. King Daniel]

I loved those old DC comics.

 

[drc]

I read through the entire first series when I got the DVD. Most of the best stuff has already been reprinted. The "regular" issues that haven't been reprinted were not exceptionally good. I would consider the first four issue arc and the 20th Anniversary issue to be good candidates, but not much else.

The second series may have some good stuff that's not reprinted, but it's been a long time since I've read that. I lost interest in the Richard Arnold-era stories.

 

[Christopher]

DC's ST Vol. 1 is very worthwhile; it's got some art idiosyncrasies, sure, and it gets a little inconsistent with all the writer shifts, but it's probably my favorite part of Trek's comics history. You have to treat it as its own alternative take on the universe, but it's a pretty consistent and well-developed one, allowing for a few continuity glitches (like how the Klingon Bird of Prey captured in ST III is correctly depicted as big enough to have to be towed behind the Excelsior at first, but is later revealed to have been somehow tucked inside its shuttlebay ever since). The high points are the initial Mike Barr run (particularly the classic 8-part Mirror Universe Saga), the three Diane Duane issues in the middle, and the Peter David run at the end; the Len Wein run was mediocre and the Mike Carlin run mostly lame, but they had the virtue of brevity.

Volume 2 was more consistent in writing and art, and in many ways the strongest run of TOS comics ever as well as the longest to date (in number of issues -- Gold Key's 12-year run being the longest chronologically, though that ties the total length of time DC had the license). But it was a little more restrained by the continuity strictures at the time, so while I enjoy it, it doesn't really stand out in my memory the way Volume 1 did. Perhaps it's because Volume 1 was my introduction to Star Trek comics, so there's a nostalgic element to it.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Perhaps it's because Volume 1 was my introduction to Star Trek comics, so there's a nostalgic element to it.

For the same reason, the DC TNG comics are my favourite.

 

[Christopher]

For the same reason, the DC TNG comics are my favourite.

Honestly, those never really satisfied me as much. Mainly because they didn't get an art team I liked until Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot took over in the last 10 issues. (Ironically, at around the same time that the TOS comic's art quality plummeted.)

 

[indianatrekker26]

For the same reason, the DC TNG comics are my favourite.

Honestly, those never really satisfied me as much. Mainly because they didn't get an art team I liked until Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot took over in the last 10 issues. (Ironically, at around the same time that the TOS comic's art quality plummeted.)

I always had a soft spot for Pablo Marcos' artwork. He was always good with the faces, he just put the characters on superman bodies. But then the first comics i ever got as a kid, was that original DC 6 issue mini-series.
Peter Krause wasn't horrible either. The time, imo, when TNG's artwork really went downhill was with Darryl Skelton's poor-man's tracing. Uhh I couldn't stand his art.

 

[Christopher]

I found Marcos's art too rough and sloppy-looking for my tastes, and it got worse when he started inking himself. Krause was technically fine, but aesthetically his style never quite worked for me, and Marcos's inking didn't help. But yeah, Skelton was... not great. More like collage than pencilling.