DS9 Relaunch: Do I need to read the comics?

[antonio107]

Hello Trekkies!

I'm Antonio. I watched DS9 until the end for the third (or fourth?)time through syndication on Space Canada this summer. And I finally decided that I missed the series enough that I read Andrew Robinson's A Stitch in Time. I loved it, and decided to dive into the DS9 relaunch novels. I've already read the Avatar Duology, and Abyss.

I haven't been able to find ANY of these books in stock, so I've been getting them as Ebooks for my Kobo. My problem is, according to the reading order I found online, the next title in order is "Divided we Fall," a four part miniseries comic book series. AFAIK, I can't download comics anywhere online.

My Question (without spoilers, please): if I skip the comics, and go straight to the next novel, am I going to miss anything significant in the grand story arc of the relaunch? Should I wait until I can order them, or go on to the next novel?

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions! I will hopefully have more insightful posts in here in the future!

 

[Christopher]

The books are written with the understanding that not everyone who reads them will be familiar with the comics. So while there is some continuity with a couple of comics stories, you won't have any trouble following the novels' narrative if you don't read the comics. The writers aren't deliberately trying to confuse or exclude people. The goal is to write every book so you can understand it as a self-contained work, regardless of what other works it may refer to.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Nah, you won't miss anything too important. Tiris Jast from Avatar book one first appeared in the N-Vector comic, and the civil unrest mentioned in WoDS9: Trill was established in the Divided We Fall comic, but the comics don't really add more than that to the novels.

 

[antonio107]

Thanks guys! In that case, since I already asked my local comic book shop to look into ordering them, I'll go ahead and start Demons of Air and Darkness, and go back to the comic miniseries should I be able to find those.

Much appreciated!

 

[Wally]

Yeah. I've read the entire DS9 Relaunch in novel form, but none of the comics, and didn't feel like I was missing anything and everything still flowed quite nicely.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Divided We Fall was never collected Trade Paperback format (except in German), so you will need to track down the individual issues. They are well worth the hunt as they were co-written by Trek novelist and BBS poster David Mack.

 

[Therin of Andor]

My problem is, according to the reading order I found online, the next title in order is "Divided we Fall," a four part miniseries comic book series.

Well, you already missed reading "n-Vector", a DS9 comic mini-series that introduced the Bolian female, Tirus Jast, prior to her involvement with "Avatar" Book 1!

AFAIK, I can't download comics anywhere online.

IDW does downloadable comics, but for previous ST comic publishers you need the "Star Trek: The Complete Comic Book Collection") DVD-ROM (excluding only the "X-Men" crossovers) from gitcorp. Just recently, people were saying it's still available from online sellers.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Divided We Fall was never collected Trade Paperback format (except in German).

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Symbiose-John-Ordover/dp/3897485664

There was another translation, too: "Divide y vencerás" (Spanish). See Mark Martinez's site:
http://www.startrekcomics.info/wildstormtngtpb.html

 

[F. King Daniel]

I highly recommend getting the Star Trek Complete Comic Collection DVD. It's got the DS9 relaunch comics as well as almost everything else ever. I got mine from an Amazon seller.

 

[ryan123450]

^That's what I was just about to say. That is an amazing item to own.

 

[bfollowell]

I highly recommend getting the Star Trek Complete Comic Collection DVD. It's got the DS9 relaunch comics as well as almost everything else ever. I got mine from an Amazon seller.

Yeah, it's an awesome collection. My wife picked it up for me for this past Christmas.

Amazon is still selling it new for less than $14 and free shipping on orders $25 & over.

Check it out.

- Byron

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Com...KYR2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312914883&sr=8-1

 

[antonio107]

Thanks all. I'm gonna wait to hear back from my Comic book guy, but if that doesn't pan out, amma definitely look for the DVD. What format are they in, out of curiosity? JPGs? PDFs? Or some sort or proprietary thing I need to view on the disc?

 

[NSTrekfan]

They're watermarked PDF's.

 

[JD]

Honestly, the disc itself is pretty primitive, but the content more than makes up for that. That reminds me, I really need to pop that thing in and read some more Trek comics.

 

[Steve Roby]

Just buy the dvd. Seriously. There are very few bargains like that to be found anywhere these days.

 

[DWMarch]

I found my comics DVD at Chapters in the bargain section for about $5... couldn't pass it up at that price!

Hey, antonio107, you're at the SDMB too, aren't you? I posted a few times in your thread there. Glad to hear the relaunch is coming along!