How much literary content exists for the TOS film era?

[Christopher]

I'd always just assumed that Janice Rand simply went back to communications during the three years in between 2290 and 2293 (and maybe she was simply stepping in as "temp XO" in Tabukan Syndrome because Cutler was on leave after Korvat, or something similar).

Although Cutler's never seen again, and Sulu seems to go through quite a lot of first officers. Rand in the comics, Chekov in War Dragons, Sencus in The Fearful Summons, Anik of Matern in The Captain's Daughter, Beskle Crajjik and Ryan Leslie in One Constant Star. I don't remember if the audiobooks established any first officers.

 

[Leto_II]

And we can add yet another XO to that list -- Lt. Commander Cipriano, as seen in the 2010 Captain's Log: Sulu issue from that IDW miniseries, which is apparently set during some unspecified timeframe after Sulu taking command of Excelsior (Janice Rand is the only other recognizable character), but probably prior to The Lost Era: The Sundered in 2298 (due to him not mentioning that novel's events in relation to his "major experiences" with the Tholians up to that point).

It would seem that being Excelsior XO under Sulu is akin to being Murphy Brown's secretary or the latest drummer in Spinal Tap -- it's a pretty thankless job, and it doesn't last long. Now that you mention it, might have to go back now and see if the Captain Sulu audio dramas add any further casualties to this list, too.

 

[tomswift2002]

With Flashback I got the feeling that Rand was Sulu's first officer and communications officer, just like Spock was Kirk's first officer and science officer.