Khan #3 Review

[JD]

In fairness to the comic, part of the problem was the TV shows reluctance to accept the Eugenics wars in the fictional timeline and intertwine them with the time travel episodes to some degree at least, even if only e.g. Rain mentioning them or something.

I don't follow your logic. If anything, that makes it even more inexplicable that the comic would portray the Eugenics Wars as a massive nuclear conflict that devastated the US.

What I mean is they're telling a story about the Eugenics war with no canon to call from. It doesn't surprise me that the writers forgot about a couple of time travel stories where characters went back in time post Eugenics but didn't reference the consequences.

Of course if Khan is exaggerating the nuclear conflict, America, as a large nation, could have had much of it infrastructure intact after the war. It depends how many nukes fell, whether they fell near any of the places we see in the time travel stories, and whether our heroes are already in an alternate timeline due to Braxton's interference.

I haven't read the comics yet either, but I would find it hard to believe that cities like LA and Detroit would be unaffected by nukes being dropped in the US. I could see Detroit not being a target, but you think it would still have some kind of affect on the city. As for LA, I would think that would be one of the first targets anybody would go after.

 

[Christopher]

As for LA, I would think that would be one of the first targets anybody would go after.

Actually I'd think aspiring conquerors would have a vested interest in preserving the mass-media and entertainment infrastructure, so as to coopt it as a vehicle for propaganda and bread & circuses.

 

[Pauln6]

Military targets are more likely. There's not much to be gained by screwing up the infrastructure of the country you want to conquer as the US discovered in Iraq. Not that I have any idea idea where the US military bases are.

But I agree, I think it's fair to say that Khan's description of 'chaos and barbarism' from 'coast to coast' is not reflected in any of the time travel shows post 1992/ pre-mid 2100 we saw, albeit that those travellers were being plopped into a parallel past according to many worlds theory. It's possible that the writers conflated the Eugenics Wars and WWIII.

Still, Star Trek is set in a fictional world so any assumptions about how much fictional information they have from any particular era is purely speculative. Having said that, if Bride of Chaotica survived the nuclear strike, it could not have been that bad. Maybe Khan's definition of 'chaos and barbarism' was because the Prada and Guccii stores and Fox network were bombed out.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

It's possible that the writers conflated the Eugenics Wars and WWIII.

So did the writers of Space Seed.

Honestly I'm not too bent out of shape if they ignore the other shows and movies I really only care about consistency towards Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness and a lesser extent with Star Trek the game if it comes up and even at that only in so far with how consistent any Star Trek production is with another Star Trek production.

 

[Pauln6]

It's possible that the writers conflated the Eugenics Wars and WWIII.

So did the writers of Space Seed.

Honestly I'm not too bent out of shape if they ignore the other shows and movies I really only care about consistency towards Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness and a lesser extent with Star Trek the game if it comes up and even at that only in so far with how consistent any Star Trek production is with another Star Trek production.

I'm not too worried either. Treating the Nu-Universe as its own isolated universe is the only way I can stay as sane as I was before the reboot, which isn't saying much.

Then my Youtube Star Trek comic includes B5, Alien, and Alien Nation. I'm going to see if I can work in Farscape and Twiki from Buck Rogers. I'm clearly in no position to throw stones

 

[DEWLine]

But I agree, I think it's fair to say that Khan's description of 'chaos and barbarism' from 'coast to coast' is not reflected in any of the time travel shows post 1992/ pre-mid 2100 we saw, albeit that those travellers were being plopped into a parallel past according to many worlds theory. It's possible that the writers conflated the Eugenics Wars and WWIII.

Still, Star Trek is set in a fictional world so any assumptions about how much fictional information they have from any particular era is purely speculative. Having said that, if Bride of Chaotica survived the nuclear strike, it could not have been that bad. Maybe Khan's definition of 'chaos and barbarism' was because the Prada and Guccii stores and Fox network were bombed out.

I suspect such to be the case.

Given the references to Bride of Chaotica, the situation post-Eugenics Wars in places as diverse as Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Francisco as seen across the various series, the fact that we know of Buck Bokai and why he mattered to professional baseball in North America, the survival of hockey as a sport...the Eugenics Wars had to have been public but relatively self-restrained compared to WW 3.

Also, the idea of all of Canada as part of the "Great North Wasteland"?

No. Just...no.

 

[DEWLine]

Also: Newfoundland as an Augment training camp as mapped in # 2?

Wondering what Trekkers from Newfoundland think of that.

 

[mattman8907]

i was reading #2 and #3 and it made me think: Who the hell would sink so low that they would Worship Khan and his merry band of bad guys?

 

[Enterpriserules]

I am really liking this series, I think they are making a very interesting Khan as well as making Into Darkness a better film for it. I just wish some of this story could have been in the film.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Military targets are more likely. There's not much to be gained by screwing up the infrastructure of the country you want to conquer as the US discovered in Iraq. Not that I have any idea idea where the US military bases are.

San Diego has a large naval base, and isn't all that far from Los Angeles. I don't think LA would come off lightly in a nuclear conflict.

 

[DEWLine]

Actually I'd think aspiring conquerors would have a vested interest in preserving the mass-media and entertainment infrastructure, so as to coopt it as a vehicle for propaganda and bread & circuses.

 

[Christopher]

^I'm not joking. Propaganda and media control are important parts of any conquest. So is co-opting the existing institutions of the society you conquer, which is more efficient and practical than destroying them and having to build new ones from scratch.

 

[DimesDan]

Actually I'd think aspiring conquerors would have a vested interest in preserving the mass-media and entertainment infrastructure, so as to coopt it as a vehicle for propaganda and bread & circuses.

Yeah, that's exactly what Putin is doing.

 

[DEWLine]

Oh yeah. I'd already noticed some of Putin's latest "brainstorms".

It's called "laughing to keep from crying". I worry about the possibility of it happening a lot closer to home than Russia some days, in fact. (No, not specifically the USA these days, in case you're wondering. Much closer to home than that. Long story for a different part of TrekBBS...)

 

[BlueMetroid]

How many issues of Khan will there be? I've heard 4, 5, and 6. Not sure which is true. I don't see them finishing up in just one more issue, though.

 

[Therin of Andor]

How many issues of Khan will there be? I've heard 4, 5, and 6. Not sure which is true. I don't see them finishing up in just one more issue, though.

A new miniseries and more spin out of the blockbuster Star Trek Into Darkness! San Diego, CA (July 12th, 2013) - This October, STAR TREK: KHAN will show intrepid readers just how the master villain of Star Trek Into Darkness became the intergalactic menace seen in the blockbuster film. Over six thrilling issues, Khan's secrets will be unlocked and the origin of evil will finally be uncovered.
http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/2609/

 

[sulfur]

It was announced as six (as noted by Therin), but revised to five issues within a week or two.

So... Five.

 

[DEWLine]

And it appears that Johnson really intended that the Americas in whole to be written off as casualties of atomic warfare in the 1990's.

http://www.startrek.com/article/wri...kes-you-behind-the-panels-of-idws-khan-comics

 

[Christopher]

Huh. I see the comics and The First 150 Years are using Maltuvis (a dictator name-dropped in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?") as one of the Augment rulers, whereas I used it in A Choice of Futures as the name of a Saurian ruler. Given that "Maltuvis" doesn't seem to be a real-world surname, I assumed it was meant to refer to some alien dictator, and used it accordingly. So I'm surprised to see it used for a human. Why not Ferris or Li Quan?

The Americas being wiped out in the wars is an interesting alternate-history idea, but I can see no way of reconciling it with the Trek history we know.

 

[bullethead]

The Americas being wiped out in the wars is an interesting alternate-history idea, but I can see no way of reconciling it with the Trek history we know.

Yeah, I saw that and was like

It might work if they had bumped up the Eugenics Wars to coincide with WWIII or something, but not in the 1990s. Then again, a lot of the stuff mentioned in the article doesn't seem to work fit either Trek lore or their goal of reconciling the Space Seed stuff with what we know happened in the 1990s.