LDS comics

[NCC-73515]

LDS #1 is amazing! They explain why consoles always explode

Review here:
https://trekmovie.com/2022/09/23/re...-1-is-a-hilariously-perfect-comic-adaptation/

 

[Christopher]

The review is discouraging. It makes it sound like the whole thing is just "Hey, here's that thing from past Star Trek you recognize" over and over again. The show's overdependence on Trek continuity references is my least favorite thing about it. Reference alone is not a joke. Ryan North's Squirrel Girl comics used all sorts of Marvel references, but he did creative and clever things with them rather than just cramming them in for their own sake. I hope the review just left out that part.

 

[Jinn]

That review is the most encouraging thing I read about Picard season 3 so far

 

[Markonian]

The comic is entertaining and visually appealing.
Admittedly, I don’t really care about the plot, it just wanna immerse myself in 2380s era Starfleet. Though how Mariner sets off the situation is annoying - how she deliberately invites danger just to rile Boimler up. Rebel without a cause.

 

[NCC-73515]

I love the little Enterprises that fly around and go pew

 

[Markonian]

I love the little Enterprises that fly around and go pew

Totally the first thing I'd do if I got my hands on a holodeck.

 

[NCC-73515]

It would run in my room 24/7

 

[jackoverfull]

This first issue was quite enjoyable. I’m only a bit confused at the trivia section at the end, as they were super easy, but ok.

 

[TheAlmanac]

I enjoyed the first issue--I thought North captured the character voices fairly well, as evidenced by my ability to "hear" the dialogue being performed by the voice actors, and I didn't think the references were overdone (that is to say, they were more or less proportional to references on the series itself).

 

[Charles Phipps]

The review is discouraging. It makes it sound like the whole thing is just "Hey, here's that thing from past Star Trek you recognize" over and over again. The show's overdependence on Trek continuity references is my least favorite thing about it. Reference alone is not a joke. Ryan North's Squirrel Girl comics used all sorts of Marvel references, but he did creative and clever things with them rather than just cramming them in for their own sake. I hope the review just left out that part.

I feel kind of guilty that my reviews of your books repeatedly extol how awesome you make so many deep cuts to Trek continuity.



In fact, I often feel the best Star Trek books are those that are rainbow patterns of hundreds of references.

 

[Christopher]

I feel kind of guilty that my reviews of your books repeatedly extol how awesome you make so many deep cuts to Trek continuity.

As I've said before (and as someone quoted me in their signature), I try to use continuity to serve plot, rather than using plot to serve continuity. I'm not just trying to trigger a recognition reaction or show off how much I know about Trek trivia; I'm worldbuilding, taking the fragments we're given about the universe and trying to knit them together and extrapolate beyond them to their underlying causes and connections and consequences. My editors taught me early on not to make references just for their own sake, but to limit it to what's organic and relevant and useful.

Besides, the difference between tie-ins and canon is that tie-ins are supposed to be derivative. Our job is to follow the lead of the canon, to build on the foundations it lays down. The canon's job is to take the lead, to break new ground. Tie-ins are the Cerritos, canon is the Enterprise. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Too much canonical franchise fiction these days is written like tie-in fiction or fan fiction, overly dependent on referencing a franchise's own past instead of building its future. Too much of that leads to stagnation. Sitting around paging through your old photo albums doesn't let you fill any new ones.

 

[Charles Phipps]

True,

I suppose I'm coming at this from the perspective not as a Star Trek fan (though I am) but as a comedy writer. Referential humor IS funny and while it's not particularly much better than the pun, people who love fandoms and recognize the jokes being made really do get a lot out of them. As a Star Trek fan, I love being able to do deep dives like recognizing when a character from my favorite franchise shows up or gets referred to.

"I know that!" may be lazy humor but it is fun and I never help but get a laugh when they bring up everything from Aramus to those blonde people in jumpers who kill people over lawn ornaments.

In any case, I like the first couple of comics and am surprised Dracula hasn't made an earlier appearance.

 

[Christopher]

I suppose I'm coming at this from the perspective not as a Star Trek fan (though I am) but as a comedy writer. Referential humor IS funny and while it's not particularly much better than the pun, people who love fandoms and recognize the jokes being made really do get a lot out of them. As a Star Trek fan, I love being able to do deep dives like recognizing when a character from my favorite franchise shows up or gets referred to.

"I know that!" may be lazy humor but it is fun and I never help but get a laugh when they bring up everything from Aramus to those blonde people in jumpers who kill people over lawn ornaments.

Referential humor can be effective when done well, and when not overused. But too often today, it's assumed that the simple act of making a reference to something familiar constitutes a joke in and of itself, which it really doesn't. There should be some meaning to it, or some interesting twist or irony. It should be more than just showing off how much Trek trivia the writers know. And it shouldn't be the default, fallback way to get a laugh.

 

[NCC-73515]

I prefer using old elements in a new way for a new story over repeating old stories with new elements