Star Trek: Early Voyages

[Saul]

It seemed like as good a time as any to check out this comic series. The comics were about the Enterprise before Kirk took command with Christopher Pike Captaining the Enterprise. I loved these Pre-TOS stories. It's a shame the series was cancelled so suddenly. I had read there was more Pre-TOS goodness planned such as a story which dealt with the disastrous Klingon first contact involving Pike's Father.
Anyone else here read them or know why it was suddenly cancelled? Was it because a potential prequel show was in early discussions?

 

[Desert Kris]

I've read some of the earlier issues, and definitely intend to return and finish the series when I'm done with the current series I'm reading through. They really read into what The Cage presents and extrapolated ideas that work very dramatically. The third issue is quite a harrowing read, with heavy emotional impact at the end; one of the most memorable comics I've read. Actually, now that I think about it, it's madness that I haven't finished this series off.

I like your TARDIS avatar.

 

[BillJ]

Didn't Marvel ditch the license because it ended up being too expensive?

 

[Jinn]

I absolutely love Early Voyages. Thanks to it and TOS: Burning Dreams Pike is probably my favorite Enterprise captain.

The only really disappointing way is that it ends on a cliffhanger. I always wanted to find Dan Abnett somewhere on social media and ask him what was intended for the next issue(s).

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Anyone else here read them or know why it was suddenly cancelled? Was it because a potential prequel show was in early discussions?

In short: Marvel was losing money on their Star Trek comics. They paid way too much for the license, and the comics would have had to sell ridonculous numbers for Marvel to turn any sort of profit. When Marvel realized that (let's just say the mid-90s were a really chaotic time for Marvel), they cut their losses and abruptly canceled the entire line.

At the time, John Ordover said on Pocket's official Star Trek BBS that he was thinking about finishing the comic book story in a novel (presumably by Abnett and/or Lanning), but nothing ever came of it.

 

[JD]

I read EV back when I first got the comics DVD years ago, and I really enjoyed it. I stopped before the beginning of the last arc since I already knew that it ended on a cliffhanger. A while back IDW did a full series collection and I was really hoping they'd add in some kind of resolution to the cliffhanger, but as far as I know they didn't anything with it.

 

[Garth Rockett]

In short: Marvel was losing money on their Star Trek comics. They paid way too much for the license, and the comics would have had to sell ridonculous numbers for Marvel to turn any sort of profit. When Marvel realized that (let's just say the mid-90s were a really chaotic time for Marvel), they cut their losses and abruptly canceled the entire line.

Right. Marvel dumped the entire Star Trek line in the spring of 1998, and Early Voyages was just one of the casualties. They were still working their way out from bankruptcy (declared at the end of 1996), and they needed books that were profitable. IIRC, several of the Star Trek titles were outselling other Marvel titles that continued publication. Even though some Star Trek books sold more copies than some of the Marvel titles, the high licensing fee on the Trek books made them less profitable than some of the lower-selling books for properties they owned outright.

Hard to believe with Marvel being a cash cow these days, but there was a point early in the bankruptcy proceedings where there was some anxiety in the fan community about Marvel's future. I was part of an Avengers mailing list at the time, and I remember there was a running gag about pooling money to buy up lesser-known Marvel characters (like Brother Voodoo or the Kangaroo) if the assets were auctioned off.

 

[Kor]

This is one of my favorite Trek comic series of all time, next to John Byrne's TOS work for IDW.

I, too, continue to be immensely disappointed that the ending cliffhanger was never resolved.

Kor

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I discovered Early Voyages in back issue form, and they're some of my very favorite Trek comics. I knew that the series ended on an unresolved cliffhanger, so I never bothered buying the last couple of issues (it helped that I didn't like the new artist who replaced Patrick Zircher). The time travel storyline works as a nice finale to the book.

 

[Saul]

At the time, John Ordover said on Pocket's official Star Trek BBS that he was thinking about finishing the comic book story in a novel (presumably by Abnett and/or Lanning), but nothing ever came of it.

Aww man, I would have loved that. Will never happen now.

 

[Kor]

During the run of Early Voyages, I was in high school and didn't have my own money to spend on comics. I discovered it a few years later when I had a job and bought the back issues one by one in release order from a local comic book store. My belated enjoyment of this series was shattered when I got to the last issue and saw the following note to readers on the last page.

GOOD-BYE.
This is the last in the run of the EARLY VOYAGES title, and the end has come upon us very suddenly. Sorry we can't show you the consequences of April's actions, the future of Number One and a whole lot of cool stuff we had planned, including the true story of that infamous Federation/Klingon First Contact story as related by Pike's father, Josh. All we can say is... thanks to all of you for voyaging with us. Peace, and long life.
- Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton, January 1998

This was followed by a notice that "Early Voyages" subscribers would be receiving "Iron Man" instead. If you weren't into superheroes, too bad.

I don't know if Abnett and Edginton ever offered any additional details on that "whole lot of cool stuff" that they had originally planned for future issues of Early Voyages. Did they have any stories written in their entirety, or just outlines/treatments? Perhaps it will always be a mystery. As I recall, the Omnibus collection didn't say anything in this regard... a missed opportunity, for sure.

Kor

 

[Jinn]

This was followed by a notice that "Early Voyages" subscribers would be receiving "Iron Man" instead. If you weren't into superheroes, too bad.

The issue of the following month would be The Invincible Iron Man #6 (1998) which has suprisingly good art for the 90s.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I love Early Voyages! That and Starfleet Academy are the only comic series I own.

I love delving into a time period that is such an open book and developing characters we only got a glimpse of, it makes me pine for what could've been.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I don't know if Abnett and Edginton ever offered any additional details on that "whole lot of cool stuff" that they had originally planned for future issues of Early Voyages. Did they have any stories written in their entirety, or just outlines/treatments? Perhaps it will always be a mystery.

Therin had this to say almost ten years ago:

I read an interview with the editor of that series once, where he said that when they found out the storyline was being canned midstream, it wasn't even possible to print a one page synopsis, summing up how the story would have unfolded, without the whole thing going back through Paula Block's consultation process - and if they didn't got to press right then, even that issue wouldn't have happened.

I've never heard what Abnett and Edginton (for some reason, I had misremembered Abnett's cowriter as Andy Lanning, probably due to later collaborations) had planned for the series. Twenty years on, they may not remember, either.

 

[Kor]

I love Early Voyages! That and Starfleet Academy are the only comic series I own.

I love delving into a time period that is such an open book and developing characters we only got a glimpse of, it makes me pine for what could've been.

I would recommend John Byrne's "Star Trek: Crew." It's about the earlier part of Number One's career in Starfleet, leading to her posting on the Enterprise with Robert April as captain.

Kor

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I'll second Kor's recommendation of Crew. It was very enjoyable, and there was a vintage sci-fi feel to the storytelling that I really appreciated.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Thanks @Kor, I'll have a look for it!

Update: Thank you Amazon

 

[JD]

For some reason the digital collection of Crew is only available on Google Play, which is very strange because usually a book is either available at all of the e-book retailers or just Kindle. This is the first e-book or digital comic I've come across that is only on Google Play.

 

[Csalem]

I really enjoyed Early Voyages when I bought the omnibus a few years ago and have reread it a few times since. Nice to some of the characters / species appear in novels since.

 

[JD]

I know Moves With Burning Grace has popped up a few times, is there other stuff?