The year is 2528. The United Federation of Planets has been devastated after a long, drawn out war with the Romulans after large swathes of subspace were destabilized by Omega explosions, rendering warp travel impossible. Starfleet’s previous thirst for knowledge and determination to better life had been replaced with paranoia and fear. While the situation may seem bleak, some voices speak up against the Federation’s close-minded isolationism, providing a ray of light in the darkness. One such voice is that of Alexander Chase, captain of the USS Enterprise. Unlike the other ships that shared its name, this Enterprise is not Starfleet’s flagship but a simple border patrol ship. It would not even have the iconic 1701 registry number, indicating that over the years the name Enterprise had lost much of its importance. A Bismarck-class cruiser that fought in the Federation-Romulan War, Enterprise’s aggressive hammerhead-style design reflected a Federation that had gone through a society-changing war. The friendly-looking saucer designs designed for exploration, were no fit for a galaxy ravaged by war. But Chase still believes in the name Enterprise and her original misison to seek out new life and new civilizations...
I recently came rediscovered an old concept that came up in the early noughties, shortly after 'Enterprise' came off the air. A new animated show that would have been set in the 2500's and would have been much darker in tone. Unfortunately it would never see the light of day, but I still really like the idea behind it...everything but the ship, that is. Yes the original was ugly. It was intended to be an ugly design with a blocky appearance and agressive hammerhead profile. The producers hoped that it would eventually be beloved by the audience for what it represented, rather than the traditional sleek and attractive appearance. Nevertheless, one of the first things I wanted to do was redesign her. This was a tough one for me to do. I still wanted to the hammerhead primary hull and those long impulse engines, but in the end, the rest of the design was completely changed. She is still an 'ugly duckling' design but that is intentional and hopefully a slightly more acceptable design than her predecessor.
In my ultimate fantasy, I'd love to see the premise of the abandoned Star Trek Final Frontier series, realized as a comic series. In the spirit of that wish, not only have I completely redesigned the Enterprise, but I've also gave a slight update to the look of the characters, intending them to have a 90's animation appearance akin to that of Batman The Animated Series. I gleaned a lot of information directly from the startrekff.com website which is no longer running, but is still available to view on the webarchive.com website. Click here for the direct link. That resource has story boards for the first four episodes. The ship is finalized. The crew are ready. All we need now is someone to pick up this concept and run with it! Here is come cover art that I've created to get the ball rolling:
I recently came rediscovered an old concept that came up in the early noughties, shortly after 'Enterprise' came off the air. A new animated show that would have been set in the 2500's and would have been much darker in tone. Unfortunately it would never see the light of day, but I still really like the idea behind it...everything but the ship, that is. Yes the original was ugly. It was intended to be an ugly design with a blocky appearance and agressive hammerhead profile. The producers hoped that it would eventually be beloved by the audience for what it represented, rather than the traditional sleek and attractive appearance. Nevertheless, one of the first things I wanted to do was redesign her. This was a tough one for me to do. I still wanted to the hammerhead primary hull and those long impulse engines, but in the end, the rest of the design was completely changed. She is still an 'ugly duckling' design but that is intentional and hopefully a slightly more acceptable design than her predecessor.
In my ultimate fantasy, I'd love to see the premise of the abandoned Star Trek Final Frontier series, realized as a comic series. In the spirit of that wish, not only have I completely redesigned the Enterprise, but I've also gave a slight update to the look of the characters, intending them to have a 90's animation appearance akin to that of Batman The Animated Series. I gleaned a lot of information directly from the startrekff.com website which is no longer running, but is still available to view on the webarchive.com website. Click here for the direct link. That resource has story boards for the first four episodes. The ship is finalized. The crew are ready. All we need now is someone to pick up this concept and run with it! Here is come cover art that I've created to get the ball rolling:
