Sorry, Abyss wasn't our book, though we did write Batanides in one of our books...
What is with IDW?
- Thread starter toughlittleship
- Start date
Crap, crap, crap! I meant "Rogue". Sorry about that, Andy.
Why is IDW not publishing more comics? Their older stuff was great, the year 4, NF, etc. The new stuff like Infection and Kahn are poor on story. I suggested Vanguard and Destiny comics on their forums and barely got any replies. It appears Trek fans barely use their site.
You answered your own question. Sadly, IDW's product seems to have been on a downward spiral with sales, except for a few peaks, such as "Blood Will Tell", "Countdown", "Nero", some of the alien race standalones, and the John Byrne material. "Poor on story" has been a common complaint of most of the rest.
I understand and agree that their problem is poor story, but why not correct it? Why not get some good trek authors to write the comics? Obviously book sales are good. We'll buy it if they put for some effort.
I don't read comics but why couldn't IDW start a comic-only series equivalent to New Frontier or Vanguard? An all-new crew and ship etc.
And if they got some of the other Trek writers (other than PAD & KRAD) to write them, the comic sales might pick up a bit.
And if they got some of the other Trek writers (other than PAD & KRAD) to write them, the comic sales might pick up a bit.
I'm sure IDW always try to put their best writers on their comics. But comics and novels are different media, so a ST novelist might have to do a fair bit of independent research to tackle their first comic script. If IDW's editors are too busy to groom a novelist into a comic book scriptwriter, then it won't happen, and IDW seems to have had a number of editorial staff changes since picking up the ST license.
Andy Mangels made several approaches to IDW. He has experience as a comic book writer and a ST novelist, but he couldn't get past the pitch stage. They've also had DC Fontana writing for them - I thought her material was great - but even her sales were insufficient.
At the moment, it seems that ST comics do best when there's a ST event happening on the TV or cinema screens, which is quite normal for most tie-ins.
Part of the problem. You and many others.
They probably don't have a license to do that. If diehard and casual ST fans won't buy a comic about a familiar crew, or say they find the stories and art somehow lacking, why would they suddenly pick up a book about a crew of strangers, especially if they suspect that the stories and art will somehow be lacking?
Would be a cool idea if they would do it.
Andy Mangles and Mike Martin (along with editor Tim Tuohy) had planned to do just that at Marvel, in a project called "Star Trek: Phase III" with the USS Thunderchild, consisting of a crew believed dead in the Borg cube battle from First Contact. The Thunderchild cameo in Section 31: Rogue was a reference to this potential storyline. Yet another reason why Marvel should been able to continue their line from 1996. Too bad their new publisher jettisoned the license during Marvel's bankruptcy.
Peter David did an excellent job with IDW on the NF mini series. But then he has a long history with comics. The comic was great for helping us visualize the characters when we read the books. PD also told me he considers the character depictions in the IDW comic more accurate than the ones in Double Time.
I would like a Vanguard comic so I could see those characters. I'm sure David Mack could and would do it. Titan for the same reason.
It would also be cool and probably not to difficult to convert a popular book like Destiny into a comic. Doing a comic cover of a book might also bring readers of one medium to the other.
I would like a Vanguard comic so I could see those characters. I'm sure David Mack could and would do it. Titan for the same reason.
It would also be cool and probably not to difficult to convert a popular book like Destiny into a comic. Doing a comic cover of a book might also bring readers of one medium to the other.
Personally, I prefer an ongoing monthly Trek comic with an all-new ship and crew (any era), with the staggered minis and one-shot format for the established Trek shows.
I agree they need a stable monthly comic. If it had enough reading content, I'd buy it. Romulan War would make a good topic.
I still want at least limited run Vanguard and Titan comics for character visualization though.
I still want at least limited run Vanguard and Titan comics for character visualization though.
I don't read comics because in my opinion they're for kids and teens and geeks, and I'm not quite that geeky. Also, the idea that a comic book can tell a decent story seems ridiculous because of the format...like saying a kid's cartoon can be deep and meaningful.
Maybe those are misconceptions and if I read ST comics I would change my mind, but its ingrained and I barely have the money to spend on the Star Trek books I want to buy. I even had to cancel my subscription to the ST magazine because I couldn't afford the expense when the money can go to paying off bills.
Honestly and without slamming, that one of the most ill-informed posts I've seen in a while, I'll give you a slight pass in that you live in a country where comic books and graphic novels aren't taken seriously and are dominated by DC/Marvel and their lowest common dominator trash.
Ok, I'll admit I actually used to feel this way, until I actually started watching more animated series and reading comics. Just do a little research, like I did, and you'll be able to find plenty of comics to read. And if you want a deep mature animated series just watch Batman: The Animated Series, it's amazing.
I take no offense, and freely admit that I'm ill-informed when it comes to comics. What is it about comics and graphic novels that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.
This is a definite misconception. These days lots of parents complain that there are hardly any comics suitable for children anymore, since most of them are full of adult themes and/or graphic violence/sexual situations. And of course comics can tell "decent" and even excellent stories. Dark Horse, for example, has the license for Star Wars comics and their recent series Knights of the Old Republic and Legacy are outstanding, better even than most of the adult novels of the last several years.
Were I to read a comic, I wouldn't want to read something with "adult themes and/or graphic violence/sexual situations", I would actually want an actual dramatic storyline. I did actually read a CSI graphic novel once and it felt off somehow. The characters were written all wrong and the story was barely plausible.
Is there a major difference between comics and graphic novels?
I didn't mean to imply that the violence and sex make for good stories. That stuff puts me off, too. My point there was simply to show that most comics today are not written for kids, but for adults.
Sorry about the CSI comic. Just like in any other sort of tie-in fiction, sometimes they're poorly written. Some are extremely well-written, though, like those SW series I mentioned.
As for "comic" vs. "graphic novel," I don't know that there's any official definition, but I get the sense that "comic" is usually reserved for the monthly periodicals, whereas "graphic novel" is usually reserved for a one-shot story first released in a single volume that's significantly longer than the typical monthly. "Trade paperback," in this context, is usually used to refer to the collections of the monthlies.
No.
But you've never read a media tie-in novel where the characters were all wrong and the story was barely plausible?
Sounds like about 90% of Star Trek literature.
