The Star Trek Comic Books Taken from the Public Domain The Star Trek universe is a success in almost every medium it's appeared in: television, movies, animated series, and novels. But in the comic book format, Star Trek has been a mixed bag. The first Star Trek comic book was published by Gold Key starting in mid 1967. Though the series ran for 61 issues until 1979, the stories never quite captured the Star Trek feel. (For instance, the Enterprise was shown sometimes with rocket flames erupting from her warp nacelles!) Another series began in 1980 from Marvel Comics, but again the fan response was lacking and the book was cancelled after 18 issues. Then DC Comics obtained the rights to publish a new comic book series in late 1983, and fans agreed it was faithful to the Star Trek vision. In 1987, DC released a six-issue mini-series based on Star Trek: The Next Generation. There was a two issue Who's Who series which covered the people, places and things of the Star Trek universe, and DC adapted the last three films in comic book format. But in 1988, DC suspended publication of the comic book because of contractual concerns with Paramount. Finally, DC was given the green light by Paramount and two new monthly books premiered in 1989: Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. A blend of both old and new talent have helped make these the most successful Star Trek comic books of all. Returning as editor of the books is Bob Greenberger, a seven-year veteran at DC Comics. His job is to co-ordinate between Paramount and the two writer/artist teams. Greenberger describes the process of getting stories approved as "never ending." Paramount first received brief outlines of each story to gauge the overall direction of the books. The writers then produce full scripts which also must be approved. Finally, the completed artwork is sent to Paramount for comments and corrections. Returning as Star Trek scribe is Peter David, who wrote 8 issues and an annual for the first DC series. David has a special affinity for Star Trek, since he met his wife at a Star Trek convention and he's written two Next Generation novels. "I love writing the comic book," says David. "I owe a great deal to Star Trek." To celebrate the new series, David wrote a 12-issue storyline which culminated in "The Trial of James T. Kirk." The springboard for this story was the statement made by the Klingon Ambassador in Star Trek IV: "There shall be no peace long as Kirk lives!" For the story-line David created another race, the Nasgul, who also wished Kirk dead. Eventually, Kirk submitted himself to a Federation hearing to answer the many charges against him, which included violating the Prime Directive. Both Greenberger and David remarked on their efforts to maintain "the spirit of Star Trek." They have accomplished this by producing stories which explore the essence of the classic characters. David feels this can be best accomplished by the introduction of new characters to interact with the established crew. In the recent story-line Starfleet assigned a protocol officer named R.J. Blaise to monitor Kirk's actions aboard the Enterprise. When the officer is revealed to be an attractive woman, Kirk remarks: "There is a God." But Blaise was no pushover and Kirk was forced to confront his feelings about women. Other new characters included Vice-Admiral Tomlinson, who led the effort to censor Kirk, a mysterious security officer named Fouton, and two love interests for Sulu. Over on the Star Trek: The Next Generation comic book, a new writer is handling the new characters. Though Michael Jan Friedman wrote a classic Star Trek novel in 1989 (Double, Double), this is his first monthly comic book series. Friedman also commented on his efforts to retain the vision of Gene Roddenberry's creation. "Everything's a tribute to him," says Friedman. Late 1989, Friedman's first Next Generation novel, A Call to Darkness, was published by Pocket Books. That story focused partly on William Riker, the character Friedman says he most identifies with. "But for the purposes of the comic book, I would have to say Geordi and Data are the ones I like to deal with most. Maybe it's because the artist, Pablo Marcos, does such a great job on them." Both the writers and editor praised the various artists working on the books. On The Next Generation, Pablo Marcos handles both the pencilling and inking. "It's rare that he (Marcos) doesn't take my directions and do something better than what I had in mind," says Friedman. The writer also noted the contributions of both Julianna Ferriter and Bob Pinaha, the colourist and letterer respectively. On the Star Trek book, James Fry departed as penciller after issue 10 and was replaced by Gorden Purcell. Arne Starr will remain as inker for the series, with Tom McCraw as colourist and Bon Pinaha as letterer. The comic books are also fortunate to have Jerome Moore as the primary cover artist. Greenberger calls Moore "a really promising young talent... a top notch Star Trek fan who is a meticulous artist." In fact, his artwork is so detailed that Moore can contribute only two covers a month at the present time. The editor hopes to have Moore draw a future issue when the right script comes along. "I think a full story by him will thrill everybody," says Greenberger. Recent covers have also been drawn by Eric Peterson. The two writers of the comic books share many similarities in their backgrounds. Both were trained as journalists, both are big baseball fans, and both have had two Star Trek novels published. Each writer spoke at length on the differences between a Star Trek novel, the TV show, and the comic book. "The object of the comic book is to tell a story that people are going to want to pick up next month." David also notes that reading the comic book is a "much more involved act," since the reader must provide sound, pacing and movement to the story, as opposed to watching the action take place on television. Friedman noted the difficulty of getting his storylines approved, because many of the ideas he presents to Paramount are in development for the TV series. Friedman came up with stories involving a Romulan defector and an alternate universe where Tasha Yar lives. It was sheer coincidence that both ideas were being written into teleplays for the third season (The Defector and Yesterday's Enterprise). In addition to maintaining continuity, Paramount also sends copies of the comic books to certain cast members for their approval. "Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes have 'likeness rights,'" says Greenberger, "and they get to review every issue to make sure they look right. Jonathan, more often than not, gives us a clean bill of health. In Patrick's case, he usually asks us to make him balder!" In general, the cast of the Star Trek films review only the movie adaptations. Several other Star Trek actors have commented favourably on the comic books. "Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis have indicated pleasure with the comic," notes Greenberger. "Brent Spiner said he wanted us to use his REAL nose! Then he wanted a romance. And he wanted to know when the Data spin-off was coming out!" Actress Whoopi Goldberg receives extra copies of both series, which she autographs and gives to fans. Some of the Star Trek actors have gone one step further and actually help produce the comic books. The original DC series featured an issue written by Walter Koenig and this summer's Star Trek annuals involved the talents of two other actors. The Star Trek Annual 1 was written by George Takei and Peter David and fans naturally can expect to see a story focused on Sulu. Though Takei came up with the initial plot, it was David's idea to use Sulu as the lead character. "We've got the guy who is THE expert on Sulu," says David. "It would be silly to have a story co-written by George Takei and focus on, say, Uhura." The Star Trek: The Next Generation Annual 1 was written by actor John DeLancie, the man behind Q. As can be expected, the story featured the Q entity, but Greenberger warns that "fun and games are over. Rather than Q coming to be mischievous, he's coming with a real malevolence." In the monthly Star Trek book, the "Trial of James T. Kirk" ended in issue 12. This will be followed with a three-issue story called "Return of the Worthy," Co-written by Bill Mumy and Peter David. Mumy (who played Will Robinson on the Lost In Space TV show) has written several comic book projects in recent years. On The Next Generation, issues 9-12 involved a doppelganger Enterprise which wreaked havoc in the Federation. Issue 13 will focus on Transporter Chief O'Brien, a character whom Friedman calls "the sleeper of the cast." However, Friedman warns that fans will NOT learn O'Brien's first name! Issues 14-15 will feature a classic shore leave story. Both authors have many other projects in the works. In addition to the Star Trek comic book, Peter David also writes The Incredible Hulk, Dreadstar, and the recently completed Atlantis Chronicles mini-series for DC. David has two Next Generation books published (Strike Zone and A Rock And A Hard Place) and he has begun his third book tentatively called Q-In-Law. Michael Jan Friedman has completed another Next Generation novel, Fortune's Light, and has two more Star Trek books to follow. Friedman also would like to expand his comic book writing for DC. Lastly, the two authors joined forces with Bob Greenberger and Carmen Carter to produce Doomsday World, the first "shared-universe" Star Trek novel which arrived in bookstores in June.