There’s a new Star Trek comic coming from IDW, and some Trek fans will recognize parts of the setup!
WHITHER STAR TREK?
It’s no secret that the long-lived science-fiction Star Trek franchise is celebrating 60 years of “going where no one has gone before.”
Like television and movie franchises, they are all fads—they will only last for a certain time. Granted, some are around much longer than others. I used to point to CBS’s show CSI as a franchise that had lasted a long time. However, that series has now faded into the background, leaving only a few shows that have lasted longer. One of those is Star Trek, which began in 1966.
Here’s the list of Star Trek shows that have appeared since then:
- Classic Trek (also called The Original Series or TOS)
- The Next Generation
- Deep Space Nine
- Voyager
- Enterprise
- Discovery
- Lower Decks
- Prodigy
- Star Trek: Picard
- Strange New Worlds
- Starfleet Academy
- Star Trek Scouts
And this list doesn’t even consider the film franchises that Trek has provided. There were several films featuring the Classic stars, followed by the TNG cast, and what is called the Kelvin timeline. And there is a brand new series of movies on the way, too!
As I’m writing this, the last episode of the first season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be airing this Thursday. After that, since they have filmed the final two seasons of Strange New Worlds and the second season of Starfleet Academy, we might not see new Trek for a while!
After 60 years, what’s a franchise to do to keep earning money?
TREK COMICS
Like Doctor Who, the Trek comics have almost always been offshoots of the live-action series popular at the time.
From the Gold Key era of Classic Trek, there have been several ongoing books and mini-series based on whatever incarnation has been popular at the time.
Most recently, IDW has had the license, and they had an ongoing comic called Star Trek, and it featured an amalgamation of the various starship crews. Captain Benjamin Sisko was in charge, and his first officer was Data from TNG. When I bought some of the hardcover versions of the comic from the editor, I asked her, why Sisko? She told me that no one else was doing anything with the character, and he deserved the spotlight. They went with him because there was a lot of potential still in the character.
I enjoyed that comic, even the Defiant spin-off which featured some fun conversations between Worf and Spock.
But all good things must come to an end, right? So, that Star Trek comic wrapped up, and the characters basically went back to their former lives, which disappointed me, honestly. DS9 would never have done something that obvious.
Since that time, IDW has run several limited mini-series including one that extended the return of Voyager through four issues. It did have one big surprise that I won’t spoil here, and an Uhura one-shot recently came out.
So, IDW and Paramount still want the Star Trek franchise to make money for them, so a NEW comic is on the way!
STAR TREK: LEGACY IS COMING
When Star Trek: Picard ended its third and final season, it left things hanging. Many fans wanted that story to continue in what was called Star Trek: Legacy. It features Seven of Nine (originally from Voyager, then to Picard) as the captain of the latest Enterprise.
Here’s the description of the new series:
“IDW Publishing is to launch a new Star Trek ongoing series in May 2026, named simply Star Trek, and with Seven Of Nine as the Captain of the USS Enterprise-G. Set after the events of Star Trek: Picard, the comic book series will be written by Christopher Cantwell, with art by Dennis Menheere and lettering by Jodie Troutman. Star Trek will see Seven Of Nine lead the Enterprise on a top-secret mission to a hidden region of space, beyond the four charted quadrants of the Star Trek galaxy as we know it, to investigate a mysterious power that threatens to unravel the Federation, for the 60th anniversary of the series.”
Some fans are understandably unhappy with this development. Why? Because if this is taking place in comics, that means that, after several years of waiting and wondering if it would appear on Paramount Plus, this is much less likely to happen on the streaming service.
“In building a brand new Star Trek adventure, we seek to do just that: create something brand new, something that looks entirely forward into the hope of the complete—and at times frightening—unknown, all as our ensemble of characters stands shoulder to shoulder, facing the expanse of an adventure never dared before,” Cantwell said. “There is an abundance of incredible mythos that Star Trek has given us over six decades, but with this launch we seek to shed that past even as we embrace its best qualities.”
This is something Trek creators are currently struggling with. Now what?
LEGACY?
There is also another comic coming out in October called Star Trek: Zero Point. It is written by Charlie Jane Anders and set alongside the ongoing Star Trek series, with Seven’s partner Raffi Musiker, tasked with leading a new crew aboard a starship tasked with using a new predictive artificial intelligence built to be the vanguard defending the Federation from the threats of tomorrow before they even begin.
And there are also Star Trek: Celebrations books that come out occasionally, and they feature pride stories in an anthology format. This year’s version will debut in September and have 50 pages of stories from across Trek’s 60 years.
I wish I knew what Star Trek should be doing in the years ahead, but that’s above my pay grade, as they say. Still, I hope Trek lasts to be 100 or more, so I’m going to support it as long as I can!
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