IDW Publishing is the current comic book publisher to have obtained the Star Trek license. They did so in 2006, with the first comics published in January 2007. IDW's initial offerings were based on The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and the 2009 movie Star Trek. IDW's comics typically are released in miniseries, and all of their comics are reprinted in omnibus collections.
Overview[]
IDW's first Star Trek comic, "History Lesson"
For the first three years of their license, IDW only optioned to publish comics from the two most popular Star Trek series; The Original Series and The Next Generation. The company expended to the rest of franchise with publication of tie-in comics for the movie series that began with Star Trek, and in late 2009 they began to publish their first Deep Space Nine comics. They've expanded their line to include a wide range of the franchise and its spin-offs, including the New Frontier series.
In their first year IDW tested the format with miniseries of various formats. In their second year they intend to push the line forward with the involvement of big names such as D.C. Fontana and Peter David, branding their output for the year Star Trek: Second Stage. The Second Stage branding only actually appeared on the first issue of Turnaround.
After the first few issues of the first series IDW released two comics a month throughout their first year. With the launch of their Second Stage titles they upped production to four issues a month, intending to deliver a new comic almost every week. Output has since fluctuated, with as few as one comic being release in a month, and up to as many as five.
Format[]
IDW has so far released Star Trek comics in miniseries of between two and six issues over several consecutive months. Each comic is thirty-two pages in length, twenty-two of which (with limited exception) are actually story. The story pages flow uninterrupted (again with limited exception) with the final ten pages consisting of adverts, previews and interviews relating to other IDW projects, letters pages, and in a hand-full of issues The Trek Life comic strips.
The inside front cover of each comic typically contains a title a credit page and sometimes an opening monologue like paragraph of text related to the miniseries or in the case of some part-stories a short paragraph of text to refresh the reader on the story so far. In a hand full of issues this title page has been moved to the first page after the story at the back of the book.
Most of the comics have been available in several covers. Earlier comics tended to have more covers, while the most recent releases have had increasingly few, with many issues being released in just one cover by May of 2008. "Against Their Nature", the first issue of the Klingons: Blood Will Tell miniseries has had the most covers to date, with a total of seven being available. For IDW's first year's worth of miniseries the back inside cover of each comic was used as a cover gallery for that issue. With the launch of the Second Stage titles the cover gallery was moved to the title page, occupying a smaller area using thumbnail images.
Publications[]
- For a list of all IDW comics by publication order see IDW Publishing release order.
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Ongoing series[]
| Title | Series | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Published | Cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: Ongoing | TOS | Mike Johnson (#1-17, 19-60), F. Leonard Johnson (#17), Ryan Parrott (#18) | Stephen Molnar (#1-4, 9-10, 13-14), Joe Phillips (#3-4, #7-8), Joe Corroney (#5-6, #33-34, 43), Claudia Balboni (#11-12, 17-20, 24, 43), Erfan Fajar (#15, 21-23, 25-28, 31-32), Stellar Labs (#16), Erica Durante (#17-20), Luca Lamberti (#20), Agri Karuniawan (#23), Yasmin Liang (#29-30), Yulian Ardhi (#32), Victor Moya (#33-34), Rob Doan (#33-34), Tony Shasteen (#35-40, 43-45, 48-60), Cat Staggs (#41-42), Rachael Stott (#46-47) | September 22, 2011-August 17, 2016 | 
|
| New Visions | TOS | John Byrne | John Byrne | May 2014-June 2018 | 
|
| Boldly Go | TOS | Mike Johnson (#1-), Ryan Parrott (#6-) | September 2016-March 2018 | 
| |
| Year Five | TOS | April 2019-June 2021 | 
| ||
| Star Trek | ST | Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing | Ramon Rosanas | October 26, 2022 - | 
|
| Defiant | ST | Chris Cantwell | Ángel Unzueta | March, 2023 - | 
|
Miniseries[]
| Title | Series | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Published | Omnibus | Cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | ||||||
| The Space Between | TNG | David Tischman | Casey Maloney | January-June 2007 | September 2007 | 
|
| Six stand-alone stories set throughout the television era of TNG building to a conclusion in the sixth issue which ties the separate stories together. | ||||||
| Klingons: Blood Will Tell | TOS | Scott & David Tipton | David Messina | April-August 2007 | November 2007 | 
|
| A five-part story set amongst the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country with flashbacks to TOS episodes featuring Klingons, but seen from the Klingon point-of-view. | ||||||
| Year Four | TOS | David Tischman | Steve Conley, Gordon Purcell & Rob & Joe Sharp | July-December 2007 | March 2008 | 
|
| Six stand-alone TOS stories told as if they were lost episodes of a fourth season. | ||||||
| Alien Spotlight | TOS & TNG | Scott & David Tipton, James Patrick, Paul D. Storrie, Andrew Steven Harris & John Byrne | David Messina, Josep Maria Beroy, Leonard O'Grady, Elena Casagrande, Sean Murphy & John Byrne | September 2007-February 2008 | May 2008 | 
|
| Six TOS and TNG standalone stories set from the Pike-era through to the time of the Enterprise-E. | ||||||
| Intelligence Gathering | TNG | Scott & David Tipton | David Messina | January-May 2008 | August 2008 | 
|
| Five consecutive standalone stories set in the fifth season of TNG building to a conclusion that ties together the separate issues. | ||||||
| Turnaround | NF | Peter David | Stephen Thompson | March-July 2008 | October 2008 | 
|
| A five-part New Frontier story set after the novels Missing in Action and Cutting Ties. | ||||||
| Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment | TOS | D.C. Fontana & Derek Chester | Gordon Purcell | April-August 2008 | November 2008 | 
|
| A five-part story featuring the Romulans and the Klingons in the fourth year of the Kirk's five-year mission. | ||||||
| Assignment: Earth | TOS | John Byrne | May-September 2008 | December 2008 | 
| |
| Five standalone stories, taking place one per year between 1968 and 1972 featuring the adventures of Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln from the episode Assignment: Earth. | ||||||
| Mirror Images | TOS & TNG | Scott & David Tipton | David Messina | June-November 2008 | February 2009 | 
|
| A four-part TOS story depicting the rise of James T. Kirk in the mirror universe to seize command of the ISS Enterprise from Christopher Pike. With a single issue interlude depicting Jean-Luc Picard taking command of the ISS Starbreaker. | ||||||
| Romulans: The Hollow Crown | TOS | John Byrne | September-October 2008 | February 2010 (in Romulans: Pawns of War) | 
| |
| A two-part sequel to John Byrne's Alien Spotlight: Romulans depicting the fall out of the events of "Balance of Terror" and the growth of the Klingon-Romulan Alliance. | ||||||
| The Last Generation | TNG & Myriad Universes | Andrew Steven Harris | Gordon Purcell | November 2008-March 2009 | July 2009 | 
|
| A five-part alternate reality story depicting the lives of the TNG characters in a timeline where the Klingons conquered Earth and the Federation following an unsuccessful outcome to the Khitomer Conference. | ||||||
| Countdown | TOS & TNG | Tim Jones & Mike Johnson, story by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman | David Messina | January-March 2009 | April 2009 (paperback); October 2009 (hardcover) | 
|
| A four-part prequel to the movie Star Trek depicting the events that led Spock and Nero to travel back in time, and showing the future lives of the TNG characters in 2387. | ||||||
| Crew | TOS | John Byrne | March-July 2009 | October 2009 | 
| |
| A five-part series following the career of Number One, from cadet to serving on the USS Enterprise under Robert April. | ||||||
| Alien Spotlight II | TOS, TNG, & DS9 | Stuart Moore, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Ian Edginton, Scott & David Tipton, & Arne Schmidt & Andy Schmidt | Mike Hawthorne, J.K. Woodward, Wagner Reis, Elena Casagrande & Augustin Padilla | March-December 2009 | March 2010 | 
|
| Five standalone TOS, TNG and DS9 stories. | ||||||
| Mission's End | TOS | Ty Templeton | Steve Molnar | March-July 2009 | October 2009 | 
|
| A five-part story depicting the last mission of the USS Enterprise under Captain Kirk prior to its refit. | ||||||
| The Wrath of Khan | TOS | Andy Schmidt | Chee Yang Ong | June-July 2009 | May 2010 (in Motion Picture Trilogy) | 
|
| A three-part adaptation of the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. | ||||||
| Spock: Reflections | TOS | Scott & David Tipton | David Messina & Federica Manfredi | July-October 2009 | January 2010 | 
|
| A four-part series in which Spock reflects on significant moments from throughout his life. | ||||||
| Nero | TOS | Tim Jones & Mike Johnson | David Messina | August-November 2009 | February 2010 | 
|
| A four-part prequel series following Nero's life, set between the destruction of the Kelvin and the events of the movie Star Trek. | ||||||
| Romulans: Schism | TOS | John Byrne | September-November 2009 | February 2010 (in Romulans: Pawns of War) | 
| |
| A three-part continuation of John Byrne's Romulan saga depicting the breakdown the Klingon-Romulan Alliance. | ||||||
| Ghosts | TNG | Zander Cannon | Javier Aranda | November 2009-March 2010 | July 2010 | 
|
| A five-part story set in the fifth season of TNG depicting a mystery filled mission to Allios IV. | ||||||
| Fool's Gold | DS9 | Scott & David Tipton | Fabio Mantovani | December 2009-March 2010 | August 2010 | 
|
| A four-part treasure hunting mystery set on Deep Space 9 between seasons three and four. | ||||||
| Star Trek Movie Adaptation | TOS | Tim Jones & Mike Johnson, story by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman | David Messina | February-August 2010 | October 2010 | 
|
| A six-part adaptation of the movie Star Trek. | ||||||
| Leonard McCoy, Frontier Doctor | TOS | John Byrne | April-July 2010 | October 2010 | 
| |
| A four issue series telling five stories from a year of Dr. Leonard McCoy's adventures prior to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. | ||||||
| Burden of Knowledge | TOS | Scott & David Tipton | Federica Manfredi | June-September 2010 | December 2010 | 
|
| A series of four consecutive TOS TV-era stories building to an dramatic conclusion. | ||||||
| Captain's Log | TOS | Scott & David Tipton, Marc Guggenheim, Stuart Moore & Keith R.A. DeCandido | Federica Manfredi, Andrew Currie & J.K. Woodward | January-October 2010 | March 2011 | 
|
| Khan: Ruling in Hell | TOS | Scott & David Tipton | Fabio Mantovani | October 2010-January 2011 | April 2011 | 
|
| Infestation | TOS | Scott & David Tipton | Casey Maloney | February 2011 | September 2011 (Volume 2), December 2011 (Infestation), August 2014 (Infestation Omnibus) | 
|
| Star Trek—Legion of Super-Heroes | TOS | Chris Roberson | Jeffery and Philip Moy | October 2011-March 2012 | July 2012 | 
|
| Assimilation² | TOS/TNG | May 2012-December 2012 | November 2013 | 
| ||
| Hive | TNG | Brannon Braga, Terry Matalas, Travis Fickett | Joe Corroney, Matt Fillbach, Shawn Fillbach | September 2012-December 2012 | February 2013 | 
|
| Countdown to Darkness | TOS | January-April 2013 | April 2013 | 
| ||
| Khan | TOS | October 2013-February 2014 | May 2014 |
| ||
| Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever | TOS | June 2014-November 2014 | February 2015 | 
| ||
| The Primate Directive | TOS | December 2014-April 2015 | August 2015 | 
| ||
| The Spectrum War | TOS | July 2015-December 2015 | April 2017 | 
| ||
| Starfleet Academy | SA | December 2015-April 2016 | August 2016 | 
| ||
| Manifest Destiny | TOS | April 2016-June 2016 | July 2016 | 
| ||
| Waypoint | ST | September 2016-April 2019 | November 2017 | 
| ||
| Stranger Worlds | TOS | December 2016-May 2017 | September 2017 | 
| ||
| Mirror Broken | TNG | Scott Tipton, David Tipton | J.K. Woodward | May-October 2017 | December 2017 | 
|
| The Light of Kahless | DSC | November 2017-May 2018 | August 2018 | 
| ||
| Succession | DSC | April-August 2018 | October 2018 | 
| ||
| Through the Mirror | TNG | May 2018 | October 2018 | 
| ||
| Terra Incognita | TNG | July 2018-January 2019 | April 2019 | 
| ||
| Star Trek vs. Transformers | TAS | September 2018-February 2019 | May 2019 | 
| ||
| The Q Conflict | TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY | January-July 2019 | October 2019 | 
| ||
| Aftermath | DSC | September-November 2019 | April 2020 | 
| ||
| Picard: Countdown | PIC | November 2019-January 2020 | August 2020 | 
| ||
| Too Long a Sacrifice | DS9 | July-November 2020 | January 2021 | 
| ||
| Seven's Reckoning | VOY | November 2020-February 2021 | July 2021 | 
| ||
| The Mirror War | TNG | September 2021-August 2022 | 2023 | 
| ||
| Warriors of the Mirror War | ST | December 2021-September 2022 | 2023 | 
| ||
| Aliens | ST | February 2022-November 2022 | 2023 | 
| ||
| Adventures in the 32nd Century | VOY | March-June 2022 | December 2022 | 
| ||
| Stargazer | PIC | August 2022-November 2022 | April 2023 | 
| ||
| Lower Decks | LD | September 2022-November 2022 | 2023 | 
| ||
| Resurgence | RES | Dan Martin, Andrew Grant | Josh Hood | November 16, 2022-March 2023 | 
| |
| The Illyrian Enigma | SNW | Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson | Megan Levens | December 21, 2022-March 2023 | 
| |
| The Dog of War | DS9 | Mike Chen | Angel Hernandez | April, 2023-August 2023 | 
| |
| The Motion Picture: Echoes | TOS | Marc Guggenheim | Oleg Chudakov | May 2023-September 2023 | 
| |
| The Scorpius Run | SNW | Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson | August 2023- | 
| ||
| Picard's Academy | ST | September 2023- | 
| |||
| The Scheimer Barrier | TOS | September 2023 | 
| |||
| Holo-Ween | TNG | October 2023 | 
| |||
| Sons of Star Trek | ST | February 2024- | 
| |||
One-shots[]
| Title | Series | Published | Cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flesh and Stone | ST | 16 July 2014 | 
|
| Deviations | TNG | March 2017 | 
|
| Discovery Annual 2018 | DSC | March 2018 | 
|
| TNG IDW 20/20 | TNG | January 2019 | 
|
| Captain Saru | DSC | 6 March 2019 | 
|
| Sky's the Limit | TNG | 15 October 2019 | 
|
| Mirrors & Smoke | VOY | 11 December 2019 | 
|
| Star Trek 400th Issue | ST | September 2022 | 
|
| Prelude to Star Trek: Day of Blood | ST | May 2023 | 
|
| Celebrations | ST | May 2024 | 
|
| Star Trek 500th Issue | ST | September 2024 | 
|
Omnibuses[]
Typically, three months following the publication of the final issue of a miniseries, an omnibus book of the series is released. There have been a few exceptions to this; Romulans: The Hollow Crown was released in an omnibus along the Schism series as a single omnibus of the entire John Byrne Romulan Saga. Similarly the new adaptation of The Wrath of Khan was printed in an omnibus alongside previous movie comic adaptations.
The Countdown miniseries also broke the normal rule, with the omnibus released almost immediately after publication of the final issue so that it would be out ahead of the release of the movie to which it is a prequel.
IDW also publish collections of Star Trek comics originally published by previous holders of the Star Trek comics license. These have so far taken two forms: The Star Trek Archives series collects between four and six issues per volume, based on a theme, while the Star Trek Omnibus format sees larger collections of entire series of comics.
Creators[]
| IDW Publishing writers and editors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Writers | Dave Baker • John Barber • Mike W. Barr • Corinna Bechko • Kirsten Beyer • Brannon Braga • John Byrne • Zander Cannon • Chris Cantwell • Cecil Castellucci • Donny Cates • Mike Chen • Derek Chester • Peter David • Keith R.A. DeCandido • Ian Edginton • Travis Fickett • D.C. Fontana • Andrew Grant • Morgan Hampton • Gabriel Hardman • Andrew Steven Harris • Tim Jones • Mike Johnson • Sam Maggs • Dan Martin • Terry Matalas • Stephen Mooney • Stuart Moore • Ryan North • Ryan Parrott • James Patrick • Simon Roy • Chris Ryall • Andy Schmidt • Arne Schmidt • Cavan Scott • Mairghread Scott • Chris Sequeira • Matt Sheean • Matthew Dow Smith • Paul D. Storrie • Ty Templeton • David Tipton • Scott Tipton • David Tischman • Vivek J. Tiwary • Scott Bryan Wilson • Thom Zahler | 
|
| Story credits | Harve Bennett • Alex Kurtzman • Roberto Orci • Rick Remender • Jack B. Sowards | |
| Editors | Heather Antos • Scott Dunbier • Sarah Gaydos • Andrew Steven Harris • David Mariotte • Chase Marotz • Chris Ryall • Andy Schmidt • Alonzo Simon • Dan Taylor • Denton J. Tipton | |
International reprints[]
The German paperback edition of Nero
In several foreign markets other publishers have purchased the rights to reprint IDW comics:
- Starting in 2008 the Brazilian publisher Devir has published several Portuguese translations of IDW miniseries omnibuses.
- In Germany, starting in 2009, the publisher Cross Cult has published German language translations of several series omnibuses. Releases have been in both hardcover and paperback, often with new cover art.
- Also in 2009 the British publisher Titan Comics launched a short-lived magazine format called Star Trek Comic. The publication lasted three issues, reprinting the complete Star Trek: Nero series, before it was cancelled.
- In 2010, Australian publisher Wilkinson Publishing began to produce local prints of both omnibus books and individual issues.
Unrealized concepts[]
- See also: unpublished comics.
Since obtaining the Star Trek license several IDW editors and writers have announced or talked about projects which have, so far, not been published. Few have officially been announced as cancelled, but have remained unproduced for significant periods of time:
Following on from their first two Year Four miniseries' IDW had vague plans for two more Year Four miniseries, making a total of twenty-two issues over the four minis, equivalent to a full season of The Original Series. After that they planned to continue on to a Year Five miniseries. [1] IDW skipped ahead with this concept somewhat with the 2009 release of Mission's End, showing the final mission of the five-year mission.
Former editor Andrew Steven Harris indicated IDW were developing an idea for a post-Nemesis TNG series, working with an unspecified individual who has previously worked on Star Trek projects form Marvel and DC Comics. Harris suggested the series would start in early 2009; that period did see the start of Countdown a part-TNG series set many years after Nemesis. [2]
When Mirror Images was first announced it was also suggested that there would be a TNG mirror universe series to follow. However, that series was pushed back in favor of the Myriad Universes miniseries The Last Generation.
Announced in Focus on... Star Trek another project that never surfaced was Probability Factor, a six-issue miniseries, three issue TOS and three TNG. The series was to tell "What if?" stories exploring episodes that might have been is some factor had changed. The episodes choose for the alternate universe treatment were to be selected by and voted for by fans. However, since its initial announcement no further news on the series has been announced, while other new miniseries (including a different alternate timeline story-The Last Generation) have gone ahead.
Announced in the end matter of the 2008 prose anthology Echoes and Refractions, author Keith R.A. DeCandido was apparently due to write a TNG miniseries titled Redshirts.
Building on the success of the new Star Trek movie and its comic spin-offs IDW had plans for several projects based around the film and Countdown. The Countdown writers Tim Jones and Mike Johnson have talked about a prequel to Countdown showing how the TNG crew got to their new positions, and in particular how Data was restored. Additionally, they would like to write a series following Countdown showing the continuing future of the TNG era. In the Kelvin timeline from the new film they produced a series leading into the next film in a similar function to Countdown. [3]
Since IDW obtained their license author Andy Mangels has been pushing for a Star Trek: Titan miniseries, and had even managed to talk Tim Russ, the actor who played Tuvok, into co-authoring it. In 2010 however he received confirmation from IDW that they would not be taking up the concept.
John Byrne announced he had three series green-lit, though they were ultimately never released. The latter of the three was second Assignment: Earth series. One of the earlier two would conclude at about the time Robert April took command of the Enterprise, and one of the three would feature James T. Kirk at the Academy. [4][5][6][7]
John Byrne has discussed ideas he has yet to develop, such as a miniseries exploring the adventures of Balok and David Bailey.[8] One idea Byrne will not be able to realize was a crossover between Assignment: Earth and the series Doctor Who; unfortunately the BBC, who own the Doctor Who franchise, were not willing to go ahead with this.[9]
Additionally, several individual issues of miniseries have been lost or re-arranged. Both Alien Spotlight series saw significant changes to the creative teams involved. Early announcements for the second series indicated there would be issues on the Tholians, Ferengi and Betazoids, none of which were produced. The fifth issue of the Captain's Log series, "Captain's Log: Garrett" was written but cancelled before the artwork was produced[10].
Voyager and Enterprise[]
On Voyager comics Andrew Steven Harris has stated they are unlikely to happen any time soon if at all. Enterprise comics have a similar outlook, if not worse; Dan Taylor noted likeness approvals for Scott Bakula/Jonathan Archer are problematic[11]. Enterprise, being the series with the smallest fanbase, would also make such a venture risky, i.e., developing comics on a series that may be less commercially successful. [12]
Appendices[]
| Star Trek comics | ||
|---|---|---|
| By series | DSC • EV • TOS • TNG • DS9 • Voyager • SA | |
| By publisher | Gold Key • Marvel • DC • Malibu • WildStorm • TokyoPop • IDW | |
External links[]
- IDW Publishing's website.
- IDW Publishing article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- IDW Publishing article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.