IDW “Infestation” Series To Mix Zombies With Star Trek & Other Licensees

Today at New York Comic Con, IDW Publishing announced a "first in comic book history" with a multi-title zombie series called "Infestation" that ties together their licensed properties, including Star Trek. We have details below, plus a look at a special NYCC edition of the new Khan series.

 

Zombies invade Star Trek (and Transformers, Ghostbusters and GI Joe)

Are zombies the new vampires? Just a few weeks ago we were showing off the viral video promoting the book "Night of the Living Trekkies" and now IDW are getting into the zombie/property mashup game, but this time it is fully licensed. The "Infestation" series kicks off in January with a standalone book, followed by crossover books with IDW licensed properties, Transformers, Star Trek, Ghostbusters and GI Joe, each of which gets two books and the series wraps up in February with another standalone issue. The two Star Trek issues come out in February and are being written by veteran Trek comic writers Scott and David Tipton. They will be set in the original series era

Here is the promo poster  and press release for the event.

Press release

Zombie Epic Crosses into Blockbuster Hollywood Franchises

IDW Multi-Title Event Starts in January 2011 with Acclaimed Creators

San Diego, CA (October 8, 2010) – A first in comic book history, IDW Publishing is proud to announce INFESTATION! Starting in January 2011, INFESTATION will infect STAR TREK, GHOSTBUSTERS, TRANFORMERS and G.I. JOE comics with zombies, zombies, and more zombies. To help create this multi-dimensional saga, IDW is teaming up with fan-favorite writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (The Thanos Imperative, Legion of Super-Heroes) and artist David Messina (TRUE BLOOD).

“This is definitely one of those ‘there’s no way they’ll ever do this’ kind of events,” said IDW’s Chief Creative Officer Chris Ryall. “But not only are we doing something fans never thought they’d see, we’re doing it in a way that should confound and exceed their expectations. And doing it with real pros like Abnett and Lanning just makes it that much sweeter, especially knowing what they’ve got planned as a follow-up to this event.”

Setting the stage for this massive event, Abnett and Lanning will pen INFESTATION #1, launching in January 2011. This initial 32-page story begins in IDW’s own ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS universe, where something goes terribly wrong and ultimately infests the worlds of TRANSFORMERS, STAR TREK, G.I. JOE, and GHOSTBUSTERS with zombies and infected robots. From there, the story spins ferociously into each of the four properties throughout February and March, and culminates in April’s bombastic finale, INFESTATION #2.

In February, TRANSFORMERS: INFESTATION #1-2 and STAR TREK: INFESTATION #1-2 will ship bi-weekly. The TRANSFORMERS title will also be written by Abnett and Lanning, with fan-favorite Nick Roche handling the art. STAR TREK will be written by mainstay writers Scott and David Tipton and illustrated by Casey Maloney (Zipper).

March will see the release of the bi-weekly G.I. JOE: INFESTATION #1-2 by writer Mike Raicht and artist Giovanni Timpano, as well as GHOSTBUSTERS: INFESTATION by Erik Burnham (THE A-TEAM: WAR STORIES) and Kyle Hotz (Marvel Zombies).

Artist John K. Snyder III (PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES) will provide covers for the two INFESTATION issues, as well as 1950s sci-fi film-inspired images for each of the four involved series.

To further commemorate this “decade in the making” event, IDW will be releasing special incentive patches with every issue. Each embroidered, sew-on patch will feature “infected” logos of the four titles. Additional incentives include a painted cover by ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS co-creator Ashley Wood for INFESTATION #1, as well as a special 16-page sketchbook featuring zombified versions of the perennially popular characters from these four universes, as illustrated by artists associated with each property.

The entire event will make its presence felt on the cover of the January Previews catalog, showcasing a special INFESTATION “quadrtych” image of Snake Eyes, Mr. Spock, OPTIMUS PRIME, and Dr. Peter Venkman under attack from a zombie by LOCKE & KEY artist Gabriel Rodriguez.

“We’ve found a way to involve all of these diverse titles in a massive storyline that has ties all the way back to the early days of IDW,” continued Ryall. “I think fans will be amazed by what we’ve pulled together here, as well as the stories that will come out of this once-in-my-lifetime event.”

Infestation Schedule:

  • INFESTATION #1 ($3.99, 40 pages, full color) will be available in stores on January 19, 2011.

  • TRANSFORMERS: INFESTATION #1 and #2 will be in stores on February 2 and 16, 2011, respectively.

  • STAR TREK: INFESTATION #1 and #2 will be in stores on February 9 and 23, 2011, respectively.

  • G.I. JOE: INFESTATION #1 and 2 will be in stores on March 2 and 16, 2011, respectively.

  • GHOSTBUSTERS: INFESTATION #1 and 2 will be in stores on March 9 and 23, 2011, respectively.

  • INFESTATION #2 will be available in stores on April 6, 2011.

And here is the Star Trek cover.

UPDATE: CBR has more details on the series, here are a couple of key quotes from IDW:

The individual series will show just how our intrepid heroes – folks like Optimus Prime, Dr. Peter Venkman, Mr. Spock, Baroness, and so many others – face down this new and obviously shocking threat, and their desperate efforts to stop it before it can completely consume – both literally and figuratively – their realities.

….

“Transformers: Infestation” and “G.I. Joe: Infestation” are set in the core comic book universes and that “Star Trek: Infestation” takes place during the “Motion Picture” era and will star Spock, Kirk, and Dr. McCoy. “And the ‘Ghostbusters: Infestation’ books take place in the ongoing ‘Ghostbusters’ continuity

 

Khan comic debuts at Comic Con

The first issue IDW’s latest Star Trek series Khan: Ruling in Hell will be in comic book stores later this month, however if you are attending New York Comic Con this weekend you can pick up a special show exclusive edition (featuring the Khan plush doll) at the IDW booth (#2115). IDW will also be holding signings at their booth and have show exclusive editions of  Spike, The Outfit, and True Blood as well.

Here is the cover of the NYCC Exclusive Khan: Ruling in Hell #1.

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Wonder why Doctor Who isn’t tied in with this.

Yeah, zombies… just what Trek needed…
What’s the matter? Couldn’t fit any teenage vampires in there?

sigh…

Oh. My. God.

What are they doing to Trek in this comic? Give me a break.

Oh, and why does Khan look like Sulu in the IDW comic? Hmm?

THIS is what happens when there are more than two or three days between TrekMovie.com updates — the universe becomes unglued.

Okay… really?

Does anyone BESIDES IDW think this is a good idea?

Here is how Trek should deal with zombies:

[Cue opening dialogue (“Space, the final frontier….”)]

Spock: “Captain, there are reports of zombies …”

Kirk: “That’s illogical, Spock. There are no such things as zombies.”

Spock: “Quite correct, Captain.”

[Cue closing credits.]

THE
END.

Actually, I think it sounds like fun.

Yeah, it’s fun until someone someone loses an eye.

Which is actually quite zombie-like, come to think of it.

Ew.

Thank God the comics & books aren’t Canon. Zombies & Star Trek together would be so gay. Plus, we need fresh monsters. ll of the old ones (zombies, vampires, serial murderers, etc.) are so cliche now that I’m sick of them/not entertained by them anymore. It’s gone beyond cheesy to straight up garbage.

Quick, to the cross-marketing-mobile!

10, LOL!

This sounds extremely lame

Literally the stupidest idea I have heard of in a long time.

And that’s saying a lot…

This sounds like fun!

#2 Vults, I can see it now….. ‘yeh, ooh I’m a 25 year old teenage vampire and I’m so angst ridden. Just look at the angst on my face. I’m ridden with it, I really am. You must be able to see that? Tell me you can?
I don’t want to suck the life out of this red shirted Starfleet dude, but I must. Its what I do. But I do feel guilty about it you know’.

Oh for the days when vampires had style!

#15

Yeah, Buzz, the style in modern horror is definitely lacking (kinda like Frankenstein without the blazer—Seinfeld reference #106). Where’s Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff when we need him? I know that whole dying thing was just a ruse. Really though, I’d settle for Gary Oldman to put the fangs on again. Suffice to say, if it ain’t a Universal monster, I ain’t interested.

Anyway, we need more Twilight Zone and less Twilight. Agreed?

Correction: Where’s Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff when we need THEM?

Oy… I picked the wrong week to quit sniffin’ glue…

Oh come now. Some of y’all are acting as if Star Trek has never done a zombie story before. . . What do you think the Borg are (the REAL, scary Borg, not the Bastardized versions of “First Contact” and beyond ) if not zombies in SciFi clothing? Heck, even “First Contact” is a fairly decent zombie movie. . .

~FS

#18 Its ok, but it’d have been better set in a Shopping Mall. Zombies On Space Ships was just plain silly and pushing credibility to the limit. ;-))

Vults, i’d rather see Frank Drebin play a vampire again than watch the rubbish that passes for vampire’s these days. Or even George Hamilton come to that!
Looks like i picked a bad day to give up Krug ‘Clos du Mesnil’ 1990. A particularly fine vintage too. :-(

This sounds utterly ridiculous, yet somehow readable…

Will the characters from the different series be interacting with each other? Cause I can forgive a LOT if a Egon-Spock-Optimus Prime teamup is in the offing.

Come to think of it, how do giant robots even have a zombie problem?

@9: Stay classy, bro. I’m sure Trekkies of all sexual orientations are enriched by your piquant commentary.

As farstrider said, The borg are essentitally treks version of Zombies.
personally i think it could be kind of intresting. Its definately very ambitious, iam a bit confused as to if this is a crossover in the fact that we see kirk, interacting with venkman, optimus and the joes against the zombies or if its just a cross over in the regards that its a zombie story line in each of the books.

In anycase it couldnt hurt to give it a read when it hits the shelf

Reminds me of the two Trek/X-Men crossovers Marvel did in the 90’s.

Nice to see Star Trek lumped in with properties aimed at 7-year-olds.

My God in heaven.

We’ve just passed out the Captain Kirk Nutcracker in terms of sheer stupdity.

How’d CBS let them get away with this tosh?

@19

Credibility?

As if everything in Star Trek was credible?

HAHAHAHAHA…

Sorry

:)

*Looks at the Infestation cover*

….OH MY GOD. It’s the deforming head from the opening of “The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBz–xV4Wvs&feature=related

@ 16:

AGREED!!!

And yes, I have the classic Universal monsters in my DVD collection. I tend to watch old movies more and more anyway. Also classic Trek! And I am using THE Star Trek desktop theme. Call me a nerd. Well, I guess I am getting older, this Twilight, Teenage Vampires and Werwolfs blablabla thing does not interest me. Not the slightest frakking bit. Well, call me an oldfashioned nerd then.

Star Trek plus Zombies???
Bones will have to repeat endlessly “He’s dead, Jim.”

No really new and kinda different ideas anyone/anywhere? COME ON…! Even though I hang on to old movies and TV shows I would love to see something fresh and also do not mind reboots when they are done properly (BSG was awesome and The (new) Prisoner was not bad either).

By the way, any news on a new Star Trek TV Series? I want to enjoy TV again…

Surely that’ll be ‘he’s undead Jim’? ;-)

Zombies would be a natural fit in the Star Trek universe.

ST has been resurrecting “dead” characters since the sixties (McCoy in Shore Leave, Scotty in the Changeling, Spock in WOK, etc). This time? Something went a little bit “wrong” with the resurrection process….

They could call it “Night of the Living Red Shirts”…. ; )

Tying Star Trek in with zombies cheapens Star Trek. I do not recommend it.

The Borg are not zombies. Their existence is explained through pseudo-scientific reasoning, not the supernatural.

Conflating science fiction with horror is to the detriment of science fiction.

(Now, excuse me while I get off this altitudinous equine. ;-)

Hey. IDW. While you are at it why not have Kirk and Spock Tangle with the Wolf Man and The Count Dracula himself. Or have Optimus Prime and Megatron take on the Borg. Or have Species 8472 take on Mermaids from Hell. Come on Guys realy cut loose.

Ok. Have Darth Vader and the Sith Lord take on Q and Trelane. Godzilla and Mothera and Rodan take on the Transformers.

This sounds like a story plot from the old Gold Key Star Trek comics…

#30. “Conflating science fiction with horror is to the detriment of science fiction.”

Right. Have you seen Alien, Aliens, or Predator (don’t bother with their sequels). These are arguably better movies than the majority of those in the Trek franchise.

The best Borg episodes were essentially zombie horror stories.

And most zombie movies now rely on pseudo-scientific reasoning to explain their “zombie outbreaks”. I haven’t seen a supernatural zombie since MJ’s Thriller.

IDW, what a bunch of dum dums!
(Sorry, I’m trying to think on their level).

This about as great of an idea as that ’80s Marvel Star Trek comic with the gnomes. Don’t believe me?
http://io9.com/5241586/boldly-going-where-no-comic-had-gone-before
check about 1/2 way down the page.

Ok. Night at the Musium with all Star Trek. At night all Trek with Kirk and Spock come to life. But Instead of being the good Guys they are very Evil.

Oh come on, it’s just a bit of fun! Can’t believe people are poo-pooing on IDW having their more popular properties confront the style of horror that was their bread-and-butter beforehand for a laugh.

@1 because Doctor Who isn’t all that great…

Remember that Jack the Ripper’s Ghost episode, Trek fans? It was no crazier than this.

Seriously guys, TOS had the crew of the Enterprise fighting Greek Gods, space Nazis, a body-controlling Jack the Ripper, a giant Ameoba, and participating in the Gunfight at the OK Coralle, are Zombies really that rediculous?

I’m pretty tired of zombies and vampires….

Greek gods are okay, but not zombies. ;-)

Okay, here’s the deal. Why doesn’t Lucasfilm authorize a comic wherein Darth Vader fights Count Dracula? (It’s certainly not because the two don’t dress alike to some extent.)

BTW, that raises the question: Who would win in a fight? Darth Vader, or Count Dracula? Or, for that matter, The Count from Sesame Street? (No fair using the Force.)

Well for that matter, Han Solo and Indiana Jones did fight zombies in novels last year.

Wow can nobody enjoy a fun fantasy story about zombies and trek? Those are two of my favourite things! My bookshelf has a collection of Trek Books, and a Collection of Zombie books (Max Brooks Zombie Survival Guide Series is awesome, I met him last year at Fan Expo in Toronto, he is a cool dude!).

Anyways, point of my ramble, just relax and enjoy the little things, you are right it is not Canon, but its FUN! try to remember to not take everything so seriously! Besides, Enterprise did a Zombie Vulcan Episode in 3rd Season, it was fun!

Folks should check out “Impulse”, a zombie episode from the third season of “Enterprise” where the crew of the NX-01 find a derelict Vulcan ship in the expanse and the Vulcans had become zombies.

I think it’s fun!

This could be entertaining. Marvel did a couple Trek/X-Men crossovers in the late 90s that were decently fun and entertaining.

I like zombies and I like Star Trek. So, I like this.

#45 and yet Enterprise gets cancelled. Who’d have thunk it.

As someone already pointed out, Borgs are zombies. I remember watching “Q Who” and thinking: “jeez, these are the lamest Trek villains in history”.