Medical supplies en route to a planet in need, a quasar-like formation, and the Federation High Commissioner. How can things go wrong? Well, the shuttle Galileo will prove us all wrong. As usual. It wouldn’t be Star Trek otherwise, now would it? Read on to find out what happens in this month’s issue of IDW’s ongoing series set in the new Star Trek movie universe.
REVIEW: STAR TREK ONGOING #3
This third issue of IDW’s ongoing series presents the first half of a new story, "The Galileo Seven". For the first time in the ongoing series, IDW has put the specific title on the cover of the issue, just to confirm that this is indeed another story revisiting the classic series with the new crew.
The story begins on stardate 2821.5, suggesting that the series has gone to the classic style of stardates rather than the new movie ones. This stardate is identical to the one spoken in the original captain’s log… a log duplicated in the opening panel of the story. The story tracks fairly closely to the original series episode, with Yeoman Rand replacing Yeoman Mears on the lost shuttle. The issue of weight does not arise, but McCoy references Spock’s past captaincy before Kirk took over.
On the Enterprise, Kirk and Commissioner Ferris face off with Ferris encouraging Kirk to simply abandon the lost crew aboard the "Galileo" shuttle. Kirk fights back noting his orders and the time that he has available to him. All in all, not a lot different from the original story.
Never combine two explosive mixtures inside a shuttlecraft… (click to enlarge)
Stephen Molnar is joined by Joe Phillips for the art on this issue and there is a slight improvement over the first two issues. The faces are easily recognizable for the various characters seen in the movie, but a few of the shuttle exteriors look a bit awkward at times. The images of the shuttle leaving the Enterprise are fantastic and give a sense of grandeur, similar to the first movie.
John Rauch and Neil Uyetake continue to do the colors and letters, just as per the first issues. Uyetake has little out of the ordinary to do until the shuttle’s "landing" on the planet. The events there give him much more to do for sound effects, several of which he localizes to give a sense of direction. Rauch’s work varies from the muted tones on the planet to the bright blues on the "Enterprise" and the contrast between the two makes for an effective scene break.
If that’s "just a bump", I’d hate to see a real injury! (click to enlarge)
This is a fairly straightforward adaption of the first half of the original episode. A few changes here and there crop up, but nothing all that significant besides the first appearance of Yeoman Rand. She has a minimal amount of stuff to do in this part of the story, even less than in the original episode, appearing in nine panels of the issue and only three lines of dialogue, totally less than twenty words in total.
The lack of diversion from the original story seems to hurt this issue of the series more than the first two issues. It almost feels like a bit of a let down after the first storyline. The most interesting sequence in the issue is the conversation between McCoy and Spock and the trust that Kirk places in his crew as he talks with Ferris. Hopefully the next issue with show some more diversions from the original storyline than this one did.
Tim Bradstreet continues to do the main covers for the series, keeping a constant theme based around the Starfleet delta, while giving an idea of the inner story. Joe Corroney provides a second Starfleet propaganda cover encouraging the reader to "go boldy" and "enlist in Starfleet.". This new set of covers is fantastic and very eye catching. I look forward to seeing more of them!
Covers for "Star Trek Ongoing #3"
(click to enlarge)
Star Trek Ongoing #3 arrives in comic book stores today, Wednesday November 30th.
BUY: Star Trek comics
Star Trek comics can be ordered and pre-ordered from TFAW.com, and all are discounted.
| Star Trek Ongoing #1 |
Star Trek Ongoing #2 |
Star Trek Ongoing #3 |
 $3.99 |
 $3.99 |
 $3.19 |
| September | October | November (30th) |
| Star Trek Ongoing #4 |
Star Trek Ongoing #5 |
Star Trek Ongoing #6 |
 $3.19 |
 $3.19 |
 $3.19 |
| December | January | February |
If you can wait, the first volume compiling the first individual issues will be released on March 13th. You can pre-order it at Amazon.
Interesting about Rand… I wonder if these WILL actually link with new movie?
“The story begins on stardate 2821.5, suggesting that the series has gone to the classic style of stardates rather than the new movie ones.”
THANK GOD.
lol, your post is taking up hole page for some reason. Thanks for the informative article though!!!
I still hope the writer made an error in using TOS stardates, but maybe boborci and Alex Kurtzman created the new system specifically for the timeframe not covered by TOS stardates, and not because they wanted to simplify them forever in the alternate reality.
Yay for Janice! Maybe they will do the Enemy Within after all…
The comics should have sticken to the kind of stardates used in the 2009 ST film. At least the film’s sysytem helps audiences better understand what month and year the events took place, and although it’s known that the original Trek mainly took palce in the late 2260s, there has been no official explanation to indicate how TOS-type stardates can be converted to Earth time while there has been one about TNG-kind stardates, which is easy to follow.
sticken?
Alice Eve?
Stardate confusion in a Star Trek product? The hell, you say! Sticking back to the movie stardates makes things very much easier.
Ah, Yeo-wench Rand. Well, at least they can’t do that low-brow thing that I feared they might do.
Why, oh why, must the artwork for the ST comics always be so bland?
I don’t think IDW’s Spock resembles any variation of Spock, or a Vulcan. It’d be so easy to vary his complexion slightly from that of the others, but, no… In some scenes, his face is childish. Kirk’s eyes are brown, then blue, while Spock has blue eyes in last pages – sloppy!
The reviewer said weight doesn’t come up, but I think it does. The comic ends on the note that Spock will decide, if it comes to it, who will have to stay behind.
Can’t imagine why Yeoman Rand would be on that shuttle. Guess we won’t be moving toward greater plausibility in this universe. Oh well, I’ll keep on plunkin’ down my change.
Wow!
This series really makes me want to stick the business end of a disruptor in my mouth!
Why not just make Uhura blue?
I mean, it’s an alternate timeline, so everything’s different, right?
Wrong.
There’s no way in hell the destruction of one ship containing roughly 300 (Pike’s quote of 800 is obviously wrong) people would impact the timeline this drastically.
This is idiotic.
Are there any actual TOS comics planned by IDW, or are we stuck watching the most iconic scifi of the last 100 years be systematically dismantled for the drooling masses?
I thought the point of the new universe was to create new stories, not remake or redress old classic episodes?
How about something new and original for once?
Bottom line: Is this IDW series covering the TOS episode “Space Seed” or not?
If not, then I assume the next Star Trek movie will involve Khan.
(Don’t argue that the IDW is skipping various TOS episodes, therefore it’s a coincidence that “Space Seed” is being overlooked for now.)
Btw, boborci: Big fan, LOVING what you’re doing with the creative input on this comic book series. Outstanding. :)
@12 If they have a crew of six qualified men and one general all purpose female yeoman, that is exactly the same as the original story. Rand would have been on the shuttle instead of Mears if the actress hadn’t left the show by then. I haven’t read the story yet but I’ll be disappointed if they haven’t imported one or two other women onto the shuttle this time. Obviously, the yeoman is there to make the coffee, sandwiches, and in-flight nuts for the busy boys but Rand was also a technician so she could also double as Scotty’s assistant.
15 — why would you think that? If they did Khan, the creative team would be accused of being derivative. It would be seen as hanging on to Harve Bennett’s original idea, because of a widespread misconception that a successful Star Trek movie must somehow follow the Star Trek II template. Involving Khan would be such an obvious rip-off alert that I don’t see how any fan could expect him to appear.
It was supposed to be Rand in the original episode, but Whitney had left the series by then and was replaced (by Mears). A nice touch to include her.
I like the Ongoing Series. I hope to see original stories too sooner or later. Happy to see yeoman Rand on board the Galileo! :D
Anyway… why McCoy seems to wear a red shirt on pages 19, 24 and 27?? John Rauch’s or Neil Uyetake’s mistake? :)
Well I’m still in favor of the original stardate system. I mean, why would an alien race who have been in space a lot longer than the human race adapt a date system who solely originated from Earth? That doesn’t make any sense. Stardate played out like it’s own universally acknowledged date system that sounded like it could be based on scientific fact that didn’t originate from one single alien race.
Cripes, even Nicholas Meyer, the man who wanted to give Star Trek a more human driven story stuck with Stardates, but opened the film with the subtitle “In the 23 Century”. THAT was a good compromise.
“At least the film’s sysytem helps audiences better understand”
“Sticking back to the movie stardates makes things very much easier.”
Than they shouldn’t be using Stardates.
20 — Starfleet stardates were never supposed to be universal. The 1967 TOS writer’s guide clearly assigns 24 hours per unit, with .5 standing for noon, and asks the writers to try to respect this within an episode, regardless of unexpected shifts between episodes. Mike Okuda used this idea in the Remastered displays which show the time of day next to a stardate, and before that in many TNG displays. You can multiply the stardate fraction by 24 to determine the hours, the fractional hours by 60 to calculate the minutes and so forth.
Also, a culture so dependent on the universal translator shouldn’t have trouble converting calendars on the fly. An alien referring to a date of “334231.1234/3332” would be easily translated as saying “stardate 2259.23”.
So, as to the question about stardates…
When was Stardate 1? (I’m pretty sure there was no Stardate 0, just as there was no year 0.) Was it when the Federation was formed in 2161? Was it when the first warp-powered vessel, Little Nell, was launched?
Inquiring minds want to know! :-)
This is why it’s easier to just make the stardate approximate the year and month. Even though it puts Kirk’s birthdate in April of 2233 instead of March, it makes it easier for the writers.
Of course, what would make it even easier is to just ditch ’em altogether. If a ship in deep space can’t find a way to sync its clocks with those on Earth, screw ’em.
I don’t really feel the need to buy comic books of shows I’ve seen for 40 odd years now (with just minor variations in look and a few changed words). This kind of reeks of rip off, really. It’s like putting old product in a new package and calling it original.
The ST comics…. boldly going where a 45 year old TV series already went.
@23
Exactly how I feel… and if the next movie turns out to be another rehash (dear God please no Khan), I won’t bother going to see it.
@21: “Also, a culture so dependent on the universal translator shouldn’t have trouble converting calendars on the fly.”
I don’t think it’s that simple. If Humanity is a culture that is so dependent on universal translators, why do they have a position for a communications officer to translate languages? And if they know the Romulan Language enough to teach it in three different dialects, why don’t they program that into the translating computers? Why is it every time we come up with conclusions to explain an issue it always ends up making Uhura’s role more of a joke?
@22: “This is why it’s easier to just make the stardate approximate the year and month. Even though it puts Kirk’s birthdate in April of 2233 instead of March, it makes it easier for the writers.”
Why would we want to make the job of the writers easier? If this was happening with any other franchise, it’d fall right into the same criticized area of Hollywood running out of ideas since they’re dealing with an already established series that has already had their stories told. Bob and Alex don’t want to add anything to Star Trek. They said that they want to go back to Kirk and Spock. Characters that they and everybody else already know. How is that not taking the easy way out? Most of the movie plays out like a non-fan’s checklist of things that they would expect Star Trek to have like red shirt deaths, Scotty’s lines, Chekov’s accent, Uhura saying “we’re being hailed”, Kirk’s overrated status as a ladies man, Bones always shouting and giving his “I’m a doctor” line, Spock’s logic side means he’s a big prejudice jerk and Sulu with his sword skills. Even with that reference the writers got it wrong with the only skill Sulu states he knows is fencing. Nothing about his fighting skills looks like fencing.
Make the writer’s job easier? That should be the last thing we want.
I’m enjoying the IDW series for what it is: an alternate universe; a take on familiar stories with the new universe twist.
And I enjoy it in the same way I can enjoy “The Dark Knight” and still love “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”. It’s just different takes.
TOS will always be the yardstick for comparison, so don’t sweat a replacement guys. Just enjoy the ride.
25 – but even if their universal translator isn’t as good as that from TNG/DS9, surely it’s not a problem for the computer to convert between calendars? I see no need for a universal, politically correct calendar. Either way, the 2009 stardates _are_ based on the Earth year. There _is_ a relationship between TOS/TNG stardates and 24 hours, despite the irregularities. Late TNG even introduced the relationship between the Earth year and 1000 stardate units, so that’s three different connections, all of which are canon. Hence this discussion is pointless, since the link to Earth units has already been established. If Archer could go into space with a pure Gregorian calendar, why is it a stretch for Robau to be using something in-between?
BTW, one of the reasons the new IDW series isn’t doing new stories is to keep things “clear” for the next film, methinks. All the comic scripts, as I understand it, are getting approval from the new Trek team prior to creation/publication. By doing some of the old stories, they fill in the gap I was hoping for between the ’09 movie and the next one. (I want these guys to have some of that character/camaraderie building time they need; would hated to have seen the next Trek happen in a short time span after the first one.)
I know that’s why Simon & Schuster cancelled the pending new Trek novel series last year.
22 – there is no evidence for April. Going by boborci’s description, stardate 2233.04 was probably supposed to be January 4, although boborci told me the single “0” is a likely error. (If the range can have a three-digit width, 1-365/366, the decimal should’ve been either .004 or .4.)
I like the idea of this series, but having read issue 3, it’s just boring. They didn’t deviate enough from the original episode to make it interesting.
That’s a shame.
This is a new reality and an alternate universe. Go nuts. Set up the familiar tale and then turn left. That’s what I want to see.
30 – They did. They made a left turn with the stardate, so that’s what we’re discussing. :)
In regards to Stardates, some people need a review of Star Trek history. The idea that the original series took place in the 2260s was a retcon established around the time of TNG. The whole reason Roddenberry created Stardates was that he didn’t want the time frame of the show pinned down. In the original series, especially the first season, direct references to the time frame ranged from anywhere from the late 22nd century (“Space Seed,” “Tomorrow is Yesterday”) to the early 28th (“Squire of Gothos”).
I agree. They need to deviate more… (which they’ve said they’ll do) to make it more interesting. I’ll keep reading it, and trust that it will get better.
@16: I know Rand just replaced the woman from the original episode, but I hoped, so long as the writers took license to re-write Trek, they’d try to move it at least into the 21st century. I suppose, if they really wanted to be more futuristic, roughly half the shuttle crew might be female, and Spock might be the one having the closest thing to white skin.
This series has been really disappointing so far. Face the facts… the only people who read Star Trek comics are the hardcore fans. So what’s the point of just rehashing the episode we’ve all seen so many times, just like how it was? These “alternate takes” in these comics are not different at all! They’re more like adaptations. Too bad…
@33 – I agree wholeheartedly. NuTrek has really fumbled the ball on the gender issue. Love or loathe NuBSG (I loved it) theyworked very hard to balance the character genders to be appropriate for the 21st century. Not only did NuTrek fail to do that, they actually ignored some of the women in positions of power and authority that had existed in the sixties and used male characters instead e.g Number One or T’Pau. So far, they’ve done the same in the comic too (writing out Dr Dehner). If Dehner is not available, why not use Helen Noel? Has McCoy slept with every woman in Starfleet medical?
I’m not in favour of them turning Chekov into a woman but I am in favour of them going the extra mile to involve more female characters. If that means re-casting Boma or a few security guards as women then do it! I can’t imagine that the world is swimming with hardcore Boma fans!
Using Janice is a good start. If she is cast in the role of Kirk’s yeoman then she becomes a mobile character who requires no special reason to be anywhere. It’s easier to plug her into a landing party than Uhura, whose in-story role is most often related to her post or her relationship with Spock. I also hope that they make Rand qualified in combat so that she isn’t relegated to a girly girl who needs her men to protect her. If evil Kirk tries to molest her, I want him to end up with broken teeth, not scratches on his face! ;)
32 – yes, the original pitch said that the year might be 1995 or 2995, but that idea fell apart as soon as they started referencing the 20th century, with Khan, Captain John Christopher, the “Miri” parallel Earth of 300 years ago…Regardless of “The Squire of Gothos”, TOS mostly used 200-300 years, and by the time of Star Trek IV we already knew it was “the late 23rd century”. Now everyone knows the timeline, so there is no need to pretend it’s vague.
With regard to the first two issues of “Star Trek Ongoing”:
In a comparison between the Prime Verse television episode and the New Verse comic book story, personally, I find it of particular interest to note, how some relatively minor plot changes do result in a subtle, yet rather significant shift concerning the two pieces’ main narrative themes.
Spoiler space for the protection of uninitiated, future readers (and/or viewers):
Examining the original TV episode, I would identify two distinct, thematic motives at the story´s narrational core. The more prominent one, being of a largely philosophical nature, centers on Gary Mitchell, Kirk Prime´s´s former pupil/
good friend and revolves around the effects of uncontrolled access to power on the human psyche by extrapolating possible dangers and consequences of such a situation. The other important, but from my point of view ultimately supplemental story motive, Kirk´s personal conundrum in this episode, explores a smaller scale, more intimate topic, namely the ties of friendship and the limits of loyalty.
The Abrams et al. Verse´s comic book story on the other hand, at least as I understand it, seems to emulate the new film´s approach to story telling by once again prioritizing domestic/personal issues over social/political/philosophical ones. The introduction of one small, additional plot element absent from the original television episode, i. e. New Spock’ s disclosure to New Kirk of his unauthorized mind-meld with an unconscious Mitchell, effectively eliminates the entire “fallible human beings should never be trusted with uncontrolled power”- angle of the story. The overall change of narrative direction is based simply on the Vulcan´s revelation of THIS Mitchell´s complete erasure by some form of non human entity described as a force with “… No conscience. No sentience of any kind”. Such a development strongly suggests, that New Kirk´s old classmate and confidant has indeed, for all intents and purposes, died/seized to exist.
In my personal opinion, the implied, complete loss of New Verse Mitchell´s human person-hood relatively early in the course of the comic book story represents a substantial retooling of the original Prime Verse narrative due to the additional plot aspects´s profound impact on both of the television episode´s main themes. The revelation of a decidedly external, otherworldly and apparently quite hostile force as the piece´s true antagonist (and potentially important, future New Verse adversary?) largely eliminates the original dilemma based on the frailties of human nature. Simultaneously, i would argue, this new situation not only centralizes Kirk´s personal crux as the main narrational theme, but it also re-focuses the character´s conflict by diminishing issues of loyalty while emphasizing the previously established story motive of a young, brash captain experiencing the heavy burdens of command for the first time.
I gotta gripe about the art. I felt the art was better in the first two issues than this one. Did anyone else notice that Ferris looked liked the original actor in the second half of the story? It’s like the 2 artists didn’t really communicate to each other.
Hermioni, where did you come from? You have got to tell me what you do for a living. How many times did you edit your critique?! Loved it!
35. Pauln6 – December 2, 2011
@33 – I agree wholeheartedly. NuTrek has really fumbled the ball on the gender issue. Love or loathe NuBSG (I loved it) theyworked very hard to balance the character genders…
Pauln6; yes, too bad about the gender fumble – likewise the race fumble (given whites’ very near future minority status).
But, hey! I just discovered BSG. A maze of avenues to ponder in almost every episode (so far – streaming it; still in Season 1). Starbuck, Lee, XO’s wife are irksome, and Gaius needs to rein in the deranged facial expressions, a bit, but otherwise, enjoying the characters and most of the plot twists and turns.
#38.
“It’s like the 2 artists didn’t really communicate to each other.”
Maybe it’s because they weren’t “on the same page”!
Off Topic:
@#39 NCM – December 2, 2011
Many thanks, NCM!
I am indeed a regular reader/follower of this web-side, as well as, on occasion, a poster on the talk-back message board. Unfortunately, these days numerous commitments and responsibilities take up a lot of my time, therefore life as a trek fan has to take a backseat to other, more pressing but certainly less entertaining matters, ;-) .
And, to answer your question(s), I do have a (somewhat informal) background in various types of media studies and I was also born into a family of artists and/or creators of media. So, let´s just hope that I am not simply spouting utter nonsense…, ;-) . By the way, English is not one of my native tongues, but I received part of my third level education in California.
41 – it’s called a prime rift. They’ll be a major plot point in the upcoming movie, as prime characters take over their counterparts in the alternate reality.
Off Topic:
@ #39 En_Ce_Em – December 2, 2011 (My apologies for the changes to your board designation, but it seems impossible to get this posting through the web-side´s filters in any other manner.)
Many thanks, En_Ce_Em !
I am indeed a regular reader/follower of this web-side, as well as, on occasion, a poster on the talk-back message board. Unfortunately, these days numerous commitments and responsibilities take up a lot of my time, therefore life as a trek fan has to take a backseat to other, more pressing but certainly less entertaining matters, ;-) .
And, to answer your question(s), I do have a (somewhat informal) background in various types of media studies and I was also born into a family of artists and/or creators of media. So, let´s just hope that I am not simply spouting utter nonsense…, ;-) . By the way, English is not one of my native tongues, but I received part of my third level education in California.
Test post, please ignore!
Just trying to figure out. if I am experiencing a general, technical problem, or if I have been running afoul of the website´s filters in some inexplicable manner…
Off Topic:
@ #39 NCM – December 2, 2011
Many thanks, NCM !
I am indeed a regular reader/follower of this website, as well as, on occasion, a poster on the talk-back message board. Unfortunately, these days numerous commitments and responsibilities take up a lot of my time, therefore life as a trek fan has to take a backseat to other, more pressing but certainly less entertaining matters, ;-) .
And, to answer your question(s), I do have a (somewhat informal) background in various types of media studies and I was also born into a family of artists and/or creators of media. So, let´s just hope that I am not simply spouting utter nonsense…, ;-) . By the way, English is not one of my native tongues, but I received part of my third level education in California.
Hermioni, I meant “Where did you come from?” in an absolutely rhetorical sense. It never occurred to me that English isn’t your first language. I simply found your writing skills as refreshing as your observations. I don’t recall reading other comments you’ve made, but I’ll look forward to reading more… in the future.