TrekInk: Review of Star Trek #12, November solicits, and comics news roundup

Scotty’s unauthorized transwarp beaming research comes back to haunt him with a furry vengeance in Star Trek #12. Meanwhile, IDW Publishing solicits more Star Trek comics for November 2012 and TrekMovie rounds up recent comics news. Some spoilers after the break.

Star Trek #12
written by Mike Johnson, art by Claudia Balboni, colors by Arianna Florean, lettering by Neil Uyetake, inspired by the original teleplay of The Trouble With Tribbles by David Gerrold, creative consultant Roberto Orci, edited by Scott Dunbier

Story

The Truth About Tribbles, Part 2: While the little furry beasts multiply wildly on Iota Germinorum IV and Earth, the landing party must rely on Uhura’s Klingon language skills to disable the explosive device left by a Bird-of-Prey. Back on the ship, with news of an uncontrolled fuzzy infestation back home, Scotty is in serious trouble. Science and medical personnel analyze the little furballs, hoping to find a way to manage their proliferation. A discussion with Scott gives Spock the clue to a chilling solution, which Scott is volunteered to test. Success means some absolution for Scott, but he has one more encounter–a furry beast with four more legs than your average tribble.

Fuzzy bastards!

Fuzzy bastards!

Review

Mike Johnson takes the ongoing Star Trek comic where no tribble has gone before. Tense scenes defusing a bomb lead into serious questions about a lifeform that might turn into a life-threatening hazard. Of course, the seriousness is broken up with Scotty’s irreverant dialogue. I still find it a little difficult to reconcile the carelessness of alt-Scotty in comparison with Scotty Prime, but Johnson’s re-imagining of the classic television episode is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. My only quibble about this tale of the tribble is the four-legged coda. The ending begs a lot of questions. I wonder if they’ll be answered in future issues? I guess we’ll see.

The artwork by Claudia Balboni is outstanding, as is the coloring by Arianna Florean. Their work has the look and feel of the 2009 film which I also found very entertaining. Their beagle work is quite good too. I gave the covers for this monthly series a hard time last month. Don’t get me wrong. I like Tim Bradstreet’s stylized covers with their photo-realistic art. It’s probably been a few months since I last said this–variant covers are annoying as hell. Since IDW is going to the trouble of publishing a fistful of variants, I wish they would inject a little more variety into their efforts. This month’s covers follow the same pattern as previous issues, Tim Bradstreet’s art is featured on the regular cover and a retailer incentive sketch cover. The other retailer incentive cover has a photo of alt-Spock. I would have selected a photo of Scott, but what do I know? Is Simon Pegg less telegenic than Zachary Quinto?

Star Trek #12 cover art by Tim Bradstreet

Cover: Art by Tim Bradstreet

Star Trek #12 RI A cover art by Tim Bradstreet Star Trek #12 RI B photo cover

Cover RI A: Art by Tim Bradstreet, Cover RI B: Photo cover

Regardless of whether or not you like the covers, this alternate universe tale was entertaining and you can get a copy of Star Trek #12 at your local comic shop this Wednesday. IDW Star Trek comics can also be purchased online at TFAW:

November Star Trek comics solicits from IDW

Star Trek, Vol. 3, cover art by Tim Bradstreet

Star Trek, Vol. 3
Mike Johnson (w) • Stephen Molnar & Claudia Balboni (a) • Tim Bradstreet (c)
The countdown to the next STAR TREK movie continues here. In The Return of the Archons, Kirk, Spock, and the crew search for a lost Starfleet ship that may hold clues to the future of the entire Federation and in The Truth About Tribbles, the crew of the Enterprise encounters the classic alien species in an ALL-NEW story inspired by the fan-favorite episode.
TPB • FC • $17.99 • 104 pages • ISBN 978-1-61377-515-8

Bullet points:

  • Star Trek writer/producer Roberto Orci oversees this latest chapter in the ongoing adventures of the starship Enterprise!
  • Featuring an afterword by Tribbles writer David Gerrold!

Offered Again!

  • Star Trek, Vol. 1 • FC • $17.99 • ISBN: 978-1-61377-150-1
  • Star Trek, Vol. 2 • FC • $17.99 • ISBN: 978-1-61377-286-7

Star Trek #15, cover art by Tim Bradstreet

Star Trek #15
Mike Johnson (w) • Stephen Molnar (a) • Tim Bradstreet (c)
The countdown to next year’s STAR TREK sequel continues here, in an all-new re-imagining of the classic Mirror Universe story! Witness the transformation of the new Enterprise crew in part one of this blockbuster story, overseen by STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Variant Covers:

  • Variant Tim Bradstreet sketch cover!
  • Variant Photo Cover!

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive #3 (of 4), cover art by Joe Corroney

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive #3 (of 4)
Brannon Braga, Terry Matalas & Travis Fickett (w) • Joe Corroney, photo (a & c)
The Borg story to end all Borg stories warps towards it thrilling conclusion!
In the far-flung future the Borg Queen faces off against the Borg King… an ancient Locutus! The stakes have never been so high, as the fate of the Enterprise–and the entire galaxy–hang in the balance!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Variant Covers:

  • Variant David Messina Famous Borgs in History cover!

Bullet points:

  • Co-written by Hugo winner and legendary ST: TNG scribe, Brannon Braga!

Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 #7 (of 8), cover art by J.K. Woodward

Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 #7 (of 8)
Scott & David Tipton (w) • J.K. Woodward & Gordon Purcell (a) • Woodward (c)
The Doctor and his companions must travel into the past and navigate through one of the Federation’s most crushing defeats in order to prevent an even worse fate in the present!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Cover art by Jenny Frison

Variant Covers:

  • Jenny Frison variant cover!

Bullet Points:

  • Featuring fan-favorite villains the Borg and the Cybermen!
  • Ask your retailer about the Jenny Frison (I, Vampire) incentive cover!

Recently released

Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012
Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012
Nathan Archer, Christopher Golden, and Tom Sniegoski (w) • Dave Hoover and Jeff Moy (a) • Travis Charest (c)

  • Embrace the Wolf is a Next Generation tale originally published by Wildstorm. Data returns as Sherlock Holmes in a thriller featuring a terrified planet and a crazed killer in 19th century London. The art by Dave Hoover is outstanding.
  • False Colors is a Voyager tale from Wildstorm. Seven of Nine must risk her life to save the ship from pirates with stolen Borg weaponry. Jeffrey Moy contributes some pinup art of Seven.

FC • 100 pages • $7.99

The latest issue of Star Trek: The Official Magazine celebrates the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation and features an article on the TNG/Who comics from IDW Publishing. This monthly magazine routinely features reviews of Star Trek comics, although they are usually a couple of months behind actual release dates.

Star Trek: The Official Magazine #41 Star Trek: The Official Magazine #41, alternate cover

Star Trek: The Official Magazine #41, regular and alternate covers

More Star Trek comics news

Another cover image for Star Trek: The Newspaper Strips, Vol. 1 was released recently, featuring the artwork of Thomas Warkenton. The cover provided with the October solicits may have been a placeholder. This cover is much more appealing.

Star Trek: The Newspaper Strips, Vol. 1, cover art by Thomas Warkenton

Cover: Art by Thomas Warkenton

In case you missed it, the summer issue of Star Trek: The Official Magazine contains an article on Star Trek comics. In Four Colour Flashback: A Universal History of Star Trek Comics, Andy Mangels concisely presents 45 years of comics history with cover images and original art. It’s worth tracking down a copy if you don’t already own issue #40.

Star Trek: The Official Magazine #40 Star Trek: The Official Magazine #40, alternate cover

Star Trek: The Official Magazine #40, regular and alternate covers

Time for one last thing

Finally, I had nothing better to do the other day, so here’s a scintillating video of a 1979 McDonald’s Happy Meal Star Trek Video Communicator in action, featuring comic strip #3 with the title Time and Time and Time Again.

Mark Martinez is an obsessive-compulsive Star Trek comics reader and collector. You can visit his website, the Star Trek Comics Checklist for more than you ever needed to know about Star Trek comics.

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First! I love the comics it opens up so maney new avenues

Thank you Mark for a great article.

Kudos Mark .
The article was great fun .

First of all, it’s nice to have some new news on the site.

I’m excited to see new stories with the new crew, instead of old stories with the new crew. How awesome does Spock2 look with the beard? It’s actually a bit creepy just how much Quinto looks like Nimoy from “Mirror, Mirror.”

Surprised to see they’re already doing the mirror universe, can’t wait to read it. Art’s improved a lot in the last five issue or so, although those Bradstreet covers are a joke…

Maybe I’m late to the party here, but I just finished the 2nd part of the latest comic, dealing with the tribbles. As they said there were clues to the next film in these, there is a brief appearance of a blond Janice Rand. Alice Eve? Or has this been debunked elsewhere. I’m admittedly out of touch.

Looking forward to the new issues of the IDW 2009 timeline episodes. Kind of interesting to see a followup to Scotty’s pet tribble. I wonder why it didn’t seem to reproduce on Delta Vega. Did Scotty not feed the poor thing? First he kills Archer’s dog, now this…

If I have any major nits about the new IDW series, it’s that new Scotty is too ‘hip’ and irreverent (I agree with the reviewer on that point). Some of his dialogue borders on Joss Whedon-speak, which fits fine for “Avengers” “Firefly” and “Buffy” but seems a teensy bit out of place on Star Trek…

It’s a minor nit, to be sure, and it could probably be explained away by the newer Scotty having a bit more of a rebellious streak (due to his Delta Vega exile) than his prime counterpart (fits better with his Glasgow accent as opposed to Doohan’s less edgy Aberdeen one; maybe post-Kelvin, new Scotty’s family relocated to Glasgow?).

At any rate, I’ll be reading the new issues as soon as they appear in a collection; I hate buying one issue at a time. I prefer the 4 issue collections (a better value, IMO).

So how did Kirk’s dad dying make Scotty a hipster?

Thank god, we got ourselves a post! Thanks Mark!

I agree with the review, i do find it difficult to accept this ‘careless’ Mr Scott… Doohan’s Scott was perhaps the most committed, dependable and responsible member of the crew… all the characteristics i love about Scotty. I hope this isn’t a warning about the Scotty to come.

# 8

Not really sure.
But the Kelvin’s destruction was obviously a critical event (sort of a Starfleet 9/11); not only did it splinter off an all-new timeline, but it started an exponential growth of Federation technology far in advance of when it should’ve happened in the prime timeline. I imagine the Kelvin’s destruction by a far superior Romulan vessel really scared all the Starfleet R&D guys into action.

So who’s to say how the secondary characters’ lives weren’t impacted by this new ‘space race’ as well? That technological explosion would’ve definitely made some far reaching changes throughout the Federation.

And maybe Scotty’s dad was chief engineer of the Kelvin? Maybe the new ‘rebel’ Scotty also grew up without a father figure. Who knows?

#11

Everyone’s dad was on that friggin’ ship. It was on its way to a bowling tournament in the Turkey Nebula.

They’ve claimed Rand isn’t in the next movie. I would have thought the research scene was a prime opportunity to use Chapel – a research biologist but they didn’t, so while Dehner is still my top choice, it might be an indication that Eve is Chapel. I think think Rand might be more prominent here because they’re gearing up to one of the Rand heavy episodes from season one – possibly Enemy Within!

I liked this story overall. It was one of the first ones that didn’t feel rushed and it made good use of the supporting cast.

#7 It’s not a ‘minor nit’. It’s a great big major one, and if they’re going to continue down this “Scotty’s an idiot” line for the next movie it’s going to ruin it for me bigtime.
Prime Scotty would have had absolutely zero patience with nuScotty (or his stupid sidekick) and would likely have put the pair of them through a wall. Personally, I wish someone would.

@14 He isn’t an Idiot he showed it in the movie as well as in the comics but unlike the Scotty of the Prime Universe, this Scotty was Punished for his Brilliance by being put on Delta Vega for ticking of One Admiral Archer, He is right he was stuck on a Ice Planet where his Tribble didn’t become an Environmental Disaster, and by the way Scotty was stuck on that planet for sometime before Spock Prime and Kirk found him, the Job he was given was meant to be a Dead end job, one without him having the use of his Genus because of a Mistake he made.

I don’t think he will be an Portrayed as an Idot at all in the next film but this Scotty brilliance is also framed by the fact that he has a great mind but hasn’t had much of a chance to use it on a backwater post after doing something that made a Superior Officer mad.

He has to re-learn how to use that great mind after being put in an Isolated post with Outadated at best Tech.

8. 750 Mang

Just take the attitude that it’s a different universe from the outset, the same way Fringe has two universes that are extremely similar, but with differing technology and variations in the personalities. I take the view that, with inevitable variations for a different universe, events were proceeding on similar lines to the original universe, but the Narada’s incursions will have changed the timeline subsequently. But the new universe was never a clone of the original.

The destruction of the Kelvin might well have raised eyebrows in the new universe, but even allowing for a butterfly effect from it, there’s little chance on a multi-planetary scale that things would be **that** different until the destruction of Vulcan and a large portion of the Starfleet and its latest generation of trainees.

The Mirror Universe in New Trek – I’m looking forward to it. However, there must’ve been a timeline change in the M.U. too, otherwise they would still be excatly like we’ve seen them in “Mirror, Mirror”.

Okay, I’ll say it AGAIN with less emphatic language… Welcone back. Where have you been? Please don’t delete this post.

Whoops. My bad. Damn browser isn’t refreshing. Apologies for the bad language earlier.

I know this isn’t a Pascale post, but as expected, no reason given for the absence. Great way to treat the readers.

@17 It’s simply a different mirror universe. The original mirror universe was already forked once by the novels, with different TNG era mirrors. By TNG _Parallels_ there’s no reason we couldn’t see multiple mirror universes that are en gros similar, but then diverge. Since Orci is using the MWI of QM in everything Trek… it all fits.
.
@13 I agree Dehner makes most sense, because Orci purposely avoided including her in the comic WNMHGB redux. However, I still think she looks so Besch-like, that she’d have made a great Carol. And there are those who want Leila Kalomi….

I loved it! The nu comics keep getting better and better and the new timeline diverge more and more from the old one! I can’t wait to see the new take of the Mirror universe.

#20 “I know this isn’t a Pascale post, but as expected, no reason given for the absence. Great way to treat the readers.”

Boo hoo, cry me a river.

Anthony, should you be reading this, you’re “treatment” of the readers is just fine. We come and check the news….if there is a story, we read it and go about our day. If there is no story, we move on to other business. Bob drops in once and awhile, and that’s fun. With the exception of the usual vocal ingrates, the majority, that visit this site, appreciate your efforts. Please disregard the absurd “demands” of the squeeky wheels and just do what you need to do. Most of us really aren’t that obsessed with how you choose to run your site and will continue to enjoy it.

Just glad to see the site active again.
I trek to Downtown Comics in Indy twice a month and pick up all the Star Trek and Superman titles, along with anything Neal Adams produces.
I could buy online, but I enjoy chatting with the owner and I am always in favor of supporting small local businesses.
Support your local comic shop today!!!!

# 15.

But what I’m still curious about (and hopefully what the comic will answer) is why didn’t the tribble reproduce on Delta Vega? They spontaneously reproduce when they eat, so didn’t Scotty feed the poor thing? Or (and most likely) the cold on Delta Vega was a factor in inhibiting tribble reproduction.

And I personally never thought new Scotty was an idiot. Quite the contrary; he (like Kirk) seems to be another frustrated genius.

# 12 Vultan

LOL!

Maybe Chekov’s ‘prime’ mother was aboard too; his dad remarried and so now in the new timeline, a woman with blond curly hair and blue eyes gave birth to him….

;-D

#24

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Little late on this story. Trekweb had this story 5 days ago. This is what happens when Trekweb takes long breaks, news articles Trekmovie posts become old news.

http://trekweb.com/articles/2012/08/20/Star-Trek-Comics-for-November-2012-Mirror-Universe-of-the-JJ-Abrams-Timeline-Brannon-Bragas-Hive-3-and-More.shtml

Great to have a new article, they are doing a fine job with the Trek ongoing series. Just the right balance between the familiar and new twists that will hopefully pay off for the hard core fans in the new film.

#24

Hmmm. So when were you appointed apologist for everyone else?

I agree completely that Anthony has the right to update or not update his site as he sees fit. When he does update it, it’s great.

However, as many people (note that I don’t use the presumptuous “most of us”) have pointed out, the problem is that he doesn’t take the time to notify his customers when he is going on conten hiatus.

When people keeping checking back and find no updates, they have a perfect right to be frustrated.

So now that the site has resumed content somewhat, it would be nice if management would acknowledge the gap. Otherwise, it appears they do not read or care about customer feedback.

Actually, I’m less offended by Anthony’s content gap that your childish and arrogant insults to those who did voice an opinion about the gap.

Regards.

Looking forward to Star Trek Vol. 3, but I hope that by collecting the compilation issues I’m not setting myself up to be behind the times when Star Trek 2013 comes out!

#30…or should I address you as ingrate #1? Being one, of maybe 4 (which some how equates to “many” in your bizaaro world.) that continuously piss and moan about what you believe you are entitled to. While all the rest that visit this site…presumably more than 4, seem to understand the situation and don’t give it two thoughts or obsess over it. The simple fact that you, and a handful of complainers, can even percieve Anthony’s failure to explain his absence as a “problem” speaks volumes.

And yeah, you can label my commentary on your ridiculous expectations as “childish” or “arrogant” anything you want really. If it somehow validates, in your own mind, the absurdity of your position, more power to ya!

How about we just comment on the articles and leave the sniping at the door?

NuScotty is hard to take. As much as I love Pegg, he was the wrong choice for the role. You don’t need a comic relief character, especially if you’re going to bastardize (sorry, PineKirk) the only character who had as much claim to the Enterprise as Kirk himself. And he certainly doesn’t need a walking pinecone sidekick.

As for the mirror universe… Wouldn’t it be logical that a mirror Narada went back in time, possibly as the hero, after the Empire CAUSED the destruction of Romulus? I’m going to assume here that the DS9 mirror universe is going to be rightfully ignored, of course. So this mirror universe wouldn’t be the mirror universe of TOS, but the mirror universe of the alternate universe. Perhaps McCoy snuck Kirk aboard, and he killed Pike to take command. There’s a ton of possibilities here and they are very thought provoking. I’m looking forward to that issue moreso than any since the WNMHGB remake.

#32

If you were to check your facts you will find that hardly post complaints about the site here. My response to you was just stating that folks have the right to complain about lack of content or explanations. As well as my assertion that you should not profess to speak for the majority.

However, you fell back on another immature rant. So nothing more for me to add here. However, someone more eloquent like MJ may have something to add.

Regards.

Why is there a new mirror universe in the first place? Kelvin exploded, new universe/timeline created, got it…so where comes the new mirror universe from, where everything looks like Abramstrek?

#36.

Maybe the J.J-Defiant disappears into an interphasic rift and winds up in the hands of the Tholians in the alt-Mirror Universe? And the alt-Terran Empire steals it from them?

Sort of like the “The Tholian Web”/”In A Mirror, Darkly” thread.

Interesting how the comics are pointing toward a Starfleet Intelligence storyline. Little possible hint in this issue about ‘keeping an eye on your crew’ (infiltration?)…Mr. Cumberbatch’s Starfleet shirt, anyone?

22. Daoud: Yes, that’s true. However, the looks of the new ST timeline are the direct result of the Narada’s incursion. To have one (of the many) Mirror Universe(s) emulate the same style would require a similar Narada-Kelvin event. Do I make sense?

However, this is just a nitpick: I’d love to see the new Enterprise with fierce yellow Imperial markings and what the uniforms look like.

8. Butterfly effect

Since the movie came out I have wondered if the Abrams-Timeline comes as full package with it’s own Mirror Universe, or if the Mirror Universe is a completely separate entity, that just happened to be relatively easily accessible from the Prime Timeline… Now we know I guess.
The point of divergence between the two Mirror Universes is presumably when the USS Defiant appears there in the 22nd century. In this regard, it will be interesting to know how “The Tholian Web” will pan out in the Abrams-verse…

@ 22

The “mirror universe” is not a parallel universe in the sense that Abrams Trek now exists as a splintered timeline off the original. This universe was always portrayed as being able to travel back and forth, like DS9 often did, with all things remaining the same, not splintering into some new reality. This has little to do with MWI as I understand it, and more to do with the Fringe depiction of the multiverse.

I’m curious to see how Orci will spin this adaptation of current theoretical physics as he’s applied it to Trek, particularly since he considers these comics to be canon.

Every time I see a reference to the “Trek TNG/Dr. Who” crossover works I consciously shake off this nightmarish thought that Cumberbatch is Dr. Who and the upcoming JJTrek2 will be an epic franchise-killing disaster, worse even than ShatnerTrek V….Then I realize, no, no way, they’d never do that. And I relax. A little.

44. I’d still take TFF over any TNG movie. Never got why people hate it so much, it was the closest to the series of any of the movies IMO. To each his own, though.

44. RAO

For me, TFF is a potentially good movie with interesting ideas, but it suffers badly in the execution. But, it at least felt like a movie; INS was a glorified one-hour episode of TNG.

Oh, yeah, that’s interesting that the JJ-verse has it’s own Mirror-verse. But a big moment in the Mirror-verse is when Cochrane shoots down the Vulcan at first contact as show on Enterprise. Now in one of the novels, it postulated that Cochrane blowing away the Vulcan only happened because of the Borg invasion & distrustful of aliens. But is that a point of divergence or is the mirror-universe just bad to the bone even before that? And how does that affect the JJ-verse-Mirror-verse? Because something would have to update the JJ-verse-Mirror-verse to be more like the JJ-verse or else the JJ-verse would, theoretically, just end up running into the TOS-Mirror-verse!

What I wanna know is how damn genocidal Mirror-verse Nero was! Wait, what were the Romulans up to in the Mirror-verse at the time of the DS9 episodes.

Oh dear, I’ve just gone crosseyed.

#40 – Really? #IDon’tBuyIt

Kirk’s dad dying also made Spock and Uhura a couple? I don’t buy it. The butterfly effect reasoning makes the Star Trek universe very small. Like toddler Darth Vader building C-3PO. I also don’t buy into the Kelvin incident being a 9-11 type catastrophe. As Trek fans, we all know how many ships have been obliterated throughout the franchise and it didn’t cause Trek technology to leap ahead a century. The truth is, it’s happening this way because that’s how the brain trust wanted it. Just like Delta Vega. Kirk’s dad dying didn’t make Delta Vega a moon of Vulcan. Pfft… “Either they’re going down or we are…” Please, someone pay me to write contemporary country music inspired dialogue.

7. Sebastian S. – August 24, 2012

“I wonder why it didn’t seem to reproduce on Delta Vega”

Spock addressed the question. Recall that Scotty wore gloves, jacket, hat inside the outpost on Delta Vega b/c it was bloody cold, even indoors. Supposedly, cold temps prevent Tribble reproduction.

I’d planned to skip last two Ongoings, but caved, so not to miss possible movie plot hints–speculation’s half the fun. I enjoyed Mike’s Tribble tale, despite silly stuff, like 4 crew members approaching a bomb they just happen upon. I know it’s a comic, but would it be so challenging to raise the bar a bit?

I also wish Scotty would evolve, but Simon was pegged (:) for his comedic talent. I think he’ll remain the court jester.

Alice Eve’s character: I’ve said before; I think it’d be a fitting tribute to Rodenberry-Barrett to remake Chapel as she might have been in the first place, as a biologist, perhaps. We need more accomplished, relevant female personalities among the crew. They may want to keep Chapel out of comics so not to bring attention to her character, yet. I imagine the court wanting to debut any newly added crew.

Can’t wait for Mirror Universe revisited!

P.S. Never known Lostrod to be a whiner: but I agree with those, too, who find some posters’ venting to be excessive.

Keep wondering why the Mirror Universe has not been used in a Trek feature. Seems to me would be fascinating way to explore the inherent dark side in humanity and the great Emperor Tiberius and Spock an archenemy of Kirk.