Sunday, April 06, 2008

Number one in comics

Star Trek author Peter David has written a comic mini-series for IDW Publishing that continues his excellent, quirky "New Frontier" novels. It's not his first time contributing to a "New Frontier" comic - "Double Time" (2000) was a one-shot for WildStorm (and later collected as a trade omnibus, "Other Realities" in 2001). The first new issue, "Turnabout, Part 1", is nicely done, and the mini-series promises to show us plenty of the cast additions since the timeline jumped forward three years in Pocket books' "After the Fall" (2004) and "Missing in Action" (2006).

This time, Peter David made sure to show us the face of Morgan Primus! Last time, he hid her face under a towel, and then behind a hand mirror. Of course, she's a dead ringer for Number One, of "The Cage", Star Trek's first pilot - but we knew that! In the books we've heard characters notice a resemblance to Number One (ie. Majel Barrett), Christine Chapel (ie. Majel Barrett), Lwaxana Troi (ie. Majel Barrett) and even the distinctive voice of Starfleet computers (ie. Majel Barrett).

It's also possible the immortal mother of Robin Lefler was also once the immortal Morgan LeFay, of the Excalibur/Arthurian legends (USS Excalibur being the name of the ship upon which Morgan now serves), or maybe it's simply the role which Majel Barrett would have played had "New Frontier" been a TV show!

Morgan PrimuswhiteMorgan Primus
The enigmatic Morgan Primus (left: "Double Time", 2000; right: "Turnabout", 2008)

Alas, this time there's no Ensign Janos. The sentient mugato security officer's fate was sealed in the novel instalment, "New Frontier: Stone and Anvil".

Janos
Janos in Ten-Forward
("Double Time", 2000)


Sunday's magic number: 89.7. Yay!

2 comments:

Ed Mahony said...

Did Star Trek first begin in a comic format?

Therin of Andor said...

You mean the original "Star Trek"? No, it was a TV series. The first licensed comic tie-in by Gold Key Comics did come along in 1967, while the show was still on the air, but it was written and illustrated by people who'd never seen the TV episodes! Check out more information at Mark Martinez's great website.

If you mean "Star Trek: New Frontier", this started out as a licensed Star Trek novel series by pocket Books in July 1997 (including several guest TNG characters as regulars), and its first comic adaptation by WildStorm was in 2000.