Unexpected Honor

Either I missed something, or nobody on TrekBBS had mentioned that there is an original short story, derived from the "Star Trek Online" game events and characters, in Titan's recent "Star Trek Magazine", no 40, Summer 2012.

Captain Va'kel Shon.

Author Christine Thompson continues storylines from "Star Trek Online" and features the handover of the Enterprise captaincy from Data (IDW's "Countdown" comic mini-series), now in his professor role from "All Good Things..." episode of "The Next Generation", to the Andorian, Shon, for the launch of the Enterprise-F. Also clarified is the fate of the B-4 ("Nemesis").

Thelin and The Chimes at Midnight

Thanks to Titan's "Star Trek" magazine editor, Paul Simpson, for organising this beautiful illustration of Andorian Mr Thelin (late of "Yesteryear", TAS) to accompany the magazine's extract of a story out of "Myriad Universes: Echoes and Refractions", volume 2 in the series of novella omnibuses.

"The Chimes at Midnight", by Geoff Trowbridge, tells of the life that could have been, ie. if Spock had died during his kahs-wan practice run at age seven, and Thelin went on to be Kirk's first officer on the Enterprise. the timeline continues on through the movies years, paralleling the Genesis Project years and beyond.

Below (left), here's how he appears, drawn in the Filmation style, in the Titan ST Magazine, US #12, Jul/Aug 2008, p. 56:


Pocket Books cover art (right) by the talented John Picacio

Comparisons #7: ST Magazine UK/Aust vs ST Magazine US

Continuing my series of comparisons between the UK/Australasian and US editions of "Star Trek" magazine.

The latest issue (the "Q" issue) turned up Down Under a few weeks ago and, now that there has been agreement to publish essentially-identical versions in all markets, I wasn't going to bother buying a copy of the local edition, since the US air-freighted version turns up at least a month earlier, and the only differences are the local advertisements of each market. However, I noticed last week that the UK/Aust. version of US #7 - #92 NOV/DEC 2007 (#134 UK) - forgoes a double-page spread of "Lost and Found" candid set photos from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" for a double-page spread of very cool upcoming Star Trek merchandise soon to be available via UK's "Forbidden Planet" mail order store.



The second wave of original series (TOS) MiniMates (above) are due soon, and the photograph of the (shortpacked?) Ezri Dax DS9 action figure (below) shows her walking softly and carrying a very big gun. And wearing a Dominion sighting device over one eye.



The next issue (#8) is already available in the US, again essentially standardized, and differing only in advertising content. It features an interview with TNG's Jonathan Frakes. The issue after that (#9) has a captains' focus and an interview with Kate Mulgrew, of "Star Trek: Voyager".

Comparisons #6: ST Magazine UK/Aust vs ST Magazine US

Continuing my series of comparisons between the UK/Australasian and US editions of "Star Trek" magazine.

And that latest issue turned up Down Under today! While #6 of the US version of Titan's Star Trek (JUL/AUG 2007) is the regular 66 page size, the UK/Aussie version (#91 SEP/OCT 2007; #133 UK) has a bonus lift-out section and is 98 pages!

The UK/Aust. bonus material features "Star Trek: The Extended Universe", a pictorial guide to characters in various Pocket Star Trek tie-in novels and eBooks, compiled by the novelists themselves:

* "Star Trek: New Frontier" by Peter David.

* "Star Trek: Corps of Engineers" (formerly "S.C.E.") by Keith RA DeCandido.

* "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (post-series relaunch) by Michael A Martin.

* "Star Trek: Stargazer" by Michael Jan Friedman.

* "Star Trek: Voyager" (post-series relaunch) by Keith RA DeCandido.

* "Star Trek: Klingon Empire" (formerly "I.K.S. Gorkon") by Keith RA DeCandido.

* "Star Trek: Vanguard" by David Mack.

* "Star Trek: Titan" by Michael A Martin.

* A two-page UK Forbidden Planet bookshop catalogue, "The Forbidden Ferengi".

* A four-page article, by Curt Danhauser, on the old Power and Peter Pan TOS record/comic sets.

* A competition for UK fans to win DS9 DVD boxed sets.

The next US issue is again back up to 98 pages, with the bonus pages featuring the 20th anniversary of "The Next Generation".

Editor Paul Simpson has assured US fans online that arrangements are in place for the different editions to be standardized as from the next issue, differing only in advertising content.

A dream Star Trek collectible

Today, the action figure collecting listserv to which I belong, Playtrek, was asked to describe our dream Star Trek collectible.

Now, if it is to be an action figure, then let's be practical. That is how I came up with the "Captain Kathryn Janeway as seen in 'Flashback'" ("Voyager") figure all those years ago (1999), when a mail order firm, NewForce, commissioned an exclusive Playmates figure.


"Flashback" Janeway

An exclusive collectible action figure needs to make use of some existing Star Trek figure parts, where possible, to be cost-effective, or be so highly-coveted by a group way beyond the usual core of action figure collectibles. The Official Star Trek Fan Club 4.5" Captain Mackenzie Calhoun was the star of the Peter David "New Frontier" original novels, at the time (and still?) Pocket Books' biggest-selling ST author and series. The Official Star Trek Fan Club 12" Romulan Kirk figure was a bigger risk, with its all-new head sculpt and tailored cloth clothing, but a very impressive Kirk figure. Janeway was a captain and very difficult to find at retail and, while all other TV captain had multiple figures, there'd only been one previous 5" Janeway - so a "Flashback" Janeway using TOS movie body parts (indeed the female ST II-style uniform, which had only ever been used on the hard-to-find Saavik) was sufficiently collectible.

When Art Asylum took over the license, the New Force Charles "Trip" Tucker in Starfleet uniform figure was also a no-brainer headswap for a popular character that extended the "Star Trek: Enterprise" range. However, the dismal ratings of "Star Trek: Enterprise" - and Travis Mayweather's dismal, tiny part in the series, would see the rejection of a planned Mayweather w/ console following a lack of retailer support.

The upcoming buzz is that the next Star Trek movie is a Kirk & Spock movie. Spock/Nimoy would be THE most popular character to the wider ST community. ST fans who weren't into collecting ALL ST figures might buy a single Spock figure if it's sufficiently cool.

So... assuming a current-style Art Asylum-created action figure, and using an existing head sculpt, what about barefooted Genesis-resurrected Spock in cloth burial robe, as seen in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", or add optional black trousers and boots and you have Spock in meditation robes from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", or or add grey, pleated trousers and boots and you have Spock in traveling robes from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"? Or give him a cloth white hooded robe and headband you have resurrected Spock from "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". Anyway, that'd be my pick.

Speaking of resurrections: The Official Star Trek Fan Club's biggest resurrection hurdle won't be an exclusive for members to be tempted into buying, it'll be winning back the confidence of a lot of its members after Decipher's mishandling of the magazine "The Star Trek Communicator", and the lengthy delay that's allowed Titan's "Star Trek Magazine" to fill the void.

Origins of Filmation's TAS: 1969!

Titan's latest "Star Trek" magazine (Aussie version #90 JUL/AUG 2007; UK #132) features a bonus section, including "The Secret Origins of 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'" by Andy Mangels.

Andy's article includes reprints of official comments, from Paramount to Filmation (dated October 15, 1969), about Don Christensen's 1969 "concept paper" proposing for TAS: a training ship called Excalibur; Scotty's moustache; new characters called Tun-Tun, Stormy, Ploof, Steve and Bob; and a suggestion to eliminate Chekov and his paired cadet, Chris, in favour of finding a cadet pairing for Uhura.

Excalibur (originally proposed as 6D12 Lightly) would have been able to break up into smaller pods. It sounds like Tun-Tun was already slated to be replaced by the moustachioed Scotty - and his cadet counterpart, Stormy, was to be dropped. Steve was Spock's cadet companion, and Bob was McCoy's. There was concern that Kirk's companion looked too much like "any boy in the world", and Sulu's and Uhura's companions were not decided yet (although a preliminary sketch of the female cadet paired with Uhura is in "The Art of Star Trek" by Garfield & Judith Reeves-Stevens, so she did see further development).


From "The Art of Star Trek" - Note the pre-TMP moustache on Scotty!


Three early story outlines were "The Space Cocoon", "The Impossible Rainbow" and "Klingon Attack". Some "crab/spider" business in "The Space Cocoon" was deemed unacceptable for a kids' show, but there was an effort to boost up the educational angle of each TAS instalment from even this earliest incarnation. There were aliens called trogs.

Perhaps "The Space Cocoon" inspired the story about the pod ship of "Beyond the Farthest Star" (That ship was built by an insectoid race, and there was already talk of the TAS cadet ship being able to break into smaller pod vessels?) "The Impossible Rainbow" was about "a quiet boy" and fantasy becoming reality - perhaps inspired by "Charlie X"? There was concern there was "no real point" to "The Klingon Attack" and it needed work to draw out the interrelationships and to add an educational message.

Very cool trivia from the archives! Thanks Andy Mangels, Filmation animator/historian Darrell McNeil, and Titan!

Comparisons #4 & 5: ST Magazine UK/Aust vs ST Magazine US

Continuing my series of comparisons between the UK/Australasian and US editions of "Star Trek" magazine.




The good news for American fans is that #4 (MAR/APR 2007) of the US issue has much the same content as the #89 AUS (MAY/JUN 2007)/#131 UK issue. The main variations are to do with the placement of advertisements and mail order pages; the UK/Aust. version is also (as usual) two centimetres taller and one centimetre wider. Both magazines are 98 pages, plus covers - but for the first time the US edition has an extra (brief) article ("The Alpha Guide: The Klingons" by Jake Black, a primer on surviving as a UFP tourist in Klingon space) on the pages where the UK/Aust. edition features a two-page mail order catalogue for the UK science fiction store, Forbidden Planet. Previously, it was the UK edition that carried an "Alpha Guide" - to the Borg - in a bonus "Voyager" supplement.

But... (you knew there was a "but" coming) Where the "Next issue" promotion of the US edition promises "our history of Star Trek reaches the 1980s...", the UK/Aust. edition will present "previously unseen material from 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'." 32 pages of extra material again!

And that latest issue turned up yesterday, Down Under!




#5 of the US version of Titan's Star Trek (MAY/JUN 2007) is back to the regular 66 page size, but the UK/Aussie version (#90 JUL/AUG 2007; #132 UK) continues to be 98 pages.

While both versions carry the same cover banner, "Writing for 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'", above the title, the main UK/Aussie difference is the generous bonus lift-out Celebrating 'Star Trek: The Animated Series', a supplement in the middle pages. For the US version, the banner would refer only to the David Gerrold article, which both versions have in common. (David Gerrold talks about many aspects of Trek, including his contributions to the recent DVD set).

The UK/Aust. bonus material, however, features even more material about TAS:

* "The Secret Origins of 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'" by Andy Mangels, which includes reprints of official comments about a 1969 "concept paper" proposing a training ship called Excalibur; Scotty's moustache; new characters called Tun-Tun, Stormy, Ploof, Steve and Bob; and a suggestion to eliminate Chekov and his paired cadet, Chris, in favour of finding a cadet pairing for Uhura. Three early story outlines were "The Space Cocoon", "The Impossible Rainbow" and "Klingon Attack".

* Storyboard comparisons of the first two minutes of "The Terratin Incident".

* "Five best!", an illustrated episode countdown by Jake Black: "The Pirates of Orion", "More Tribbles, More Troubles", "The Jihad", "The Counter-clock Incident" and, at number one, "Yesteryear".

* "Charting 'The Counter-clock Incident'": an interview with writer Fred Bronson (aka John Culver) by Anthony Pascale.

* "Animated Pioneers" by Chris Dows: Trek tech that was first suggested by TAS. The aquashuttle, large shuttlecraft, robot ship, land vehicle, hover robots, and seatbelts.

* "Still Drawn to It", celebrating 35 years of TAS - by Kevin Dilmore and Dayton Ward.

* Mail order catalogue for the UK science fiction store, Forbidden Planet, seemingly incorporating the functions of the UK Star Trek: The Official Fan Club's "Tower of Commerce" pages.

* "ST: TAS Trivia" by Chris Dows, one text selection and still for each episode.

* "Under the Great Bird's Wing", an interview with Gene Roddenberry's former assistant, Susan Sackett, by Michael A Martin.

* Contest advertisement for Fedcon XVI convention.

The next US issue is again 66 pages, but the forthcoming #91 AUS/#133 UK issue promises a 32 page "exclusive guide to the Star Trek novel series"!

This stuff is so cool, I'm sure Titan USA will eventually find a way of getting this material to US fans.

Comparisons #2 & 3: ST Magazine UK/Aust vs ST Magazine US

A few months ago, Star Trek fans were asking about differences between the UK "Star Trek" magazine from Titan and the version that has now been made available to the USA (filling the void left by the "Star Trek Communicator").

I ended up changing my old "Star Trek Communicator" standing order with my local Australian comic collectibles shop, Kings Comics, to Titan's US "Star Trek" magazine, but when the (renumbered) UK version turns up on Australian newsstands a whole month later, I buy it all over again - because the UK version sometimes has extra material, not included in the US edition. (I guess it's to discourage UK fans buying the imported American version when they pick up their regular pile of US comics, "Starlog" magazines and US import stuff from UK comic shops?)



#2 of the US version of Titan's Star Trek (NOV/DEC 2006) is 66 pages but the UK/Aussie version (#87 JAN/FEB 07; #129 UK) is 98 pages: same page count as both countries' first new issue. As I said last time, there are also differences in the magazines' dimensions: the UK version is 2 centimetres taller and one centimetre wider. The US magazine has a big "#2" in the Starfleet delta shield logo, while the UK mag again reads "New look". The placement, and sometimes rewording to suit local audiences, of the full-page glossy advertisements, is also changed.

* Main UK/Aussie addition: Celebrating 'Star Trek: Voyager' supplement in the middle pages, featuring:

* Voyager's Ten Best!

* Building the Future - interview and sketches with Tim Earls, designer

* "I Was a Voyager Alien!" - Patrick Jankiewicz, one of the magazine's regular contributors, tells how he once played a primitive alien cave person in "Basics", on location at Lone Pine, CA (previously used for the feature films "Gunga Din" and "Tremors". The photo credits wrongly mention the location as Vasquez Rocks. Interesting that should happen the same week as "Starlog" has an item about the trustworthiness/usefulness of captions!)

* Double-sided bonus poster: Janeway/EMH

* The Doctor is In - interview with Robert Picardo

* Top Nine Doctor Moments - VOY episodes

* The 9 Enemies - VOY episodes

* The Alpha Guide: The Borg

* Angelic Alien! - Pat Jankiewicz interview with Iona Morris, aka Umali of "Workforce" - and yet another former child extra who once appeared in "Miri" (TOS)

* Competition to win "The Q Fan Collective" DVD set

* Competition to win three Corgi ship models

* Tower of Commerce - merchandise page and order form.




#3 of the US version of Titan's Star Trek (JAN/FEB 2007) is again 66 pages and the UK/Aussie version (#88 MAR/APR 07; #130 UK), which turned up on newsstands this week, is 98 pages. However, the most noticeable difference is the cover art: Data on the US edition - with the headline "A DATE WITH DATA", while UK features Archer/T'Pol/Tucker and the banner "BACK TO THE FUTURE". Maybe Titan is scared that there is still a lot of viewer resistance to "Star Trek: Enterprise" in the USA?

* Main UK/Aussie addition: Celebrating 'Star Trek: Enterprise' supplement in the middle pages, featuring:

* Enterprise's Ten Best!

* Tucker's Luck - interview with Connor Trinneer

* Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid - 10 ENT spooky episodes

* The Ongoing Mission - Pocket editor Margaret Clark highlights the return of Tucker in novel form: the upcoming "The Good That Men Do" by Mangels & Martin

* First Frontier - interview with Rick Berman

* Double-sided bonus poster: ENT main cast/NX-01

* Out of the Blue - interview with ENT production assistant Doug Mirabello, who was a last-minute replacement for an Andorian extra in "Proving Ground"

* Action Man - interview with Vince Deadrick Jr, stuntman

* New Lifeforms and New Civilizations... - 10 ENT alien races

* Back to the Future - 10 ENT time travel episodes

* Voyage of Discovery - interview with Gabriel C Koerner, visual FX technician

* Strange New Worlds - 10 ENT planets

* Be My Guest - interview with Eric Pierpoint, aka Harris in four episodes

* Competition to win "The Klingon Fan Collective" DVD set.

Good news for American fans: the US "next issue" ad (ie. for #4 US; #131 UK; #89 AUS) promises a return of the 98 page (plus covers) size as a "Collectors Special". Mmmmm. I wonder if I'll still keep getting both versions?

ST Magazine UK/Aust vs ST Magazine US

I've seen a few questions as to whether there are significant differences between the UK "Star Trek" magazine from Titan and the version that has now been made available to the US as a niche replacement for the US Official Fan Club's still-on-hiatus(?)/defunct "Star Trek Communicator".

I've always had a standing order for the US "Star Trek Communicator" from a local Australian comic collectibles shop, mainly because I've seen a lot of friends' mail-ordered subscription copies get badly damaged in the post. I've bought every issue since the small format, from the days leading up to ST IV, through its revamp for TNG, and until its final issue.

The Titan "Star Trek" magazine turns up in Australia on newsstands in the month following the UK release. It gets renumbered on the cover, following a relaunch of that magazine a few years ago, but I have tended to only pick up those issues with interesting articles.

The first US version of Titan's Star Trek (#1 SEPT/OCT) turned up at my comic collectibles shop (Kings Comics) last month so I put it on my standing order. The Australian version (#86 OCT/NOV; #128 UK) of the UK edition has only just hit Australian newsstands - the same week that US "Star Trek" #2 turned up on my standing order. Since I'd seen various inaccurate posts from people quoting page counts etc, and speculation about whether the wording of the US articles suffered any changes (none that I have noticed), I bought one so I could compare them satisfy myself that the content was identical.



Both versions have 98 pages. The main differences are size (the UK version is 2 centimetres taller and one centimetre wider, and has improved paper quality over the previous dull finish) and the placement, and sometimes wording, of the full-page glossy advertisements. The US magazine has a big "#1" in the Starfleet delta shield logo, while the UK mag reads "New look" instead. The one-sided pull-out poster, advertising the cover of Pocket Books' new "Ships of the Line" hardcover art book, is folded and stapled colour-side out for the US, but white-side out (and slightly larger) for the UK.

* Inside cover: "Lost" magazine ad (US version has different subscription details, of course, and a sample of alternate cover art)

* Inside back cover: US Diamond/Art Asylum's Kirk in command chair action figure vs UK "24" magazine

* Back cover: US "Star Trek: The Animated Series" on DVD vs UK "Stargate: SG1 & Atlantis" magazine.

Other differences in advertising pages:

* US Vulkon.com 40th anniversary convention vs UK "Dreamwatch" magazine

* "Battlestar Galactica" magazine (different sub details)

* US "24" magazine vs UK "Star Wars" magazine

* US "Stargate SG1 & Atlantis" magazine vs UK Titan "Star Trek" reprint collections of the DC Comics ST line

* US "Dreamwatch" magazine vs UK "Buffy & Angel" magazine

* US Titan magazines & books vs UK "Charmed" magazine

* US "Angel featuring Buffy" magazine vs UK subscription information for "Star Trek" magazine

* US Titan "Star Trek" reprint collections of the DC Comics ST line vs UK US Titan magazines & books

* US two-page mail-in ST readers' survey vs UK two-page "Tower of Commerce" mail order catalogue of Star Trek products (Note: the US version uses a Klingon teddy bear from the UK catalogue as an illustration for its readers' survey)

* US subscription information for "Star Trek" magazine vs UK "Star Trek" magazine back issues

* US "Next issue (ie. #2): 24 Oct" vs UK "Next issue: 12 Oct". (Note: the UK ad boasts that the next UK version of the mag will contain "Free 'Voyager' supplement", including interviews with Robert Duncan McNeill and Rick Berman, plus Tim Earls' 'Voyager' designs.) I only have the US #2 edition so far, and it has only 66 pages. While there is some commentary from Berman on the casting of Janeway within the main text, it does appear that the "free" UK supplements are NOT going to be a regular part of the US magazine. This may be Titan UK's way of ensure that its regular UK and European readers aren't tempted to order in the US version of the magazine from distributors of American product when they place their comic orders.

I'll be interested to see how many extra pages will be in the Aussie version of the UK edition - and which version I decide to make my regular purchase.

Captain's Log: Supplemental
Cool! Paul Simpson, incoming editor on the Titan "Star Trek" magazines, addressed the above blog entry over on Psi Phi