Party of Three: Strange New Worlds Straight to Series

While not confirmed by CBS All Access until today, social media has been alight with rumours around the much-demanded Captain Pike series for many weeks.

Sixty-six years in the making, the crew from The Cage are finally getting to tell their story on the small screen. We've had the comics, the novels, but now - and due to the call from fandom - Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is official and will bring Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romjin as Number One and Ethan Peck as Lieutenant Spock back to the franchise.

Already this show is being touted as a more episodic series with each story a closed narrative giving us a Trek we haven't really experienced since a sprinkling of tales in Enterprise but possibly not solidly since Voyager.

The calls for Yeoman Colt, Doctor Boyce and Jose Tyler are already coming from fans, soon after the rumours that Jake Cannavale from The Mandalorian could show up as a young Kirk.

I mean this is all speculation at the moment since we've only just had the news that it IS going ahead. However the first episode has already been written for a series that has been fully green-lit. This will mean that for the first time ever there will be four live action Star Trek's in some form of production at the same time - Discovery, Picard, Section 31 and Pike's much rumoured/anticipated/demanded show.

The short video that helped announce the news saw Mount, Romjin and Peck all revealing the show's title and just how much influence the creation of the series had due to fans.

Cleverly there's also another way to look at this. Both Discovery and Picard were shows created by the studio because they felt that would satisfy fans but both have, in some degree with a portion of the fanbase, failed to do so. With Strange New Worlds, there's the fallback - a a point - that if it fails then some of the blame could fall on the baying voices of Trekkies across the world. After all, this is a show they wanted after the success of Mount's Captain Pike in Discovery.

It could well be a very shrewd, calculated risk to see if the studio is better going for fan input into what should be happening or go with their own direction. That said, I would expect Strange New Worlds to have the highest premiere audience of any of the new shows straight away and, if it does remain solidly episodic, avoids arcs and goes back to the basics of the 1960's Star Trek ethos then how can it possibly fail? This has the potential to be THE most Star Trek since, well, Star Trek in essence going back to where it quite literally all began. Imagine though if Strange New Worlds is a huge, galactic success - might that signal a change in the focus and direction of the franchise? Is the creation of this series potentially a make or break to win over those fans not convinced by bringing back a much-loved character in Picard?

If fans of classic Star Trek felt that was wrong then might the shift to episodic and self-contained stories be the next gamble - is this actually what those fans of the "Golden Age" and before want to see? I would think it'll depend a lot on the quality of the writing, the strength of the cast and maybe avoiding dropping an occasional "f-bomb" to appease those who feel the last two series have widdled all over the very concept of Star Trek and the Roddenberry vision. 

But what would I want to see in a new show? What can Strange New Worlds bring to a franchise which will have a series set in The Original Series era, one in the distant future and one in The Next Generation timeframe?

A return of Klingons for one would be amazing, plus let's explore the lingering effects of the mission that saw the Enterprise crew lose many of its number prior to The Cage. What about seeing how those visions from Discovery of his own future will affect Pike? How about a fully realised CG crewmember for the first time (I'm not saying they could retcon in Arex but...). Could we see Garth of Izar before he went a bit mad? It does need to deliver on the series title in every sense or a lot of people will be feeling very, very shortchanged from the start.

There does need to be more exploration of Pike, certainly lots of deep diving into the character of Number One - will she be Una??? Plus it does allow for us to see Spock in a new light, one where he's an officer but not a senior rank and still learning the ropes to an extent. I wouldn't be too surprised if there's an occasional guest from James Frain's Sarek.

Yet telling new, exciting, self-contained Star Trek stories that fit with the pillars on which it was founded have to be the priority. The series has to rekindle that flame from the 1960's show and clearly demonstrate a strong cast chemistry and real moral ground around real issues to truly be a successor to The Cage - and perhaps it could be a little too cerebral along the way.

Who would you want to see cast in Strange New Worlds and as whom? What would be your mission objectives for this new voyage?

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What’s the Bonus? USS Reliant Concept and Pike’s USS Enterprise

Another two bonus editions with no more confirmed as The Official Starships Collection nears its end. 

What a pairing we have to look over as well with two classic designs given that out-of-the-main-collection spin which allows anything to go.  

Stepping up to the plate first we have something that kind of got off the drawing board but not quite as we have it presented here. Effectively a Miranda Class variant, this was the original proposal for the Reliant but the orientation of a signature on a design document flipped her over and the rest is cinematic and Star Trek history. 

The main collection has stuffed us full of the numerous configurations of this design and now Eaglemoss have dropped in the original plan. I was cautious to say the least at having another one of these on the shelf however I have repented, seen the light and have to say this is a stunning starship model. Beautifully finished with a striking aztec paint job, the USS Reliant is covered in detail and provides the first solid look at another of those what could have been elements of the franchise. The overall build is a spin off the issue 11 original with the topside of the saucer and add-on Engineering section metal with a slot in underside, warp engines and torpedo pods added in as the plastic elements. 

Lets start at the front and work back as we have a better look at this concept. The topside of the saucer carries the distinct paint pattern plus the registry and do take a good note of the precision achieved with the red bordering on the letters and numbers - it's spot on for once! The red striping around the saucer runs parallel to the registry and over the phaser ports we have two of the Starfleet deltas - all of which is in keeping with the screen-approved version we all know.

Massive screwup though along the side with the ship having something of an identity crisis in the form of the USS Antares name emblazoned around the side - heard a few of those "typical Eaglemoss" chuckles to this one but it's dead small so don't be too put off.

The red edging stripes are excellently placed with the Reliant even down to the ones around the perimeter of the engineering works to the rear. They are precisely aligned to the edge of the recesses; brilliant.

Panel lines are also well presented with a good paint finish still allowing them to be visible and not swallowed by the greys. It helps to show off the raised works around the warp core and the red impulse engines just over the rear lip.

One other niggle with this one - those very well constructed warp engines just aren't level. The port one on mine is definitely tail down but again the detail on the drive units is sublime with distinct panel lines ship registry and customary translucent warp grilles along their centres. As a model that never actually happened it's come out rather well. 

Having those warp nacelles over rather than under means you do get to see all those mechanical gubbins at the back without a rollbar hanging over them and it means that we have two torpedo launchers where you would expect the underslung engines to appear.

The underside, as with the top is a work of model art with the ship name and registry centrally placed and the yellow phaser bank emplacements also clearly marked. The detail is a carbon copy of the "official" USS Reliant so you would expect it to be up to scratch since that was the model where Eaglemoss finally seemed to be hitting winning runs every time following a series of early blunders on paint jobs, odd scales and badly copied decals.

So yes, we can talk about the well placed and perfectly "lit" windows on the bottom of the saucer, the fact that the hull fits together like a hand in a glove with the RCS thrusters and those red/green running lights also perfectly painted in - but we need to give a good mention to those funny little pods.

Now these two are correctly labelled up as the Reliant and not the Antares which is a good start. You can clearly make out the grille and panel lining on these two small additions even down to a glimmer of twin launch tubes on the black front surface. I love that Eaglemoss have even gone to this length to detail a barely visible item - but more on that kind of thing when we come to Pike's USS Enterprise in just a moment. 

As this is a concept you can't really compare like for like even though a good solid 90% of what it was is on screen in The Wrath of Khan. Even if you gave it just a tiny margin for error over those stupid Antares decals it can be forgiven because this is yet another great bonus edition bringing never before seen items out for the fanbase to enjoy.

This is what makes the collection exciting as I've said before and fingers crossed that we can get the Romulan Warbird concept version very soon! 

In the magazine this time the first four pages are dominated with CG plan views and beauty shots of the concept starship before another quartet of pages handed over to the design process with suitable emphasis laid onto the original engines-up Reliant as well as how it turned out the other way.

Last up there's coverage of Nicholas Meyer's process of turning the script around in a matter of 12 days in an uncredited rewrite which brought together a series of great ideas from other screenplays to be moulded into the Star Trek classic we have today - plus there are a few notes in there on things that didn't make it to the final cut...

If I was silly enough to have a swear jar, I would have triple-filled it after analysing the USS Enterprise; The Cage special edition (bonus edition actually...). 

On first hearing of this one I was overjoyed that we would be able to add this one to the collection and stand her alongside Kirk’s version, the ISS Enterprise and if you got one, the SS Yorktown. All of these had subtle differences (Yorktown was just a set of decals to be fair) but this promised a lot of changes to reflect how the original model came off the production line for the first, cerebral, pilot episode. As you would expect from the model, on first impression it’s identical to the issue 50 NCC-1701 but you would be wrong. 

This one has the translucent bussard collectors last seen on the ISS Enterprise, the engine cap grilles also from that same version and a slightly oversized deflector dish at the front of the secondary hull... BUT THAT’S IT.

As for the build there is one minor structural change on the underside of the saucer where the dorsal pylon connects (as shown on the ventral view) but honestly, that's it. There's a lot that's incorrect here and Eaglemoss should be kicking themselves that they are charging £19.99 for a ship they have released three times previously and couldn't be that bothered to "de-age" back to its roots.

Even the magazine covers the differences - the lack of detail on the inside edge of the warp nacelles, the smoother finish to the shuttlebay doors, the wooden, solid red-painted bussard collectors, the lack of grilles on the warp engine pylons - all details that are identical to the issue 50 USS Enterprise and most hideous of all, the bridge module is the same height when it should be taller here!

You can feel the rage burning ever more fierce with each look because all of these could have been avoided. This is effectively the ISS Enterprise with a new set of stickers and a big deflector dish and that my friends, does not cut the mustard in any sense. The biggest raising of a mid-digit to collectors is the magazine because it highlights how crap the model is - my god it even has exactly the same windows lit as the issue 50 version so I can imagine this was fairly cheap to turn out.

You can't fault the build and for once I'm not going over it because there is so much else here that disappoints and takes away from what could have been a real winner with some serious visual differences which would have excited fans and made this a worthwhile addition to the set.

But it doesn't, it isn't, it won't ever be and this is one despondent fan who feels that it's money that could have gone elsewhere. Christ am I angry.

So to the magazine and once you've rolled past a few pages of reminding you how unworthy the model actually is, it does manage to whip up some decent interest with coverage of what work went into the creation of the Enterprise interiors and some of the changes that occurred between the pilots and the series. Oh - another bugger up is that the contents page here shows the contents for the USS Voyager Concept model - thanks for the proofreading.

This could have been amazing and even the cover of the magazine shows what should have been in the box but goddamn you Eaglemoss, this isn't what we signed up for. It's a cheap shot that with a few amendments could have been easily saved. 

The Reliant is an easy head-and-shoulders winner here and it's incredible that we can have two slightly altered versions of two well known and well loved ships that can end up bringing about two so vehemently opposed views on their execution. While one has truly hit the mark and is fully in keeping with the style of the movies and most significantly the model it would become, the other just, well, isn't in any way shape or form. Good magazine though...but that's not the main reason we come to this collection is it?

So that's all we have for bonus editions at the moment - there are no announcements for more and that might mean this is the last one off the presses. I do hope not however as ending the run with a fairly disappointing halfway attempt is a souring of the good work that Eaglemoss have put into the bulk of the collection over the last seven years.

Read all our other reviews of The Official Starships Collection from issue ONE here.

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They Went There: If Memory Serves S02 E08

If you've only just managed to clean yourself up after last week's pant-wettingly incredible twist ending then you'd better keep a towel handy.

Continuing their escape from Section 31, Burnham and Spock arrive at the prohibited world of Talos IV after one of the most imaginatively clipped together "Previously On's" ever. For those doubting that Discovery exists in the same universe as The Original Series et al then this will really widdle all over your chips in 30 seconds. 

Hoping to cure Spock of his mental frailty, Michael meets a familiar face to Star Trek audiences in the form of Vina (Melissa George) who wears seriously inappropriate footwear but puts her and the ailing Vulcan in contact with the Talosians. Burnham is desperate to get the heart of the issue and has the native people assist in cracking the problem in return for her allowing them access to view the flashpoint that led to her and Spock falling out.

The journey into Spock's mind throws out the fact that he is not a murderer and means that Burnham and her brother have to relive one of, if not the, most paintful moment of her life.

On Discovery Pike is having to handle the circling Section 31 ship as well as their observer Tyler while trying to assist the fleeing shuttle containing Burnham and Spock. This and the A plot are interwoven tightly with Vina even appearing to Pike to offer guidance and you can sense the loss that both of them is experiencing. The emotions are quite raw and it's an almost glum precursor to their reunion in The Menagerie which chronologically takes place after this episode.

Also on Discovery, Tyler and Culber meet up for the first time since the part-Klingon killed the doctor. Their confrontation is highly charged with a raging fist fight taking place through the mess hall but leaving neither with any form of victory since both are men who do not understand who they have become. Is it right for Ash to be tried for murder? Does he deserve the vitriol Culber gives him? Potentially not since it wasn't Tyler that did the deed mentally.

If Memory Serves... oh man, what an episode and another one where the bar has just been raised that little bit higher. Season two continues to amaze and inspire at each turn with Dan Dworkin and James Beattie's script packing just about everything you could ever wish from a Star Trek episode. 

As mentioned, there's strong emotion sparking on the screen in the two fleeting opportunities that Pike gets to speak to Vina and the Mount/George pairing seems to be very effective with the Vina actress actually holding her own really well in a role that is intrinsically linked to the very origin point of the franchise. Her attire is very close to her clothing in The Cage and they even took the risk of showing the extent of showing her injuries and indicating that life since Pike left Talos IV has not been a bed of roses. George suits the part really well, being both a guide and a victim concurrently.

Pike does play a key part here while still on the Discovery and Anson Mount shows an unusual amount of weakness here clearly led by the emotion of returning to Talos IV and the woman whom he has fallen for. Such is his feeling for her that it affects his decisions for better or worse during If Memory Serves... and leaves the viewer wondering just how fragile he might be.

The re-imagining of the Talosians is extremely well handled with CG effects showing their brain activity now rather than air bladders being handled offscreen to show the cerebral work. Their appearance is perhaps minor in the big scheme of the episode but to bring back such a iconic set of aliens over 50 years since they were last seen and at such a prominent point in franchise history was a brilliant, bold and some might say risky mood. On the plus side they manage it perfectly even recreating the essence of the planet, the sounds and those strange blue vibrating plants.

Trying something like this so long after the original and after such a monumental piece of Star Trek history is a big line in the sand for Discovery but they handle it with respect and honour rather than turning it into something akin to the 30th anniversary stories from Deep Space Nine or Voyager.

Then there's Spock. So now it appears he's all fixed and we even get to see what exactly happened to lead Starfleet to hunt him down on charges of murder. Back aboard the Discovery after some nifty Talosian dealings we finally get to see the real, cooler, more logical Spock rather than the one seemingly ranting incoherently. There's still a Spock we've not met in here. A younger and slightly more emotional Vulcan who for the time being is getting along with his sister although retrofitting the story into canon would suggest that this won't be the case for long.

Discovery firmly plants its flag in the Prime Universe and within that states that it fits with The Original Series and all that came after (except JJ's trilogy of movies). The past is acknowledged, reconciled and utilised wonderfully to not only fill a little bit of nostalgia but also to further this ever advancing Red Angel story...

Is this the best episode of Discovery ever as many have suggested? I'd put it top three of which all three would be coming from the eight stories we've had released to date from the second season. Another ground-breaking hour of Star Trek that leaves you wanting more from the show. Can it deliver again next week?

What are your feelings on If Memory Serves...? Comment below!

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Second Discovery - First Trailer

The latest shots from the first days of production on the current Star Trek expansion have surfaced thanks to CBS’ teaser trailer for season two.

The amount of information contained in these 58 seconds of footage are spectacular to say the least so let’s take a casual glance over the nuggets of Trek gold contained within.

Stage Seven looks set to contain some amazing new sets for the year including the obvious Discovery but we would surmise from this footage, the USS Enterprise too.

The first hints of what’s to come are pretty much from the get go with our first glimpse at a command yellow uniform with captain’s braiding being put together while in the background we have audio clips from The Cage of Pike and Spock adding more than subtle suggestions at the presence of these two characters in season two.

Moving swiftly through we have shots of the Discovery bridge and one of some form of construction which could be the Enterprise but the next one to really pique interest has to be the floor plans which note the presence of a THIRD ship or prominent location with the title of ‘Section 31 - Bridge/Lab’. Is this a swing set that will act as two locations instead of a third starship? Is that starship (if that is the case) perhaps the USS Hiawatha which was noted in the guest announcement of Tig Notaro.

That’s the only hint of Section 31 as the teaser piles us back into the shots we really, really want to know about - the Enterprise. But - talking of plans - did you see the ‘L’Rell’s Garden’ plan (included at bottom of article)? Yep - definitely looks like season two will be bringing back the new leader of the Klingon Empire and you would think that Tyler will be alongside her as well causing more heartache for Burnham.

Now, following the shot of the command uniform we get production sketches of the red Support Services attire. Now, if we adhere to canon proper then these shouldn’t appear at all in Discovery since they are included in neither The Cage nor Where No Man Has Gone Before between which stories we must assume Discovery is set. Even if it is set before The Cage then the red uniforms are a no no. Of course, who is to say that these were only being introduced at the time Discovery meets Enterprise and therefore just might not have been seen onscreen. It’s a stretch but not that unreasonable.

Now amongst the other shots of set builds, the Discovery bridge and Saru green screened in the captain’s chair of the Discovery (holo-communicator shot or promo shot perhaps?) we have another look at the command yellow uniform from the back showing some big upgrades in the creation of this classic garment particularly in the way that the back is segmented and also in what appears to be more hard-wearing elbow pads. Now, if you’re very eagle-eyed look to the right of the shot and you can see a first glimpse of the blue sciences uniform although the wearer is a mystery. Burnham is just visible above the camera to the left and then appears in the subsequent shot of her entering the Enterprise bridge as can be surmised from the decal on the left of the door - and check out that view screen (both images below)!!!!

The stage is - literally - set for new adventures of the Discovery. Can't wait for some more cast announcements!

What did you spot in the trailer? What did we miss?

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Visual Varieties with the Graphic Novel Collection; Issues 16 to 19

The latest run of graphic novels from the Eaglemoss collection series has taken us into the wonders of The Next Generation with issue 16.

Ghosts is another fantastic read and the more I see of the 2000’s artwork and stories the more I kick myself rather strongly that I failed to get any of these the first time around. Damn these are great stories and so superlatively drawn by Javier Aranada. 

As with the previous offering, Intelligence Gathering, the narrative is split into five distinctive stories which all, initially, seem to be unrelated. By the final part it all weaves together seamlessly - of course. 

The big win here is just how amazing this series looks. The pencil work is crisp, the colours particularly striking and the attention to canon detail shows that the producers of the series have been keen to take note of the material they are honouring with these continuing voyages. 

The story itself is well paced although I did find that the big question that exists from the very start is fairly obvious by about half the way through. It didn’t ruin Ghosts for me but this kind of story has sort of been tackled in a similar way as far back as the first season of The Original Series and definitely in one of my favourite episodes of that show ever. Placing it into a distinctly alien and segregated world plays well for the story but it did also feel like we were treading very familiar paths - two opposing factions on a planet at the brink of war, disappearances.... it was a tad on the cliched side but it is rescued by the gorgeous look of each and every frame. 

Stepping towards the character angle the two sides in this conflict/perpetual standoff are at times difficult to distinguish between since they are - maybe intentionally - more similar than they might admit. It did mean the occasional pause just to reassure myself where I was in the big picture and maybe it would have been worth leaving a more bitter-sweet ending here rather than tying everything up so well.

Heading up issue 17 is Mirrored. Easily now my most anticipated entries into the graphic novel collection, the continuing voyages of the Kelvin timeline look just as good as they read and I might be tempting fate to say they are better than the three movies we’ve had to date.

Taking classic stories and giving them a new twist or simply exploring a new adventure, these stories from the rebooted Star Trek universe are fresh, colourful and original even when you suspect they might not be. This volume actually comprises of four tales from the alternative universe; A Redshirt's Tale, Keenser’s Story, Mirrored and Bones. The first is a rather singular version of Lower Decks focusing on the everyday events in the Iife of ‘Cupcake’ security officer Hendorff as seen in the 2009 and Into Darkness movies. A cool story recounting some of the missions we experienced but from the perspective of one of the more - disposable - members of the USS Enterprise crew. It was quite heartwarming seeing the thoughts of a junior officer in regards to the senior staff and just what hes expected to do during an ‘average’ day.

Keenser’s Story on the other hand is more an origins tale explaining his choice to leave home, to join Starfleet and end up on the icy wastelands of Delta Vega with Scotty. Having him narrate the tale does take away some of the mystery of the pint-sized alien. The story does well to cover where this alien came from but I did feel it took more away than it gave. Keenser is well written yet adding his background to the overall ethos seems superfluous. Keenser is a nice foil for Scotty but we don't need to fill out his past. 

Even if its not a necessity, I cant get enough of the fantastic artwork produced by xxx in this volume nor can I complain about the writing. Everything gels together so majestically its infuriating that the Kelvin universe gets such a good deal. Next up and the real keystone of the volume is Mirrored. Being the title story gives you a hint that this is a corker and its exactly that. Offering an alternative to the alternative timeline, a suitably goateed Spock is the tip of the iceberg with the two Johnson's providing a twist on the first Kelvin movie where Kirk is more brutal than a short-lived Nero. The changes to the timeline are even more drastic with Prime Spock even arriving just as he did in the movie but to a very different universe than he was ever expecting.

The changes here are subtle to the plot but fairly major to the characters and the writing team of Mike Johnson and F Leonard Johnson have etched just the right level of darkness into the crew to still make them recognisable and yet remain a little familiar through some of their ways. Even the usually bright and in your face artwork that comes out of most of the Kelvin stories is noticeably toned down with a lot more blacks, greys and darker shades to parallel the narrative. 

These homage stories might not get the approval of all fans because they could be seen to be ‘ripping off’ the original material but the Kelvin nuances do make you consider the what if... factor just a little more.

Following on we have the superlative Early Voyages. As I’m writing that I’m actually thinking this might be my more anticipated collection just slightly pipping the Kelvin universe. The tales of the Enterprise before Kirk and under the command of one Christopher Pike are thoroughly original and enthralling. Volume one took us right up to and into The Cage with the later pages coming from the perspective of Yeoman Colt rather than the captain and here we push forward beyond that point with more tales from the past.

What volume two does is, for want of a better cliche, build on the brilliance of volume one and takes the nuances and how hints laid out in the stories there to create more vivid representations of these crew members. Remember, we really only saw these people once in The Cage/flashback video in The Menagerie so Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett have a very clean slate from which to start their stories.
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Focusing on Pike and then later Doctor Boyce we initially get a great understanding of what made the Enterprise’s second captain tick and the kind of man he really was with a closer examination of his family life back on Earth. The relationship between Pike and his father is well written with a clear underlying love but there are some challenges brewing on the surface. I really bought into this pairing even for the brief time we were allowed into that situation. 

Boyce’s story is far  more bleak than that of his commanding officer with a literal inner voice wreaking havoc on the doctor’s sanity. A standard possession story that has evolved over a long period of time and was bubbling under in the first collection, this racing story pays off well if perhaps earlier than expected. 

Rounding out our selection for this time is the Marvel Comics Volume 2. Keeping in line with the first volume thses stories are just the right side of sanity that the Gold Key stories tend to skip roght past and disappear into the distance. At the core of the stories the writers here actually understood their source material with some sort of logic. 

The main cast are there in the right uniforms and doing, roughly the right things although their rather extreme and over regular of getting EVERYWHERE by warp even in close quarters battle situations is confusing and then some. The stories clearly have origins in genuine sci-fi lore with the basis in The Motion Picture. They are more outlandish with dragons appearing, mad aliens and humans versus machine tales that, at their heart wouldn’t have been too far removed from some of the more hokey plot twists from The Original Series.

Given the tight framing and maximum page/frame use, we get a load of stories here; The Expansionist Syndrome, Experiment in Vengeance which pits the crew against a classic cosmic cloud style alien; Domain of the Dragon God that has Kirk and the crew tussling with an Aztec-like people and forgoing the Prime Directive as only they could. Like a Woman Scorned unusually tackles an element of Scotty's past which inevitably turns out to be deadly for the Enterprise; Eclipse of Reason almost echoes the earlier Experiment in Vengeance with the Enterprise under attack again from a sister ship but this time it's being controlled by the bodiless Phaetons. Finally All the Infinite Ways is the real gem in this collection bringing back The Motion Picture's version of the Klingons and introducing McCoy's daughter Joanna. It's a damn fine story and a bit of a shame it's hidden away right in the middle of this issue.

Visually they are very crowded and cluttered stories to follow both visually and narratively. The choice of colour palette plus the printing method do make the images sketchy and scrappy that also shows the age of these tales. I remember my comics looking not too dissimilar in the mid-80's and these were only a few years before i took to this kind of literature.

Their more fantastical elements do take them a way away from the natural flow of Star Trek and the genuine feel of The Original Series. It is Star Trek visually in a clearly stronger way than Gold Key even came close to yet it seems as equally far away because of the narrative choices yet I do enjoy them more than the pulp comic style of the technically far inaccurate older work from the early ‘70s.

Talking of Gold Key as I always love to do, these four issues once again come with the back end being made up of the 1970's comic capers. In order we have The Enterprise Mutiny, Museum at the End of Time, Day of the Inquisitors and - but missing three pages due to a printing error - The Cosmic Cavemen. 

Still firmly entrenched in the Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon adventure mould, these have just about the shape of the Enterprise right before spiralling into murderous monsters, fantastic machines and just a hint of Star Trek sprinkled in the name and the use of the characters be it in the wrong uniforms and almost unrecognisable save for Spock's ears.

I admit these are enjoyable and completist but having them in every issue is a bit of a drag especially when you've made your way through the very intense and claustrophobic narrative frames of the Marvel Comics your eyes don't get a rest. When coupled with the Kelvin universe or The Next Generation the variety is welcome and different but having two very similar styles so close does overload you a bit.

Fortunately there is the chance of a small break in each of the volumes because Eaglemoss/IDW have included pencil frames, sketches, artwork and edited clips from the stories into a separate section with some amazing stuff to see. The material for Ghosts in particular is outstanding with promo artwork and black and white frames among the panels included.

There are some classic hidden gems stuck amongst these four volumes and you do need to pick through to find them which can be a ball-ache. For my pick here I'd take Early Voyages and probably the slightly bizarre choice of the Marvel comics if only for the top notch All the Infinite Ways.

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