8of5's Guide to the Trek Collective

New Aventine pic, plus Voyager update

2012-01-27T07:21:00.000Z

In celebration of the USS Aventine's third birthday Mark Rademaker has created a new render of his design for the ship, doing battle battle with the Borg:

See Mark's original blog post for some facts about the design. Mark also posted on twitter his latest preview of his work on the Voyager refit, including adding in the second shuttlebay. Spot the differences:

Amazon.com Widgets

Another Star Trek HeroClix game on the way

2012-01-27T07:10:00.001Z

ICv2 reports that Wizkids are planning another Star Trek HeroClix game, based on the new movie timeline. Star Trek HeroClix: Away Team will include seven herolix based figures, including Kirk, Spock, and McCoy (Scotty, Uhura, Chekov and Sulu making up the rest?), and is expected to be released in July.

Meanwhile Star Trek Tactics is out next month, and Wizkids have done another preview, this time with two ships from The Undiscovered Country:

Specs for Star Trek Online's new flagships

2012-01-27T06:51:00.000Z

The Star Trek Online dev blog has been updated with posts giving specs for the new Federation flagship, the Odyssey class USS Enterprise-F, and the Klingon's new Bortas class.

The pinnacle of Federation starship design, the Odyssey Star Cruiser will carry the Federation into a new generation of exploration.

In honor of this monumental technological achievement, Starfleet Command has authorized the construction of a new flagship. This vessel, the U.S.S. Enterprise-F, will embolden its crew to embrace the principles of exploration and cooperation that are the hallmarks of the Federation. In the Odyssey class, crews will explore strange new worlds, seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations and boldly go where no ship has gone before.

The Odyssey class is the largest vessel ever created by Starfleet. Its massive size makes it very resilient, but its turn rate is reduced by the bulk of the vessel. The Odyssey's unique split saucer pylon reduces subspace wake at higher warp speeds. The Odyssey is designed as an extreme long-range vessel, and can operate for long periods of time away from support. Because of this, it is the most versatile cruiser ever developed by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers and features Universal Ensign and Lieutenant Commander Bridge Offer Stations that can by operated by any Bridge Officer class.

Not content to rest on their laurels, the KDF engineering teams at the Ty'Gokor Fleet Yards have been hard at work advancing Klingon ship design into the 25th century. When Chancellor J'mpok demanded a new, more powerful flagship to lead the Empire, they were ready with the Bortas, a ship that will bring swift vengeance to enemies of the Empire.

The Bortas Battle Cruiser is the largest, most powerful battle cruiser in the Klingon arsenal. Its massive hull affords it incredible resilience in battle, but it sacrifices turn rate for that size. The Bortas is designed to take on any foe no matter how powerful, and because of that is designed with versatility in mind. It features Universal Ensign and Lieutenant Commander Bridge Officer Stations that can be operated by any Bridge Officer class.

STO's ship designer also posted more pictures of the Bortas, on twitter:

The Okuda's on TNG remastered

2012-01-27T06:32:00.000Z

TrekMovie have posted a two part interview with Mike and Denise Okuda about the TNG remastering project; here are a few bits that caught my attention, about making tweaks while putting together the episodes again:

One thing we are trying to be cognizant of is that people who buy the show, know the show really well. We want them to get the show that they fell in love with and not say "wow, these guys were really clever." We want them to say "the original designers were clever." We want to highlight their work.

...very occasionally there will be some minor tweaks. An example of that is in The Next Level, there is a shot where Picard orders the phasers to be fired at a low level to bathe the wounded space creature to bring it back to life. In the original version the phasers incorrectly came from the Captain’s Yacht. Having worked at Paramount at the time, the original ship’s designer Andrew Probert was very disappointed because that wasn’t where the phasers were supposed to come from. So we thought "let’s make Andy happy."

Refering to an effects shot that was recreated in Sins of the Father:

Virtually all the ship shots are the original film elements. Occasionally a film element won’t be found or will be unusable for whatever technical reason. In that particular case, that was not a CG Enterprise, that was actually a new matte painting. However, they do have a digital Enterprise, because we know it will be needed at some point.

On details revealed in Okudagrams that wouldn't have been visible in SD previously:

For the most part we are going to leave those as they are, as they are not particularly noticeable if you don’t go looking for them. There will be a few places where if we think they are going to be distracting, that is if you watch the show and go "oh, there is Gene’ Roddenberry’s name!" Those kind of things we will look more closely at them and undoubtedly change some of them.

You can read the full interview, here, and here. Screencaps from TrekCore.

Final Cross Cult Double Helix cover

2012-01-27T05:46:00.000Z

Cross Cult seem to be keen to show off their new covers again, with a second one revealed this week, this time for the last book in the Double Helix series, The First Virtue, aka Doppelhelix: Die Oberste Tugend:

Hollywood Collectables Kirk statue

2012-01-27T05:27:00.000Z

Hollywood Collectables have announced their next Star Trek sculpture, and it's a second Kirk, but this time at a larger 1/4 scale (19" tall), posing with his phaser on what looks like a transporter pad. There will be 750 made, and unlike previous releases their will not be a more limited variant. He's due out in the third quarter of this year.

Coming soon(ish) from Cross Cult

2012-01-23T19:42:00.001Z

My German correspondent, Jens Deffner (a regular contributor to the excellent UnrealitySF), has been in touch to inform of the latest news on Cross Cult's German language translations of Star Trek novels. Despite previously suggesting they might slow down their releases of Trek books, Cross Cult still seem to be churning them out at an impressive pace. There are new listings for Vanguard, Typhon Pact, Voyager and TOS in the next year or two.

They are also apparently hoping to acquire the rights to print translations of omnibuses of the Star Trek ongoing comic series; if they get them they hope to publish the first omnibus shortly after Volume One is released in English.

To top it all off they have also released their latest new cover, a neat combo of Bajor and the Federation emblem for Unity, their version of which, titled Einheit, is due out in April:

Continue after the jump for the full schedule of forthcoming Cross Cult releases:

2012

January

Feuertaufe: McCoy - Die Herkunft der Schatten (Crucible: McCoy - Provenance of Shadows), ebook.
Feuertaufe: Spock - Das Feuer und die Rose (Crucible: Spock - The Fire and the Rose), paperback and ebook.
Feuertaufe: Kirk - Der Leitstern des Verirrten (Crucible: Kirk - The Star to Every Wandering), ebook.
So der Sohn (Rising Son), paperback and ebook.
Stürmische See (Over a Torrent Sea), audiobook.

February

Feuertaufe: Kirk - Der Leitstern des Verirrten (Crucible: Kirk - The Star to Every Wandering), ebook.
Doppelhelix: Infektion (Double Helix: Infection), paperback and ebook.

March

Die Delta-Anomalie (The Delta Anomaly), paperback and ebook.
Doppelhelix: Überträger (Double Helix: Vectors), paperback and ebook.

April

Einheit (Unity), paperback.
Doppelhelix: Roter Sektor (Double Helix: Red Sector), paperback.

May

(What Judgments Come), paperback.

June

Die Grenze (The Edge), paperback.
(Storming Heaven), paperback.

July

Doppelhelix: Quarantäne (Double Helix: Quaratine), paperback.

August

Die Welten von Deep Space Nine: Cardassia und Andor (Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Cardassia and Andor), paperback.
Doppelhelix: Doppelt Oder Nichts (Double Helix: Double of Nothing), paperback.

September

Die Welten von Deep Space Nine II: Trill und Bajor (Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Trill and Bajor), paperback.

October

Die Welten von Deep Space Nine III: Ferenginar und Das Dominion (Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Ferenginar and The Dominion)
Kobayashi Maru (Kobayashi Maru), paperback.

November

Ort der Stille (The Quiet Place), paperback.

December

Doppelhelix: Die oberste Tugend (Double Helix: The First Virtue), paperback.

2013

January

Kriegspfad (Warpath), paperback.

March

Fürchterliche Symmetrie (Fearful Symmetry), paperback.

April

Der Romulanische Krieg: Unter den Schwingen des Raubvogels (The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)

May

Der Schlüssel zur Seele (The Soul Key), paperback.

June

(Zero Sum Game), paperback.

July

(Seize the Fire), paperback.

August

(Rough Beasts of Empire), paperback.

September

(Paths of Disharmony), paperback.

October

(The Struggle Within), ebook.

December

(The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm), paperback.

Unknown

(TOS novel, title TBA).
Heimkehr (Homecoming).
Ferne Ufer (The Father Shore).
Alte Wunden (Spirit Walk: Old Wounds).
Der Feind meines Feindes (Spirit Walk: Enemy of My Enemy).
Geschlossener Kreis (Full Circle).
Unwürdig (Unworthy).
Kinder des Sturms (Children of the Storm).
(Plagues of Night).
(Raise the Dawn).

Masterpiece Collection Spock

2012-01-22T19:12:00.000Z

Ahead of the release of the first two bust's (Kirk and Picard) in their Star Trek Masterpiece Collection, Titan Merchandise have already announced the fifth! And this time it's Spock, due out in April:

The series so far:

Kirk (February)
Entertainment Earth, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.
Picard (February)
Entertainment Earth, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.
Data (March)
Entertainment Earth, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.
Khan (March)
Entertainment Earth, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.
Spock (April)
Forbidden Planet.

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes omnibus

2012-01-21T20:42:00.000Z

Mark Martinez (of the Star Trek Comics Checklist) has pointed out to me that Amazon.com now has a listing for the omnibus edition of Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes. It uses the issue one/promotional cover, and is due out in July. If you haven't been picking it up issue by issue I recommend it; without even knowing a thing about Legion of Super-Heroes it has been an entirely enjoyable alternate universe adventure so far, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out.

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca.

TNG Season 1 bluray cover

2012-01-21T18:33:00.001Z

TrekCore has revealed the cover art for the first season of TNG on bluray:

This comes from the trailer for the first season on the The Next Level sample disc, which is out soon. TrekCore has more caps from that trailer showing some of the behind the scenes footage we have to look forward to.

Meanwhile Blu-ray.com has a review up for the sample disc with lots more screencaps from the episodes.

Star Trek (ongoing) #8

2012-01-20T21:37:00.001Z

StarTrek.com have announced IDW's Star Trek titles for April, and with the conclusion of Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes in March we're down to just the ongoing series. But at least it sounds good, with part two of the first original story, The Vendetta Conspiracy. Here's how they describe it:

Star Trek #8 thrusts Captain Kirk and his Enterprise crew into a tense race against time to thwart a renegade Vulcan plot to destroy Romulus -- and it features a guest-star appearance by Spock's father, Sarek.

StarTrek.com released two covers, a Tim Bradstreet one, and a McCoy photo-cover:

Star Trek Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

2012-01-20T21:09:00.000Z

StarTrek.com has announced doublesix and Deep Silver will be releasing a Star Trek edition of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire for Play Station 3 and X-Box 360; based on the TV show and expanding their range of Millionaire games, which so far include music, movies, football, and South Park.

Taking place on the bridge of a classic Constitution class starship the game will feature six hundred questions based on Star Trek: The Original Series. Players can play as either a Human Cadet, an Orion Slave Girl, a Vulcan officer, or Uhura. The phone-a-friend lifeline puts you through to various TOS characters to help you answer your questions.

No details on the release date yet, but initially it will be available world wide Except for North America. Digital Spy report doublesix hope to release an expanded version for everywhere in the world at a later date.

Star Trek Tactic's ships of DS9

2012-01-20T20:34:00.001Z

The latest preview from Star Trek Tactics, the next Star Trek HeroClix game, is focused on DS9, with the USS Defiant, and Regency 1 (which apparently mirror-Worf's ship):

Sample images from TNG in HD

2012-01-18T08:24:00.001Z

Ahead of the imminent release of the first TNG sampler, The Next Level, TrekMovie have released two screen caps, from Encounter at Farpoint, and Sins of the Father, showing the remarkable increase in quality we are going to get from the new transfer:

HD, Encounter at Farpoint

SD, Encounter at Farpoint

HD, Sins of the Father

SD, Sins of the Father

UPDATE: You can see even more screencaps from the sample disc, thanks to a review by Blu-rayDefinition.com.

Star Trek Online goes free-to-play

2012-01-18T08:15:00.000Z

Star Trek Online has now, on stardate 17.01, gone free-to-play. TO celebrate they released a new trailer:

Amazon.com Widgets

Star Trek (ongoing) #5 preview

2012-01-18T08:08:00.001Z

Comic Book Resources has released a seven-page preview for this week's fifth issue of the Star Trek ongoing series, which is part one of the retelling of Operation Annihilate! It kicks off with a nice flashback picking up on the life of young Kirk (preview continues after the jump):

Order: Amazon.com, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

Star Trek Catan, coming in March

2012-01-16T18:41:00.000Z

BoardGameGeek has announced the boardgame, Catan, will soon have a Star Trek edition published. Here's the official description:

Star Trek Catan takes two well-known media properties and merges them into, well, into something that is 95% The Settlers of Catan glossed with Trek tropes and spiced with new special powers related to Trek personalities.

In Star Trek Catan, players start the game with two small space stations at the intersection of three planets, with each planet supplying resources based on the result of a dice roll. Players collect and trade these resources – Dilithium, Tritanium, food, oxygen and water – in order to build spaceships that connect regions in the galaxy, establish small and large space stations at new intersection points in order to increase resource acquisition, and acquire development cards that provide victory points (VPs) or special abilities.

On a dice roll of 7, a Klingon ship swoops in to prevent resource production on one planet, while taxing spacegoers who hold too many resources.

The one new element in Star Trek Catan compared to the Settlers version is a set of character cards, each featuring one of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Scott, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel, Rand or Sarek. Each character card has two special powers that the holder can use on his turn, such as a forced trade.

Sounds like fun, maybe a bit like Star Trek Armada as a board game. The game is due out in Germany in March, no news yet on international releases.

Happy Birthday Star Trek Comics Checklist

2012-01-15T02:44:00.001Z

I just spotted that Mark Martinez noted a few days ago that his Star Trek Comics Checklist has just reached its twentieth year! What I find remarkable is twenty years ago is only 1992, which feels far too recent for such a long time...

Anyway, if you're not familiar with it, the Star Trek Comics Checklist is a comprehensive list of Star Trek comics from the first Goldkey's right up to the latest from IDW, with every comic, big and small, in between. Mark currently makes that nearly seven hundred comics! So go have a looksie, maybe you'll find something you never even knew existed.

Meanwhile I'm just a couple of months away from running this place for five years! My how time flies.

Awesome cover for Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #6

2012-01-14T03:45:00.000Z

Jeffrey Moy has posted, on his blog, his cool retro cover for the sixth, and final, issue of the Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes series:

Pre-order: Things From Another World.

You can see lots of artwork from the series in Moy's other blog posts, including this nice sketch of the Imperial Elite, as featured in the third issue:

Retro Picard and Borg

2012-01-14T03:26:00.000Z

The Art Asylum blog has posted a new image of the forthcoming retro cloth Picard and Borg figures, the first TNG figures in the Mego-style range, in celebration of this year's 25th anniversary:

Pre-order: Entertainment Earth, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet (Picard, Borg).

New Star Trek snow globe collection

2012-01-14T03:05:00.000Z

Willabee and Ward have announced a new range of Star Trek snow globes. There are twelve planned for the series, with mock-up images of the first seven including the Enterprises NX-01, 1701, and 1701-D, Shuttlecraft Galileo, a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, the USS Defiant and USS Voyager. They are available to order on a subscription, with the first one coming at the price of postage and packaging only. Here's how the describe them:

Each one-of-a-kind snow globe is crafted of cold-cast porcelain and then carefully hand-painted by skilled artisans. Enjoy every Star Trek ship through glass globes and shimmering colorful "snow" that sit atop delightfully designed bases. What's more, you'll receive an attractive wooden display rack beautifully designed to showcase your snow globes on any wall or flat surface. You can use the to shelf of the display to showcase one snow globe each month! You can acquire this Genuine Wooden Collector's Display Rack for the same low price as your snow globes.

And here are the first mock-ups:

Via: TrekMovie.

Special features for The Next Level

2012-01-12T03:09:00.000Z

TrekCore has confirmed the special features for the forthcoming TNG HD sample disc, The Next Level. There are three:

The previously released trailer for the TNG HD project.
A trailer for the iPad PADD app.
And the only one that's worth caring about; a trailer for the season one bluray set.

Hopefully the latter will be a nice long trailer with lots of exciting footage, and maybe some idea of new extra features coming with the full season releases. The Next Level is due by the end of the month, with season one to follow later in the year.

Bonkers/Brilliant Trek stuff from ThinkGeek

2012-01-11T19:27:00.005Z

ThinkGeek (who have previously brought us the Star Trek Spork, Enterprise Feeding System and the Enterprise Pizza Cutter) have just launched two new Star Trek products products to their brilliantly odd range:

The Enterprise Plush is the most loveable starship launched by Starfleet. But despite its cuddly fluffiness, this ship is still deserving of the name Enterprise; as the flagship of the Federation's peacekeeping and humanitarian armada it's ready to fire photo torpedoes (when you give it a hug) and light up its bussard collectors. You can currently preorder one of these, with them expected to leave spacedock next month.

Meanwhile inside the ship (or house, or office), and already available, Starfleet is ready to install 23rd century issue door chimes. The wall panels have a motion detector which makes a swoosh sound when someone passes, or sounds red alert.

Star Trek Tactic's USS Reliants

2012-01-09T20:55:00.002Z

This week's preview from Star Trek Tactics, the next Star Trek HeroClix game, reveals there will be two versions of the USS Reliant among the ships in the game; one as commanded by Captain Terrel, and one in the hands of Khan:

Thrawn's fantastic Trek-lit reading order flow chart.

2012-01-08T03:56:00.000Z

Ever been unsure whether to start the next Star Trek book series you're interested in? Not sure what to read first, or what comes next? I've tried to help before with my Amazon list of what comes before and after Destiny; but a straight list doesn't quite explain all the ins-and-outs of the Trek-lit continuity. Thankfully TrekBBS user Thrawn has found the solution, with his brilliant Star Trek Lit-Verse Reading Order Flowchart.

Whether you're a fan of TNG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise the chart shows how they spin off into Titan, Klingon Empire, or Vanguard, and crossover into Destiny, the Typhon Pact, the Mirror Universe, and more; letting you chart your own path through the Trek-litverse.

Thrawn has kindly allowed me to share this with you, and I think it's such a useful guide I've added it as one of the permanent links to the top of the page alongside my schedule listings. Enjoy:

Sarah Shaw is David Mack

2012-01-08T01:20:00.003Z

So here's a cool little story that surfaced on the TrekBBS about a month ago, and I just found out about. It turns out David Mack was signed up for two of the novels in the first two Mirror Universe anthologies, so wrote one of them, Saturn's Children, under a pseudonym, Sarah Shaw. Here's the story in the words of Mr Mack:

It was a simple miscommunication between the editors, Marco Palmieri and Margaret Clark, during the planning of the first two anthologies. Margaret was editing and acquiring stories for Glass Empires, and Marco was in charge of Obsidian Alliances.

Marco contacted me first and offered me the chance to write the DS9 story in Obsidian Alliances, and I accepted immediately. Not long afterward, I was contacted by Margaret, who asked me to write the rise and fall of Spock's reign for Glass Empires. In need of paying work, I accepted that offer, as well.

It was only after I'd committed to both gigs, and my agent had brokered the deals, that the editors conferred and realized what they'd done. I won't say which one had dibs and which one messed up, but they were concerned about having my name on stories in both anthologies for a couple of reasons:

1. They were worried that other writers would be ticked off that i got two bites at the apple when some of them didn't get to play; and

2. They were concerned the fans might be upset at a lack of authorial variety.

At the same time, they couldn't just rescind an offer that had already been made to my agent, so it was decided to have me write one of the two stories under pseudonym. I was given the choice of which story I wanted to write as David Mack and which under pseudonym. I am proud of both stories, and was bummed I couldn't immediately accept credit (or blame) for both, but I eventually decided that The Sorrows of Empire was a bit closer to my heart.

Funny thing about writing under a pseudonym. It freed me up, in a sense, to approach Saturn's Children with a different style. I wrote it much more quickly than I normally do, and by imagining I was a different author I ended up working from a different mindset. It was an intriguing experience.

After the books came out, I had to stay mum about the pseudonym because both editors were still acquiring stories for Star Trek. Now that Marco and Margaret have both moved on (against their will, but that's neither here nor there), I saw no reason to maintain the pretense.

Which means David Mack has a story in every book of the Mirror Universe series, plus writing Warpath, which kicked off the mirror universe arc in the DS9 novels.

New TNG remastered comparison

2012-01-06T01:14:00.001Z

Entertainment Weekly has posted a video comparison of a sequence from Encounter at Farpoint, one of the episodes soon to be released on, The Next Level (the first TNG HD bluray sampler disc). The video shows again the dramatic improvement in clarity, and colour (goodbye pink tint); particularly in the effects shots:

Sherlock is the next Trek bad guy!

2012-01-05T04:31:00.000Z

I don't normally report on casting news, but this is too stupendously exciting not to: As reported by TrekMovie.com, Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock Holmes in the BBC's ridiculously amazing series Sherlock (the second series of which just started) has been cast as the villian in the next Star Trek film!

So who will Cumberbatch play? I've been expecting the Klingons to be the bad guys in the next film, and could see Cumberbatch playing a crafty Klingon leader. Khan has been widely discussed too, but he doesn't seem to fit that role; if only on appearance. Or maybe he could be something else familiar, or something new altogether. Here's a quickly cobbled together line-up of roles I think he'd take on rather well:

Enterprise-F orthographic views

2012-01-05T02:53:00.001Z

The Star Trek Online website's ships index has been updated to include the Odyssey class, aka the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F. The new orthographic views however have apparently been floating around the web a little while now though, which is where I got these higher res and additional views to those on the STO website:

Amazon.com Widgets

Latest Voyager refit update

2012-01-04T13:12:00.001Z

Mark Rademaker has posted on his twitter feed, his latest take on the direction he intends to take the Voyager refit design (as part of the Full Circle slipstream fleet):

This is a rethinking of the previously released version, and I think looks a lot sleeker. Can't wait to see more. Follow Mark on twitter for all his latest updates, such as the insane level of detail he is going to furnishing the interior of his Voyager model!

Amazon.com Widgets

Two more Tactics ships

2012-01-03T21:57:00.000Z

Wizkids have continued their preview of their next Star Trek Heroclix game, Tactics; this week showing off their versions of the USS Voyager and IKS Ch'Tang:

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #4 preview

2012-01-03T21:11:00.001Z

Comics Continuum have posted previews for this week's IDW comics, which include the fourth issue of the Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover series. Here's the new cover revealed with the preview:

Continue after the jump for the first seven pages:

Order: Amazon.com, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

Latest Trek kitchenware from Westland

2012-01-01T16:20:00.000Z

Westland Giftware have announced the latest additions to their Star Trek range, which include:

A new salt and pepper shaker set, this time featuring a split delta (if the Enterprise and shuttle, or Kirk and Spock sets, weren't your thing):

A Kirk cookie jar to go with the previous Spock one:

And Uhura and Scotty delta mugs, filling out the crew after the initial Kirk, Spock, and McCoy ones:

The Vendetta Conspiracy cover art

2012-01-01T13:47:00.000Z

Tim Bradstreet has posted on facebook, his cover art (without titles) for the seventh issue of the Star Trek ongoing series, The Vendetta Conspiracy, Part 1:

Pre-order: Things From Another World.

New (and decidedly unfinal) covers

2011-12-30T21:28:00.003Z

The Simon and Schuster digital catalogue has been updated with new covers for Raise the Dawn and Fallen Gods. Both are marked as not final, and are noticeably so: With Raise the Dawn featuring the inaccurate series title, Chains of Destiny (when it should be Typhon Pact), and Fallen Gods having the Enterprise-E (which could be accurate for all we know I suppose...). The artwork for Raise the Dawn seems consistent with what we've seen for Plagues of Night, and seems to be showing what could be the construction of the new shipyards in the Bajor system (cool!) :

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp.

Thanks to Jim, of Jim's Star Trek Books, for pointing me towards them.

Latest Star Trek Tactics preview

2011-12-27T19:33:00.002Z

Wizkids have released their latest preview for Star Trek Tactics, their next Star Trek HeroClix game launching in February. This time they're showing off a couple of TNG-era ships:

The four-ship starter pack is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com too. And if you're really keen you can also order a retail ready box of the individual booster-ships, containing twelve random ships (of a total of twenty).

Star Trek (ongoing) #4 preview

2011-12-27T19:11:00.002Z

Comics Continuum have posted previews of this week's IDW comics, including eight pages from this week's fourth issue of the Star Trek ongoing series; part two of The Galileo Seven. Here's the first page (the rest are after the jump):

Order: Amazon.com, Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

New features for STO's Enterprise-F

2011-12-22T20:31:00.000Z

Star Trek Online's starship artist has been tweeting away about some new part of the Enterprise-F design, including this nifty little auxiliary craft that clips into the back of the engineering hull:

You can see it spinning, and it's nacelles sliding in and out here:

And here's what it looks like docked:

Unrelated to that little ship, its big brother also does saucer separating it seems:

New cover for Plagues of Night

2011-12-22T19:59:00.002Z

The Simon and Schuster online catalogue has been updated with a new cover for Plagues of Night; the first book in David R. George III's Typhon Pact duology:

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp.

Thankfully they seem to have dropped the horrible floating heads that did so little justice to the first Typhon Pact books.

Star Trek 2's 3D

2011-12-22T19:37:00.000Z

I was excited to hear that the next Star Trek film would be shot in 3D, until I heard, via an interview with J.J. Abrams by MTV, that it will in fact be shot in 2D and converted:

We're shooting on film, 2-D, and then we'll do a good high-end conversion like the 'Harry Potter' movie and all that. Luckily, with our release date now we have the months needed to do it right because if you rush it, it never looks good.

Oh well, I'll look forward to real 3D cinema from The Hobbit, and enjoy Star Trek in its native two dimensions. There's some better news though, Abrams is keen on IMAXing it:

We were talking about [shooting in IMAX] and I would love to do it. IMAX is my favorite format; I'm a huge fan.

Star Trek Tactics preview

2011-12-19T19:55:00.001Z

Wizkids have released their first preview of their next Star Trek game, Tactics. The new game will be launching in February with a four-ship starter pack and individual ship boosters; allowing you to grow your fleet up to twenty different ships. This first preview shows of the ships (and their special abilities) from the starter pack:

New Storming Heaven blurb

2011-12-19T19:18:00.002Z

Simon and Schuster have updated their listing for the next and last Vanguard novel, Storming Heaven, with a new blurb; which sounds a bit more final and a lot more dramatic!:

“I WAS THERE UNTIL THE END, MATE. THE BITTER, BLOODY END.”

Vanguard is under siege. Surrounded by enemies, Admiral Nogura sends the scout ship Sagittarius to find an ancient weapon that might be the Federation’s only hope of stopping the alien threat known as the Shedai . . . Qo’noS is wracked by scandal. Councillor Gorkon fights to expose a Romulan plot to corrupt members of the Klingon High Council, only to learn the hard way that crusaders have few allies, and even fewer friends . . . Tholia teeters on the brink of madness. To prevent Starfleet from wielding the Shedai’s power as its own, the Tholians deploy an armada with one mission: Kill the Shedai—by destroying Vanguard.

THE EPIC SAGA’S EXPLOSIVE FINALE

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp.

8of5 on social networks

2011-12-18T17:56:00.000Z

I've been on Twitter a little a while now, and I've just made a Facebook page for my blogs too. So to be sure you don't miss any Star Trek news from this site, additions and updates to the 8of5 Archive, or news from across the multiverse, follow me on your favourite social network:

Star Trek (ongoing) #6 cover art

2011-12-18T15:24:00.001Z

Tim Bradstreet has released his cover art work for Star Trek (ongoing) #6. Which we have seen before, with the titles, when the February solicitations were released; but as it's my favourite ongoing cover so far I think it's worth enjoying the pretty picture:

Project Cutaway: USS Enterprise

2011-12-18T14:17:00.000Z

While trying to find box art for Revell's recently released TOS Enterprise and Klingon D7 model kits (see later in article) I came across something far more intriguing. This poster, displayed at a Germany modelling event in February:

A new Star Trek cutaway model? The TOS Enterprise has been done before by AMT, but that's still intriguing. Project Cutaway is a range of cutaway models from Dragon Models, which has just launched, and will include aircraft, real world spacecraft and even architectural monuments such as the Coliseum. You can see various examples on Dragon's website, including the first model in the range, a 747:

Looks quite cool to me, and also done differently the the previous AMT cutaway Enterprise. So I hope this is still coming some time.

I did also manage to find the box art I was originally looking for, though it is disappointingly unspectacular:

Star Trek Classics 3

2011-12-17T10:21:00.000Z

Amazon.com has revealed the third book in IDW's Star Trek Classics series, and once more it's a duplicate of a previous Wildstorm Comics omnibus; this time the Voyager themed Encounters with the Unknown.

Contained within will be: the Borgy False Colors; Avalon Rising, a Medieval prime directive tale featuring the Doctor; Elite Force, a comic adaptation of the popular game; and an encounter with a doomsday machine in Planet Killer.

Amazon say it will be out at the end of May.

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca.

Cool covers for new and forthcoming IDW comics

2011-12-15T19:41:00.000Z

Joe Corroney has posted on his Facebook page his cover art for the forthcoming fourth issue of the Star Trek ongoing series, which continues his series of cool retro recruitment posters:

You can see the sketch version of this, featuring Spock and Kirk, here.

Meanwhile this week's release of the third issue of Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes also featured a cool variant cover: This one continuing the Gabriel Rodriguez series with one character from each half of the crossover, but with Mario Alberti providing the charter art on top of Rodriguez's background - This time featuring Uhura and Shadow Lass:

2013's Star Trek calendars

2011-12-15T08:06:00.002Z

Following Doug Drexler's reveal that a new publisher will be taking over Star Trek calendars for the 2013 year onward, I have been in contact with Rizzoli to get the details on what's coming: Universe Publishing, one of Rizzoli's imprints, will be publishing four Star Trek calendars for 2013:

Ships of the Line - Staying with the familiar image indulgent panoramic format, Ships of the Line will continue to showcase Star Trek art based around starships.
The Original Series - The other stable of Star Trek calendars will also continue under Universe, though they will be taking the opportunity to refresh the look of the calendar, and are adding a Ships of the Line style centerfold featuring the Enterprise.
Day to Day - A few years after the old "Stardate" calendar was replaced by a digital version, Universe will be reviving the daily Star Trek calendar. This boxed calendar will feature trivia and quotes from across the entire Trekverse, both prime reality and the new movie timeline.
Captain's Log - This spiral bound engagement calendar will feature images, quotes, and trivia focusing on the Star Trek captains, and again will span the entire franchise, new and old.

We can look forward to seeing what these all look like some time in the spring.

IDW March solicitations

2011-12-14T18:36:00.003Z

StarTrek.com has announced IDW's Star Trek titles for March, which inlcude the first original story in the onging series, the final issue of Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes, and a second "100-Page Spectacular". UPDATE: Solicitation blurbs and more cover details from IDW's full solicitations.

Star Trek (ongoing) #7: The Vendetta Conspiracy, Part One
By Mike Johnson, art by Joe Corroney, cover by Tim Bradstreet, plus Bradstreet sketch-cover and a photo-cover.

The adventures of the new crew of the Enterprise continue in this all new two-part story that takes place soon after the events of the last film! While Vulcans struggle to survive in the wake of their homeworld's destruction at the hands of rogue Romulans, and some Vulcans believe that the logical response can be summed up in one word: revenge!

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #6
By Chris Roberson, art by Jeffrey and Philip Moy, covers by Phil Jimenez, Jeffrey Moy, and J.K. Woodward.

It's all been building up to this. Captain Kirk, Cosmic Boy, and the rest of the timelost Legionnaires and Starfleet officers have reached the end of the line, and are confronted with the powerful forces which have unwritten their respective histories. But with half of their teams stranded in the past and the other half held prisoner in the future, what chance do they have of overcoming the odds and restoring the worlds they once knew?

Star Trek, Volume 1
By Mike Johnson, art by Stephen Molnar, cover by Tim Bradstreet

The adventures of the Starship Enterprise continue in this new story that picks up where the blockbuster 2009 film left off! Featuring the new cast of the film, these missions re-imagine the stories from the original series in the alternate timeline created by the film, along with new threats and characters never seen before! With creative collaboration from STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci, this new series begins the countdown to the much-anticipated movie sequel premiering in 2012.

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular 2012
By Scott and David Tipton and Stuart Moore, art by Elena Casagrande and J.K. Woodward, cover by Joe Corroney

Several classic Star Trek stories offer an exciting-and reasonably priced!-introduction to the exciting universe that is Star Trek. Including the origins of a tragic and heroic captain to a mischievous alien intent on causing mayhem, plus more!

New publisher for Ships of the Line

2011-12-14T17:44:00.000Z

In part one (of two) of an interview with StarTrek.com Doug Drexler has revealed the Ships of the Line calendar is on its last year with Pocket Books (and Andrews McMeel Publishing?) as Rizzoli will become the publisher for the 2013 edition onwards. Drexler also revealed it was only down to the efforts of him and his band of artists that Rizzoli didn't kick off their run with a best-of-old-stuff edition:

Rizzoli is the new publisher. Pocket Books is not continuing on. I don’t know exactly the reason. All I know is that their licensing agreement with CBS came up again and it didn’t survive through that. So, Rizzoli has picked it up. Their publishing schedule is totally different from Pocket Books’. If it was Pocket, we would have until March to finish the image. But Rizzoli just got the license and there wasn’t enough time. Their thought, was, “Let’s do a Best of….” issue.

Now, frankly, when you’re making a transition like that it’s really important how you look when you come out the other side. You can’t look like a retread. So I talked to my buddies who work on the calendar and I said, “Look, they want to do a rerun thing. Personally, I’m not going to do that; I’m going to create new art for the rerun price, and you guys are free to do that as well if you want. I hope you will.” And everyone just jumped in. We actually got the calendar together in about three weeks. I think it’s one of the best-looking calendars yet. So, sometimes extra-cool stuff comes out of adversity. I’m real excited about it.

No news yet on what effect this will have on the other Star Trek calendars. We look in fairly safe hands though; Rizzoli's output for this years includes tie-ins such as Buffy, Smallville, and True Blood calendars, as well as more creative subjects such as a zombie calendar, or the glow-in-the-dark lunar calendar.

Complete Voyage Home soundtrack on the way

2011-12-14T12:45:00.000Z

Bringing us another eleventh closer to a full Star Trek movie complete soundtrack collection, Intrada have announced they will shortly be releasing the complete soundtrack from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Almost seventy-three minutes of music include the complete score, the punky "I Hate You" track, plus unused cues such as a new arrangement of the original series theme.

Here's how Intrada describe it:

World premiere release of complete Leonard Rosenman score to all-time classic fourth installment of legendary STAR TREK feature-film franchise, starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, directed by Nimoy. Intrada presentation is part of current ongoing CD restoration series of complete STAR TREK film soundtracks being overseen by Paramount, this one through courtesy of both Paramount, UMG. (Other titles appear on Film Score Monthly, La-La Land labels.) Time travel, whales feature in this particular movie, Rosenman draws inspiration from both in exciting score. Musical ideas are sometimes energetic, exciting, sometimes cerebral, complex. Rosenman even gives thematic attention to Chekov, a franchise rarity! Complete Intrada CD restoration offers full score with previously unreleased cues, versions appearing on 1986 MCA album plus several alternates including Rosenman's unused take on famous Alexander Courage TV theme. Fun to hear Rosenman's own signature brass "pyramid" at climax of Courage's melody! CD even includes wild "I Hate You" by Kirk Thatcher, Mark Mangini that annoys Star Trek crew on San Francsico bus ride. Production by Lukas Kendall, mix & assembly by Mike Matessino plus definitive liner notes by Jeff Bond round out stellar package, itself designed by Joe Sikoryak to comfortably fit in with other STAR TREK feature soundtrack restorations. Leonard Rosenman conducts.

You can see the full track listing, listen to samples, and order your copy, on Intrada's website.

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #3 preview

2011-12-13T20:21:00.000Z

Comic Book Resources has posted a seven page preview of Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #3, which is out this week. The two groups of good-guys finally meet up, and as fans of both series predicted, the meeting of Spock and Brainic 5's minds does not disappoint. Here's the first page:

More pages after the jump:

Trek toy news from DST

2011-12-12T18:31:00.000Z

It's been a long time since we've had any news from Diamond Select Toys about Star Trek stuff; Art Asylum's latest Q and A confirms they're still in the Trek game, and that some of the new products announced a year or two ago are still on the way, as part of a "steady stream" of Trek things in the next couple of years:

Honestly LOTS of Trek work is going on behind the scenes right now, might not be what each fan wants us to do but I expect a decent amount of Trek output from DST over the next couple years.

The answers confirm that the Excelsior class and Klingon Bird-of-Prey ship models are still on the way, plus some new ships being developed with a Japanese company:

YES over the last year we have been working with some Japanese companies on Trek ships and you should all see the results of that soon.

They are also continuing to work on the Klingon disruptor, but it's more behind than the new ships. Re-issues of older ships are also being considered.

Star Trek game screencap

2011-12-11T11:56:00.003Z

Digital Extremes have released a new screenshot from the forthcoming new-movieverse game, which apparently still on track for release next year:

Nice to see they're using the same design of phaser rifle that was recently introduced in the Star Trek ongoing comic.

UPDATE: Giant Bomb has posted several more images, including this cool concept art for a creature encounter in what is labelled the "contagion cavern":

The other images are screenshots, one of which is apparently a Vulcan colony:

Source: Gamersyde via TrekWeb.

24 hours of relaxing Enterprise-D ambience

2011-12-10T23:00:00.002Z

An insane/ingenious trekkie has made a loop of Enterprise-D ambient noise. I wish my laptop sounded more like this than the jet-plane impression it insists on...

Another insane/ingenious trekkie has made it into an mp3 file.

Reddit, via io9.

Trio of new Trek novel blurbs

2011-12-10T18:26:00.004Z

Simon and Schuster have updated their listings with three new blurbs for forthcoming Star Trek books (all of which sounds amazing!):

Typhon Pact: Raise the Dawn

An all-new novel set in the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

After the disastrous events in the Bajoran system, Captain Benjamin Sisko must confront the consequences of the recent choices he has made in his life. At the same time, the United Federation of Planets and its Khitomer Accords allies have come to the brink of war with the Typhon Pact.While factions within the Pact unsuccessfully used the recent gestures of goodwill—the opening of borders and a joint Federation-Romulan exploratory mission—to develop quantum-slipstream drive, they have not given up their goals. Employing a broad range of assets, from Romulus to Cardassia, from Ab-Tzenketh to Bajor, they embark on a dangerous new plan to acquire the technology they need to take control of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. While UFP President Bacco and Romulan Praetor Kamemor work feverishly to reestablish peace, Captains Sisko, Jean-Luc Picard, and Ro Laren stand on the front lines of the conflict...even as a new danger threatens the Bajoran wormhole as it once more becomes a flashpoint of galactic history.

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

Titan: Fallen Gods

The Starship Titan continues on her outward voyage of discovery in this latest exciting novel.

Though the Federation still reels from Andor’s political decision that will forever affect the Federation, Captain William T. Riker and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan are carrying out Starfleet’s renewed commitment to deep space exploration. While continuing to search the Beta Quadrant’s unknown expanses for an ancient civilization’s long-lost quick-terraforming technology—a potential boon to many Borg-ravaged worlds across the Federation and beyond—Titan’s science specialists encounter the planet Ta’ith, home to the remnant of a once-great society that may hold the very secrets they seek. But this questalso takes Titan perilously close to the deadly Vela Pulsar, the galaxy’s most prolific source of lethal radiation, potentially jeopardizing both Titan and what remains of the Ta’ithan civilization. Meanwhile, Riker finds himself on a collision course with theFederation Council and the Andorian government, both of which intend to deprive Titan of its Andorian crewmembers. And one of those Andorians—Lieutenant Pava Ek’Noor sh’Aqabaa—uncovers a terrible danger that has been hiding in plain sight for more than two centuries....

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

Voyager: The Eternal Tide

An all-new novel that continues the epic saga of the Starship Voyager!

As the Voyager fleet continues its exploration of the Delta Quadrant, investigating the current status of sectors formerly controlled by the Borg becomes the fleet’s priority. Two of the fleet’s special mission vessels, Galen and Demeter are left at New Talax to aid Neelix’s people while Voyager, Quirinal, Esquiline, Hawking, and Curie move out to do a systematic search for any remnants of the Borg or Caeliar. Achilles moves to a location central enough to offer aid to the exploring vessels as needed.

As this mission begins, Fleet Commander Afsarah Eden, who has shared what little she knows of her mysterious past with Captain Chakotay, begins to experience several more “awakenings” as she encounters artifacts, people, and places that make her feel connected to her long lost home. She is reluctant to allow these to overshadow her mission, but this becomes increasingly difficult as time passes….

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

Starfleet issue iphones

2011-12-09T20:58:00.004Z

If being a communicator just isn't enough for your iphone, then they're in luck as they can now sign up to Starfleet and don the uniform, thanks to Think Geek's new glitter-infused Starfleet uniform style iphone cases - Or silvery mirror universe case for any evil phones out there:

Think Geek, via TrekToday.

Guide to the Gorn

2011-12-09T00:12:00.003Z

IDW’s reprint of The Gorn Crisis came out this week, and Hollywood Collectables’ new Gorn statue is out too soon. Together with the Gorn’s growing presence in Trek literature, as part of the Typhon Pact, is seems like a good time to celebrate everyone’s favourite Trek reptiles (sorry Xindi).

The Gorn first appeared in 1967 in the first season TOS episode, Arena - A classic TOS morality tale, where what at first seems to be an unprovoked attack from an aggressive alien race, turns out to be a reaction to the Federation unknowingly invading their territory. The rubbery costume, designed by Wah Ming Chang, became an instant icon of Star Trek; perhaps equally loved and ridiculed to this day. That design got a minor update in 2006 when the remastered episode of Arena first aired; adding blinking eyelids to give a bit more life to the otherwise inanimate face.

The Gorn appeared twice more on screen: as a background character in the TAS episode The Time Trap, and more recently in the two-part mirror universe episode of Enterprise, In a Mirror, Darkly. The Enterprise version of the Gorn updated the design, using CGI to make a much more agile creature. This version also removed one of the more unique elements of the design; the metallic compound eyes, replaced with more typical reptilian eyes.

The new CGI Gorn from Enterprise.

A Gorn, or something Gorn inspired at least, almost made it into the new Star Trek movie too, but didn’t make the final cut:

Gorn inspired concept, from Star Trek: The Art of the Film.

But that is of course no end to the Gorn, because like any good Star Trek subject, they have appeared many a time in books, comics, and games.

The aforementioned, The Gorn Crisis, is probably the most intensively Gornish comic. Originally published in hardcover by WildStorm Comics in 2001, it features lavishly painted artwork by Igor Kordey. The story sees the Enterprise-E on a mission to the Gorn homeworld, hoping to enlist the Gorn in the fight against the Dominion, but ending up embroiled in a coup by a military faction.

Earlier Marvel Comics published the Gorn-centric Dying of the Light, one of two stories in the first issue of their Star Trek: Unlimited series. This story sees Kirk and the original Gorn captain from Arena coming face to face again when a Federation anthropologist defiles an ancient Gorn funeral planet.

More recently IDW have gone Gorn with an Alien Spotlight dedicated to the race, seeing yet another misunderstanding with Starfleet on a Gorn planet, this time in the TOS movie era, featuring the pre-Wrath of Kahn crew of the Reliant. The Gorn also appear in the finale of the Burden of Knowledge series, where are a whole army of cloned Gorn face off against other cloned beings.

In Star Trek prose the Gorn are playing a big role in the leading edge of 24th century stories as part of the Federation’s new adversary, the Typhon Pact. Exploring their role in that alliance is, Seize the Fire, featuring a deep space encounter between the Gorn and the USS Titan, and exploration of the various Gorn castes - Some of which have been previously hinted at in other books and comics, but this novel really fleshes it out, and factors in the variety of Gorn physiology seen between TOS and Enterprise.

The Gorn have previously featured in the TNG novel Requiem, which sees Captain Picard lost back in time on Cestus III, the planet the Gorn attacked back in Arena. The Gorn also turned up in the SCE novella Where Time Stands Still, a sequel to the TAS episode they previously appeared in.

In the world of Star Trek games the Gorn featured as major race in the Starfleet Command series. In Star Trek Online the Gorn of the 25th century have become subjects of the Klingon Empire, one of several other species available to play in the Klingon part of the game.

If reading about, or virtual play with, Gorn isn’t enough for you, there are also many Gorn toys to play with. Perhaps most notoriously the first Gorn figure came from Mego; but rather than bother to make something truly Gorny, they recycled the mould from a super hero lizard figure, made it brown, and gave it the costume from their Klingon figure! When DST more recently began making reproductions of the Mego figures, rather than recreate this non-Gorn, they made a whole new Mego-style Gorn figure, which actually looks like a Gorn!

The original and remade Mego Gorns

Plenty of other toy and collectable makers have done their own Gorn since. The best has to be DST’s version, which is superbly sculpted. The original is a bit pricey these days, but there’s a more recent reissue, partnered with battle damaged kirk!

A variety of Gorn figurines: Playmates 5" and 12" toys, DST's version with battle damaged Kirk, The first 3" minimates Gorn and the later 2" version, Funko's Wacky Wobbler and Nodniks Gorn, and the new Hollywood Collectables statue.

And if playing with little Gorns just isn’t enough for you, then you can always be one yourself, with this handy Gorn mask:

Referenced stories: Arena, The Time Trap, In a Mirror, Darkly, The Gorn Crisis, Dying in the Light, Alien Spotlight: Gorn, Burden of Knowledge, Seize the Fire, Requiem, Where Time Stands Still, Starfleet Command, Star Trek Online.
Other sources: Aliens and Artifacts, TrekCore, Memory Alpha, Memory Beta, Star Trek: The Art of the Film, A Piece of the Action, Star Trek Online Wiki.

Amazon.com Widgets

Latest Ships of the Line: Active Duty

2011-12-05T13:40:00.000Z

Doug Drexler has posted his latest Drex TV video, which inlcudes several new Ships of the Line: Active Duty animations; many based on the new ships from the 2012 calendar. Also featured are some behind the scenes videos from DS9 and Enterprise, and a lot of spinning guns:

Ships if the Line 2014(!!!) preview

2011-12-04T19:22:00.001Z

Last month Andy Probert gave a tiny sample of his work on an image for the 2013 Ships of the Line calendar. Well now Doug Drexler has shared a lot more about Probert's image, but also reports it wont be used until the 2014 edition! Probert's new tug design is part of an image he is making depicting the cleanup operation after the Battle of Wolf 359 (cool!). Here's some of the design work:

And what Probert had to tell Drexler about the design:

This whole idea came about when a fan suggested that I design a new Starfleet Deep SpaceTug & Repair Ship for the calendar a couple of years ago. I already was into another idea at the time but started playing around with the idea because it intrigued me. As time went by, I continued to sketch up various concepts but nothing looked quite right. I eventually expanded it’s roll to lifeboat rescue (the four docking ports on top) added a shuttle bay, a mid-hull cargo section, and more clearly defined the ‘service deck’ (flat area on the “bottom”) which incorporates an inverted gravity field within it’s two decks. That allows those working on repairing & servicing smaller ships that have “landed” on that surface to have a ‘heads-up’ orientation to that surface. Incorporating it’s own exterior gravity plates, ships and personal could use it as an Earth-bound strip of tarmac. With flexible side ‘arms’ extending from the sides, that same surface may also be used to store large (or segments of) ships for transport to a repair base. Two tractor beam emitters are mounted at the rear for towing, with cable winches available as tangible backups. Finally, there are the obligatory phaser strips as a security measure.

You can see lots more sketches of the tug on the Drex Files.

UPDATE: A cross section of the tug has been added to the original article, check out the inverted gravity:

Alternate art for Kobayashi Maru

2011-12-04T19:05:00.000Z

Doug Drexler has posted on his blog a variant of his artwork for the cover of the Enterprise novel Kobayashi Maru:

I think this might be the first time this art has been seen in colour; a black and white version was released in early solicitations for the book.

Drexler has also posted his cover art, without the titles, for the more recent/forthcoming books, To Brave the Storm, and Storming Heaven. Both of which were apparently inspired by Frank McCarthy movie posters. Go have a looksie.

Original effects team returns to work on TNG remastered

2011-12-04T18:47:00.001Z

Doug Drexler has announced on his blog that he will be joining others from the original production team of TNG to work on the remastering project, and also gave an insight into the modus operandi of the remastering project:

Tomorrow I start work with Dan Curry, David Takemura, and Mike and Denise Okuda on the Star Trek: The Next Generation Remastered.

You heard right, this time around Paramount is bringing in a team that lived TNG as it happened. Dan, as I’m sure you know, was the visual effects supervisor on Next Gen. Unlike the remastering of TOS, this job will be 100% true to the original. Visual effects shots will not be reinvented, pulling you out of the show. What’s about to happen is truly extraordinary. The studio has saved all the original footage, and VFX elements from the good old days.. We will be recompositing them, and then outputting them in high definition. Here and there, elements have been lost, and we will recreate only those missing pieces, and with this promise: aside from looking like you had your windshield cleaned, you won’t know the difference. Star Trek:The Next Generation is Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, it is culturally significant, and we will rejuvenate the show with curatorial eyes only. Paramount Picture deserves a round of applause, and I can’t wait to dig in with my friends.

This echoes Mike Okuda’s recent comments in response to readers of his blog when he posted about TNG remastered:

The good folks at CBS are working very hard to make their work fit in with the original versions, except sharper and clearer. Very occasionally there are a few small aspects (like the green planet in "Sins of the Father," shown above) that are tweaked a little for HD. We don't doubt that sharp-eyed fans (and VFX professionals) will notice some differences, but for the most part, the idea is for CBS to re-create HD versions of the effects that everyone has been so familiar with for so many years.

TrekCore meanwhile have added a new comparison feature for the footage so far released, demonstrating what a remarkable improvement is being made. Go check it out.

Starfleet issue dressing gowns, now for girls.

2011-12-04T10:41:00.000Z

Remember those Starfleet-styled dressing gowns? Well Kirk's gold and Spock's blue have now been joined by Uhura's red, in a specially shorter cut version for female Starfleet officers to lounge about in:

Here's how Amazon describe it:

Beam me up, Scotty: You don't have to work aboard the Starship Enterprise to enjoy the comfort of this high quality robe, designed to resemble the classic red uniform of Lt. Nyota Uhura. The robe is made from soft, warm microfleece and has a stitched badge on the front, two pockets, and a wrap around belt. Shorter than our other Star Trek robes, designed for a more flattering look for the ladies. One size fits most. Officially licensed.

News blurbs for Storming Heaven and Plagues of Night

2011-12-04T07:33:00.006Z

Simon and Schuster have updated their listing for the next, and final, Vanguard novel, Storm Heaven, by David Mack. UPDATE: David Mack has tweeted me to point out this is not the blurb for Storming Heaven, but a re-use of and early one for Declassified (albeit with a misleading sentence plonked in front). So hopefully something less generic will be forthcoming in the future:

~~The final novel in the acclaimed Vanguard saga, based on Star Trek: The Original Series!~~

Secret operations, sealed orders, high-risk military special operations—such dangerous missions have been at the core of the Star Trek Vanguard series since its inception. Four great nations—the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Tholian Assembly, and the Romulan Star Empire—have all taken tremendous risks in their race to learn and control the technologies of the ancient interstellar hegemons known as the Shedai. Now get ready for the mystery of the Taurus Reach to be revealed….

They have also added a blurb to their online catalogue listing for the next Typhon Pact book, and part one of David R. George III's new duology, Plagues of Night:

In the wake of the final Borg invasion, which destroyed entire worlds, cost the lives of sixty-three billion people, and struck a crippling blow to Starfleet, six nations adversarial to the United Federation of Planets—the Romulan Star Empire, the Breen Confederacy, the Tholian Assembly, the Gorn Hegemony, the Tzenkethi Coalition, and the Holy Order of the Kinshaya—joined ranks to form the Typhon Pact. For almost three years, the Federation and the Klingon Empire, allied under the Khitomer Accords, have contended with the nascent coalition on a predominantly cold-war footing. But as Starfleet rebuilds itself, factions within the Typhon Pact grow restive, concerned about their own inability to develop a quantum slipstream drive to match that of the Federation. Will leaders such as UFP President Bacco and RSE Praetor Kamemor bring about a lasting peace across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, or will the cold war between the two alliances deepen, and perhaps even lead to an all-out shooting war?

First hints at new stories coming in Star Trek ongoing

2011-12-02T07:24:00.001Z

Comic Book Resources has posted an interview with Star Trek ongoing writer Mike Johnson. He talks about the differences between the original TOS and his new versions of episodes, and how the artists have had to come up with new rooms on the Enterprise not seen in the movie. He also talks about what's coming up in the series, and it's not just reimagining episodes:

It starts similar to the scope of the original series and gets bigger as we go. Think of the old "butterfly and the hurricane" analogy. Things start off relatively similar to how they did in the Gary Mitchell story, only to evolve in scope to the point that we get to the first big, original comic story, post-movie, which involves the Vulcan response to the apparent Romulan responsibility for the Vulcan homeworld's destruction.

Now that's more like it! He also talks about how the series might work around the next movie:

The great thing about working with Bob and being privy to the development of the next movie is that we can really tie everything together in the same way we did with the "Countdown" prequel miniseries for the last movie. Plans are in the works for a similar prequel to the next movie. If we're lucky enough to continue the comic series after the next movie, we would definitely want to show the effects of the film on the crew in the comics.

And in the near term, a bit about the Galileo Seven story (part one of which came out this week):

"Star Trek" #3 and #4 are based on "The Galileo 7," which is a dramatic look at how Spock deals with the responsibilities of command, with the added twist that in this new timeline he was technically captain of the Enterprise for a short time as seen in the movie. We'll explore how he feels about adjusting to the role of XO.

New Star Trek jewelry

2011-12-02T07:04:00.002Z

StarTrek.com has announced a new range of Star Trek jewelry available exclusively from Amazon. Designer Udi Behr had this to say about the range:

Star Trek is an icon in American culture, and I tried to create a line of jewelry that will not only speak to the Star Trek fan community, but that will also serve as a great ambassador to an audience that is not familiar with the franchise.

Available are rings, necklaces, and bracelets. Here are a few highlights:

You can see the entire range, on Amazon.

Star Trek Online launches season five

2011-12-02T06:28:00.000Z

Star Trek Online's fifth big update, Season Five: Call to Arms, has now launched. The new features include:

Duty Officer System - A new way to build, train, and trade your starship's crew.
The Borg Advancement - New Borg invasion missions.
Klingon Gameplay Updates - Updated gameplay for Klingons.
Skills Revamp - Options to test your chosen skills areas and ship specs.
Mission Revamp - A new way to find episodic content and get straight into the action.
Lore Missions - New STO history based missions.
Economy Restructuring - Various in-game currencies have been streamlined into the trade of dilithium.

Full details can be found on Cryptic's announcement. To celebrate the launch they have also made two ships available for free form the Cryptic store:

USS Enterprise

Klingon Qorgh class refit

The Qorgh Raptor Class that has served the Empire so well in battle has been updated with new technology for the 25th century battlefield. The SuQob Raptor comes equipped with a Bio-Neural Warhead. This unique weapon allows you to launch a heavily armored tricobalt explosive equipped with shields and a point defense system that is piloted by an onboard bio-neural artificial intelligence. This warhead will deal massive damage to a target if it reaches its destination. The Bio-Neural Warhead can be equipped in console slot on any Raptor, Bird-of-Prey Raider or Destroyer.

Want a Crucible poster? Tell Cross Cult

2011-12-02T06:02:00.000Z

Cross Cult, who are just about to publish their German translations of the Crucible trilogy, have floated the idea of producing a poster of the cover art from the trilogy.

So if you like that idea, go tell them so on their Facebook page. They're thinking about €10, plus postage, pending CBS approval.

Loads of new Klingon ships for STO

2011-12-02T05:47:00.002Z

Cryptic have gone a bit Klingon crazy with a mass ship launch on the Star Trek Online Cryptic Store. My favourite is the intimidating four-winged Ning'tao class:

A significant improvement over the standard Norgh Class Raider, the Ning'tao Class was built with a split-wing design to accommodate its Quad Disruptor Cannons. The most powerful cannons ever developed by the Klingon Defense Force, the Quad Disruptor Cannons draw energy from the ship's engines to deal massive amounts of damage to an enemy.

You can see many more Klingon, Gorn, Orion, Nausicaan, and even a couple of Federation ships, after the jump:

Klingon Ch'Tang class

General Martok commanded the I.K.S. Ch'Tang during his raid on Trelka V in 2375, during which a small force destroyed a Dominion starbase. This ship class honors that ship and its crew. The Ch'Tang class comes equipped with a Subspace Jump Console which allows the ship to make a quick warp hop and appear behind its target. The Subspace Jump console may be equipped in any console slot on any Bird-of-Prey or Science Vessel.

Orion Corsair class flight-deck cruiser

The Orion contribution to the KDF fleet is their Flight Deck Cruisers, a hybrid cruiser/light carrier. The Corsair has one hangar bay that can launch small ships or drones and comes equipped with Tachyon Drones. These drones advance on a target and then fire a tachyon beam to drain its shields.

Orion Dacoit class flight-deck cruiser

The Orion Dacoit Flight Deck Cruiser is a hybrid cruiser/light carrier. It has one hangar bay that can launch small ships or drones and comes equipped with Orion Interceptors. These small fighters have disruptor pulse cannons and can drain weapon and engine power from your target.

Nausicaan Scourge class destroyer

The Nausicaan Scourge Destroyer is as ruthless as it is elegant. The Scourge comes equipped with a Theta Radiation Vent Console. This unique console allows the ship to vent a large Theta Radiation cloud behind it that will slow enemy ships that pass through it as well as draining their shields and killing crew.

Nausicaan Vandal class destroyer

Nausicaan ship designs focus on strength and firepower. The Nausicaan Vandal Destroyer is a small but powerful ship that comes equipped with a Plasmonic Leech Console. This unique console enhances all of your energy weapons so that they will drain power from an enemy target and transfer that power to your ship.

Gorn Draguas class support vessel

Gorn starship designers are pushing forward KDF technology with new vessels designed to support a team or fleet in combat. This Gorn-designed vessel features an Aceton Assimilator Console which drains nearby enemies' power systems and damages them with a radiation attack. The Aceton Assimilator may be equipped in any console slot of any Science Vessel or Bird-of-Prey Raider.

Gorn Phalanx class science vessel

The capabilities of Gorn Science Vessels continue to impress the Klingon Defense Force. The Gorn Phalanx Science Vessel boasts advanced sensor technology on par with the best Starfleet has to offer. It also comes equipped with a Barrier Field Generator Console that can generate an energy barrier between your ship and a target which can be used defensively as cover. The Barrier Field Generator can be equipped in any console slot on any Science Vessel or Bird-of-Prey Raider.

Federation Sao Paulo class

The original Defiant, commanded by Captain Benjamin Sisko, was on the front lines during the Dominion War. When it was lost to the Breen at the Second Battle of Chin'toka, Starfleet assigned the U.S.S. Sao Paulo to Deep Space Nine, but gave Sisko and his crew permission to rename the ship to Defiant.

Almost 35 years later Starfleet has launched the Tactical Escort Refit: Sao Paulo Class in honor of that ship. This vessel comes equipped with Quad Phaser Cannons. This fearsome energy weapon draws power from the ship's engines to deal massive damage to an enemy. The Quad Phaser Cannons scale in effectiveness with your Rank and Grade, and may be equipped on any Escort or the Dreadnought Cruiser.

I also spotted a an older additions I apparently missed before:

Federation long range science vessel Intrepid class retrofit

The Intrepid class ship U.S.S. Voyager, commanded by Kathryn Janeway, was lost for seven years in the Delta Quadrant.

This ship comes equipped with an Ablative Generator Console. When active, the console surrounds your ship in ablative armor, making your vessel almost impenetrable but taking shields and energy weapons offline.

The title of David R. George III's duology, chapter the sixth

2011-11-29T21:26:00.001Z

The Simon and Schuster website has been updated with yet another title variation for David R. George's forthcoming 24th century duology. Plagues of Night and Raise the Dawn are now both listed under the Typhon Pact series title. ~~Could these be, finally, the actual titles?~~ Mr George himself has confirmed (on Facebook) this is indeed, at last, the final title for his books which pick up where the first Typhon Pact books left off.

Star Trek Book of Opposites, out again?

2011-11-29T20:27:00.001Z

I swear the Star Trek Book of Opposites has been out since September, yet for some reason there's suddenly a lot of release buzz about it, and Amazon now says it was published this month. Said coverage includes an interview with the author, David Borgenicht, on StarTrek.com, where he had this to say:

I started just by looking at the world of opposites and synonyms and antonyms. I made a long list of opposites. Then I did some initial development on the concept, to see how much Star Trek imagery there was out there that I could associate with those words, just to prove the idea. Eventually, when we did the deal with CBS for the license, we worked with great people at the archive, who provided us with access to dozens of different Star Trek images.

I also think Book of Opposites is entertaining and visually arresting enough to work for any kid, whether or not you know the show. Parents who buy it for their kids really may be buying it for themselves, to read and to be read to. If this book had existed when my kids were babies, I absolutely would have bought it and read it to them. My kids are a little too old now for a book of opposites, but they’re not too old to appreciate the show and the humor and the show's place in pop-culture history.

Promoting the book, Borgenicht has also done a nice article for the Huffington Post, where he lists the "7 Life Lessons You Can Learn From 'Star Trek'".

And I'm happy to add to this buzz, because this is such a cute idea for a Trek book (hoping to get my copy for christmas).

Star Trek (ongoing) #3 preview

2011-11-29T15:08:00.001Z

Comics Continuum have posted previews of this week's IDW comics, which include the third issue of ongoing Star Trek series - Which is part one of the new timeline version of The Galileo Seven. Here are the first seven pages of that book (five after the jump); read on for the first view of new timeline Rand!