Cover Story - Top 12 Star Trek: The Next Generation Covers

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And so we come to year two of the Star Trek celebration.  If you haven’t been following along, 2016 was the 50^th anniversary of Star Trek’s first airing, an event I celebrate with a whole bunch of articles.  2017 marks both the 30^th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the premiere of the all-new ongoing series Star Trek: Discovery.   

As both of those events are in the upcoming week I’ve elected to honor them the only way I know how: a deep dive into cover art.  I already dedicated a whole Cover Story to Star Trek covers last year but the great thing about Star Trek is they keep giving you options so while last year I looked at Original Series related covers this year will be Next Generation related covers.  Presumably, come 2021 we’ll mark Enterprise’s anniversary the same way- assuming we make it that far.  And on that oh so cheerful note let’s dive into the top 12 Next Generation comic covers.

Star Trek Discovery Trailer Breakdown

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As I write this, it’s been a little over 10 years since Star Trek disappeared from our TV screens.  In that time, the franchise and the cultural landscape it inhabits have undergone a serious change.  The franchise got reinvented as a slick action vehicle 2009, which is only now starting to find a genuine identity in the likes of Star Trek Beyond.  Meanwhile, the TV landscape has been completely transformed by material like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Supergirl, Mad Men, American Horror Story, and countless others. 

Outside the realms of TV, technology is quickly advancing on the heels of Star Trek through VR and 3D printers, while also growing into directions the shows couldn’t have imagined such as social media or streaming video.  Meanwhile, on the political scale, the world is gripped by the tendrils of xenophobia and fascism as the gap between wealthy and poor grows ever wider.  Suffice it to say, it’s a different world now than it was 10 years ago and one that needs a different Star Trek and, this fall, CBS is going to give it to us with Star Trek Discovery. 

Star Trek: Discovery Trailer & Logo Revealed, Setting Speculation

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Edited by Robert Beach 

Over 11 years ago, Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air and ended the era of Trek on TV. Even though the franchise would be rescued from oblivion four years later with the J.J. Abrams reboot series, Star Trek as a sci-fi series of genuine renown, import, and intelligence wouldn’t reassert itself till this year.  

Thanks to a double barrel strategy, Star Trek has marked its 50^th anniversary with a major return to prominence thanks to a quality movie and an upcoming new TV show helmed by Hannibal show runner Bryan Fuller.  

Now, we’ve finally got a title and imagery. The first short teaser for the new series debuts the lead ship and gives some cryptic clues about the setting. So let’s dive into our first major look at Star Trek: Discovery. 

Week of Review - Why I Love Voyager

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As I continue to celebrate Star Trek’s 50^th anniversary and the release of the new film, we come now to Star Trek: Voyager.  This is the series where most hardcore Trek fans consider the franchise to have stumbled, citing Voyager and Enterprise, along with the last 2 TNG films, as the collapse of the franchise in its final years before the reboot.  Personally I can’t say I agree with that. 

Certainly, the two final films of the TNG series are awful but having gone through all of Voyager and Enterprise they are not bad Star Trek, in fact I’d rank them well above Next Generation and, most pertinent to this conversation, I’d actually say Voyager is my favorite Star Trek show of the entire franchise.  Not necessarily the best, that’s probably still reserved for Deep Space 9 or the original series, but definitely the one I liked the most, the one I tend to revisit most often, and the big reason for that is, bizarrely, that everyone on the ship seems like horrible people. 

Week of Review - Top 12 Next Generation Episodes

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It’s day 3 of the countdown till Star Trek Beyond and I’ve moved on to looking at the third Star Trek show: The Next Generation.  Launching in 1989, Star Trek: The Next Generation revitalized the franchise and really changed how nerd properties were perpetuated.  Previously, every iteration of Trek had come with the same characters; it was always Kirk, always Spock, always McCoy.  Now, for the first time, there was a new series with the Star Trek name but no returning heroes, a new crew with a new status quo and new dangers. 

This is the show that would launch Star Trek’s renaissance, eventually leading to two spin-off shows and a full series of movies all its own.  The ‘90s was the decade of Star Trek and this show is the reason why.  As befits such a monumental series, I’m celebrating it here with a top 12 list as, even though the show is really good, its quality is much more limited to characters and short episodes than an overarching kind of quality in the vein of Deep Space Nine or Voyager. 

Sulu to Be Gay in Star Trek Beyond

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Edited by Robert Beach

As we continue our drive towards the release of Star Trek Beyond, Paramount continues to worry over whether or not they’ll have another viable franchise beyond Transformers.  In addition to that, or possibly because of it, the people behind Star Trek Beyond are ramping up the build up to it, and their latest bid for audience attention in a summer that’s been notoriously lacking in it is announcing that Hikaru Sulu is gay in the new film.  The framing of the statement is a little strange, but that’s the big news, that Star Trek Beyond will feature a scene confirming original crewmember and helmsman Sulu is gay.  Apparently, this comes with a lot of fallout and lot to go over what this means.

 

Star Trek Beyond News Round-Up

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Edited by Robert Beach

Each summer season brings its own crop of questions for the blockbuster season. This year, we had questions like “can WB finally get its act together to make good movie?” (so far: no); “can Marvel produce a movie that’s part solo outing and part Avengers flick and have it work?” (yes) “is there enough ‘90s nostalgia for a new Independence Day? (a definite no)”

One of the few questions still looming over the season is whether or not Paramount’s Star Trek franchise can finally escape the ghetto of directionless mediocrity it’s been stranded in since the 2009 reboot. After Star Trek Into Darkness’s underperformed and lackluster audience response, the “Paramount” forces brought in Justin Lin to try and revive the Trek magic and bring the series back to the dynamite franchise it was 20 years ago. That attempt is Star Trek Beyond, and it’s coming later this month. Let’s see what we know. 

Star Trek Beyond Trailer

In case my various previous articles weren’t enough of an indicator I am a massive and unapologetic Star Trek fan.  I was first introduced to the franchise through the serviceable if not terribly great 2009 reboot movie but since then I’ve made my way through all the films, nearly all the shows (still not done with Enterprise,) Star Trek: Online, and several interesting EU novels.  However, being a fan is a double edged sword because it means I’ve developed a sense of what I want Star Trek to be, a definition informed more by my own personal likes and ideas about the various series rather than strict adherence to canon.  For instance, I think Star Trek should be driven by character drama and emotion above all else but that doesn’t change the fact the original series was predominately informed by setting up occasions for flights of insanity, wrestling, sword fights, and laser battles. 

So going into the trailer for Star Trek Beyond I’m more than a little hesitant to jump on the proclamations of whether this IS or ISN’T Star Trek.  After all, my own definitions of what Star Trek IS have changed significantly over my time as a fan so it’s not like there’s a hard and firm definition and at the same time the question of definition is ultimately secondary to the question of quality.  So, while I will talk about the Trekkiness of this trailer eventually for now my question is; is it any good, to which the answer is a resounding “not really.”

Assassin's Creed Film Doing Genetic Memories

Edited by Robert Beach 

Why is it so many video game films seem to purposely make terrible decisions in the adaptation process?  Even with junkie games like Assassin’s Creed, where the concept should be impossible to screw up, studios seem to have found a way. I’m a hardcore Assassin’s Creed fan and was looking forward to the upcoming film for a lot of reasons. Though the games have a lot of flaws, their aesthetics and style of action are definitely worth bringing to the big screen and would provide a unique visual spectacle that wouldn’t end up just ripping off a more popular work.
   

What’s more, Michael Fassbender is signed up for the lead role, and he’s an amazing actor that I actually am a major fan of. He’s a major fan of the games, so one could assume that the visual ethos and thrilling par core action would remain intact through the translation process. Even this first promotional picture is pretty awesome, a solid reinterpretation of the assassin gear for the 15^th century. Where is it all going wrong?  Two words: genetic memory.