Static Thoughts - In A Mirror Darkly

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It seems these days that alternate realities and parallel universes are everywhere.  That’s actually kind of to be expected as nerdy media becomes more and more of a dominant genre.  Back in the day geek material struggled for mainstream relevance unless it stripped out as many of its big ideas as possible but these days people are making movies and shows out of Ant-Man and Dr. Strange.  As such, digging into more complicated ideas like the Multiverse, pocket universes, or altered continuity are becoming more and more widespread. 

The Flash has really embraced this idea with the Multiverse and Flashpoint, Legends of Tomorrow had its own altered universe episode, Stranger Things was built on a dimensional foundation, and Agents of SHIELD has found serious success with an altered continuity story set in a world where the bad guys won called ‘Agents of Hydra.’  As I’m eager to capitalize on this trend I thought I’d look back at hands down my favorite altered reality story, coming to us from the most hated Star Trek series of them all Star Trek: Enterprise- this is ‘In A Mirror Darkly.’

Static Thoughts - Star Trek 'Patterns of Force'

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So, the current mega-event that’s set to dominate comic book stores from Marvel this summer is one Secret Empire.  I don’t want to get too bogged down in the details because the discussion surrounding this event is more toxic than a nuclear spill, largely because the core of the series is all about Nazis and Nazi collaborators.  There’s been a lot of back and forth about this from the top minds on the Internet, but the whole thing got me thinking about one of the stranger corners of the Star Trek universe. 

I’m speaking of course about ‘Patterns of Force,’ a season 2 episode of the original series that famously featured a planet of alien Nazis and when I say “alien Nazis” I mean that quite literally.  The episode set Spock and Kirk against a mysterious humanoid species out in space that sported a direct copy of the Nazi regime from Earth.  It’s a weird mystery episode that’s always held an odd place in Trek canon, with particular scenes coming to be definitive of the TOS era in our collective memory while the rest has become banished to obscurity. 

Cover Story - Top 15 Star Trek Covers

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So, today’s the day, the release of Star Trek Beyond.  I’ll have already seen it by the time this article goes up but for now consider me psyched, especially because a lot of people I trust are telling me it’s great.  For now, though, I thought we’d celebrate Star Trek one more time before the new film’s release as, after all, this is the 50^th anniversary of the series; that’s worth doing something special.  

So, I dug through dozens of old issues to bring you the top 15 Star Trek covers from across the multitude of Trek comics that have been published over the years.  For this list, I’m sticking to covers featuring the original series crew, but there’s still a lot to get to so, let’s dive into the shallow end and get the cover story on the top 15 Star Trek comic covers. 

Week in Review - Star Trek TOS Episode Guide

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Edited by Robert Beach

A week from today we’ll be seeing the latest entry in the Star Trek franchise. Normally this wouldn’t be that big deal. After all, Star Trek hasn’t been relevant since Star Trek: First Contact. However, this is also the 50^th anniversary of Star Trek as a franchise and the beginning of our movement towards a new Star Trek show in the real Star Trek continuity run by Bryan Fuller. That makes this a bigger deal, even if Star Trek Beyond only looks decent as opposed to “50^th anniversary special” good. 

Then again, we’ve had a ton of big anniversaries lately, and it’s not as if the celebrations for Batman, Superman, Doctor Who, or Wonder Woman were all that much more impressive. For the next seven days, I celebrate Star Trek across its history starting with the one that started it all: the original series. Rather than a full review of the show (which wouldn’t fit the show’s format), this is an episode guide. I’ll mainly be looking at the mythos episodes; the ones that make up the core of the original series along with a recommendation on whether or not they’re worth watching.

 

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 #47 Review

I follow up on my review of Star Trek #46 this week by taking a look at the incredible alienating conclusion to this reimagining of the Tholian Web, hosted on Front Towards Gamer http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/07/25/star-trek-47-review-comics/

Star Trek/Green Lantern #1 Review

Star Trek/Green Lantern kicks off this month with the first installment of Spectrum War, pairing together Geoff Johns full universe of Lantern Corps with the rebooted Star Trek continuity.  Check out my full review over at Front Towards Gamer.

http://ftg.operationsupplydrop.org/2015/07/10/star-trekgreen-lantern-1-review-comics/