Star Trek RIP, Part 2

[Narrator:] Last time on Exfanding Your Horizons...

[Begin montage of clips from yesterday's post]

"All the trailers I saw for this new Star Trek movie looked exciting. Everybody who saw them became instantly excited about the impending release of this film....Everybody but me. I was upset. I was nervous and upset."

"'It looks amazing,'" I said, with utter sincerity, 'but it's not Star Trek.'"

"Next Generation defined what Star Trek is for me, and no other fandom--not even Mega Man--is closer to my heart."

"All I asked for was just one more movie--heck, one more episode--that would truly do justice to the Next Generation crew and, for the sake of Worf, bring them the same honor that Kirk and his crew enjoyed."

"Instead....EVERYTHING was thrown out so that James T. Kirk--not Jean-Luc Picard--could have one more adventure with his ship and crew without worrying about pesky things such as logic, continuity, or the age of the actors..."

"They ruined everything....And I really enjoyed the movie."

"I am not....ablaze...."

"The four-issue comic series series Star Trek: Countdown....made everything okay. Well, almost everything."

[End montage]

[Narrator:] And now, the conclusion.


On a whim, I picked up Star Trek: Countdown. Considering it was the official prequel to the new Star Trek film (from the same people who did the story for the movie, no less), I figured I might eventually get around to reading it if I liked the movie even a smidgen, and the potential explosive popularity of the film meant there was a very good chance I'd never see Countdown on the shelves again (what with those speculators who routinely buy their weight in Obama Spider-Man comics), so it was in my best interest to buy now rather than never.

I put Countdown on my shelf and forgot about it for a little while, but as I kept hearing more of these little tidbits about the new Star Trek movie (unavoidable if you go anywhere near the Internet), it started to sound like the movie would be a flat-out reboot with little or no connection to any other Trek. Yet, Picard and Data and Spock are on the cover of the trade paperback, so there clearly was some connection. I got the distinct feeling I'd be missing something if I went into the movie without reading Countdown first.

I cannot emphasize how critical it was for me to read Star Trek: Countdown before seeing the film. In just under 100 pages, Countdown told a great story that felt like Star Trek; it gave me hope that the writers would handle the new movie with respect; it provided a feasible (as far as Star Trek goes) reason for a franchise reboot that actually fit into Star Trek continuity; it atoned for many of the sins of Nemesis and legitimated the film's existence; and it provided the closure on the Next Generation series that I desperately needed.

At long last, I was at peace.

Almost.

[Cue main title sequence and theme song. Add "Now celebrating 6000 hits" in smaller font below the Exfanding Your Horizons logo.]

Countdown also gave me a sneak peek at some things I might not like about the new movie. If the comic was any indication, the film would probably be a little edger than I'd prefer, there were guaranteed to be one or two catastrophes you could see coming a mile away that would serve only to elicit an emotional reaction; some of the character interactions might feel just a tad off, there might be a push for more "average" characters (you know, like us not-futuristic modern-day folks), and there very well might be a Joss Whedon "WHY JOSS WHY???" moment when you least expect it, if you know what I mean. (That part came incredibly close to ruining Countdown for me.)

Regardless, I had gotten what I needed out of Countdown: finally, Next Generation had received a proper burial, and my fears and misgivings about the new Star Trek had been dulled to the point where I was honestly looking forward to seeing it.

Not bad for some rinky-dink four-issue comic I picked up on a whim.

Countdown also ended up being invaluable in the way that reading Watchmen before watching Watchmen is invaluable: the plot of the new Star Trek film isn't fully explained until about halfway through the movie, and even then there's a lot of basics that, bafflingly, only Countdown covers. To its credit, there is one section in the movie where Spock explains in very plain terms to Kirk (though it's obviously for the benefit of the audience) that everything about the old Star Trek has been thrown out and anything can happen in the new Star Trek because they just rebooted the franchise.

I think Spock's exact quote included the words, "rebooted the franchise," but I'm not sure.

Star Trek already had something very positive going for it: we saw it in IMAX. And let me tell you, when those phasers started blazing and those ships started zooming by, I was in tears. Tears of joy. I was watching Star Trek on the big screen again. The BIG screen. And, for a short while, I was in geek ecstasy. Even when things started happening that were very obviously to elicit an emotional reaction (and you could see them coming from a mile away), I still didn't care: I was watching Star Trek on the big screen again.

Then came the fluff.

You know how sometimes the characters in a musical spontaneously start singing something that has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, and then their song ends and the plot suddenly resumes? That's how it was with Star Trek, except without the singing.

The fun of Star Trek--for me, at least--has always been in the action sequences and the banter between characters and all that good stuff. However, when somebody accidentally got stuck inside a tube filled with fast-moving liquid, or when big monsters appeared out of nowhere and tried to eat someone, there was this tangible sense that it was somebody's job to come up with scenes the masses might consider "fun" and shove them in whenever the talking had been going on too long and the next fight sequence was too far away.

Now, I'm torn. I really enjoyed one or two of these "fun" scenes, and even the ones I wasn't as keen on were still tolerable enough... but I couldn't figure out what they were doing in my Star Trek movie. These scenes felt vaguely like the humorous sequences that were forced into the Star Wars prequels (you know; "Meesa Jar-Jar Binks!" Hahaha! This creature is inherently hilarious!), except Star Trek, while still silly, felt like "silliness for all ages" instead of "silliness for kids."

Oh, and as far as Jar-Jar Binks is concerned, there's an incredibly minor character whose only function is to attempt to be weak comic relief (and possibly to demonstrate that very short aliens don't just exist in Star Wars), and this alien is quickly shaping up to be Scotty's sidekick.

::sigh::

I'm not knocking the actor who played the alien, though. In fact, I have mostly positive things to say about all the actors. Now, I could be excruciatingly persnickety and whine that the casting wasn't absolutely perfect for every single character, but when you consider that these young'uns were trying to interpret these characters for themselves while still emulating the actors who are now inseparable from the characters, I think they did a fine job.

For the most part.

Over the course of the film, Chris Pine managed to develop Kirk from a brash and reckless hooligan to a brash and reckless starship captain, and though the difference is subtle, it made the movie that much more enjoyable to watch that development. But as far as characters go, Spock was without a doubt the reason to watch this movie. Regardless of whether or not the events of this new movie resemble the untold backstory of the old Star Trek, watching Spock manage his dual heritage in several different periods of his life was something I had always wished to see more of in TOS, so this movie made Spock that much deeper for me.

I have nothing but praise for Anton Yelchin, who not only looked and acted like a young Chekov but pulled off the accent impeccably. I've heard his accent described as annoying, but consider that Koenig's Chekov rarely had a chance to string more than two sentences together before somebody else had a chance to start talking before the accent could become grating. So there.

I'm now officially a fan of anything Bruce Greenwood does, and I was pleased and surprised to find out that he was not only in this film but also that he was playing Captain Christopher Pike. Brilliant.

Sulu was good (Sulu's probably the hardest character to emulate because he's probably the most average); Scotty was good but just a little more Simon Pegg than Scotty; Karl Urban didn't consistently feel like McCoy to me (mostly because of the sound of his voice, though he nailed the speech patterns), but there were several moments where I swear it was DeForest Kelley speaking. Sarek didn't do much for me, Kirk's father was great, Eric Banana made a good "down-to-earth" villain (although I missed the snotty, posturing Romulan bad guys), and I don't have much to say about anybody else, either way.

Except for Uhura. The Uhura I remember wasn't such a floozie. She felt more like a Mirror Universe Uhura than a young Uhura whose past theoretically shouldn't have been altered all that much by the events of the film.

Now, let's see... am I forgetting anybody...?

(Yes, of course I am.)

Spock Prime! (As he's referred to in the credits.) Just as McCoy passed the torch to Next Generation in its first episode, just as Kirk passed the torch to Picard in Generations, just as every new Star Trek has had at least one character from a previous Star Trek grant their blessing on the new direction of the franchise, Leonard Nimoy returns as Spock to do the same. I don't know exactly how Nimoy felt about the new actors or the new Star Trek, but it's clear that he enjoys wearing those ears again.

The appearance and significant involvement of the original (and, arguably, the only) Spock was almost as important as Countdown in subduing my fanboy rage. Even if he showed up only to lure longtime fans back to the theater, the illusion that they cared about the integrity of the franchise made a difference to me.

Truthfully, Star Trek made a great deal of effort to honor the original TV show and movies. All the characters' most famous lines and catch phrases are spoken at some point (a few times they feel a little shoehorned in, but you can tell they were trying), and there were references here and there to things that only longtime fans would be able to identify. There's a fine line between honoring the memory of something and pulling in nostalgia to superficially improve the quality of something, and I think Star Trek made its best effort to do the former.

Of course, the original Star Trek got virtually all the attention. Unless I really wasn't watching hard enough. But I guess that was to be expected.

As far as modernizing the look of the Enterprise goes... whatever. It's tough to work around the retro look of the original Enterprise, and there's no reason for them to stick with the old design if they're throwing out continuity anyhow. It looks futuristic enough, but it lacks the same design aesthetic of every Starfleet ship ever made.

And, concerning Kirk driving a vintage car bearing blatant Nokia ad placement: I could have done without that. It was a fluff scene that had already been shown almost in its entirety during the movie trailers, so the surprise of that little rabblerouser at the wheel being James T. Kirk wasn't a surprise at all, and I was able to relate to Kirk just fine before he started driving a car. (Hey! I drive a car, too! Suddenly I can connect with this character!)

I dunno... maybe it was necessary for the uninitiated to learn that Kirk is a bit of a troublemaker, but I already knew the characters well enough that I soon grew weary of the introductions that didn't really add anything new to the characters.

Once it finally got going, Star Trek did have moments that felt like Star Trek. The punchline to Captain Pike's pep talk with Kirk in the bar was thought-provoking (something to the effect of, "Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes and he saved forty bajillion lives. Let's see if you can do any better.") and the prejudices of the Vulcans and other "thinky" things were right in line with what I was accustomed to.

The space battles took me back to First Contact and other times where everything was exploding from everywhere. The numerous fistfights felt just like I was watching TOS again. The Romulans and their ship would have fit right into another Next Generation movie. The dialogue had some good humor woven throughout, as well. So much was right with this movie.

But so much was different. The "thinkiness" didn't last. That occasional Star Wars vibe that arose with the new aliens and a few of the action sequences and some of the detours into the territory of needless fun. The relationships of some of the characters (all of which have to do with Uhura)... and the total lack of relationships between others. The highly predictable moments of forced emotional reactions. Scotty's new sidekick. The look and feel of the Enterprise. The different brand of villain. And a completely new cast of actors who, as someone pointed out to me, will never need to worry about finding a job again for the rest of their lives.

The verdict? The movie was amazing... but it wasn't Star Trek. Between Countdown, Nimoy, and the references to the old Trek, the movie proved that it still cared about the diehard, traditionalist fans (or was at least trying to appease them a little). Yet, I refuse to believe that this reboot was necessary. They could have hired the exact same cast, given them different names, and kept the fancy-pants ship designs, and it would have worked perfectly in the old Star Trek continuity.

But, no, they've charted a course for mainstream sci-fi, or at the very least, a little more mainstream than Star Trek has ever successfully been. They're free to do whatever they want with the franchise, and you know what?

I don't care what they do with it.

The Star Trek I know has been laid to rest. I watched it slowly die over the past several years, and I had already said my goodbyes. Countdown was the silver lining. Star Trek (the film) is in a different continuity altogether. As a fan of the old continuity, I am under no contractual obligation to like the new continuity, just as I don't need to like Ultimate Spider-Man if I'm a fan of The Amazing Spider-Man.

I'll watch the next Star Trek movie, and I might even enjoy it, but I won't get upset if Scotty turns traitor and blows up the ship, killing Sulu and forcing Kirk and Spock into a romantic love triangle with Uhura. It's an alternate universe, for alternate fans. And it just doesn't have the same appeal to me.

Boldy go, Star Trek. Maybe I'll catch up with you later.


[Countdown cover from memory-alpha.org. Countdown sample from www.iesb.net. Overly huge movie stills from www.startrekmovie.com.]

Star Trek RIP, Part 1

All the trailers I saw for this new Star Trek movie looked exciting. Everybody who saw them became instantly excited about the impending release of this film. Casual fans, hardcore fans, Star-Wars-only fans. Everybody.

Everybody but me.

I was upset. I was nervous and upset.

"It looks amazing," I said, with utter sincerity, "but it's not Star Trek."

You see, I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation. As a kid, the original Star Trek usually felt slow and ancient, and when Deep Space Nine came out, I stopped watching after the first few seasons because it was too serious and they never left that gorram space station to go anywhere interesting.

No other Star Trek before or since Next Generation has captured my imagination in the same way, shown me such a hopeful vision of the future, held as much meaning for me, or featured as many characters that I like and can relate to. Although I've grown to enjoy and appreciate all the different Star Trek series, Next Generation defined what Star Trek is for me, and no other fandom--not even Mega Man--is closer to my heart.

After Enterprise got cancelled and both Insurrection and Nemesis failed to live up to fans' and critics' expectations, it was very clear that Star Trek was nearing the end of its life. And by Star Trek, I mean Next Generation. Enterprise could always be renewed (doubtful, though), and a new Star Trek TV series could always emerge, but Next Generation was running out of time.

Nemesis, though a disappointment (or abomination that doesn't exist), did include all the elements of a final conclusion to the series. The only reason to make one more movie would be to make up for the shortcomings and sins of Nemesis. It would be difficult to logically reunite the crew without wreaking havoc with the continuity, but more importantly, the actual actors of Next Generation just kept getting older... and, in some cases, wider. If another movie was ever going to happen, it needed to happen soon.

Every other series (well, maybe not Enterprise) had been neatly wrapped up and given a proper ending, especially the original Star Trek. As I see it, Star Trek VI and Star Trek: Generations provide a satisfying conclusion to the adventures of the original crew, and all the cameos they ever made were handled with respect and integrity. All I asked for was just one more movie--heck, one more episode--that would truly do justice to the Next Generation crew and, for the sake of Worf, bring them the same honor that Kirk and his crew enjoyed.

If Next Generation could end on a high note, I would be fully willing to follow Star Trek into whatever new direction it wanted to go. If they did a teamup movie where Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and Archer somehow ended up in the same film to resolve some universe-shattering final crisis, I might even be willing to let the entire TV/movie franchise come to a close and live on in novels and video games and whatnot. If they never produced another Star Trek again, or if they went ahead and did a new movie or TV show with a completely new crew of characters we've never heard of before, I'd still be sad for Next Generation, but I'd find a way to cope.

Instead, they made the only move that was completely unforgivable: with 40+ years of continuity (however contradictory it may be) and infinite possibilities of new heroes to follow and new challenges to face, EVERYTHING was thrown out so that James T. Kirk--not Jean-Luc Picard--could have one more adventure with his ship and crew without worrying about pesky things such as logic, continuity, or the age of the actors (or, for that matter, the fact that some of the original actors are no longer with us).

The age-old argument of "Who's better, Kirk or Picard?" was finally settled by Star Trek itself: a reboot of the entire franchise, led by the original crew, could only mean that Kirk is Star Trek, and Picard (along with everyone who came after him) is irrelevant. My most beloved fandom of all time had just slapped me in the face, tossed my childhood into the dumpster, and drove off at warp speed in an antique car with every other Star Trek fan in the backseat, and I swear they were following the road signs toward Star Wars, and I'm positive I saw Uhura lean out the window with her top off.

Perhaps it was an understatement to say that I was nervous and upset when I saw those movie trailers.

Still, I was determined to get to the theater on opening weekend. It didn't matter how pretty, action-packed, and well-done the movie would be; I was going to see for myself exactly how they would disregard and destroy my most treasured fandom.

The truth? They ruined everything. They undid 40+ years of Star Trek. They did nothing whatsoever to give Next Generation the conclusion the crew deserves, and they're taking the franchise in a direction I'm not really sure I want to go.

And I really enjoyed the movie.

I can say with total certainty that there is only one reason why I am not currently ablaze with fanboy rage: the four-issue comic series Star Trek: Countdown, which I wisely read the night before I saw the movie.

As I'll explain tomorrow, that made everything okay.

Well, almost everything.


[Images from memory-alpha.org.]

Star Trek: The thinking man's sci-fi

Star Trek may be my favorite entertainment franchise, but it's not for everyone. Even among dedicated Star Trek fans, certain flavors of Star Trek are downright unpalatable. Still, Star Trek is unquestionably one of the best sci-fi experiences around...if you're exposed to it properly.

Unfortunately, too many people judge Star Trek on first impressions, and on fans who turned down a date with them to go home and work on an emotion chip for their android girlfriend. However, relying on one single episode or movie or fanboy to determine whether or not you like Star Trek is like keeping your eyes exclusively on the shortstop to determine whether or not you like baseball.

Granted, it's possible to watch a few movies or a whole season of Star Trek and still not like it. Sometimes Star Trek just isn't accessible enough to the masses--it's "high sci-fi" that is usually only enjoyable if the fans can remember the names of numerous alien races, the functions of countless techno doohickeys, and whether it's possible (or wise, for that matter) to transfer your katra to a targ during pon farr and then mind-meld with it.

Other times Star Trek forgets the guiding principles on which Star Trek is based, eschewing its philosophical nature, not staying true to its characters, and trying to gain a greater appeal by becoming indistinguishable from any generic sci-fi out there.

But...

When Star Trek is truly Star Trek, when the size and scope of the starships invoke a sense of awe, when the character interactions are genuine, when the plot deals with the best and worst that human nature has to offer, when the heroes use their words and their wits to diffuse an impossible situation, and when an Andorian who so deserves it gets punched in the face...

...When Star Trek is truly Star Trek, it's an unforgettable experience that is as entertaining as it is meaningful.

As is to be expected, Star Trek fans are prone to playing favorites; if you ask them for advice on which series to watch, you're bound to hear that you must start with this one series, and that this other series is so awful it shouldn't even be considered canon. To assist you with figuring out which kind of Star Trek might be for you, here is a semi-brief guide to the different Star Trek series, with just a hint of my own personal bias.


Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)

Once known as just plain Star Trek, the TOS television show (1966-1969) is a very episodic series that throws the crew of the starship Enterprise up against all sorts of strange aliens and ship-threatening situations. TOS is generally very easy to jump into at any point, given that virtually every episode is self-contained and requires little or no prior knowledge to enjoy.

TOS really revolves around the bold and cunning Captain Kirk and the logical, half-human/half-Vulcan science officer Spock; although the other characters don't always play as great a role, their quirkiness and banter with other characters makes them every bit as memorable. Among these characters are a down-to-earth doctor who tells it like it is (McCoy), an engineer who is deeply proud of his ship (Scotty), a communications officer with a love of music (Uhura); a tactical officer with a love of antique weapons and botany (Sulu); a helmsman who is boastful of his Russian heritage (Chekov); and a lovesick nurse (Chapel).

TOS episodes tend to fall into similar patterns: the ship encounters an all-powerful being; some sort of duplicate crew member (or crew members) is on the loose; the crew discovers a planet that is almost identical to Earth at some point in its history; somebody gets thrown into prison and needs to break out; the crew meets a missing starship captain who always ends up working against them somehow; Kirk is forced into a fight to the death with an alien and inevitably loses his shirt; etc. Sure, the limited budget didn't always allow for more diverse adventures, and the show often feels more retro than futuristic at this point in time, but TOS establishes the framework of the entire Star Trek universe and has some very fun, very interesting episodes along the way.

An oft-forgotten piece of Star Trek history is Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS), which is essentially TOS without the budgetary restrictions of live-action television. With two short seasons of half-length episodes, TAS features the voice talents of all the original actors from the main cast (minus Walter Koenig, whose Chekov character is notably absent from the show). Aside from a few especially goofy moments here and there, TAS fits in surprisingly well with TOS, bringing back some recurring characters and even offering some valuable character development that never transpired on the original show.

The original Star Trek continues through six adventures on the big screen featuring Kirk and his crew, and most people know of the infamous odds/evens rule: to put it as objectively as possible, the odd-numbered Star Trek films are weaker than the even-numbered films. Here's a quick overview of these six films:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: This film apparently intended to capitalize on the "Ooh! Aah!" factor of the big screen; if you cut out all the panoramic space vistas and shots of the Enterprise slowly gliding by, the movie is about 45 minutes long. Still true to the series, though, and still worth watching, if for no other reason than to hear a bald woman refer to the captain as "Kirk Unit." (See? Now you're interested.)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: A strong villain, plot twists, character development, a tense battle of wits between two starship captains, and some of the most memorable moments in Star Trek history. 'Nuff said.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: A continuation of Wrath of Khan that pits man versus nature, stars Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon, and shows a lot of big stuff getting destroyed.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: The conclusion to the story arc begun in Wrath of Khan, and typically the most popular Star Trek movie among non-fans because it involves time-traveling back to 20th-century San Francisco to steal some whales.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: The Enterprise is hijacked and taken to meet God. Like, you know...God. There are rocket boots involved.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: A murder mystery, political intrigue, a shapeshifter, a Shakespeare-spouting Klingon, lots of action, and every character gets a chance to shine. In my humble little opinion, a spectacular final outing for the entire original crew.


Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG)

TNG is where Star Trek began to develop into a fully realized universe; whereas the Star Trek universe in the original TV series consists primarily of the Enterprise and the isolated planets and characters that are encountered, TNG leaves the impression that there's a vast, dynamic universe out there that has planetary alliances and political turmoil and sinister aliens plotting their conquest of the galaxy.

TNG (1987-1994) takes place nearly a century after the events of the original Star Trek and features an all-new crew aboard an all-new Enterprise. Under the command of the refined and diplomatic Captain Picard are a brash, womanizing first officer (Riker); an emotionless android who longs to be human (Data); a counselor who can sense the emotions of others (Troi); a Klingon security chief abandoned by his own people (Worf); a blind chief engineer with an intense passion for his work (LaForge); and a theatrical, motherly doctor (Crusher), just to name a few.

Unlike the original Star Trek, where Kirk and Spock (and McCoy) were clearly the leading characters, TNG is more of an ensemble show where all of the characters are roughly of equal importance--Captain Picard might be in command of the ship, but there are numerous episodes that have nothing to do with him whatsoever.

TNG is still fairly episodic, but certain recurring characters and continuing plotlines throughout the series and help to tie everything together. Setting the standard for Star Treks to come, nearly every episode has two plots: a main plot, and a subplot that usually ties into the main plot somehow. Episodes might cover everything from exploring an unknown planet to tracking down an intruder aboard the ship to developing the backstory of just one character.

There are four movies starring the Next Generation cast, and the first two are widely believed to be better than the second two, though the odds/evens rule is still more or less in effect. Here's a brief look at what they are:

Star Trek: Generations: This film represents the passing of the torch from the original Star Trek to The Next Generation. There's planets in peril, a madman who must be stopped, loose ends tied up from the TV show, and cameos--one big one in particular--from a few of the original series characters.

Star Trek: First Contact: Normally hailed as the strongest of the Next Generation films, this one brings back our old friend Time Travel and puts the heroes up against one of Star Trek's greatest villains, a collective of cybernetically enhanced beings that seek to conquer the universe (think robotic zombie honeybees) known as the Borg.

Star Trek: Insurrection: This movie feels like an extra-long episode of the TV series, and as such doesn't fully capitalize on its cinematic potential. The Enterprise must defend a planet that acts as the proverbial fountain of youth from some goons who want to take it for themselves.

Star Trek: Nemesis: The final Next Generation film is all about family, clones, doppelgangers, the crafty Romulans, and what it means to be human. I once described Nemesis as "an okay movie that's a disappointing end to the series," but I know at least one other person who would describe it as "an abomination that never happened." It's very easy to get caught up in criticizing the film, but if you are willing to overlook the negative and focus on the positive, Nemesis might not be as bad a conclusion as people say.


Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)

Set on an alien space station near a wormhole leading to a faraway quadrant of the galaxy, DS9 (1993-1999) deals with political tension, religious issues, racial relations, wars, and other heavy challenges that make the show darker than any other Star Trek.

It's not that the show is all doom and gloom, but a happy ending is never guaranteed, and even the happy endings are sometimes bittersweet. TNG especially shows a very utopian vision of the future where humanity has worked out its own problems, but DS9 is gritty and depicts a cast of imperfect people in an imperfect environment.

There are too many recurring characters on the show to list here, and the permanent cast changes a little through out the course of the show, but some of the main characters include the tough, baseball-loving Captain Sisko; his adventurous son (Jake); a shapeshifting security chief (Odo); a Bajoran militia officer fighting for the safety of her homeworld (Kira); a science officer who has lived several lifetimes in several different bodies (Dax); a cheerful and overachieving doctor (Bashir); an opportunistic Ferengi bartender (Quark); a Cardassian who revels in his own air of mystery (Garak); and an outgoing engineer (carried over from TNG, along with Worf in later seasons) who is quite possibly the most normal, "human" human on Star Trek (O'Brien).

Chronologically, DS9 begins during the final season of TNG, so there's plenty of crossover between the two series. DS9, however, is far less episodic after its third season; catching a random episode on TV is likely to result in confusion and unnecessary spoilers, so it's best to watch this series in order if you can help it.


Star Trek: Voyager (VOY)

Set during the same time period as DS9, this series follows the crew of the starship Voyager, which has been thrown all the way to the other side of the galaxy and is now approximately 75 years away from home and trying to make their way back.
Voyager is, in a way, an amalgam of all the Star Trek series that came before it: the show tends to be very episodic and the crew is constantly encountering new life and strange new worlds (as was the case in TOS), but this happens mostly within the confines of a single ship (just as much of DS9 takes place on board the space station) that looks and feels a good deal like the Enterprise of TNG. There's just a lot more questionable science than usual.

Voyager (1995-2001) stars the first female captain to lead a Star Trek show, the no-nonsense Captain Janeway, as well as a cast made up of characters that is composed of both Starfleet officers (the good guys) and ex-Maquis (the good bad guys). These include a first officer with strong ties his Native American ancestry (Chakotay); a rigidly serious Vulcan security officer (Tuvok); a fiery half-Klingon engineer (Torres); a wisecracking ex-con navigator (Paris); a kindly Talaxian chef/morale officer/jack-of-all-trades (Neelix); a sardonic holographic doctor (simply, The Doctor); an upstanding and by-the-book young operations manager (Kim); and a perpetually young-looking girl with mental powers (Kes) who is eventually replaced by a perpetually attractive-looking woman (Seven) who was once a part of the Borg collective.

Although Voyager takes place on the other side of the galaxy from the rest of Star Trek, that doesn't mean there isn't any crossover. There's at least one familiar race that's based in this corner of the galaxy, and there are numerous episodes that find a clever way to bring back characters and races from the other series. Voyager is connected to the greater Star Trek universe without being tethered to the framework and history of the part of the galaxy where the rest of the franchise has thrived, so it's a fresh spin on Star Trek for those in need of a change of pace, and it's largely accessible to first-timers.


Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT)

Taking place a little over a century before the original Star Trek, Enterprise (2001-2005) shows the early years of Earth's manned missions of interstellar exploration, providing a great deal of insight about the events and aliens seen in TOS and other series. Like all other Star Trek spinoffs, Enterprise took a while to discover its individual identity and become its own unique series... except it took much longer than usual; as a result, when the show finally did start to hit its stride, it wasn't much longer before it was cancelled. This is something of a tragedy, because the storylines proposed for the cancelled fifth season had fantastic potential.

This Enterprise is headed by the athletic, dog-loving Captain Archer, who commands a crew that includes a wary and judgmental female Vulcan (T'Pol); a genial and quirky Denobulan doctor (Phlox); a British armory officer with a strong military and naval family history (Reed); a helmsman born and raised in space (Mayweather); a communications officer with incredible linguistic skills (Sato); and a personable engineer with a fondness for ancient cinema (Tucker).

One of the aspects of Enterprise that makes it most interesting is that the show takes place during a time when the starship technology everyone takes for granted in other series either is being tested for the first time or doesn't exist at all. Transporters, for example, are used for beaming cargo and could be potentially hazardous to living creatures. If you're looking for a break from the super-futuristic feel of other Star Trek series, Enterprise might just be for you.


NuTrek

In 2009, a film simply titled Star Trek was released. Without spoiling too much, the film effectively rebooted the entire Star Trek franchise while attempting (loosely) to stay in continuity. Star Trek is simultaneously a prequel starring the Original Series characters and not really a prequel at all.

It's complicated. The Star Trek: Countdown comic helps to explain the jump from Nemesis to NuTrek (as this alternate Star Trek is sometimes called), as the movie's explanation is just barely adequate enough to make sense on its own.

The 2009 movie itself is often more like Star Wars than Star Trek, but there's enough inside references to placate the longtime fans. It's got a distinctly younger, "hipper" feel than the other movies, and for the first time in Star Trek history, there's no clear consensus from the fans about the movie. Some say it's exactly the jolt that Star Trek needed to stay alive and relevant, while others criticize it for taking the franchise in an unwelcome direction.

Either way, Star Trek marks a brand-new chapter for...Star Trek, and it's a great jumping-on point for neophytes...and possibly a great jumping-off point for certain dedicated fans.


--


Of course, there are countless other ways to experience Star Trek. Lots of great comics. Oodles of books. Manga, even. Action figures. Video games, too...but Star Trek video games are notorious for being lousy, so make sure you do your research before buying anything. Star Trek Online is your best bet right now if you're into the whole Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game thing.

Really, I could be here all day describing everything, but I think I'll save that for another time.

So if you haven't already watched all the Star Trek there is to watch, I encourage you to test the waters. Catch a few episodes. Try out a series. Pick up a graphic novel. Go see the 2009 movie. You've already spent enough of your time reading this bulky post about Star Trek...I think it's time you get out there and experience Star Trek.

[Captains poster image from tv.infinitecoolness.com. All other images from memory-alpha.org.]

Exfanding Review: Grailpages

Boy did I come across a cool book recently. Let me tell you, it really does pay off to trudge your way through the Previews catalog, because the Really Good Stuff is usually somewhere in the middle or back of that book. Case in point, Grailpages, a book about original comic art written by Steven Alan Payne and published by TwoMorrows Publishing.

The book's full title pretty much gives the one-line high concept of the project--Grailpages: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors. Yep, that's it in a nutshell. Now, full disclosure here, I am only about 40 pages into this volume, which would normally stop me from writing a review.

But this book is SO enjoyable through its first few chapters that I felt I needed to mention it here. Well, that, and I've already skipped ahead and read some of the later chapters and I've already poured over the great art throughout the book. But that's besides the point.

Grailpages is filled cover to cover with interviews and commentary on every aspect of original comics art. There are discussions with artists (including the incomparable Gene Colan), writers (such as Roy Thomas and Marv Wolfman), and of course, collectors.

And, while I always love to read interviews with comics creators (or authors, filmmakers, etc), the real treat of this book comes in the interviews and discussions with the collectors. From high-earning doctors, to self publishing entrepreneurs, to whatever else these people do for a living, the cast of collectors presented in this volume represents a wide spectrum, and each person has interesting tales to tell.

Take the author, Steven Payne. He begins the book with an introduction to tell readers a bit about his own experiences in the comics art world. (Yep, he's a collector!) Payne started out as one of them corporate-types, and after he was released by the higher-ups, he did the only reasonable thing. He bought a few thousand dollars worth of comic art and sold them all to make a tidy profit.

Brazen? Absolutely. But, it worked out, and he's been a collector/dealer ever since. From there, Payne jumps right in to the interviews with other collectors, and they each have equally fascinating stories about how they entered the art world--from making friends with legendary pencillers to buying pages on a whim, everyone in the book has a tale to tell.

Oh, and the first chapter of the book opens with a quote by art collector Michel Maillot, who sums up the entire hobby in a few words by saying, "Being a collector is a very strange thing, probably some mental illness." Clearly he's joking, but anyone who collects anything knows exactly what he's talking about!

Now, one complaint I have comes in the way Payne writes the overarching narrative of Grailpages. Don't think any less of me (and remember that I make my living by editing things to make them sound all smart and stuff) because of what I'm about to say.

Payne's book is incredibly (incredibly!) well-written. At times, it is too well-written. What I mean is, he tends to use rather large vocabulary (which is fine in and of itself), but sometimes he does so to the detriment of the narrative flow.

Now, believe me, this is a minor nit-pick, but sometimes I think the book tries too hard to say, "Hey, look! Comics art and comics in general, are smart and real and something worthwhile!" when the art that's featured throughout the book proves those points. And I'll get to that in a minute.

But, again, I don't want to take anything away from Payne, because what he has created is an incredibly well-written, well-researched, intriguing, and invaluable source on the history and practice of comics art collecting, which in turn becomes a history of the comics art form through a new and unique lens.

Now, to put this book over the top in terms of readability and overall quality, the collectors interviewed all provide samples from their (often awe-inspiring) collections. This art, some of which hasn't been reproduced in its original form (sans color) in years--if ever!--makes Grailpages a book that you can return to often.

It goes without saying that this is a MUST READ for anyone interested in comics art, and even for those looking for a new take on the history of our beloved medium. Grailpages clocks in at 128 pages, and is offered as a softcover trade. For under $16 bucks, this one is a no-brainer!

Go! Buy!

Oh, and Happy Friday!