New Star Trek part work magazine with little model ships!

Little model ships! With a magazine! My Star Trek part work dream has come true!

Eaglemoss have just launched a new part work magazine in the UK, Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection. Each issue will come with a model ship, with the magazine giving technical details, behind the scenes information, and recounting on-screen appearances. Issue 1, with the Enterprise-D is just £1.99, going up to £5.99 for the Enterprise-A with issue 2, and settling at £9.99 a go from issue 3's Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

The 12-14cm long ships will include "every major Federation vessel" (so presumably all the series ships at the very least), plus popular minor ships such as the Akira class, and alien vessels, including Romulan, Klingon, and Borg designs.

As every with these things you are encouraged to subscribe with an assortment of subscriber perks, including a binder, dedication plaque, and two extra models; An All Good Things... version of the Enterprise-D, and a light up Borg Cube.

I'm a sucker for Star Trek part works, and for Star Trek ships, so despite the hefty price tag I'm sure I wont be able to resist this. I shall report back on the quality and contents of the first issue as soon as I can find a copy.

You can find out more on the magazine's website. Thanks to TrekBBS user Trek Survivor for pointing it out!

This week's new covers

There are two new Star Trek comics out this week, and both have some special covers. The first issue of Assimilation² was released in no fewer than six covers! Most of them have been bouncing around the net for a while, promoting the start of the series, but there are a couple newly revealed this week. Including this wraparound photo cover:

And this photo manip, exclusive to the retailer Hastings:

The latest Star Trek ongoing issue, part one of The Return of the Archons was released in a mere four covers, including the winning cover from the Be a Redshirt contest, featuring Trekkie Coarey Trim taking a phaser beam to save his comic book guy, Mike Brodeur (don't they look oddly alike!?):

Mondo's latest Khan

Badass Digest reports that Mondo's latest Trek poster is on the way. They've turned to The Wrath of Khan again, with a special edition of 220 to be available to members of the audience at the Alamo cinema for a screening of the same film. Here's the ungettable poster in all its retro glory:

New cadet series ships on the way

StarTrek.com have announced the latest new model kits from Round 2 models, expanding on their cadet series range will be a new motion picture era set, featuring 1:2500 scale snap together kits of the refit USS Enterprise, the USS Reliant, and Klingon battle-cruiser. These will be new molds and come with detailed decal sheets. Expect to see them later this year.

Brinkmanship cover

The Simon and Schuster online catalogue has been updated with a cover (currently marked as "not final") for Una McCormack's forthcoming Typhon Pact novel, Brinkmanship. Unfortunately they seem to have decided to back to the two floating heads format of the earlier books under the Typhon Pact banner.

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

The latest from David R. George III

StarTrek.com have posted a two part interview with David R. George III. He talks widely about his background and work, including this overview of the new Typhon Pact duology, Plagues of Night and Raise the Dawn:

Plagues of Night picks up the arc of the Typhon Pact after all the events of the first four TP novels. In particular, it focuses on the continuing antipathy and distrust that some within the Pact feel for the Federation, and their concern that the UFP’s quantum slipstream drive is a genuine threat. Other factions within the Typhon Pact, though, see opportunity in peace with the Federation. This sets up an internal tension inside the Pact, which provides even more dramatic conflict.

Plagues of Night and Raise the Dawn are strongly linked, with the former leading directly into the latter. The novels include elements from the original Star Trek, The Next Generation and  Deep Space Nine. In particular, though, Ben Sisko, Ro Laren, and Kira Nerys play significant roles, along with Captain Picard, President Bacco and Praetor Kamemor.

He also revealed a new title for his forthcoming TOS novel, and hinted at more DS9 in the future:

I am indeed working on another Star Trek project, one set aboard James T. Kirk’s Enterprise. A combination of factors led to this novel being known as The Red Ensign, but that never even really served as a tentative title. It came about when an editor needed to call the book something on my contract. It used to be the case that something like Untitled David R. George III Novel would suffice, but because schedules are completed well in advance of publication, and because dates and titles are now routinely propagated to online catalogues, the preference is to come up with something better than that. In this case, based on the merest wisp of a theme I suggested I might explore in the book, an editor came up with The Red Ensign.

Since then, I have written an outline for the novel, which has already received editorial approval. Now that I have my story and themes laid out, I am calling the book Allegiance in Exile. I caution readers that this should be considered a working title and could yet change as I make my way deeper into the novel.

Since the book is set in the Twenty-Third Century, it’s a safe bet that it will not pick up where Raise the Dawn leaves off. It is my belief, though, that other works will continue the Deep Space Nine story, especially since 2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the show’s premiere. It’s also entirely possible that I’ll be the one to do that.

The Return of the Archons part 1 preview

Comics Continuum have posted previews of this weeks new releases from IDW, including issue nine of the Star Trek ongoing series, The Return of the Archons, part one. Here's the first seven pages (continued after the jump), starting with a new sub-plot for Sulu:

Assimilation2 #1 preview

Wired have posted a preview of this week's first issue in the TNG/Doctor Who crossover Assimilation². It includes this seven page preview (continues after the jump). Looks like a bad day for the Deltans:

More details on comic strip omnibuses

A page from the UK strips, also due to be printed by IDW.

Following Amazon's recent reveal of the forthcoming omnibus of Star Trek comic strips from US newspapers, Rich Handley (maybe the only person who owns a full set of both the US and UK strips) has posted more details. After years of encouraging various Trek publishers to take on the comic strips he has finally got support from IDW, and will be writing an introduction for them in this first volume.

At the moment they are planning four books! Two each for the US and the UK strips!

So exciting!

Cross Cult's Dark Allies

Cross Cult has posted another piece of new Star Trek cover art, this time for the sixth book in their New Frontier series, Dark Allies (Finstere Verbündete), due out next February.

Cross Cult's Soul Key

Cross Cult have posted another new cover, this time for the DS9 novel The Soul Key. Their version, Der Seelenschlüssel, is due out next May. Looks like one of the better Cross Cult covers, and certainly an improvement on what has to be one of the least inspiring of the original US covers.

Latest Cross Cult New Frontier cover

Cross Cult have posted two versions of a cover for a forthcoming (2013 or later) German translation of what will be the eighth book in their New Frontier series, Excalibur: Renaissance.

 

Star Trek comic strips finally to get a book release?

A new listing has appeared on Amazon for Star Trek Volume 1. Slightly confusingly this is exactly the same title used for the first omnibus of the ongoing comics series, but this looks to be something very different. Coming from IDW in November, this 300 page hardback book lists Thomas Warkentin, Sharman DiVorio, and Ron Harris as authors - All of which worked on the 1979 to 1983 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture era) Star Trek comic strip, which was published in newspapers in the US.

One of the Sunday colour pages, featuring the Kzinti

The comic strips are one of the most obscure Star Trek fiction tie-ins, available only in the newspapers and an incomplete and limited run of omnibus collections. Set after The Motion Picture the series saw the return of the Klingons, Harry Mudd, time travel, and even a long story featuring the Kzinti. If this is what it appears it could be the first time they are made available, hopefully as a complete collection (over several books if this is volume one of x), and around the world.

Assuming that is the case, the format of the original comics will provide interesting editorial choices for IDW. There were originally daily black and white, strips, plus a colour version on Sundays. Owing to the mixed audience of daily and weekend newspaper readers there was overlap in the two different formats. It will be interesting to see if IDW attempt to rationalise the stories, and maybe if they recolour the whole thing, as they have done with some previous release.

Hopefully a similar release of the TV era UK comic strips (some of which featured some rather impressive artwork) will follow.

You can find out much more about the US strips on Mark Martinez's Star Trek Comics Checklist, and Memory Alpha.

Update: IDW editor Chris Ryall has confirmed these are what they seem, and will be released as one of IDW's Library of American Comics books. He also noted they'll have a better title! - I guess that means little hope for those UK strips, but it should been a very high quality archival treatment of these American ones.

New TOS novel coming from Greg Cox

On the TrekBBS Greg Cox has confirmed he will be writing a new TOS novel. The book, currently titled, The Twilight Realm, will be set in the five-year-mission era.

Assimilation almost here

We're just a week away from the first issue of the TNG/Doctor Who crossover Assimilation². Bleeding Cool have their review copy; apparently it's a little light on the TNG crew, but the Borg are busy, and the Doctor and co. are up to something in Egypt. Here are a couple of panels they tease us with:

 

Meanwhile the series' artist, J.K. Woodward, has also been teasing, with this Klingon/Sontaran alliance image. Is this from the series, or a bit of fun?:

Fleet starbases coming to STO

Coming soon to Star Trek Online will be new Starbases for player fleets. There will be five stages of starbase, allowing players to build up from your basic stubby cluster of subspace antennae, right up to the full mushroomoid glory of an iconic Starfleet facility.

 

Crpytic's Jeremy Mattson took inspiration from all the starbases of Star Trek past when designing his sleek new 25th century bases, with a little input from Star Wars to get that under-construction look as the bases grow.

You can read much more about the development of these at a special STO development blog hosted by Massively.

IDW's August Star Trek solicitations

IDW have released their solicitations for August, which include two new titles, plus the third of their "Spectacular" omnibuses.

Star Trek (ongoing) #12: The Truth About Tribbles!, Part 2.
Written by Mike Johnson, with art by Claudia Balboni, and a cover by Tim Bradstreet, plus sketch and photo covers.

The conclusion of "The Truth About Tribbles!" With production underway on next year's blockbuster STAR TREK sequel, the countdown continues here in the pages of the hit series overseen by the film's writer/producer Roberto Orci! The classic episode "The Trouble With Tribbles" is re-imagined as part of the timeline of the new films!

Assimilation² #4
Written by Scott and David Tipton, with Tony Lee, art by J.K. Woodward, with covers by Woodward and Francesco Francavilla, including a sketch version of the Francavilla cover.

The biggest science-fiction crossover of all time continues, in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/DOCTOR WHO: ASSIMILATION2! As the CyberBorg continue to carve a swath of destruction across the galaxy, the Federation is met with the possibility of assistance, but from an unthinkable source! Will Captain Picard and the Doctor agree to an alliance that could be worse than the enemy they face?

Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012
Written by Nathan Archer, Christopher Golden, and Tom Sniegoski, with art by Dave Hoover and Jeff Moy, and cover by Travis Charest.

Presenting two incredible stories from two incredible corners of the Star Trek Universe! First, the crew of the starship Enterprise, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, finds itself in a very unusual setting—in Embrace the Wolf! Plus, Captain Janeway, Seven of Nine, and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S Voyager have a close encounter of the Borg kind in False Colors!

This is IDW's third Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular, but unlike the previous two editions, the stories here are originally from Wildstorm (the previous ones were all IDW titles), both of which have only recently been reprinted by IDW in their Star Trek Classics series of omnibuses.

New TOS braclets

Vulcan tourism are now selling these lovely bright TOS inspired bracelets, featuring the department colours and insignia:

They are designed and made by Jennifer Bunt using recycled silver and suede. (via StarTrek.com)

New Motion Picture soundtrack

La La Land Records are continuing their part in the complete Star Trek soundtrack project with the forthcoming release of a new version three disc soundtrack from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The comprehensive set includes the complete score, the 1979 album version, numerous alternate cues and studio recordings, Bob James’ disco cover version of the theme, Shaun Cassidy’s vocal version of the love theme, and interviews!

TNG/Doctor Who #4 covers

LA Times has posted covers for issue four of the TNG/Doctor Who crossover Assimilation², from the series artist J. K. Woodward and Francesco Francavilla:

They also posted the pre-coloured version of Francavilla's cover, you can see that on the original post.

Gorn v Kirk poster

Hot on the heels of Bye Bye Robot's Cestus III travel poster, Iron Gut Publishing are also looking to Arena for some retro poster inspiration, with a Gorn versus Kirk poster. This one is limited to just 95 prints:

The Klingon's new pets

The latest playable species in Star Trek Online is a mean blue variety of Caitain, the Ferasans (or maybe they're the Kzinti...). These guys work for the Klingons, but if you get yourself one through the C-Store, you also get more cosmetic options for your Federation Caitian characters.

Here's how the STO team describe them:

A felinoid species that originated on the planet Ferasa, Ferasans are closely related to Caitians. Ferasans are bipedal, have tails that assist their balance, extended maxillary canine teeth and large eyes with excellent night vision. Their skin is covered with a soft fur coat, and their felinoid ears can pick up frequencies that most humanoids are unable to detect. Some Ferasans have telepathic abilities.

Federation: The First 150 Years

I guess the Star Trek Vault's jumble of pull outs bits and pieces must have done pretty well, as the next Star Trek reference book on the horizon is doing the same, and adding an electronic pedestal as well! Federation: The First 150 Years, by David A Goodman, will chart, as the title suggests, the first 150 years of the Federation. If it's doing so strictly from the formation of the Federation in 2061, that will take us from just after the end of Enterprise, and the Romulan War, through the run of TOS, and up to the Tomed Incident - Which curiously means the period goes from the start of one period of Romulan isolation to the next. The press release for the book suggests it will explore at least as far back as First Contact as well, with the century that follows, including the Enterprise-era, leading up to the formation of the Federation. I can't wait to see what sort of exploration they give to the Kelvin era, in fact the entire first century of Federation history is largely unexplored.

The 176 page book will include documents from Federation history, including treaty excerpts, intelligence reports, and letters, accompanied by colour and black and white illustrations by Joe Corroney, Mark McHaley, Cat Staggs, and Jeff Carlisle, including views of "epic battles, alien species and heretofore unseen ship designs, among them the Romulan attack on Starbase 1, and the Xindi Avian". There will also be five pull-out documents: Zefram Cochrane’s first sketch of the warp drive engine, a hand-penned letter from a young Jim Kirk, biological information on the Trill, blueprints for the U.S.S. Enterprise, and an in-universe letter form the author.

At this stage I am completely sold, this sounds amazing. But there's more! The book also comes with an electronic pedestal, with light and sound features including narration by George Takei. I can't say I'm so excited by this price-increasing, book-shelf-irritating feature, but I suppose it at least demonstrates some faith in the brand to be able to pull off something so (literally) flashy.

Here's Amazon's blurb for the book:

Assembled as a Special Exhibit on Memory Alpha, Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years celebrates the 150th anniversary of the founding of the United Federation of Planets.

This unprecedented illustrated volume chronicles the pivotal era leading up to Humankind's First Contact with Vulcan, the Romulan War, the creation of the Federation, and the first 150 years of the intergalactic democracy. Meticulously researched, this account covers a multitude of alien species, decisive battles, and the technology that made the Age of Exploration possible. It includes field sketches, illustrations, and reproductions of historic pieces of art from across the Galaxy, along with over fifty excerpts from key Federation documents and correspondence, Starfleet records, and intergalactic intelligence.

Housed in a pedestal display complete with lights and an audio introduction by Admiral Hikaru Sulu, this deluxe edition also features five removable documents from the Federation Archives, including Zefram Cochrane's early sketch of the warp-drive engine, a handwritten letter from young Jim Kirk, and the first-known diagram of a Trill symbiont.

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

TNG HD coming to the big screen

TV Shows on DVD reports that to mark the release of season one of TNG on bluray there will be special screenings of two episodes from the series, Where No One Has Gone Before and Datalore, along with some of the new special features, at 600 cinemas across the US on July the 23rd; the day before the release.

A similar screening of The Menagerie was organised to mark the release of season one of TOS on betamax, uh, I mean, HD-DVD. These two episodes should be, like The Menagerie, pretty impressive effects wise; as demonstrated by the shiny new crystalline entity. Hopefully the screenings will also occur overseas again too!

TNG season 2 coming this winter?

Amazon Japan have added a listing for the season one bluray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which includes the images of the slipcase packaging below. Tucked onto the end of their description is the more interesting new titbit though; if Google translate is on the ball, they seem to be suggesting the season two set will be released in the winter of this year.

New shuttle poster from Bye Bye Robot

Bye Bye Robot have expanded their range of Star Trek arty prints with a new poster by Steve Thomas, featuring a TOS shuttle over Cestus III, in a nice retro-travel style:

They are also offering stickers of the shuttle image form the poster:

New look at Star Trek Kre-O figures

Collider have posted a new preview image of Hasbro's Star Trek Kre-O figures. Much as I hate to support a Lego knock-off brand, I cant deny begin quite excited to see what the actual construction sets are like (even if these things are poor replacements for proper Lego minifigures).

Totally Irreverent T-shirts

Australian T-shirt maker Totally Irreverent have launched a new range of Star Trek T-shirts, al based on TOS, including a Gold Key comics cover:

According to StarTrek.com they plan a second wave by the end of the year, possibly including TNG designs.