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

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?

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

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!

 

Anovos almost make ties appealing by Treking them

I think ties are one of the most annoyingly pointless items of clothing ever invented. So it takes a lot for me to like one. Anovos, makers of Star Trek replica uniforms, have almost achieved that by turning ties into long thin versions of Starfleet uniforms; made from the same fabric, and with little Starfleet deltas:

They’re doing editions of 100 of each department colour, the gold is already on sale, blue following today, and red on the way.

I’m hoping they might follow-up later with ones made from the 2009 uniform fabric, as that Starfleet delta pattern would make a nice exciting tie.

Star Trek Magazine 166 covers

Things From Another World have listings up for the first Star Trek Magazine of 2012, the espionage issue. The previews exclusive version features awesome cover art based on Julian Bashir, Secret Agent:

Similar to what Cross Cult mocked up as a cover for their translation of Section 31: Abyss (though ultimately they used something a little less bonkers):

The standard cover features captains pretending to be Romulans:

Expeditions expansion delayed

Just spotted that a few weeks ago Wizkids announced that the expansion set for their neroverse game Star Trek Expeditions, which was meant to be released this month, has been delayed. They commented:

Unfortunately we were not happy with the quality of the product we received from the vendor, thus we’ve decided to push back the release of the product to Q1 2012. Our apologies to everyone on the delay but fear not, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov will be beaming down to join your Away Team soon enough!

Amazon currently lists the set for release in February.

Rise Like Lions excerpt

Next month's novel, the finale of the Memory Omega plot in the Mirror Universe series, David Mack's Rise Like Lions, is starting to appear in stores now. To tempt you to buy a copy, Simon and Schuster have put one of their huge extracts online.

Here's the text from the teaser page at the front of the book, which I think sets the tone for how awesome this book should be:

K’Ehleyr emerged from the mist behind Picard
   “I thought you didn’t care about the rebellion. Because it sure sounds like you do.”
   He looked back at her to find himself the object of three different stares. K’Ehleyr was amused; Barclay looked hopeful; Troi wore a mask of desperation. Picard looked back at Saavik. “I’ll ask for the last time: Why am I here?”
   Saavik was composed, calm, and dignified. She spoke without emotion or hauteur, but with simple, direct honesty. “We have watched you for a long time, Mister Picard. I believe that because of your history and inherent good nature, you are the sort of person who can help us reach out to the Terran Rebellion, by carrying our offer of support and leadership to them. We need someone from outside our sheltered society, someone with a reputation beyond reproach who is known to the rebels, to act as our ambassador. I wish you to be that ambassador.”
   “And you are correct in your assertions about Spock’s timetable. His projected timeline of events was off because he did not account for further interference in our affairs by person from the alternate universe. Thanks to events that have transpired on and around Bajor, the future has taken shape far sooner than Spock expected. Consequently, we – and you – must act now, before this pivotal moment in history slips away from us.”
   Shocked and intrigued, Picard asked, “What pivotal moment?”
   Saavik placed her hand upon Picard’s shoulder.
   “The one at which a rebellion becomes a revolution.”

If that's not sealed the deal for you, make your way to Simon and Schuster's website to read all the way to the start of chapter nine!

Thanks to TrekBBS user JD, for pointing it out.

Next Star Trek movie coming in 2013!

Summer 2013 in fact.

So anyone following the progress of the next Star Trek movie will have probably been expecting this, but now Deadline and TrekMovie have confirmed the release date for the next Star Trek movie has been moved from the first announced date in June next year all the way to the 17th of May in 2013! As filming doesn't even start until January (although effects work is underway apparently) that was not an unexpected move; though there was perhaps some hopes for the delay only to be until christmas.

Also perhaps not so surprising, given it's the in thing; the next film will be released in 3D as well as 2D. 3D lens flares!!

In another confirmation of expectations, ComingSoon.net reports Michael Giacchino will be back to compose the score of the next film.

And the outcome of all this for me: I now have a 2013 schedule page with one thing listed on it!

Aoshima All Good Things Enterprise?

From what I think is a product development blog from Aoshima in Japan, comes news that they seem to be working on an All Good Things... version of their USS Enterprise-D model (the standard version of which recently became available outside of Japan). Here's the prototype:

Your life, as it has been, is over.

Is the rather ominous message given to us by the Borg on Bandai's second gaming mat for their Star Trek Deck Building Game. It is apparently "amazing", "beautiful", and will "enhance the experience even more" - If that has wooed you, it should be available from January:

Build the Enterprise, issue by issue

Welcome to part four of my exploration of the cancelled Japanese part-work Build the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. After the first hint, a tease, and then all the details of the project, what more could we have to learn? Well the editor of the series (and the Star Trek Fact Files and Collector's Edition before), Tim Leng, has been in touch, and has given me lots of pages from the magazines to share with you. These are all the English language versions too, and include a couple of pages from issues that weren't even published in the Japanese test run!

Tim also explained the premise for the series:

The idea for the project as a whole was that if you'd just graduated from Starfleet Academy and been assigned to the Enterprise this is what you'd be given to help familiarise yourself with the ship and its systems (although in the 24th century it would all be on a PADD, of course). The Tour of Deck pages and the blueprint sheets in particular go hand in hand very closely - the idea being that you could have the massive sheet laid out in front of you and then use the equivalent Tour of Deck card to 'walk around' the deck.

It's not just the Tour of Deck pages that reference the blueprints, if you look in the top right of most pages you'll see a reference to how and where the subject is marked on the blueprints - A pretty nifty way to learn your way around I think.

Below is an issue by issue breakdown of the series, continue reading after the jump to see what was covered all the way up to issue 11!

Issue 1

• Blueprint - dorsal exterior view
• Tour of Deck - Deck 1
• Critical Systems - Conn
• Apparatus - Photon Torpedo
• Mission Logs - Encounter at Farpoint
• Star Trek Memories - Jonathan Frakes interview Part 1

 

 

Tis the season to be logical (fa la la la la, la la la la)

Kurt Adler have released a variety of Star Trek themed christmas stuff before (christmasy statues, nutcrackers, christmas tree lights, stockings, a Spock star, etc), but I think this is a new edition to their range: A Spock Santa hat; highly illogical, and somewhat amusing:

Their Enterprise star for the top of your tree is kind of pretty too:

Latest Star Trek sculptures

A couple of new Star Trek statues coming in the first half of next year: From Hollywood Collectables, continuing their range of 1/6 scale statues, (Kirk is out now, and the Gorn next month) comes Spock, at his console on the bridge of the Enterprise. HC will be offering two versions of this, out in March. The standard version comes in an edition of 600:

The second version, available only directly from HC will include an extra part of the console, so Spock has one of those higher up screens to consult as well. There will be just 150 of these:

In May Titan Collectables will be releasing the fourth in their Star Trek Masterpiece Collection (Kirk and Picard are out next month, with Data following in February). This time they've moved to the TOS movie era with a Khan bust:

Super 8 Star Trek competition

J.J. Abrams' rather brilliant film Super 8 is out on DVD and bluray this week, and to celebrate Paramount Home Entertainment are running a competition to win a walk on part on one of Abrams' next films; the Star Trek sequel!

To win said part you have to answer a few questions about Super 8 on their website, and also live in the US.

A trailer for the Super 8 bluray can be viewed after the jump:

Build the Enterprise, the part-work that never was

A couple of weeks ago Rick Sternbach mentioned a new, but cancelled, part work magazine, and shortly after one of my readers pointed me towards a sample from that project. Since then I have been in contact with Rick Sternbach, who gave me this summary of "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Build the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D":

Deagostini Japan produced seven test issues full of model parts, blueprint sheets, and color loose leaf booklets that behaved like the previous Fact File pages. There were supposedly 100 issues planned, at the end of which the reader would have all the parts required for a hollow ship hull and all internal decks, all for a subscription price of roughly $1500.00. The blueprints were all "new and improved" over the set drawn up in 1994. New hardware bits were sketched up by me and produced as CGI renders in the UK; a lot of the things seen only as line art in the TNG tech manual would have been fully fleshed out, plus new equipment added from various decks, and there was more than enough to fill 100 issues.

The model is huge, and really quite remarkable; you get a detailed external hull, which is hollow, containing clear plastic deck plates each printed with the internal blueprints to build up the entire ship, inside and out. It's lit too, with windows so the lights can shine through, or when you take off the hull to reveal the interior deck plates, you get an impressive glow. It could even be displayed with the saucer seperated. You can see this amazing model in the commercial for the series:



Rick also pointed me to a blog post by Tim Leng, who was working on this project after a long history working on the Star Trek Fact Files and the various spin-off projects that followed. Tim explains the full history of the project on his blog, include how the project was all new, rather than recyling the Fact Files content:

And rather than just pull text, images, and artwork from the Fact Files (which by this point had only just finished its run in Japan), they asked that everything to be used in this new project be newly generated.

Tim also explains the really sad reason why the whole thing has been shelved:

What's really upsetting about this is that there's little - nothing, really - wrong with the product; what was mainly responsible for the product failing was that we launched it in the wake of the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan back in March. After experiencing something like that, people understandably just weren't in the mood to start buying into a collectible magazine/model series. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In total seven issues of Build the Enterprise went on sale, and we'd completed work on a further four before it was shut down.

Had the series gone ahead it would have produced a six-hundred pages in a hundred parts, housed in four binders, plus the model, and a hundred nearly-A1 blueprints in their own box. The magazines included brand new cover artwork by Gabriel Koerner and Rob Bonchune, and clean versions of that art, without the titles, were included as the inside back cover of each issue. Here are the covers for issues one, two and six:

 

 

The interior text and images included contributions by Michael Okuda, as well as all the work done by Rick Sternbach, and new CGI renderings of all sorts of stuff from inside the Enterprise-D.

The part work was to be divided into six parts:

• Tour of Deck – A deck by deck guide to the Enterprise, explaining the layout of every deck; which rooms and technology is on each.
• Critical Systems – Technical details of the Enterprise’s systems, and coverage of critical elements such as how the crew works.
• Apparatus – Technical guides to equipment on the Enterprise, such as torpedos, lifeboats, the captain’s chair, and tricorders.
• Mission Logs – An episode guide, but given as a history of the Enterprise with a technology focus; exploring which systems were used and how, from episode to episode. There would have been one page per episode, plus a history of the Enterprise’s construction, and filling in the gaps between episodes, such as what repairs would have been necessary.
• Star Trek Memories: New and archive interviews with cast and crew.
• Step by Step: The guide to building the model.

On top of all that, if you had subscribed to the magazine, you would also have got a model of a Klingon Bird of Prey, to scale with the Enterprise.

Tim has posted a four video flip through of the first issue. Part one, embedded below, gives a general overview of all the elements in the series. Video two takes us through the first issue of the magazine, video three looks at the first issue parts of the model, and video four shows off the first set of blueprints.



So all-in-all this looks like it would have been outrageously amazingly, and is a huge loss to the techy trekkies out there. But fear not, there is a glimmer of hope the print element of the project could still find its way to us, as Rick also told me:

We believe there is a chance to use the art materials in a new publication

I'm still hoping that might manifest in time for TNG's twenty-fifth anniversary next year.

Continue reading after the jump to see the box art for issues two to seven of the test run published in Japan (the issue one art is at the top of the article).

IDW February solicitations

IDW have released their solicitations for February, which include two Star Trek comics plus an omnibus reprint:

Star Trek (ongoing) #6
By Mike Johnson; art by Joe Corroney; covers by Tim Bradstreet, plus sketch and photo covers.

It's the stunning conclusion of OPERATION: ANNIHILATE! The events of the new timeline unfold in shocking ways as Kirk reunites with his estranged brother to save a colony from extinction. STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci oversees this story that continues the lead-up to the much-anticipated film sequel!

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #5
By Chris Roberson; art by Jeffrey and Philip Moy; covers by Phil Jimenez (4/5), Mike Allred (1/5), and retail incentive by Mario Alberti

In the distant past, one team of Legionnaires and Starfleet officers come face to face with the force that erased both of their timelines from existence, while in the altered 23rd century another team confronts the latter-day version of that same force. But now that they know how history was changed, can anything be done to set things right?

Star Trek Classics, Vol. 2: Enemy Unseen
By Keith R.A. DeCandido, Christopher Golden, Tom Sniegoski, and Scott Ciencin; art by Peter Pachoumis, Scott Benefiel, Dave Hoover, and Andrew Currie; cover by Drew Stuzan

In a long and distinguished career, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew have faced uncounted foes and vanquished incredible dangers. But what happens when the ememy can't be easily seen–when it lurks in the shadows, disguises itself as polite society, or emerges from the depths of one's own mind? These are the antagonists with which the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise must contend in this volume, the most dangerous kind of enemy–the enemy unseen. Contains the three stories "Perchance to Dream,” "Embrace the Wolf,” and "The Killing Shadows.”

More STO starship variants

The Star Trek Online Cryptic Store has been updated with their latest starship variants. This time we get a new version of the Constitution class (which kind of looks like it's been bred with the Excelsior class - And also quite a bit like the Enterprise pizza cutter...), and an almost steampunkesque variation of the Klingon Raptor:

Exeter class

A variant on the famed Constitution Class, the Exeter honors the 400 crew members of the U.S.S. Exeter who were killed by a biological agent in 2268. The Exeter Class comes equipped with an Ionized Gas Sensor that provides a bonus to Starship Sensors and can modify a torpedo to track down and target a cloaked ship. The Ionized Gas Sensor can be equipped in any console slot of any Cruiser.

Puyjaq class

When the Klingon Empire finds a ship design that works, they make multiple variations intended for differing battle scenarios. The Puyjaq is a variation of the Pach Raptor that can support a fleet maneuver or slow multiple opponents. It is equipped with a Graviton Pulse Generator that will significantly reduce the speed and turn rate of enemy ships in your front arc. The Graviton Pulse Generator may be equipped in any console slot of any Raptor, Destroyer or Bird-of-Prey.

And just in case you didn’t believe me, behold the USS pizza cutter:

Mondo, Borg

StarTrek.com has previewed Mondo's latest Star Trek poster, this time based on the TNG episode I, Borg. There will be two versions; the regular, an edition of 250 in blue; and just 80 of the variant version printed in metallic inks:

 

As ever these will likely sell out in moments, so if you want a chance of getting one, stalk Mondo's twitter feed for the on sale announcement sometime tomorrow (Friday 18th). And while you're at it, you can stalk me on twitter too! @8of5.

No Chain of Destiny

The latest from the ongoing saga in the titles of David R. George's TNG-era duology: A week ago Simon and Schuster updated their listings for the books to give them their actual titles: Plagues of Night (rather than At the Prophet's Door) and Raise the Dawn (instead of The Founder's Tears). These new listings also gave the duology as a whole a title, Chain of Destiny. Well now, again, David R. George has posted on his Facebook page that the newly announced title for the duology is wrong - Chain of Destiny was apparently a short-live suggestion for that title, but something else, so far untold, will be replacing it.

Contents of IDW's 100 Spectacular

Out this week from IDW is the Star Trek 100 Page Spectacular, an omnibus of four IDW Star Trek comics bound like a normal comic and sold for the price of a single issue.

IDW's previous solicitation for the issue only identified one issue it would contain, Spock: Reflections #1, and from the creators listed indicted Alien Spotlight: Tribbles would also be a part of it.

Now Comics Continuum have posted a seven-page preview of the book, which also includes the contents page. It seems Spock: Reflections #1 has been dropped in favour of Mission's End #1, while the other three issues are indeed Alien Spotlight: Tribbles, as well as John Byrne's Alien Spotlight: Romulans, plus Captain's Log: Sulu.

Here’s that contents page, see Comic Continuum for the seven page preview of the first story in the book, Alien Spotlight: Romulans, the first part of John Byrne’s magnificent Romulan saga.

New TNG bluray trailer!

TrekCore have posted the second trailer for TNG in HD on their youtube channel. The first half of the trailer is in fact the first trailer, but then we get a sample of the four episodes on The Next Level preview disc. I can't believe how amazing the starjellies look! Make sure to select the 720p option and watch in fullscreen:



TrekCore have a comparison gallery up, showing the new trailer shots against screencaps; the improvement is quite remarkable.

Well I never thought I'd hear Captain Kirk say that...

Captain Kirk became oddly British ("I don't need a brolly you wally"), while Scotty managed to find himself in the Enterprise-D's engineering room, in this advert for UK power company privatisation back in the 90s:



Very strange! Found via Thisweekintrek on Twitter.

J.K. Woodward Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes cover

J.K. Woodward has posted his cover for a forthcoming issue of the Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes series. Based on the solicitations so far released this is probably for the fifth or sixth issues of the series:

If you check out Woodward's original blog post you can see a great sixteen-part breakdown of how he made this cover; from the original sketch idea right through to this finished artwork.

Rings of Time blurb

The Simon and Schuster website has been updated with a new version of the blurb for Greg Cox's 2012 TOS novel, The Rings of Time:

2020 The U.S.S. Lewis & Clark, under the command of Colonel Shaun Christopher, sets off on humanity’s first manned mission to Saturn. But the unexpected presence of a stowaway complicates the mission—as does a startling encounter with an alien probe. But when Colonel Christopher attempts to capture the probe, he suddenly finds himself transported across time and space to a future era of space exploration. . . .

Stardate 7103.4 The U.S.S. Enterprise responds to an urgent distress call from a mining colony orbiting Klondike VI, a ringed gas giant not unlike Saturn. For unknown reasons, the planet’s rings are coming apart, threatening the safety of the colony and its inhabitants. Searching for a way to avert the disaster, Captain James T. Kirk and his crew investigate a mysterious alien probe that has just entered the system. But when the probe is beamed aboard, Kirk abruptly finds himself floating in space above Saturn, wearing an old-fashioned NASA spacesuit, with the Enterprise nowhere in sight. . . .

Two missions. Two crews. And a time-twisting crisis that spans the centuries. . . .

Round 2's latest Star Trek model kits

Round 2 Models have updated their blog with news of their next Star Trek model kits coming at the end of this year and into next year. They apparently were originally revealed at the recent iHobby show; the images below come from starshipmodeler.com's coverage of that event, or from Round 2's website.

Star of the show was the first public reveal of next year's 1:350 TV-era TOS Enterprise. Even taped together it looks impressive:

Looking at the end of this year, the previously announced Enterprise-C re-release will be out by December, complete with all the battle-damage decals promised. Something I managed to miss, the Klingon D7 kit was re-released in August in a tin, and will be coming in a plain old cardboard box by Christmas. Both versions are molded in green plastic with chrome parts, and some of the parts have been remade since previous releases for greater accuracy.

In early 2012 the 1/1000 scale TOS Enterprise will be re-released in a lunchbox (?!):

2012 will also see the TNG adversaries set re-released, as two separate sets. One featuring the smaller Klingon Bird-of-Prey and Ferengi Marauder (the latter including glow-in-the-dark parts), while the Romulan Warbird will get a separate release:

By the end of 2012 the Deep Space 9 kit will also be out again, and they're still considering adding something new to that set.

More images can be found on Round 2’s blog, starshipmodeler.com, and culttvman.com.