Comic bits: Parallel Lives, IDW Limited, and essays

Out this week is the twenty-ninth issue of the nuTrek ongoing comic series, part one of a new story, Parallel Lives. StarTrek.com recently ran and interview with the issue's writer, Mike Johnson, and artist Yasmin Liang. Johnson gave this summary of the issue, which features a gender-swapped reality:

Without giving too much away, we start right away with the introduction of Jane Tiberia Kirk and her crew on the Enterprise. From there things get progressively weirder until Jane comes face to face with her doppleganger, a fellow starship captain with an unusual name: James Tiberius Kirk.

Both also talked about the inception of the story, and their work on it. Here's a snippet in which Liang explains her approach to drawing the suddenly female dominated crew:

I spent a lot of time humming and hahhing about how body language would translate. I figured a lot of Kirk's boisterous swagger and confidence would be present no matter what gender and from there, it started to make a lot of sense. These characters are so strong at their core that a lot of what makes them who they are would be present regardless of what gender, race or even species they are! I suppose the biggest challenge was trying to find a balance in their likenesses since they're based off of male actors. I also didn't want them all to be the same.

You can read the full interview on StarTrek.com, and can also find a seven-page preview of the comic, in my previous report.

Meanwhile, back from the early days of the ongoing series, IDW Limited have announced their second super limited edition Star Trek book. Operation Annihilate is a reprint of the second ongoing omnibus (which includes two two-part stories, Operation: Annihilate, and Vulcan's Vengeance), in an exclusive hardcover binding, presented in a tray case. Each issue is signed by the writer, Mike Johnson, and a pair of artists from the series (which artists vary depending which version of the set you go for). Each set also comes with four prints of artwork from the series. There are three different versions available: The Red Label, limited to one-hundred-and-seventy-five copies, comes with the standard stuff described above. The Black Label, of which there are just fifty copies, comes with all that, plus a piece of original artwork by Joe Corroney. And the most limited version, the Blue Label, with just fifteen copies, comes with a piece of artwork by Tim Bradstreet.

I posted a few examples of the art Joe Corroney has done for this some time ago. IDW Limited's Twitter posted a couple more samples, from both Corroney and Bradstreet:

IDW Limited are currently taking pre-orders for these, expecting them to be sent out in February.

Finally, several familiar names are involved in a new book of essays exploring the world of Star Trek comics. Coming this summer from Sequart Organization is New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, a collection of essays exploring every facet of Star Trek comics; from Gold Key through to IDW, and the many, sometimes rather unusual, things in-between.

Several Star Trek fans, comic writers, and novelists are contributing. I'm sure you'll recognise more than a few names from this list: Jim Beard, Joseph F. Berenato, Julian Darius, Keith DeCandido, Kevin Dilmore, Robert Greenberger, Rich Handley, Mark Martinez, Tom Mason, David McIntee, Martín A. Pérez, Alan J. Porter, Colin Smith, Scott Tipton, Cody Walker, and Dayton Ward. It's edited by Joseph F. Berenato, and features snazzy cover art from Patricio Carbajal.