Comic bits: UK comic strips, January comics, new covers, and Spock/New Vulcan miniseries!

Lots of Star Trek comic news today, including the details of all the January titles, as well as few other new books, and lots of new covers. Continue below for the full details of everything.

First up, a book I have been dreaming of for a long time is finally coming. According to a new Amazon listing, next March will bring us Star Trek: The Classic UK Comics Volume 1, a hardcover book reprinting for the first time ever the rare 1960s UK comics originally printed in a variety of magazines. This will presumably be the first of two books reprinting the whole run, following on from the US comic strip books from a couple of years ago. I am even more excited for these books than I was the previous US strips, as not only do the UK strips share the somewhat whacky and pulp-fiction-sci-fi approach of the Gold Key Comics, but they also feature some stunning artwork (like the example pictured, which should be even better once cleaned up for this new release). Here's the Amazon blurb:

In 1969, six months before the Star Trek TV series premiered in England, British comics readers were introduced to the characters in an original comic book series. The stories were serialized, generally 2 to 3 pages at a time, in 257 weekly magazines spanning five years and 37 storylines. These extremely rare comics have never been published in the United States. Star Trek fans will quickly note that the comics were not written with strict adherence to Star Trek's core concepts. The Enterprise frequently traveled outside our galaxy, and the crew committed many violations of the never-mentioned Prime Directive along the way. Spock shouted most of his lines and often urged Kirk (or "Kurt," as his name was misspelled in early issues) to shoot first and ask questions later. But it's precisely that "offness" that makes them so eminently readable and deserving of a proper reprinting. They're unique in the annals of Star Trek and fans have gone without them for far too long.

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

News of another new title coming next year came from IDW at the New York Comic Con last month, where Legacy of Spock was announced, a four-issue arc in the nuTrek ongoing series, which will focus on Spock prime and New Vulcan, as well as what Bleedng Cool reported as "the 10 Vulcans left after the homeworld is destroyed". The tribute to Leonard Nimoy will of course be written by series regular Mike Johnson, and is due to start in March (so presumably will cover issues fifty-five to fifty-eight).

The four issues will take the ongoing series right up to the release of Star Trek Beyond, and if it's going right back to tell the story of New Vulcan from the beginning would follow a similar pattern to the comics preceding Into Darkness, which were character-focused flashback issues. Last time the Countdown to Darkness series ran concurrently telling the current mission of the Enterprise - Surely something similar is in the works for the new film?

Meanwhile, the story preceding Legacy of Spock starts in January, the two-part Orion-focused Reunion, which begins in issue fifty-three. The story comes from Mike Johnson, with art by Tony Shasteen. Here's the solicitation blurb:

An all-new adventure begins as Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise face off with a renegade faction of Orions intent on disrupting the truce between their species and the Federation! Don't miss the latest chapter in the Ongoing Mission as we approach the release of the next blockbuster movie!

Pre-order: Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

There will be two covers; the A cover is also from Shasteen, and the subscription variant from Cat Staggs (the latter is yet to be revealed):

One cover for the second part of this story, February's issue fifty-four, has also been revealed, as one of IDW's Valentine's card variant subscription covers. Derek Charm provided the artwork for this one:

Another ongoing cover recently revealed is the subscription cover for issue fifty-one, the middle-issue in the current mirror universe arc, Live Live. The art for this cover is from Lorelei Bunjes, as revealed by StarTrek.com.

Back to January, the nuTrek adventure also continues in the second issue of the new Starfleet Academy series. Mike Johnson is joined by Ryan Parrott to write this series, with art by Derek Charm. Here's the blurb:

Don't miss the latest chapter of the blockbuster mini-series that introduces a brave new cast of cadets to Star Trek lore! What is the mystery at the heart of Starfleet that connects this new crew to Kirk, Spock and rest of the iconic cast? The answers are inside, in this all-new adventure set in the new film universe!

Pre-order: Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet. 

IDW's solicitation document also gave a couple of story bullet points for the issue:

• Uhura knows she’s about to make a huge discovery…but to do that, she must seek help in unlikely places…
• Learn more about T’laan, the female Vulcan cadet at the heart of our team. She’s brilliant, but can she learn to be a leader?

There are three covers for this one. The A cover from Charm, the subscription cover by Elizabeth Beals, and a further variant George Caltsoudas - StarTrek.com revealed the artwork for the latter cover:

Also due in January is Mister Chekov, the tenth issue in John Byrne's New Visions photocomic series:

You met him as the navigator on the Bridge, but what roles did Pavel Chekov play aboard the ENTERPRISE before his promotion to the starboard seat? Find out as we go below decks for "Ensign Chekov," heading your way in January, 2016.

Purchase: Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

The final January title is the latest nuTrek ongoing omnibus book, Volume 11, which contains issues forty-six to forty-nine, plus the prime-reality medical crossover Flesh and Stone.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is on a Five Year Mission of discovery into uncharted space. Volume 11 contains the stories “The Tholian Web” and “Deity,” from issues #46–49 of the ongoing series and the one-shot Special “Flesh and Stone.”

Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp.

Finally, there is also news of one more omnibus, the complete Green Lantern crossover series, The Spectrum War, which according to Amazon is due out in March. It appears the omnibus will utilise the cover from the sixth issue in the series.

Two iconic franchises collide for this blockbuster crossover event! The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise meets the Green Lantern Corps for the first time in an all-new adventure that spans the cosmos! Kirk and Spock make a most unusual discovery on a lost world... igniting events that will change the fate of empires!

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

For full listings of all the upcoming Star Trek comic releases, and links to my previous coverage, hit the comics button on my 2015 and 2016 schedule pages. You can also find further comics series reading lists on Trek Collective Lists.