IDW announce mirror universe Voyager comic, and other comics updates

A few comics updates today, starting with a notable new announcement from IDW: The first stand-alone Voyager comic is almost two decades! Coming in October will be Mirrors and Smoke, a mirror universe Voyager one-shot, which will be the first in a new series of mirror universe one-shots, with DS9 and TOS issues to follow later - Presumably these are all in the continuity of IDW's recent series of TNG mirror universe comics.

The Voyager book will be written by Paul Allor with art by IDW's mirror universe specialist and painter extraordinaire J.K. Woodward. Here's a blurb from the press release:

Voyager: Mirrors and Smoke introduces Captain Janeway of the Voyager, a rebel ship stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the ruins of the Terran Empire. When Janeway crowns herself Pirate Queen of the Quadrant, the locals – including scavengers Neelix and Kes – won’t give up without a fight. Amid this conflict, the crew of the Voyager has a second problem on their hands: just who is the Terran calling herself Annika Hansen, and can she be trusted?

And here's the first look at the mirror crew on the Woodward cover for the issue:

The press release included some comments from Woodward on the design of the characters:

The Mirror Universe looks at characters – and Star Trek as a whole – in a way that’s unique and exciting. There really is no greater reward creatively. I was very excited when IDW approached me about working on a Mirror Voyager story. I’d given considerable thought to what a Voyager crew would be like in the Mirror Universe, and based the look of the characters on designs I’d already completed. With suggestions from IDW and CBS, we developed new ideas and alterations to create a look that I think exceeds anything we’ve done previously.

There will also be a George Caltsoudas retail incentive cover, but that's not been released yet. He has however recently teased some Discovery art on his Instagram; given he's down for a retail incentive cover for the next Discovery comic, Aftermath, I think there's a good chance this is a snippet from that cover:

Finally, Hero Collector recently posted an interview with the lead writers on the TOS Year Five series, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly. It's a pretty interesting discussion on their process, and the writing room. For instance Lanzing on the writers room, and how they are weaving plots together:

Accommodating the writer’s room was never a concern  – they’re all brilliant professionals who came in with vibrant ideas. We broke the entire season in a day, with time to spare. That work has continued as they’ve moved to script – but Collin and I are primarily here as a resource for the main plot, which involves a Tholian child that Kirk has brought on to the ship as a refugee, and how the crew’s relationship to that child evolves. Brandon, Jody and Jim are all executing great work with the IDW editorial team – and we’re making sure it all weaves perfectly with the main plot. 

Lanzing also gave a quick summary of the next few story arcs:

Brandon Easton and Martin Coccolo are taking you back to Sigma Iota II in “Communications Breakdown”, where social science fiction takes the reins for a tale of democracy gone amok, failed fathers, and the dangers of prejudice. Jody Houser and Silvia Califano are up next with “The Truth Artifact,” a story that puts Uhura in the center of a shipwide anomaly that only she and the Tholian child can solve. Then Collin and I are back for an episode that starts to pull the curtain back on the Tholian Assembly. We call it “Trespasser.”

Kelly mentioned there's something coming up in that Trespasser story which should start to tie things together more:

There’s one big piece of the puzzle that hasn’t been revealed yet, but it’s also the idea that ties the room together. You’ll get your first glimpse of this mystery in Issue #8. 

But there's still plenty of story left after that, as Kelly also mentioned this is a whopping 24-issue project!

Because TOS has so many wonderful one-and-done stories, they ended up leaving more plot threads on the table than any 24-issue series – separated into two issues “episodes” – could possible resolve. While we 100% will be visiting locations and characters of the past – in fact, issues three and four, written by Brandon Easton, will be returning to Sigma Iota – we’re also bringing in a number of new elements that better reflect some of the more modern challenges that Star Trek was so well known for tackling. 

Check out the full interview for much more.

To keep track of all the latest Star Trek comic releases, hit the comics button on my 2019 schedule page. You can also find reading lists for several Star Trek comic series on my Trek Collective Lists site.