IDW mirror universe comic updates

IDW and their artists have announced new mirror universe comic details for both the new Mirror War series starting later this year, and other releases. Continue below for the latest.

Following the announcement of the TNG mega-series The Mirror War back in May IDW have been a bit quiet on actual release dates for the series, but the new solicitations for October releases have now pinned issue #1 down to a release that month. There's also been an update in the creative team, with Gavin Smith now filling art duties on the series. As previously announced, Scott and David Tipton will be writing.

The series also seems to have been rebranded slightly, referred to simply as Star Trek: The Mirror War, rather than being under the TNG banner specifically. Here's the blurb for Star Trek: The Mirror War #1:

Return to the Mirror Universe of The Next Generation with this brand-new series from writers David & Scott Tipton, where familiar faces and exciting new surprises await around every corner!

To conquer the Mirror Universe, Captain Picard must first seize control of the ship-building planet of Faundori! The only problem? Faundori is inside Klingon-Cardassian Alliance territory…

The book will be offered in three different covers, with the main one painted by J.K Woodward. IDW have released previews of this with the full cover treatment and the art only:

There's also a B cover by Amanda Madriaga, which gives us a lot of Barclays. Plus a rarer retail incentive Mark Alvarado, featuring a cracked-mirror Data:

Artist Gavin Smith has shared a little sample of his work the series:

He also shared his tryout artwork that got him the job:

Dipping back to the issue #0(ad) that precedes this (due in September), issue and cover artist Carlos Nieto shared how he went from sketch to final art - See his Instagram post for more stages):

The writers also recently had an interview with Trek Report. They were fairly coy about details of the series, but did offer a little tease it will extend beyond the adventures of the ISS Enterprise:

One thing new about “The Mirror War” is some overlap chronologically with Deep Space Nine. Mirror Kira, Sisko, and O’Brien (among others) will be making appearances in “The Mirror War.” We’ll be seeing how the events of “The Mirror War” have direct bearings on the Mirror Universe Deep Space Nine episodes, and vice versa.

In one other IDW update, another mirror universe story, The Mirror Universe Saga(ad), the classic DC Comics TOS movie era story is set for a reprint. This is one of highlights from all Star Trek comics history, written by Mike W. Barr, with art by Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran.

IDW appear to be reviving their Star Trek Classics(ad) banner for this release, not used for several years, perhaps implying a new wave of reprints is starting here. It seems to have new cover art too; no artist is credited, but looks like the work of J.K. Woodward again to me.

The book is due out in March next year. Here's the blurb:

Picking up where Star Trek III: The Search for Spock left off, Admiral Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise face off with an evil version of themselves in the fan favorite Mirror Universe!

Admiral Kirk and his crew must battle against a very familiar foe, as forces from the Empire have crossed an interdimensional breach to wreak havoc in Federation space. While deception and desperation unfold as the Empire tries to conquer another universe, it will take all the experience of Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise to fend off the coming invasion and save the Federation!

Originally published by DC Comics in Star Trek Issues # 9–16 from December 1984 to July 1985, this collection presents the fan-favorite Mirror Universe story for the first time in almost 30 years!

The 30-years claim is a bit odd, considering IDW themselves reprinted it as recently as 2009(ad)!

To keep track of all the latest Star Trek comic releases, hit the comics button on my 2021 schedule page, or have a look back through my comics tag for the latest posts. You can also find reading lists for several Star Trek comic series on my Trek Collective Lists site.