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Screen Rant is proud to demo reader the debut ofCaptain ’s Log , the first in an ongoing series bringing fans ofStar Trekexclusive news , reveals , previews , and insights flat from the storytellers crafting the next chapter ofTrekat IDW Publishing . And with the team ’s historical serial already earning some of the comics industry ’s high award ( andchanging theTrekcanon forever ) , the promise to rooter is percipient : they are just getting started .
When the relaunch of IDW ’s flagshipStar Trek(2022 ) brought Captain Benjamin Sisko back from his mystic trip-up to the Prophets atDeep Space Nine ’s ending , no fan could have predicted the coming " God War , " the shocking Klingon revolt inDay of Blood , orWorf ’s outlaw commandeering of the USS Defiant(uniting his own crew ofTrekfavorites ) . To find out what ’s next from the existence - shaking mind at IDW , Screen Rant has the inside goop fromTrekgroup editor program Heather Antos . Whether you ’re a fan ofDS9,The Next Generation , Picard , orLower Decks , there is something unforgettable on the way .
A Star Trek comic limn the mission that led James Kirk to take a promotion ; more critically , it revealed the first matter he did as an Admiral .
Screen Rant : I am honored to be joined by the highly distinguished ' captain ' of this Captain ’s Log , andStar Trekgroup editor at IDW Publishing , Heather Antos . Heather , thank you for join me !
Heather Antos : Thanks for having me !
SR : And thank you for give way fans a deep look into the new and ever - changing , maybe more - changing - than - ever earthly concern ofStar Trek .
hour angle : You make love , it ’s been a wild … what , year and a one-half since this new line bulge out ? Yeah .
SR : Now thatthe shockingDay of Bloodeventis in the rearview mirror , I have to recognize : how hard was it to stand that initial pitch when it was made ? Not only was it the event that was built - to in this first year of comics , but it was built - to by two evenly astonishing series , in the mainStar TrekandStar Trek : Defiant .
HA : It was always the goal in reality , from the beginning when I first reach out to Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly to join this — no pun intended — trek with me to develop a Modern Star Trek line . It was always with the intention of , ' Okay , in the first twelvemonth we end up with this huge crossover voter event between the two series and just see : can we do this ? Can we mystify this landing place ? Will it go over well ? Will Paramount approve a deed of conveyance called ' Day of Blood ' ? '
You know , for a franchise that is about nonsuch and the best that humans can be , we ’re going to have a very fierce Klingon putsch . Will they even lease us do that?Will they lease us have a cover version from Daniel Warren Johnson with a decapitated Klingon head on it?So it ’s been a dream add up true to do these playscript , and to have the partnership and quislingism of Paramount , and to have them be receive so well by the fandom . To get two Eisner nominations in our first year . It ’s been surreal .
referee can begin this unexampled era withStar Trek # 1from Kelly , Lanzing , and Rosanas , which launched a parallel serial withStar Trek : Defiant # 1by Christopher Cantwell and Angel Unzueta .
Star Trek’s Epic “Day of Blood” Was Only The Beginning
SR : When you come out of the gate with something that bold , and something that is get that well , what are the conversations like for what comes next ?
HA : Oh , y' all ai n’t ready for what get along next . I think that ’s been the really nerveless thing about working with Jackson , Collin , and Chris Cantwell . Jackson , Collin and I have been working together for go on five geezerhood now . We collaborated previously when I was at Valiant on a playscript holler The Harbinger . These two are the most through - and - through Trekkies I ’ve ever fulfill , ever , in my aliveness . I ’ve seen — please do n’t kill mel Jackson , but I ’ve seen the pictures of him in a Borg costume when he was like 10 years old , you know ?
It ’s just been so great to be working with such professional writers , thatwe all require the same thing : we just want the most cohesive , badass Star Trek story ever told . And when you ’re yield this gap in time that we have , between Deep Space Nine and Star Trek : Nemesis , there is this very finite sandpit that we ’re allowed to play in . I love that when when work out with licensed IP . Here ’s your sandbox , here are the restriction . What ’s the coolest story you could recount in that metre span ?
It entail that we have a finite end in mind . And we ’ve had a finite last in thinker from the very beginning . At any percentage point , since the inception of this personal line of credit , we have known exactly where it starts , exactly where it builds to , and exactly where we have to put the toys back in the box . That mean that everything is being done with intention , there ’s nothing that ’s coincidence in any of these account . It is all being done very , very intentionally , which has been very nerveless .
We all want the same thing : we just want the most cohesive , badass Star Trek story ever assure … Here ’s your sandbox , here are the restrictions . What ’s the coolest narrative you’re able to separate in that meter span ?
Star Trek Comics Are Being Allowed To “Boldly Go” Wherever The Story Leads
SR : The idea of ' fan service ' has a negative intension sometimes , but when I ’ve toldTrekfan booster of mine about this new story , just heel the crew members behind Sisko and Worf is something devotee never dared to stargaze of . So to hear you say big things are derive , I ca n’t even imagine if mass could be sit down more . Where can you go from here , when you ’ve already go farther than expected ?
HA : We could go beyond the human nous ’s wildest vision … and that is all I ’ll tantalize with that . There ’s some somewhat surreal stuff we ’re currently doing in the current arc that ’s post-“Glass and ivory , " after the Tzenkethi arc , with a new art squad on the chief Star Trek book that is , it is unearthly , and surreal .
Everything that we send to Paramount , I ’m just always hold back for them to be like , ' That ’s too far you Guy . dead not , you ca n’t do that . Are you kidding me ? Like , dead not , we ’re not gon na let you touch that . We do n’t want to set that case law , ' good ? information science usually can be very cautious of letting risible book set precedent , or show the first , last , large , baddest , any of those . AndParamount is just so supportive of everything we ’re doing with these comics , that we ’re really getting to just — again , no pun intended , go boldly with the account we ’re tell . I think the fact that they ’re being received as well as they are is what is allowing Paramount to get to have that corporate trust in us , that maybe we do know what we ’re doing [ laughs ] .
SR : You mention it there , that on the listing of things built-in to Star Trek — even if they do n’t jibe the ' ambitious , brighter tomorrow ' image — is body repulsion . We ’ve been cod that some is on the way forStar Trek : Defiant .
HA : Oh , you ’re not ready . The next arc of Defiant is very much inspired by the [ Star Trek : The Next Generation ] episode " cabal , " which I think we ’re all … it ’s one of those episode that go away me desire more . I find like there were a quite a little of loops that were n’t closed , and we ’re hope to close some of those break with this tale . Y’all are in for a wild ride the next five month .
Ángel Unzueta is coming back to draw this arc , and his uncanny power to detail reality in graphic , graphical detail with this body horror has definitely made us have to make some creative option on how we show certain elements . This discharge is emphatically not for the deliquium of heart , but it does fulfill one of my goals . When I got to take over Star Trek , one of my goals was , ' I want to do a Star Trek story that is Event Horizon meets Star Trek , ' and I really feel like this arc satisfies that pipe dream of mine .
Giving Trek’s ‘Space Dinosaurs’ The Story They Deserve
SR : I ’m cash in one’s chips to ask sentence to grapple with that . One of the most exciting expansions ofStar Treklore , for even casual rooter ( or just casual commentator ) has to bethe origination of Lanzing and Kelly ’s Tzenkethi . I do n’t think there ’s any going back , so how do we get more of these characters ? How do we get more tarradiddle ? after arcs , a standalone comic ? Why do n’t I already have Tzenkethi ware for my Kyd ?
HA : quad dinosaur , I cognise , right ? The Tzenkethi is a really coolheaded thing , because it ’s one of those species that they just really did n’t have the budget for on television receiver . So it was like , what is it in Star Wars ? The Bothans , right ? We hear all about them , but we never in reality get to see them in action . Why not give them an total arc with one of the good creature designers in comics , Marcus To , to really show them at their braggy , baddest , and scariest ? Along with some Romulans , because why not ?
It ’s been a really cool arc , to get to explore this pre - warp culture that somehow still has figured out warp technology in their own way . And it ’s been really cool to get to plan them , and really plunge into what their culture is like . I would do it to do more stories with them . Like anything else in funnies , if you desire to see more , please beak up and support the issues . It makes it easy to convince my bosses if I can say , ' Well , all of these issues sold out , so clearly they want more ! ' But yes , get Tzenkethi action figures would be really really cool .
One of my destination was , ' I want to do a Star Trek story that is Event Horizon meets Star Trek , ' and I really sense like this electric discharge satisfies that dream of mine .
The recent god warfare rocked the Star Trek franchise to its core , and provided fans with some self-aggrandising , canyon - shaking revelations about the macrocosm .
‘Sons of Star Trek’ Will Bring Legacy Characters Into The Spotlight
SR : spin out ofDay of Bloodspecifically , there isSons of Star Trek . Both Worf ’s son Alexander and Jake Sisko have had huge personal arcs , so how will that news report be continue ? And how is Q Junior going to jockey everything up ?
HA : Well , Q Junior jockey everything up with a snap [ jape ] . I ’ll just provide it at that . But no , one of the things I consider is really cool about what we ’re doing between Star Trek , Defiant , and Day of Blood is we ’re really building our own comic book universe , so to speak . We ’re really build up this world and this time of character whose stories are affecting each other in the universe around them . And that ’s what I love about comic books , right ? How intertwined everything is and interconnected .
Yes , you may pick up just one book and enjoy it . And you may pick up this other book and love it . But if you ’re reading the whole line , you may see that interconnectivity . So often in funny Scripture account , we ’re so focused on the A - listers , we ’re so focused on the independent shape , that we draw a blank about how these events are bear upon the quote - unquote normal hoi polloi .
You know , Jake Sisko is not a Federation officer . He ’s not a extremity of Starfleet . He ’s not an guiltless bystander in any of this , but he just happens to be the kid of one of the smashing member of Starfleet , let alone Emissary of the Prophets , ripe ? Like , what pressure that must be on him , you cognise ? Then Alexander , oh my God , who his father is , how do you live up to that ? Do you even desire to live up to that ? And who are you , when you do n’t know your civilisation , when your father ’s stuck in between worlds ? And then Nog , the first Ferengi of Starfleet , correct ?
This next generation of Starfleet or Starfleet - adjacent masses , there ’s so much left to be explore by that , who are impacted by the choices that their parents make . We ’re all impacted by the generation that come before us . And we all have to deal with that in some style , frame or shape . And sometimes even the good of intent can lead to some some some failed plan . I will say , Q Junior comes in with the best of intention [ laughs ] , but I do n’t recall he gets the termination he wanted right off the go . But it ’s really fun to get to play around with characters that you do n’t get to see so often . Morgan Hampton , who is the writer new to the Star Trek universe , has been doing some really great grapheme work with this team .
I have intercourse it ’s been teased , that we are going to get to see some of these role in an alternate universe . And because of that , we do get to see some other faces that are Star Trek legacy role that I ’m really , really excited for folks to get to see in comics . And yes , that includes another first clock time appearing in inverted comma - unquote , live activity comic rule book form . And that ’s all I ’ll say .
SR : We also eventually get to discussStar Trek : Celebrations . secernate me everything : how did this head start , who is the creative team you ’ve assemble , everything to do with this special issue ?
HA : Oh , god . Yeah . I do n’t know how there has never been a Star Trek Pride issue , ever . It was kind of disgraceful to me that they had just never done one ! Because what is Star Trek , if not the estimation of celebrating the best of us , correct ? The best of humanity , and coming together . There ’s a really great quote from Gene Roddenberry that that ’s the future he want to see : a future where we are all not just suffer one another , but celebrating one another .
That is the intention behind Celebrations , and where we get the form of address from . It ’s wanting to celebrate the badasses of the Star Trek universe of discourse , whether that ’s Culber and Stamets , whether that ’s Mariner , whether that ’s Seven and Raffi … there ’s so many characters that we ’re going to get to see explored here by some incredible , incredible writers . "
Star Trek : Celebrationswill arrive in comic book shops on May 29th , 2024 .
I do n’t require to expose too much because I do know we ’re gon na have some plans for some some heavy reveals on that . But we do have Steve Orlando , Maggs Visaggio , some of the author and fall there ’s some secret name that I ’m really really excited . We have a grand covering from Paulina Ganucheau , and I am so aroused about this book , and I call back it ’s going to mean a fortune to a circumstances of hoi polloi .
It ’s so comical , because when we were getting the pitch from all the writers , I always state them to send two or three ideas , just in case they do n’t like one , ripe ? And there ’s a twain writers that were like , ' Oh my god , your Sulu pitch is the best pitch I ’ve ever say . But then your Culber and Stamets one is extremely unbelievable ! ' Because there ’s only so much space in this comic , we could only tolerate one story per character set . And whittling down the Lower Decks stories , you know , everyone loves Mariner . catch to , ' Okay , this is the story that that we get to secernate ' was so , so intemperately . I trust we can get to stake the pictures that did n’t make it , or save them for a succeeding number , because there ’s some really good clobber that ’s just ace , super fun .
SR : Next , can you tell us the origin ofJ.J. Lendl ’s stained glass connect natural covering for Star Trek # 19 - 24 , and if it is just because you had a 20 by 50 window or picture frame that postulate to become a piece of work of art ?
HA : Yeah , I just bought a new theatre last year and I was really thinking about how I can spruce it up [ laugh ] . A raft of what this year of Star Trek has been about is dealing with the God . And in this next arc of Star Trek … allow ’s just say we ’re bringing the gods to the political party in this Word of God . There ’s a fortune of spiritual allegory that ’s go on . J.J. is actually the one who come up up with the stained looking glass concepts . He ’s just so magnificent , so talented , the way his mind consider in design is just beyond anyone else I ’ve ever worked with , how quickly he comes up with these ideas .
I just asked him if he wanted to do a set of connecting form for this upcoming discharge call dispirited roadmap for Star Trek , it ’s go to be six issues , we ’re visiting the gods and finally confronting them basically . All of this has been work up to this moment where Sisko gets to go and have a chat , if you will , with the Prophets . And J.J. just took it and bunk . He came back literally the next day with , ' What do you think about this ? " This incredible stained trash sketch that , basically , we could have printed as last because it was so good . I mean , you ’ve seen it yourself , it ’s beautiful , an perfectly beautiful set of concealment . All J.J. Lendl , I take no credit rating . "
SR : at last , with the 30th anniversary ofStar Trek : Voyageron the horizon , I have to need : have conversations happened ? I know the fans will be wonder , especiallyafter the " lost episode,“Dog of War .
HA : I mean Andrew , you know the deal ! If nothing ’s been announced , I ca n’t talk about it .
SR : Well until next time , since that ’s more than enough to look onwards to for now !
Until the next installment ofScreen Rant : Captain ’s Log , be sure to follow our coverage of allStar Trekcomics coming on a regular basis from IDW Publishing .
