“What a time to be a Star Trek fan!” -Collin Kelly
It’s hard to disagree with Collin there, who made this proclamation later in the IDW Publishing Star Trek panel. Between the three current series still on Paramount Plus, Netflix’s pick-up of Star Trek Prodigy, and over five Star Trek comic series currently published, with more to come, Trek fans are eating well right now.
Today’s Star Trek panel from IDW started with love being thrown “Day of Blood’s” way, the big multi-series arc that featured the crews of the Theseus and Defiant fighting the forces of Khaless II and his followers. The five-book event just concluded, with the announcement coming from moderator Heather Antos that the director’s cut of "Day of Blood" was available now, including a black-and-white version.
But the panel quickly shifted to the future and what’s coming up in the Star Trek comic world.
The ongoing Star Trek series will continue with its third arc, “A Salvage World of Glass and Bone,” which begins on October 25th. The run will see the return of the Tzenkethi, a species Sisko is more than familiar with. Still recovering from the Dominion War, Ben and the Theseus will be sent to Tzenketh to perform some damage control and prevent a war with them, something that Collin Kelly said could be catastrophic for the Federation.
Harry Returns...but with how many pips?!
The third arc will also feature the return of one Harry Kim, with Kelly saying, “You thought we weren’t going to bring one of our favorite ensigns back?” And yes, Collin definitely emphasized ensign. Harry is currently caring for Miral, Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres’ daughter. But Harry is also an undercover agent at this point in his career, with Collin spoiling for the crowd that his code name is King Snake. Kelly also reassured the close to capacity crowd in the panel room that they’re showing the character the respect he deserves.
Christopher Cantwell then went on to announce Defiant’s next run, which will see Worf and his crew recalled to Starfleet Command by none other than Admirals Jellicho and Nechayev. There, they get disavowed, only to be secretly still working for Starfleet, taking on Mission: Impossible (with the cover for issue #8 also being an homage to the original M:I poster) type of missions and bounties. For more on who Worf and the Defiant might be running into during their next arc, check out Emcee’s wrap-up of the IDW panel from SDCC.
Keeping on the Defiant, the series’ annual issue will drop this January, and it is shaping up to be a hell of a book. The annual story will feature Sela and Tasha Yar, with Chris Cantwell noting it is very much a Sela story. Cartwell also mentions that “yes, it involves time travel” and a "story that’s very near and dear to my heart.”
Other series announced today were the recently released “Holo-Ween” books, with issues one and two available now. Joe Eisma, who does the colors on the series, said that drawing the TNG crew as monsters was “a lot of pressure,, but fun." As you can tell by some of the images, the art style pays homage to the likes of The Mummy, Frankenstein, and more.
One of the panel's most exciting pieces of news was a follow-up on the upcoming Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way graphic novel coming out next year. The 182-page book is a game you can win, and there is a correct path moderator Heather Antos pointed out saying, “You might have to make some Mariner-type choices.”
Finally, one more new series was announced, Sons of Star Trek, which will feature…you guessed it, Trek nepo babies. Jackson Lanzing also added some details on Twitter, saying that the upcoming series is just a four-issue run that features Nog, Jake, Alexander, and Q Junior. Antos also mentioned that a nepo baby from currently running Star Trek may also show up in the series. Thoughts on who that could be?
There are so many comics, so little time. Speaking of time, you may want to empty out your pull folder at your local comic shop cause you’re going to have a lot of reading to do. Stay tuned to SNP for all your Star Trek comic news and NYCC 23 coverage.
