So far, Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary year has passed with little in the way of new announcements. There’s still time, of course, and rumor has it we’ll get a Comic Con panel that may bring interesting updates, but right now, Star Trek’s future – particularly on screen – looks too quiet. We have seen the high-profile cancellation of Starfleet Academy, the release (or upcoming release) of several books, and fans have Strange New Worlds Season 4 to look forward to this summer, but there is significant clamor for more.
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There are other new releases, of course, including the second chapter of the excellent Red Shirts comic, and sticking with the medium, IDW also has a 60th anniversary Star Trek one-shot comic that collects 10 short stories spread across 68 pages of Trek history. There are stories dedicated to Worf, Sulu, and Harry Mudd, among others and most intriguingly, there’s a look at the lost future of Lower Decks, thanks to creator Mike McMahan. He revealed in the announcement of the comic that the comic will show what the next season of the canceled show would have looked like:
“This was a blast. I got to write a piece that serves as a blueprint for what a new season of Lower Decks would be like, if we kept going beyond the finale. Sort of a holodeck WHAT IF? scenario, where we check in on the Cerritos crew to see how things are going. Plus, I got to work with some of my all-time favorite artists who bring a different look to the show. The magic of comics!”
IDW’s 60th Anniversary Comic Adds to Star Trek History
IDW’s comics have offered Star Trek fans a great alternative to ongoing series, including The Last Starship, which famously revived William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, and Red Shirts, which shifted focus to the most abused class of characters in Star Trek. The 60th anniversary is more of a celebration of what came before, with iconic characters headlining, and then also a Star Trek: The Animated Series story by writer Ryan North and artist Derek Charm, and stories from the worlds of The Next Generation, The Original Series, Starfleet Academy, and a gag page from Enterprise. Other creatives involved include Brian Michael Bendis, Christopher Cantwell, David Walker, Meghan Camarena, Mike McMahan, and Michael and Laura Allred.
Seeing more of Lower Decks is a particular treat for fans who believe the animated show was canceled too soon. McMahan previously spoke to TrekMovie about hopes for a revival of the show: “I mean, it’s tough. If you ask people from the crew and production, of course, it’s possible. We’d all like to keep making it. I have more stories I want to tell. Our cast wants to keep working together. Our producer loves to pay his mortgage. [laughs] But at the same time, the reality of the situation is we have five seasons of a show that is a miracle that it exists.”
McMahan also confirmed that the final season’s plans changed specifically because they knew they were wrapping up and that he “got to make exactly the show I wanted to make.” But that promise that he had more stories to tell is what’s interesting, because the story in IDW’s 60th Anniversary Comic will deliver on it. He had been clear that he’d be ready “when the industry and Paramount seems to kind of be in a place where Lower Decks can pop back again, I’m going to make a hard push to get to do whatever we can get – More episodes, a movie, a live-action spinoff? Who knows?” For now, it’s a comic, but let’s hope interest in the comic can help push more through.
IDW’s 60th anniversary Star Trek comic pre-orders are due by July 27. Are you excited for it? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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