|
Post by brutalis on Aug 30, 2021 13:59:08 GMT -5
Let this be the Tribble Hole we fall into traversing into a Mirror Universe where Trek, NOT Wars is the STAR topic of comic book discussion. Published through various companies, the pride of the Federation, the Starship Enterprise remains THE Premiere science-fiction comic book series. From Dell[edit: Gold Key doh], to Marvel, to DC, to Malibu and now with IDW, there is plenty of Trek for us to discuss.
From the good, to the bad, to the ugly (you have to admit Klingon's aren't all that beautiful) no matter what comic book version you prefer reading, there is a galaxy full of excitement and adventures to explore. Put on your Red Shirt, beam up and Warp Speed ahead!
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Aug 30, 2021 14:09:39 GMT -5
To kick off the talk, for me the DC Star Trek the Original Crew and Next Generation comics are some of the best and truest for Star Trek in comic book form. While Dell is the 1st to deliver Trek on the printed page, it is somewhat not quite Trek. And Marvel quickly delivered the movie version with some hits and some misses it was DC that managed to capture the "essence" and spirit of Gene Roddenberry's gift to us fans.
I'm not one to delve into deep reviews, so my discussions will be less about the full detailing of issues but instead exploring the fun and imagination. I have grown up on Star Trek in television, novels, cartoons, movies and comics so it has ALWAYS been a big part of my life and experiences. Share your own joy's and sorrows in your comic book readings as we explore.
DC just nailed Trek from the very start in both art and story. Sutton and Villagran made a great team putting Trek artistically on the page while Barr provided new crew to interact with the classic crew we knew and loved. Continuing on right after the death of Spock in Wrath of Khan while fans were still hurting at the loss of our favorite Vulcan, the comic helped to soothe and ease that pain by delivering us a monthly fix of new adventures.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 15:12:46 GMT -5
I read a few (very few) of the GOLD KEY comics. It wasn't until decades later I found out most (all?) were done by an Italian artist who'd never seen the show (Alberto Giolitti, whose work I've also seen in such titles as BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY and GUNSMOKE).
After decades of disinterst or even derision, it seems sometime back, fan opinion of that run changed. Perhaps it was an improved appreciation for vintage oldies, perhaps it was "nostalgia" for something some never actually liked before? Who can say?
(By the way, it's easy to confuse Dell & Gold Key, as GK actually SPLIT from Dell when they formed and took most of the better licenses with them.)
Marvel was always a mixed batch. Dave Cockrum said he practically would kill to do the book, then was horrified when his pencils were MURDERED by Klaus Janson, inspiring him to leave. What followed was extremely uneven, depending on who did which issue.
The newspaper strip started out with STUNNING, BRILLIANT art by Thomas Warkentin, but only so-so writing. When Warkentin left after a year, his replacement was TERRIBLE. Only a few months later, the new guy was replaced, and the 3rd guy was EVEN WORSE. And a couple weeks after that, it VANISHED from the Philly paper running it, so I've never been sure if the paper DROPPED it, or if the syndicate just CANCELLED it.
When DC got the license, it was a pleasant surprise. Tom Sutton is NOT anyone I'd have expected to like on STAR TREK. His style, for his entire career, kept mutating and getting stranger asnd stranger as he went. But whoever Ricardo Villagran was (I confess, the only thing I know him from is STAR TREK), it "worked". And the writing was the best I'd seen, considering they had to shove all those stories in between the continuity of the movies (and since those movies were so tightly related, in retrospect, I'm not sure that makes much sense).
Later runs, the art was EVEN BETTER. I recall hating the initial art on the NEXT GENERATION comic, but soon that got nearly as good as the regualr book.
And then a different publisher somehow got the rights to do DEEP SPACE NINE, which had FABULOUS art as well.
I think the best art I ever saw in a STAR TREK comic had to be the one graphic novel written by Chris Claremont, and illustrated by ADAM HUGHES. Whoa. Not only it looked incredible, but, I swear, Chris' writing was far, far better on that than on anything I had ever, ever seen him do for Marvel. Maybe he was just writing the wrong characters all those years.
I recall the irony that, when I quit buying STAR TREK comics, it wasn't because they'd gotten bad.. but became I simply felt a need to cut down on how many books I was buying every month, and it just felt that somehow, I had all the STAR TREK comics I'd ever need to read.............. Strange but true!
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 15:19:06 GMT -5
Alberto Giolitti
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 15:21:05 GMT -5
Dave Cockrum
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 15:22:39 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 15:26:34 GMT -5
Tom Sutton
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 15:27:22 GMT -5
Adam Hughes
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Aug 30, 2021 15:57:23 GMT -5
Yeah, Janson overwhelmed Cockrum but I personally liked how the comic looked under their combination. Giolitti grows on you but has a much more 1950's sci-fi movie feeling to me, and considering he either only had a few studio pictures sent to him he does a nice job. That Adam Hughes graphic novel is a thing of beauty!
As to why Sutton was chosen? I have no idea but his storytelling abilities were spot on for Trek and Villagran cleaned up much of his sketchy/quirkier attributes. Villagran gave a continuity of style and look. The 2 of them made the comic and characters very recognizable without looking like it was drawn from pictures, which a lot of Star Wars felt like.
I can see where DC used Pablo Marco's as he was likely costing them less money and so helping in the cost saving respect. He did a decent job delivering the more futuristic aspects of Next Gen in his penciling for the mini-series. I do think his inking helped with the artistic consistency in the beginning helping to again clean up and keep a uniform, if different tone than the Kirk Trek.
I was a fan and instantly having both Trek series put on my LCS pull list.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 17:14:31 GMT -5
Something else Warkentin did that a lot of people may be familiar with... from HEAVY METAL magazine.
Man, you never know what online images will work on these message boards or not. I had to look round to a number of sites before I found all 4 pages in one spot that would re-post here. This is from a message board named "WHAT IF MODELERS"!
Oh hell. The images came up when I posted earlier. Now they're gone? Fine. Try this...
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 30, 2021 17:23:37 GMT -5
And of course, here's the MOVIE version!
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 30, 2021 18:11:30 GMT -5
I didn't follow DC's Star Trek all that much, but thoroughly enjoyed the "voice" Peter David gave the characters. He got them down pat.
Having Saavik around was also pretty good, early in the series. That's one character who should have been kept in the movies too!
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 30, 2021 21:38:29 GMT -5
I mostly have only read PAD's DC stuff, and it's definitely good. I have trades of most of the old Gold Key books.. there are times when goofy things happen, but overall they're pretty good stories that mostly are in the spirit of the property.
I'm not a big fan of the current stuff written by the Tiptons, but 'Star Trek: Year 5' is absolutely amazing (not a classic yet though)
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 30, 2021 22:11:12 GMT -5
I often have a slight problem with the artwork in movie or tv adaptations to comics: it seems as if the artist is trying a little too hard at times to capture the features of the actors. Some do it better than others but to be fair, usually, whoever the artist is, they manage to make the faces of the characters recognisable, so that isn't the problem. But I wonder if they put so much concentration into that aspect that other things suffer. Sometmes I think they might be better off not worrying too much about it, just letting their natural style flow and making minimal adjustments to render the likenesses of the actors.
From memory, and without looking up any online images to confirm this impression, I think one of the most successful was Steranko's Outland adaptation in Heavy Metal: the lead character looked like Connery, but much more importantly, the comic looked like a Steranko comic - and it worked!
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Aug 30, 2021 22:35:32 GMT -5
Let this be the Tribble Hole we fall into traversing into a Mirror Universe where Trek, NOT Wars is the STAR topic of comic book discussion. Published through various companies, the pride of the Federation, the Starship Enterprise remains THE Premiere science-fiction comic book series. From Dell[edit: Gold Key doh], to Marvel, to DC, to Malibu and now with IDW, there is plenty of Trek for us to discuss. From the good, to the bad, to the ugly (you have to admit Klingon's aren't all that beautiful) no matter what comic book version you prefer reading, there is a galaxy full of excitement and adventures to explore. Put on your Red Shirt, beam up and Warp Speed ahead! Arguably, Gold Key's Star Trek was closer to the source than most would know (at a glance). For one, consider how the "world" was described: Gold Key comic's use of more "space age" descriptions mirrored the early episodes of the TV series, where technology such as the transporter (referred to as a "materializer in "Where No Man Has Gone Before"--the second pilot) or "Starfleet" were not yet firmly established, so very 20th century terms were used.
Of the numerous Star Trek comic books published over a half century, most of the art was shockingly shoddy--hardly the best treatment of so popular a franchise. Interestingly enough, it was when ST was in its infancy as a network series--and in its early 70s syndication years that it enjoyed some of its best artwork. From Nevio Zeccara to the grossly underrated Alberto Giolitti (and other artists working for his studio in Italy) Gold Key's artists lent the same, lean realism applied to endless Western Publishing cowboy and fantasy comics to ST, giving the adaptation the kind of non-superheroic approach that would be lost in adaptations in the decades to follow.
There was an energy to Golitti's ST work, always keeping the story moving to make up for the medium's inherent shortcomings in adapting film and TV, as seen in a page and original art from Star Trek #7 (March, 1970):
Gold Key's Star Trek was fairly popular--one of the few TV adaptations to last more than a decade. In that time, its status granted it a second and third life in other publications. First, there were two abridged reprints as part of 1974's Dan Curtis Giveaways, a collection of 6" x 3" mini comics:
DCG featured some of the publisher's most popular titles, including Ripley's Believe it or Not, The Twilight Zone, The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor, and Dark Shadows--the latter an adaptation of the famous gothic horror soap opera created by Dan Curtis, hence the name of this collection. It has been theorized that the collection was named for the producer/director not only due to the Dark Shadows phenomenon, but at the time, he was very popular as the director of several TV adaptations of classic horror literature (e.g., The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray, etc.) and produced 1972's The Night Stalker, once the highest rated TV film in history.
Star Trek's entries in the collection included a reprint of issues 13 and 14.
In the 1970s, paper and hardback collections of monthly comics were a successful, growing category, and Gold Key's Star Trek did not miss out on the action. Between 1976 and 1977, Golden Press published four volumes of Star Trek: The Enterprise Logs:
Each volume contained 224 pages of reprints, plus new (and very imaginative) in-universe profiles of Kirk and Spock (called "Psychofiles"), a history of how humans progressed from early space exploration to the era of the U.S.S. Enterprise ("From Sputnik to Warp Drive") and a three-page profile of Alberto Giolitti's life, work and artistic process. With little question, The Enterprise Logs pointed to just how popular Gold Key's adaptation had been, and for anyone around in 1976 (when Star Trek celebrated its first decade), they would have seen TEL everywhere, and as I recall, often sold out.
While not a perfect adaptation, Gold Key's Star Trek was one of the most enjoyable versions of the TV series from any publisher.
|
|