The comic book adventures of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are warping into a new crossover event this July as they team up with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps in The Spectrum War.

IDW Publishing announced the new miniseries on at Wondercon this past weekend (and online this week), this six issue series has the current film version of the finest from the Federation’s flagship meeting the cast of DC Comics’ most famous galactic force.

Here’s IDW Publishing’s official release:

IDW Publishing, CBS Consumer Products and DC Entertainment announced today that they will boldly go where no one has gone before…in brightest day, in blackest night.

Two iconic franchises will meet this summer in a legendary crossover event with the release of a six-part comic book miniseries, STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR. Both Star Trek and Green Lantern are known for their strong cast of interstellar characters and when they come together for the first time this July, fans new and old are sure to experience a galaxy-sized thrill.

STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR is six-part monthly mini-series and will be written by veteran Star Trek comic writer Mike Johnson with interior art by Angel Hernandez (INFINITE CRISIS: FIGHT FOR THE MULTIVERSE, ARROW). STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR #1 will be available in stores and online in July, boasting covers from Gabriel Rodriguez, Francesco Francavilla, Elsa Charretier, and Garry Brown. Following issues will feature covers from an amazing lineup that includes Declan Shalvey, Marc Laming, and more!

“We’ve looked forward to bringing these two iconic universes together for a long time,” said Greg Goldstein, IDW President and COO. “Star Trek and Green Lantern both share so many of the same science-fiction adventure themes and ideals, that a galaxy-spanning crossover like this is simply…logical.”

“Green Lantern is one of the most popular, storied characters in the history of comic books and a modern DC Comics icon. An entire universe of Green Lanterns and other supporting characters have grown out from his original adventures in the 1940’s, and this series really showcases the intergalactic scope of the franchise,” said Bob Harras, Editor-in-Chief of DC Comics.

A pop culture mainstay for almost 50 years, Star Trek’s fan base continues to grow exponentially with the new feature films in 2009 and 2013. Now all Star Trek fans can watch their favorite U.S.S. Enterprise crew members meet Hal Jordan and the entire Green Lantern Corps in an adventure that spans space, time and all the colors of the spectrum.

Set in Star Trek’s 23rd Century, the balance of the universe will be tested when the Green Lantern Corps’ Power Rings come into the possession of certain Star Trek characters while a dark and powerful evil looms around every corner. Only the combined power of the Green Lantern Corp and the Federation stand any chance of stopping those who worship evil’s might.

This isn’t the first time that Kirk and company have met with other franchises. The first comic book combination took place in 1996 with Star Trek/X-Men, a one-shot written by Scott Lobdell and illustrated by Marc Silvestri, Billy Tan, Anthony Winn, David Finch, and Brian Ching. This was followed up two years later with another one-shot, Star Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men: Second Contact by Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton, with art by Cary Nord and Scott Koblish.

The crossovers went silent for a time after this, as IDW acquired the license to publish Star Trek adventures. In 2011 a six issue team up, Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes, occurred between DC Comics’ famous mega-team from the 30th century, written by Chris Roberson with art by Jeffrey Moy and Fajardo Romulo.

A longer mixing came to fruition in 2012 with the eight issue pairing of the Next Gen crew and Matt Smith’s Doctor Who, with companions Amy and Rory, in Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation².

Scott and David Tipton, with an assist by Tony Lee on issues 1 – 4, were the writers, with J.K. Woodward painting the artwork — and of course, the most recent franchise mash-up is Star Trek/Planet of the Apes by the Tiptons, featuring art by Rachel Stott.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Star Trek is again meeting with a super hero franchise.

Many fans have fond memories of the X-Men team ups (which concluded in Michael Jan Friedman’s Planet X crossover novel), and such commingling of characters is a pretty safe bet: each publisher can run ads in the other’s books promoting their businesses, and both sets of fans will most likely purchase the series, perhaps enjoying the other characters to start following their monthly adventures.

Green Lantern is a smart teaming for Star Trek: the corps are set in space, there are many alien races, and both teams keep the universe safe.

The press release states that some of the green power rings will going to Trek characters. Since the green rings are fueled by will power, it seems apparent that Kirk will have one, as his will is the driving force of the series. Spock could also have one, though I would expect him to have a white power ring, for life, and McCoy a blue, for hope.

If you haven’t been following the DC Comics releases, several more rings colors were introduced, each with their own corps. Klingons would obviously have yellow, for fear, Ferengi would have orange, avarice/greed, Uhura would have violet, love, and indigo, which represents compassion, would go to someone from Gamma Vertis IV from the classic series episode “The Empath.”

The rebooted crew haven’t met, or re-met, with this species yet and it seems a natural fit.

The final ring is black for death, and I can’t imagine a Star Trek species to represent and wear that ring. There are several alien races that killed others, but most had non corporeal forms, so putting a ring on would be difficult. There are several characters from the DC Universe that could wear this ring, but I can’t think of any save those of the Black Lantern Corps that terrorized all of DC’s books in the very successful Blackest Night.

A dead character wears the black ring and retains the memories of its living life, as well as their abilities, and wants to kill others so as to increase their dark army. This presents opportunities for dead Trek characters to reappear, such as Nero from the 2009 Star Trek film.

There are several directions this series can go in, which could be argued, debated, and speculated on until the first issue arrives. I’m looking forward to seeing two of my favorite franchises meet up.