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BOOK REVIEW: Prometheus — “The Root of All Rage”

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June 3, 2018

BOOK REVIEW: Prometheus — “The Root of All Rage”

The second entry in the German ‘Star Trek’ novel series comes to the United States with its first English translation!

The Federation races to discover the culprits of several terrorist attacks, sending their flagship, the USS Prometheus, to stop war breaking out in the galaxy.

A dangerous evil is flourishing in the Alpha Quadrant. In the Lembatta Cluster, a curious region of space, fanatics who call themselves the Purifying Flame are trying to start a galactic war, and the warlike Klingons are baying for blood.

The Federation have sent the U.S.S. Prometheus to settle the crisis, and the crew must contend with both the hostile Renao: the secretive inhabitants of the Cluster, and the Klingon captain of the I.K.S Bortas, who is desperate for war.

The Star Trek: Prometheus trilogy, written by German authors Brend Perplies and Christian Humberg (with translation assistance from Keith R.A. DeCandido), returns this month with The Root of All Rage.

This novel, which was originally published in German in 2016 in conjunction with the franchise’s 50^th anniversary, reaches the English-speaking world and continues the story of the USS Prometheus investigating a threat to the galaxy.

If you enjoyed the first book in the trilogy, you’ll enjoy this one too. Perplies & Humberg continue to spin out their story that stretches from the Lembatta Cluster, to Office of the President of the Federation on Earth, and to the Great Hall of the Klingon High Council on Qo’Nos.

The book is also stuffed full of references to the Star Trek canon, events and characters from other novels, some subtly, but many not so subtly intertwined with the narrative.

Overall, I enjoyed The Root of All Rage more than its predecessor, Fire with Fire, though the book still took a while to really get going. While I struggled a lot with Fire with Fire, this month’s The Root of all Rage really begins to pick up after the first third of the novel, and the back half is a fun adventure and an easy read.

When the narrative focuses on the Lembatta Cluster and the two protagonist ships – the USS Prometheus and the IKS Bortas – the book really hums. However, in the early parts of the book the narrative frequently gets dragged aside, and the crew of the Prometheus feel like they are relegated to supporting characters in their own trilogy.

I can see the intent behind including characters on Earth and Qo’Nos, as the writers were attempting to raise the stakes significantly for the protagonists and give the story a scope fit for the 50^th anniversary. Unfortunately, however, these sections of the book never really convincingly sell that the Lembatta Cluster crisis is one worthy of the attention of the entire political structure of the Federation and Klingon Empire.

In The Root of All Rage, the number of guest stars from the franchise continues to mount. Accompanying the Prometheus and the Bortas are Ambassador Spock and Ambassador Alexander Rozhenko, who both drop in and out of the narrative as required. Rozhenko in particular is entirely absent from the first portion of the book, suddenly reappearing as the story required.

Spock is handled better here than he was in Fire with Fire and felt more important to the overall narrative. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was dropped in just because the writers wanted a main character along for the ride.

On Earth, Lwaxana Troi appears in this novel as an important guest star, and Captain Picard makes an appearance. Again, many of these inclusions of characters from the Star Trek canon can be fun, but these books are stuffed so full of them that there is little weight to it. Picard’s appearance, for example, is entirely superfluous to the story and feels like the writers were working on box-checking the characters they’ve always wanted to write.

In addition, spending so much time with guest stars robs the new characters of the USS Prometheus from development. Captain Richard Adams, who was little developed in Fire with Fire, remains a generic Starfleet captain with few discernible unique personality traits. Some of the other members of the crew are better served, but their character development is frequently brief which makes it confusing to understand which Starfleet character is which.

Thankfully, this problem does not hold true for the IKS Bortas, where the Klingon crew are well developed in the book and interesting. It is always welcome to see more of the Klingon perspective in Star Trek novels, and the Bortas are an interesting crew of misfits, many of whom have their own agendas. From a character perspective, the Bortas crew are the absolute stand outs from this novel.

Though The Root of All Rage’s character issues and sprawling cast of characters hurt the overall story, I still found the book to be an enjoyable, easy read. The narrative zips along, and the book’s final twist ties into an episode of The Original Series and a trilogy of Star Trek: The Next Generation novels that I was not expecting. I am excited to see how that plays out in the resolution.

If you’re a fan of galaxy-spanning Star Trek stories that include action, mystery, Klingons, and politics – and especially if you love fan service – I would say to go ahead and give the Prometheus trilogy a go, a definite improvement from the first book in the series.

If you liked The Root of All Rage, you should check out:

The Q Continuum, Book One: Q-Space, by Greg Cox: The Prometheus trilogy ties into the events of this book its two sequels, originally published in 1999. The book involves a threat to the Q Continuum that Q enlists Picard’s help to solve.
The Battle of Betazed, by Charlotte Douglas and Susan Kearney: The events of this novel are referenced a couple of times in The Root of All Rage, and depict the events surrounding the Dominion conquest and subsequent liberation of Betazed during the Dominion War.

Finally, if you like the first two Prometheus books, you can preorder In the Heart of Chaos, the third and final chapter of this novel series. Due in November, this release concludes the journey of the USS Prometheus and IKS Bortas through the Lembatta Cluster as they work to flush out a threat to the entire Alpha Quadrant.

FanSets Reveals June TREK Pins, Hints at STLV Exclusives

TrekCore Staff

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June 3, 2018

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FanSets Reveals June TREK Pins, Hints at STLV Exclusives

Licensed pin manufacturer FanSets is continuing their roll-out of Star Trek releases for 2018, and as we head into the early days of summer, we have some new reveals for upcoming pins arriving over the next few months.

This past month, three new Trek pins debuted: Star Trek Beyond Kirk (their second Kelvin Timeline entry), wheelchair-bound “Menagerie” Pike, and green-skinned Vina in her Orion appearance from “The Cage.”

For June, FanSets is returning to Star Trek: Discovery with the just-released Lt. Commander Airiam, the ‘augmented human’ Spore Drive operations officer played by Sara Mitich on the series, and June 15 brings the USS Franklin starship pin from Star Trek Beyond, the first ship from the Kelvin Timeline to make FanSets’ listings.

There are expected July releases coming from the company as well, to be announced in a few weeks, but today FanSets began teasing their plans for August’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention.

Expected are “super-rare, show-only [pins] limited to 100 pieces,” a Deep Space Nine 25th Anniversary pin set (likely similar to last year’s TNG 30th set), an STLV 2018 event “poker chip” pin (following last year’s TNG version), and more offerings — including this “LLAP” Vulcan salute pin, launching at STLV (for both attendee purchases and online sales).

Finally, for those of you headed to STLV, FanSets says they’re going to have another sponsored party at the convention like in 2017, and all attendees to their event will take home an exclusive party-only pin (not yet revealed).

Keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest in Star Trek product news!

Trek Comics Review: “TNG — Through the Mirror” #5

John Kirk

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June 2, 2018

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Trek Comics Review: “TNG — Through the Mirror” #5

We have been waiting for a battle royale in Star Trek: TNG — Through the Mirror, and that’s exactly what writers Scott and David Tipton along with artist, Debora Carita, gave us here in this final chapter of this summer’s first Mirror Universe saga… as the crews of two starships Enterprise square off for a climactic showdown!

When we left the story last week, the Imperial Terrans have managed to lure the USS Enterprise to the Martorelles Array, where they plan to beam the entire ship over to the Mirror Universe. It’s an ambitious plan, but Mirror Picard clearly overlooked the fact that if he could conceive of this plan, his counterpart from “our” universe would be able to figure it out too — and sense that there was a trap lurking in the shadows.

Through the Mirror #5 picks up right from last week’s cliffhanger ending, with the crews of each Enterprise staring down their counterparts, phasers at the ready. When the battle begins, both crews scatter and the entire story is one big fight scene with some interesting one-on-one clashes.

However, during this battle, I did happen to notice a few discrepancies — for example: when the two sides are arrayed opposite to each other, in one panel, the Terran Imperials were weaponless. Yet just a few other panels later, they were armed with not just hand phasers, but phaser rifles. I don’t know where they hid them, but it must have been a pretty imaginative place!

Dr. Crusher and Inquisitor Troi were in the “order of battle” too. While it’s clearly within the realm of reason that they would have made themselves scarce as non-combatants, I think I would have liked to have seen them leave. I’m not a stickler for great detail, but every now and then, the occasional one catches my attention and stays with me.

This brawl isn’t the end of the story in this book, though — the story of the Mirror Next Generation crew is far from over. The grand scheme didn’t go off as planned for the ISS Enterprise crew, and their story ended with open storylines to fill a Galaxy-class starship.

Case in point: Reg Barclay, everyone’s favourite poster boy for insecurity, is actually the diametric opposite in the Terran Empire, an hotly aggressive officer willing to take risks and claim dangerous situations for himself. The Mirror duplicate of “good old Broccoli” manages to slip past the crew of the ‘good’ Enterprise, and stows away on the Federation flagship — setting up the launch of Star Trek: TNG — Terra Incognita, the forthcoming sequel story to Through the Mirror.

Also, I love that the parting words between the Picards were clear foreshadowing of future encounters. It’s obvious that IDW likes what the Tiptons have written here, and that they’ll be more from this duo in the future.

The second tale that’s been woven through this five-issue story, “Ripe for the Plunder,” is somewhat truncated in this issue, fighting for page count with the big battle in the primary presentation. Despite its brevity, though, it’s still a source of pure fascination for me.

Even though Data has now found Emperor Spock, we still don’t know what happens between them during their encounter. It is apparent that Data managed to get the information he needed — learning the existence of ‘our’ universe from the former first officer of the first ISS Enterprise — but while things look fairly dire for the elderly Vulcan, the possibility that he still lives remains.

While this is the end of this short tale, I’d like to think that this is also the starting point for a possible future storyline in which we will see some more of J.K. Woodward’s incredible art. Call me an optimist, but there’s more that can be written out of this and I’m sure the Tiptons are up for more.

The covers for this issue are fairly remarkable.

Cover ‘A’ is the final entry in J.K. Woodward’s spectacular panel piece of reflection. The two Doctors Crusher are facing each other on this cover, with Worf and the Mirror Barclay beneath them. This is definitely my favourite cover, and I would give my eye-teeth to collect all of the panels.
Cover ‘B’ is an epic one-on-one fight between Mirror Data and our Captain Picard. This is by the interior artist, Debora Carita and it holds itself well, if it was a cover to attract the attention of the casual passer-by in a local comic shop. It hints at the conflict within and to see Commander Data, with his Borg attachments strangling Captain Picard is a fairly striking image.
The retailer-incentive ‘A’ cover is a stock photo of the Next Generation cast from the sixth year of the television series. It’s been seen so many times that its familiarity actually detracts from the adventure of the story (at least, in my opinion).
Peter McKinstry provides the art for the retailer-incentive ‘B’ cover, and as I’m seeing more of his work, I like it even more. It’s a stunning image of the alternate Riker, complete with a biker beard and scarred, dead eye. This Riker is a complete bad-ass, and I think McKinstry has captured the attitude of this character perfectly.
Finally, the convention-exclusive cover (not pictured) is a black-and-white version of the main cover by Woodward. I’d love to get all of these myself, so I hope that my next convention has all of them in stock!

While this is the end of this marathon of weekly books, this isn’t the last of the battles between the two crews. Unlike some other Mirror Universe tales, the storyline that began with last year’s Mirror Broken and continued with Through the Mirror is just start of these two crews actively planning to encounter each other in the future.

The challenge for the Tiptons is to think of a tale that will take into account that each side is, at least theoretically, evenly matched. It will be the environmental factors that will decide whether one side succeeds or fails, and I can imagine some stories which might let one side have the clear advantage for an entire story arc… and we won’t find out the outcome until the next one.

Still, this will be a challenging series to continue, but I’m sure that Scott and David Tipton will be up for the challenge when the six-issue Star Trek: TNG – Terra Incognita story begins this August.

Keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest in Star Trek comic news and reviews — including my take on the final entry in the Star Trek: Discovery – The Light of Kahless story, coming soon!

“Planet of the Titans” STAR TREK Model Up for Auction

TrekCore Staff

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May 30, 2018

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“Planet of the Titans” STAR TREK Model Up for Auction

One of Star Trek‘s more unusual props is going back up for auction this week — a study model for a possible USS Enterprise redesign — created by artists Ken Adam and Ralph McQuarrie for the abandoned film Star Trek: Planet of the Titans during the late 1970s.

Created as one of a few different possible Enterprise designs for the eventually-scrapped film project, this model — now labeled “B-24-CLN” after it was reused in TNG’s “Unification I” in the Qualor II ship yard — is a handmade wood-and-plastic build measuring 8″ x 15″.

This model, as well as its blue-toned counterpart from the ’77 production, has a triangular secondary hull which served as a direct influence on the look of the Crossfield-class USS Discovery in the current Star Trek: Discovery series now in production.

While this is certainly a historical collector’s item from Star Trek of decades’ past, the starting bid for this week’s auction — which ends at 5PM Pacific on Thursday — begins at a whopping $40,000.

For comparison, the last time this went up for public auction in 2010, it sold to a bidder at merely $3,500… so we’re not sure if this year’s auction will get much traction at that high price point.

If you’re in the market, however, you can check the auction yourself at Nate D. Sanders Auctions right now.

DISCOVERY Makeup Team Reveals Early ‘Saru’ Alien Look

TrekCore Staff

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May 29, 2018

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DISCOVERY Makeup Team Reveals Early ‘Saru’ Alien Look

In a Facebook Live video discussion between Star Trek: Discovery makeup and prosthetic wizards Neville Page and Glenn Hetrick this afternoon, during a long conversation addressing fan-submitted questions, the duo discussed several topics around the series creature designs, from Klingons to 3D printing.

One of the most fascinating parts of their discussion, however, was addressing a fan inquiry about the early — and abandoned — “ten-eyed Saru” design, something first mentioned during the cast’s PaleyFest panel back in October.

Did you know that Saru was initially conceived as having 8 to 10 eyes? Here's one of my first doodles in the @StarTrekRoom, before I got to see any official designs for Saru. #StarTrekDiscovery pic.twitter.com/B8ljV7AbcG

— Bo Yeon Kim (@extspace) November 1, 2017

This mentioned-but-never-seen alien look was sketched out by Discovery writer Bo Yeon Kim back in November (above). But on today’s video discuss, Page and Hetrick shared a first look at behind-the-scenes footage of “ten-eyed Saru” makeup being applied and given a screen test in the early days of the series’ development.

Here’s some screencaps of the footage, along with commentary from the artists.

NEVILLE PAGE: Brian Fuller had this vision of doing a multi-eyed character, that had a specific V-shape to it. What that meant was, we needed to come up with something that would have a lot of [post-production] CG augmentation, particularly in the eyes. We also wanted to change the shape of Doug [Jones’] head to make it very alien.

There was a lot of factors in trying to get this to work, and I personally have never been a fan of doing multiple eyed creatures. The reason why is that I feel like I must answer a biological question honestly — would there be that many redundant eyes?

So to reconcile that desire was a real challenge — but with the time that we had to explore it, and with the absolute boon of having Doug Jones in it, really kind of made this version of Saru very hopeful.

Seeing Doug start to perform through it was encouraging, but that was the moment that we realized that we [needed] more of Doug to perform through. Just having his lips, essentially, be Doug, wasn’t enough. We all recognized it, so we went back to the drawing board… we all knew what it needed to be.

GLENN HETRICK: The best thing that came out of that test is that it unshackled us from trying to make [Saru] so alien, and now we could make him more relatable and make him more “Doug.”

'Ten-Eyed Saru' Concept Design

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This kind of early development footage is a real treat for Trek fans like us who soak up production-based behind-the-scenes revaluations, and we’re hoping that should Star Trek: Discovery make it to DVD/Blu-ray, this kind of content is included in potential bonus features for further examination.

Neville Page (left) and Glenn Hetrick (right) discuss ‘Discovery’ makeup secrets.

Finally, in response to a question regarding a Trek species that has not yet been seen on-screen, the pair offered some tantalizing teases to a forthcoming Season 2 design.

GLENN HETRICK: That we’re going to have to leave as a mystery… because the one that we both agree on — and if you look closely at promotional things, you may be able to guess at this — but we’ve already done it for Season Two.

We’re fortunate enough to work on what is the most collaborative show I’ve ever heard of. The executives were talking to us [at the beginning of the season] about if there are species that hadn’t been filmed yet from canon that [we] would like to do.

We came back [with] this whole list, and we went to Memory Alpha and pulled a bunch of images and bios… one of those things has made it, and has a pretty substantial role in Season Two. And it is AWESOME.

You can check out this footage as part of the 35-minute discussion with Page and Hetrick over on Facebook — where the pair also discuss their approach to updating Tellarite makeup for Season 1, how they might take on recreating the Borg, and more thoughts on their work redesigning the Klingons for Discovery over on Facebook.

Trek Comics Review: “DISCOVERY — Succession” #2

John Kirk

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May 26, 2018

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Trek Comics Review: “DISCOVERY — Succession” #2

Star Trek: Discovery has much to make Trek fans do a double-take — but who would have thought that one of those twists would be making Harry Mudd a reputable part of the Mirror Universe in Star Trek: Discovery — Succession #2?

The unexpected nature of this show is also reflected in this issue. My thinking might be a little out there, but follow along with me and see what you think.

The story so far: Emperor Georgiou is dead (as far as the Terran Empire knows, anyway), and Michael Burnham – the Mirror version – is thought dead just the same. However, this Burnham is actually in hiding, patiently waiting for the moment to take the throne back from her petulant cousin, Prince Alexander.

A clear representative of his family, xenophobic, maniacal and bent on removing the bulk of non-humans from the alien worlds within the Imperium, and it’s only Michael Burnham who can stop him.

There’s an inherent complication in the premise of this story. If Burnham is the opposite in nature to the one in the regular universe, then it’s obvious that she is set to take the throne for her own personal ambitions. After all, her conversation with this universe’s version of Harry Mudd — a humanist and rescuer of alien refugees — seems not only cooperative, but almost compassionate.

In fact, Burnham has a degree of ruthlessness, but she is calm, reasoned, willing to work with aliens and while aiming for the seat of power, her intentions actually appear somewhat honorable. But what are Michael Burnham’s intentions? It’s clear she means to take the throne, but I’m puzzled at what she means to do with it.

In my opinion, that’s what makes Mike Johnson and Kirsten Beyer’s story distinctively different from the television show. The Mirror Universe is deceptive in that one would assume writing a story set in it proceeds from the basic notion that the main characters are simply evil twins of their counterparts in the regular universe. Writes itself, right?

Not so. We forget that the secret to writing a good drama is the strength of the characters. If they are predictable, we lose that sense of wonder, and are able to easily foresee what the ending is going to be — where’s the entertainment in that? Beyer and Johnson have brought a new sense of curiosity to these characters, and given their relative novelty on television, they also have a great deal of flexibility to define them further. And, as we have already established in previous reviews, this is now canon.

The possibility that Burnham could actually be a redemptive character is what drives me to read this story. We know that in “Mirror, Mirror,” Commander Spock was intrigued by ‘our’ Captain Kirk’s logical supposition of creating an empire that would sustain itself by adopting constructive principles. In that moment, the Mirror Universe had a potential champion for good.

Is that where Burnham is heading? It makes some sense, as in the regular universe she is Spock’s adopted sibling. Perhaps he influenced her in some way in this universe? It’s only a theory, but in this story, we see her murderous cousin is intent on wiping out alien species, along with flashbacks to her harsh upbringing as the adopted daughter of the Emperor.

There’s also a third threat growing, in the form of the newly installed captain of the ISS Shenzhou, Captain Airiam. All these other dangers seem to indicate that perhaps Burnham’s attempted acquisition of the throne isn’t the real threat at all.

While we contemplate this theory, let’s take a look at the covers for this issue.

The primary cover is by Angel Hernandez, who also provides the interior art for this book as well. I’m a big fan of Hernandez’s work, but I have to say, I really appreciate an artist who can pull double duty doing cover and pencilling of a book. There’s also a greater connection between the cover and story that I think adds to the quality of the issue.
Cover ‘B’ is a photo cover, and while I don’t normally care for these, Discovery is still a new enough show that the episodic production photos aren’t yet too familiar to most people. This shot is a gorgeous image of Emperor Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) in full command of the empire, from “Vaulting Ambition.”
Elizabeth Beals, whom I admit I am not too familiar with, brings us the retailer-incentive ‘A’ cover. It has a somewhat softer impression of Phillipa Georgiou, and evokes a near fantasy level of interpretation. It’s quite striking.
The retailer-incentive ‘B’ cover is by one of my favourite artists, Declan Shalvey. It’s a wonderful rendition of the Imperial flagship Charon, of which I was quite taken with in the show. Shalvey has been doing a lot of vessels lately, and I’ve been very fond of his work. I have to say that this cover is my favourite.

Overall, I’m quite fascinated by this story. Johnson and Beyer are a good combination of talent, each with their own specific expertise. They’ve been able to bring a new dimension of appreciation to this show and I’m quite intrigued at the possibilities this story can offer.

Make sure you grab a copy, have a read, and share your thoughts in the comments below!

REVIEW: “The Toys That Made Us” STAR TREK Special

Alex Perry

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May 25, 2018

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REVIEW: “The Toys That Made Us” STAR TREK Special

Whether you have crates full of Playmates action figures in your garage or just a few fleeting memories of owning Star Trek toys, there is much to be enjoyed from the Trek-centric episode of The Toys That Made Us, the documentary series by producer and collector Brian Volk-Weiss.

The show returns to Netflix today with four new episodes, including one that boldly goes where no toy collection has gone before!

If you missed it, be sure to check out our interview with Brian!

I come to this show with a lot Star Trek toy experience. My own toy journey starts young – I became a fan around the age of five or six, while The Next Generation was at its height and Playmates Toys was beginning to distribute the first set of what would go on to be over four hundred action figures. For my sixth birthday, I coveted — and received, hooray! — the Playmates bridge playset for the Enterprise-D. I’ve been hooked ever since.

If you’ve seen any of the previous episodes of the series, they are roughly hour-long episodes telling the toy history of various franchises; the first run of episodes which debuted in December touched on Star Wars, Barbie, G.I. Joe, and He-Man.

The Star Wars episode in particular is worth a watch for anyone who’s ever had an interest in that franchise and the merchandising it has spawned — and while the Star Trek franchise has never reached the giddy heights of Star Wars merchandising, there’s a great story to tell about Star Trek toys that, while frustrating, gives significant insight into the history of the franchise.

The story of Star Trek toys is not the triumphal story of the little company that could, in the case of the smash success of Kenner in launching their Star Wars toy line. Instead, the Star Trek story is one of varied successes, failure, and a lot of missed opportunities — but one sharply edited and told in a quite compelling fashion. Plus, unlike many Star Trek documentaries, it’s full of licensed Trek footage from both television and film entries in the franchise, along with several vintage Trek product commercials.

The episode focuses significantly on the first three decades of Original Series merchandising, from the first products released by AMT and Remco, through the Mego years, and the lead-up to the beginning of the Playmates run. The licensees that became known to Trek collectors starting in the 1990s — from Galoob, Playmates, and Art Asylum, to this decade’s Eaglemoss and McFarlane Toys –are only featured in the last ten minutes of the forty-odd minute episode.

Period commercials, from licensees such as Mego (above) and Playmates are featured.

The episode takes a long look at those products released in the earliest years of the franchise, starting in the years after the show had become a success, but before licensees were required to make products that bore even a passing resemblance to the show. Unlike today’s tightly-managed product line managed by CBS Consumer Products, this early era led to such tie-in absurdities as the infamous “Spock helmet” and other products with Star Trek labels that had nearly no connection to the franchise.

Companies like Remco re-purposed their existing products with Star Trek labels to clear inventory from their warehouses, a practice known as “label slapping,” resulting in a decade’s worth of ridiculous products bearing the Star Trek name. It is a lot to fun to learn about these products, what they were, and how they came to be.

The primary focus of the episode focuses on mid-1970s licensee Mego, the first company to produce Star Trek action figures and play devices that bore at least a passing resemblance to those on the show. Mego, and its colorful owner Marty Abrams, saw the potential in the Star Trek license and capitalized on it for much of the 1970s. If you ever owned Mego products, like the large action figures of the crew of the infamous Mission to Gamma VI playset, you will find a lot to love about this episode.

Three of history’s more unusual ‘Star Trek’-branded releases.

The story of Star Trek toys is also a story of failures and missed opportunities, and it’s tough to come away from this episode with the same sense of triumph as with the Star Wars episode. The episode includes a look at the inability of licensees to time the release of Star Trek toys with the popular movies — famously, there were no toys for The Wrath of Khan — along with the Mego bankruptcy, and the failure of Galoob’s Star Trek: The Next Generation line (something we also explored in our 2013 interview series), and the subsequent shift to serving the Star Trek collector market.

As a result, there’s a strong sense of wistfulness and a “what might have been” feeling that underpins much of the episode. But even with the focus on the franchise’s merchandising failures, The Toys That Made Us’ feature on Star Trek toys — and the series at large — remains an engaging, polished, zippy trip through the history of some of the favorite toy lines of days gone by.

While some of you more hardcore collectors might be disappointed that there aren’t many closer examinations of some of our favorite products from Trek‘s past — my treasured bridge set appears only briefly! — you won’t want to miss this thoughtful examination of the successes and failures of Star Trek toy history.

Digital scans of the ‘Discovery’ cast — L’Rell, Burnham, T’Kuvma, and Saru — at McFarlane Toys.

All eight episodes from the first production year of The Toys That Made Us are streaming on Netflix now (presented as ‘Season 1’ and ‘Season 2’), with today’s newest batch of specials covering Transformers, Hello Kitty, Lego, and of course, Star Trek.

The series has also been picked up for a second production run, sure to cover many more of the famous toy lines of years past, in a future release.

Trek Comics Review: “TNG — Through the Mirror” #4

John Kirk

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May 24, 2018

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Trek Comics Review: “TNG — Through the Mirror” #4

The rapid-fire pace at which Star Trek: TNG — Through the Mirror is being published is going to spoil me for other Star Trek comics!

The excitement in this series has to be the most prevalent feeling a devout Next Generation fan will experience, as Scott and David Tipton have addressed a lacking need in Star Trek canon – the existence of a Mirror Next Gen tale. At last, the question has been answered: what will the enlightened crew of the Enterprise-D do when confronted with their materialistic and scheming counterparts?

I think that’s the big draw to this story. If there was a message that Gene Roddenberry wanted to manifest in this version of Star Trek, it was how advanced in character he believed the human race could become in the 24th century. The entire premise of the original Mirror Universe concept is to remind the viewing audience how backwards we were in our values, (and to an extent, how we still are). What would they do? Pit their values of guile and honour against each other.

Through the Mirror #4 rides on the coattails of that sentiment, and accomplishes a lot in a very quick amount of time. We have already been introduced to the crew of the warship ISS Enterprise in last year’s outstanding Mirror Broken tale, but that was just to get to know the characters of this ‘evil’ ship and crew and see what the differences are.

Playing by the rules, giving an enemy fair quarter — despite strategic advantage — and upholding a set of fixed values even in the face of adversity? That’s the Jean-Luc Picard we know. But enforcing loyalty through fear, ensuring his safety by playing one enemy off against the other and knowing the value of resources? Well, that’s a different Picard all together.

Even though these two men have different ambitions and personal values, they are evenly matched in both cunning and resolve. We’ve only known the latter for a short length of time, but Scott and David Tipton have written a story that makes sure we know him well.

In the first story of this issue, drawn by Carlos Nieto, we finally get to learn the ISS Enterprise captain’s master plan. We also get insight into how his crew has been able to cross the barrier between the two universes and of course, that’s related to the information undoubtedly obtained by Commander Data’s hunt for the former Emperor Spock — the main through-line of “Ripe for Plunder,” the secondary tale painted by epic talented artist J.K. Woodward.

There are a few moments in this book that really stand out. They’re minor, but they are evidence of just how much Scott and David have been able to squeeze into this book in such a fast amount of time. The first is the discovery by Mirror Barclay of just how disrespected his Federation counterpart is. The fury he evinces is so unlike the Barclay we know, yet completely understandable. It’s a very familiar detail that would resonate strongly with loyal TNG fans, and completely gains their acceptance.

The second detail is the speech patterns of Inquisitor Troi’s dialogue. Written with the same inflections and mannerisms of the Troi we know, you can almost hear the quasi-European blend of accents in your mind. It’s another aspect to this book that makes the ISS Enterprise’s crew so authentic. As a self-appointed expert on all things Deanna Troi, it’s a safe bet that this detail was not lost on me.

Finally, a minor but amusing detail: on page 16, the Mirror Riker is resting his leg as the captain declares their plan out loud. In a fit of victory, Riker raises his fists in unity. However, loyal fans will recognize the pose as what has been affectionately referred to as the “Riker Maneuver.” (If you didn’t catch that, hand in your commbadge!)

The end of the first story brings us to the face-off between the two crews that we have been waiting for – and a penultimate cliffhanger leading into the final chapter of this story. I am unsure of how the Tiptons will end this cataclysmic confrontation, but I’m damn eager to get to the issue next week and learn how!

While we are anticipating the end of the story, let’s take a look at the covers for this week’s issue.

Cover ‘A’ is the next partition in J.K. Woodward’s glorious tapestry of work, I’ve seen this thing in its entirety and each panel is just another slice of amazing. In this one we have the two La Forges faced off with two Wesley Crushers beneath them. It’s safe to say that this is my favourite cover out of them all.
Cover ‘B’ is by Carlos Nieto and shows both engineers in combat with each other. The Mirror Universe Geordi is standing over his counterpart with an enormous shoulder-mounted energy weapon. Colours are by Jason Lewis and it’s an extremely vibrant piece.
The retailer-incentive ‘A’ cover is a photograph of Commander Will Riker. It’s a photo that’s taking away an artist’s work, and as you know, I’m not a fan of photo covers.
Retailer-incentive ‘B’ comes from Peter McKinstry, a new discovery for me, and I am loving his work. As much as I enjoy this cover, I’d love to see more of his work on interiors. I certainly hope that IDW sends some more love his way!
Finally, the convention-exclusive cover (not pictured) is, like the previous ones, a black and white variant on Woodward’s cover. It’ll be a challenge for some ambitious artist to apply colour to it — but I’d love to see someone take a crack at it!

All in all, this is a successful story that manages to communicate a vast amount of information in a limited number of pages — and the fact that this tale is being dished out in weekly releases makes things even better.

Still, like every other reader, I’m waiting for the memorable confrontation that is about to come. Watch for my review of Star Trek: TNG — Through the Mirror #5 next week!

INTERVIEW: Chase Masterson Revisits ‘Leeta’ in Newest STAR TREK ONLINE Expansion, “Victory is Life”

TrekCore Archives

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May 24, 2018

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Back in March, we reported that Star Trek Online was getting a runabouts’-worth of Deep Space Nine cast members back for their 25th Anniversary “Victory is Life” game expansion which debuts next month — and this week we had the opportunity to chat with Trek actress Chase Masterson, who returns to Federation space to reclaim the role of Leeta.

In our conversation, we explore what one-time barmaid — and now wife of Grand Nagus Rom — is up to in the nearly two decades since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine concluded its on-screen adventure, as well as touch on several other topics close to the actor’s heart.

TREKCORE: One of your two Star Trek Online characters, Mirror Admiral Leeta, is the leader of the Terran Empire. Is she a bit more fun to play than the other versions of the character, such as “our” Leeta, or the holographic version of Leeta?

MASTERSON: Great question. All three are very fun to play in a different way. As we know, Mirror Leeta is ferocious. She would eat the Borg Queen for lunch, and still be hungry.

She stops at nothing to have power and control, and that’s absolutely the opposite of regular Leeta, who knows that the real power is in love. So it’s interesting to see how truly opposite these characters are, and diving into the purity of each character is what’s fun. So they’re equally fun, just in completely different ways.

Mirror Leeta is purely evil, but pure evil is always based on insecurity, right?

TREKCORE: She’s also very uninhibited as well, and that’s got to be a lot of fun to play, I’d imagine.

MASTERSON: Yeah, she breaks loose, and that is a lot of fun to play. I think regular Leeta is fun to play because she is so truly pure and has so much compassion, but not in a pushover way. Not in a soft way. You’ll find in this expansion that Leeta stands up to Quark, again, and is capable of holding her own. For all her grace and dignity and elegance, Leeta is very strong. So I think you’ll see more of that in this expansion set and it’s fun.

TREKCORE: Is there any change we’ll see Mirror Leeta encounter any of the prime universe’s Rom or Nog?

MASTERSON: Oh my gosh, what a fantastic idea! We don’t know if Mirror Leeta will ever meet up with Rom or Nog, that would be an incredible storyline. That would really be about the ultimate showdown, the ultimate battle, the ultimate good vs. evil.

But I will tell you, in the meantime, that this current expansion set is really wonderful is that regular “prime” Leeta does get to work with Rom, Quark, and the Ferengi again. We team up for a really cool adventure. There’s a lot at stake, and we’re basically trying to enact justice.

I don’t want to say too much more than that, because I don’t want to give too many surprises away, but you’ll see us being adventuresome and brave in a way you haven’t seen the Ferengi, particularly Rom and Leeta, being brave before.

https://twitter.com/ChaseMasterson/status/964699795653722112

TREKCORE: As a singer and voice acting artist, what are the challenges of vocal performance as opposed to live-action performance? Is it more liberating?

CHASE MASTERSON: Yes, it’s very liberating in a sense. One thing I love about voiceovers is that you don’t even have to wash your hair (laughs). It’s fun to have the freedom of literally being whoever you want to be, and not having your looks impact that in any way.

It’s really fun to find the freedom in a character. Working without visuals can be very freeing and that’s a great way to see it, and thank you for that.

TREKCORE: You also do voiceover work as Vienna for Doctor Who audio dramas. How do you compare Doctor Who and Star Trek fan bases?

MASTERSON: There’s a huge amount of similarity in the two fan bases. They’re equally passionate, which is a huge part of the fun for us. It’s a joy of seeing the fans just dig into both of these shows, with the cosplay, and it’s just so joyful. It really is energizing.

It’s hard to think of being at a convention for 12 to 16 hours a day, 3 or 4 days in a row and feeling energized after that. But you guys do that for us, you give that to us.

TREKCORE: It goes both ways, I assure you!

MASTERSON: Thank you, and I see that in the gaming community too. Star Trek Online has got such a great community in terms of the fans that interact with each other, and the characters that interact with each other. That’s a really big part of this particular game; the love for Star Trek within this world.

It’s very much community based. That’s very energizing for us to see.

TREKCORE: Regarding Star Trek Online, do you have a wish list for your characters going forward?

MASTERSON: Wow, I’m always for characters going boldly into a place we think they wouldn’t go. I’m always for characters having huge surprises. So that’s what I love, like in this expansion set, that Leeta is part of something very risky and brave. She’s not just a Ferengi wife.

Let’s not forget, Ferengi women aren’t even supposed to wear clothes. That’s how subdued they are, under-the-thumb of the male Ferengi Empire. Leeta, as a Ferengi wife, particularly in the work ahead, we’re seeing empowerment. And that’s the one thing that I hope for, and that I see happening.

So I have reason to hope for that in the future. Empowerment.

TREKCORE: Which also fits into tour anti-bullying charity, Pop Culture Hero Coalition.

MASTERSON: It really is the message of Star Trek; it’s about empowering each other, empowering ourselves and realizing that things aren’t always as they seem. It’s a wonderful theme of Trek.

TREKCORE: When you first began your Star Trek journey, did you ever imagine that your involvement with it would still be going on so strongly years later?

MASTERSON: I honestly never imagined. There is more passion for this show, particularly for Deep Space Nine, than I or any of us could’ve possibly predicted. Although I will tell you this; part of the reason that I got on Star Trek was because I knew about this fan passion and I knew that there were extensions of it.

I knew that was the type of show this is, where the fan passion was multi-tiered and ongoing. I’ll tell you this, I knew that because I was in an acting class with Jonathan del Arco, who played Hugh the Borg on TNG. This was before I was on the show.

While he was going Next Gen, he would come to class and tell us about these conventions where he got to go and meet people who were fans of the show, and I thought, “Wow, that’s the show I want to be on.” To be a part of such important stories and to go meet the people who make it possible, which is you guys… the fans.

That’s what I wanted, so I made it a point to meet the casting director. I auditioned for one other role, and based on my audition for that other role, they wrote the role of Leeta for me. So in a certain sense, I got into this purposely because of all that Star Trek means.

But this is even more than I could’ve ever predicted, and being part of the game is such an essential part of that. People have asked us for such a long time, “Will there be a Deep Space Nine movie?” And we’ve had to say, sadly, no. But Star Trek Online takes the place of that.

We get more of each of these characters, we get their ongoing storylines, and we get to live in the world of Deep Space Nine, instead of just watching it. I can’t tell you what a treat it is to be a part of this game, and how I just love it. Current players and new players will really love what’s happening in Star Trek Online.

TREKCORE: And, as opposed to a two-hour movie, this is an interactive experience; a deeper experience than a movie could ever be.

MASTERSON: Yes, very well-said. You get to make decisions in this Deep Space Nine. You get to be a part of the action, which is so fun. And so well-made, too. I was looking at the game, both with friends and in the office and the way you move through the Promenade

The way you move through the hallways and parts of the space station, it really feels like you’re there. They pay such attention to detail. And the modeling and art is so good. You have to see it, it’s incredible.

TREKCORE: It’s the closest thing we have to a holodeck, right?

MASTERSON: Exactly!

TREKCORE: Your anti-bullying charity, Pop Culture Hero Coalition; what was the impetus in creating it?

MASTERSON: The reason I created Pop Culture Hero Coalition is because I truly see bullying and oppression as the main problem in the world. Bullying and oppression can lead to lifelong pain, and that impacts the choices that we make and our identities. The issue of oppression is the same, whether it’s kindergarten bullying, grade school, middle school, high school, or workplace bullying or relationship bullying or racism, or misogyny or war.

It’s all undue oppression. It has no place in society, and it would be a whole different world, and people would make entirely different choices in their lives if we could live in a world with more empathy — so I created this coalition because I feel that the stories in pop culture are truly transcendent.

That is why these stories these stories are the highest rated at the box office, (and) the most well-loved stories of all time. It’s why science fiction is so popular. These stories ring in our hearts that inclusion is the key and that justice is the key; using these stories to lead people, and to create empathy and justice in the world is, to me, an easy fit. And if we can start with people early, teach these lessons in schools, in ways that kids find relatable with fun stories.

Not with finger-pointing, but with an element of relatability and fun we can change the world.

TREKCORE: How has the Coalition changed your own life?

MASTERSON: I think this is something that Trek fans can relate to, and the more you think about these stories the more they become a part of you. The more we focus on empathy and inclusion, the more we’re likely to think in that way.

TREKCORE: I’ve seen the fan-scape change quite a bit.

MASTERSON: Well, the geeks are inheriting the Earth, and it’s about time! Insofar as our energy is rallied to make the world a better place, don’t you feel that, right after you’ve watched something really inspiring? I think those are the times when you think, “Gosh, I can do that. I want to be a hero too.”

Working on this coalition every day and focusing on empathy and inclusion every day, it has changed me. It’s made me more compassionate. Compassion and empathy are like a muscle; the more you use it, the more you have access to it and the stronger it gets. We can do that in ourselves. We can actually teach ourselves to care, more and more.

Caring takes place on a lot of different levels. A lot of people care emotionally, but they don’t care actively. When we focus on using empathy and compassion and inclusion like a muscle, it does get stronger. Our tendencies tend to get more empathetic as we practice empathy. That’s how it changed me and I’m very grateful for that.

I find my responses being more likely to be more compassionate which I wasn’t always, in the early days of my life and my acting career, I didn’t have the set of values that I have now, that I hope I have now. So it’s just a really interesting way to look at our own hearts and see who we are as people, and what are values are in the world, and what we want to leave the world with.

We can create change, not just in the world, but in ourselves.

Star Trek Online’s newest expansion, “Victory is Life,” debuts for PC on Tuesday, June 5, and will follow for console players later in 2018.

DISCOVERY Headlines CBS Display at 2018 Licensing Expo

TrekCore Staff

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May 22, 2018

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DISCOVERY Headlines CBS Display at 2018 Licensing Expo

Header image courtesy of Floyd Lu.

The annual Licensing Expo trade show kicked off in Las Vegas today, and like in previous years, Star Trek merchandise licensor CBS Consumer Products has a massive display booth for potential and existing licensees to meet with the company to plan the next year of Trek products.

While they are also responsible for licensing products for Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone, and other such properties, CBS Consumer Products’ big hitter of course is Star Trek, and now that Discovery is known to the world, the company made the series their main driver for the 2018 show.

On display was plenty of Star Trek: Discovery artwork, including Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham at the forefront of the overhead display (seen above), along with large posters of the series’ crew throughout the booth.

Photos courtesy of Floyd Lu (left) and Lew Halboth (right).

In addition, the entire Season 1 cast of Discovery got a spotlight display in the entryway to the CBS both, in the form of a large backlit graphic poster — making sure that if the giant series logo hanging from the ceiling wasn’t a giveaway, visitors were entering Discovery country (with a guest appearance from the Deep Space Nine cast).

Besides the fanciful artwork, CBS of course had a great deal of Discovery merchandise on display — both large and small — for potential vendors to see the vast array of products already being released for the series.

In the rear of the booth, a series of display cases hold a mix of Discovery props (as seen previously at San Diego Comic Con and STLV in 2017), as well as some current merchandise already on the market (including novels, pins, phone cases, shirts, and Eaglemoss’ Discovery and Shenzhou models).

Also of interest are two products that haven’t been seen “in person” before this week’s show — and one that we’ve not seen at all, making it’s debut at the Las Vegas expo.

First is the 1oz silver Star Trek: Discovery coin, featuring Michael Burnham on the front in full color, and an engraved USS Discovery on the back. If you’re a collector, the Perth Mint manufactures and sells this coin at approximately $160 each.

Brand new to us, however, is this wild Commander Saru bust on display in one of the rear cases, which looks to be about 7″-8″ tall. It’s been reported to us to be from Gentle Giant Ltd., a licensee who first made a splash in Trek at Comic Con last year, with their 3D-printed Klingon Torchbearer display.

We don’t have any information on this product yet, but we’ve reached out to Gentle Giant and will update you when more specifics on sizing, pricing, and release may be available.

In addition to all the smaller Discovery merch on display, CBS also had the giant $9,000 USS Discovery model from Anovos on display in the center of the booth, which first made a public appearance back on a February episode of After Trek.

Anovos 'USS Discovery' Model

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The first season of Discovery might be over, but with the push seen here it’s clear that CBS is only in their first wave of Discovery tie-in merchandise — with much more likely to follow as the series continues into its second year.

Keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest in Star Trek product news!