2031: United States Air Force fighter jets shoot down an unidentified spacecraft and take its crew into custody.
Soon, it’s learned that the ship is one of several dispatched across space by an alien species, the Eizand, to search for a new home before their own world becomes uninhabitable.
Fearing extraterrestrial invasion, government and military agencies which for more than eighty years have operated in secret swing into action, charged with protecting humanity no matter the cost…
2386: Continuing their exploration of the Odyssean Pass, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise discover what they at first believe is a previously uncharted world, with a civilization still recovering from the effects of global nuclear war.
An astonishing priority message from Starfleet Command warns that there’s more to this planet than meets the eye, and Picard soon realizes that the mysteries of this world may well weave through centuries of undisclosed human history…
Failed television shows rarely, if ever, demonstrate the afterlife the Star Trek franchise has — so it should come as no surprise that a failed television pilot, which also masqueraded as a Season Two episode of the Original Series, is enjoying a literary revival thanks to the mind of novelist Dayton Ward. It is remarkable what Ward has done with the premise of “Assignment: Earth.”
After successive TOS novels based on the episode, Ward has now woven these elements into Simon and Schuster’s ongoing 23rd-century narrative with his latest Star Trek: The Next Generation book, Hearts and Minds.
Possibilities were endless when Gary Seven, Isis and Roberta first met Kirk and Spock in the episode, which began as the Enterprise’s mission to conduct historical research on Earth in 1968. The idea of a mysterious agency interacting on humanity’s behalf in the guise of actor Robert Lansing’s agent has now provided the fodder for three of Ward’s most recent Star Trek novels.
Roberta played an instrumental role in Ward’s last TOS novel, Elusive Salvation. While working with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise duo are introduced to Mestral, the 20th Century stowaway from Vulcan, who first appeared Enterprise’s season two episode, “Carbon Creek.” Interestingly enough, it is Mestral’s turn to take on a larger role in Hearts and Minds, serving as the reader’s eyes during the novel’s flashbacks to the 21st Century – which occurs from 2031-2067.
20th Century Vulcan, the marooned Mestral from “Carbon Creek,” returns.
United States Air Force jets shoot down a UFO in the year 2031, and before Aegis’ clandestine agents can intercede, a secret Earth organization called Majestic 12 takes possession of the craft. Three hundred and fifty-five years later, the Enterprise-E is assigned a secret “need-to-know” mission to contact the Eizand, a species who survived a similar nuclear cataclysm to that of Earth’s third world war.
Of course, both of these events are linked, and Ward appears to take much glee in shifting back and forth, building his story throughout the years as Picard must now pay the price for the crimes of humanity; whose sins of the past include paranoia, fear and control.
Two plot points stand out above the rest in Hearts and Minds. In the Enterprise-E timeframe, Liutenant Commander Taurik has been assigned as the eyes and ears of Starfleet Admiral Akaar. Turns out, Taurik has been given operational orders and information on the ship’s new assignment, and is only to fetter out what Akaar deems necessary to Picard and crew.
This puts the Captain and Taurik’s shipmates at odds with one of their own. Mistrust is not a common element to the interactions of Starfleet officers among each other, and Ward introduces and toys with this idea masterfully.
Meanwhile on Earth, Ward might have readers considering whether Hearts and Minds is a cautionary tale of the time humanity occupies currently, or if it is just escapist enjoyment? The reader will have to decide for themselves, but Ward’s disappointment from the country’s lack of space travel since the space shuttle program was shuttered is clearly evident in some of his prose.
Young Taurik, now a Lt. Commander, faces off with Captain Picard under Akaar’s orders.
Fans of Ward’s previous Star Trek novels will revel in the fact that the author has once again populated his book with references to previous books and episodes set in the franchise. Ward rewards readers with connections to his novels in this setting, but also returns once again to his self-professed favorites – Greg Cox’s novels The Eugenics War and The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh. Ward even throws in a mention of one of the organization’s that audiences were introduced to in Star Trek: First Contact.
Plus, as an added bonus, Simon and Schuster’s prior novel release, David Mack’s Section 31 – Control, is also referenced and puts a cherry on top of Hearts and Minds’ conclusion.
In his acknowledgments at the end of Hearts and Minds, Ward thanks the fans for their joy of his “Assignment: Earth” tales – “I wondered if I had one more of these stories in me before moving on to something else, and it was you all who made me decide to give it one more go.”
Opportunities to juggle and play in multiple sandboxes seem to show Ward at his best when it comes to Star Trek. Allegory and time travel are two tropes Star Trek does extremely well and when it comes to utilizing both in novel form no one does it better than Ward — and it helps that the author takes a fan glee when exploring opportunities presented in episodes from the series.
We reported back in July that Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan would be returning to theaters for a short time in September for its 35th anniversary – but now we’ve got more details about the two-night-only revival next month!
‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ Receives Special Encore Screenings in Select Cinemas on September 21 Only
WHAT: The epic science-fiction adventure “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” returns to the big screen for one more day on Thursday, September 21. This encore presentation of the 1982 classic comes to select cinemas nationwide in response to the overwhelmingly positive fan response to the initial 35th anniversary screenings.
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” will be presented in a digitally remastered Director’s Cut and, as an added bonus for Star Trek and movie fans, William Shatner appears in a newly produced in-depth interview that will play before each screening.
WHO: Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures
WHEN: Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (local time)
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August 30 update: Here’s Fathom’s official trailer for the event:
Fathom Events – the same company who put on the Star Trek: The Next Generation theatrical screenings during the Blu-ray releases – is bringing The Wrath of Khan to theaters on September 10 and September 13, along with a “special introduction” by Captain Kirk actor William Shatner.
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” the epic science-fiction adventure that continues to captivate audiences, marks its 35th anniversary with a two-day-only return to cinemas nationwide. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” will be presented in a digitally remastered Director’s Cut and, as an added bonus for Star Trek and movie fans, William Shatner will appear in a newly produced in-depth interview that will play before each screening.
Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures will present “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” on Sunday, September 10, and Wednesday, September 13, at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time each day.
Tickets for “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 35th Anniversary” can be purchased online by visiting www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. Moviegoers throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy this event in more than 600 select movie theaters. For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).
“Making Star Trek II seems like only yesterday,” Shatner said. “Even back then, we knew we were creating something really special, and to have The Wrath of Khan back on the big screen 35 years later is a wonderful testament both to the film itself and to the incredible passion of Star Trek fans.”
Director Nicholas Meyer’s “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” was a box-office hit upon its release – the sixth highest-grossing film of 1982 – and continues to be revered and quoted by fans. The film, a continuation of the original Star Trek series episode “The Space Seed,” finds longtime Starfleet nemesis Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) alive and well, marooned on a seemingly lifeless planet. When he’s discovered by Chekov (Walter Koenig), Khan will stop at nothing to exact revenge against the man who exiled him on the barren world: Admiral James T. Kirk.
Kirk must lead his loyal crew – including Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Bones (DeForest Kelley), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Sulu (George Takei), Scotty (James Doohan) – and an unprepared group of trainees led by half-human, half-Klingon Lt. Saavik (Kirstie Alley) in a race against time to stop Khan from deploying a device that threatens the entire universe. Bibi Besch, Paul Winfield and Merritt Butrick also star in the film, which features an unforgettable musical score by the late James Horner. The Director’s Cut of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is currently available on Blu-ray™, with more than two hours of in-depth bonus features.
“Star Trek II holds a special place in the hearts of Star Trek fans,” Tom Lucas, Fathom Events VP of Studio Relations, said. “Fathom is proud to work with Paramount Pictures to present it again on the big screen, with all of its excitement, action, drama and emotion.”
We’ve just beamed back from Las Vegas after a week of fun at the annual Trek convention, with a heavy focus on Star Trek: Discovery featuring both cast, crew, and prop appearances.
But CBS isn’t letting us rest just yet! Along with a series of character animations released on Twitter over the last few days…
…a new, highly-stylized web promo just arrived for the upcoming series, echoing the classic Star Trek monologue from Captains Kirk and Picard, with a new twist for the 21st Century read by Sonequa Martin-Green (Michael Burnham).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXgR01SA_qd/
Michael Burnham: As we stand at the edge of an unknown universe, we know our greatest challenges lie before us – that our future is not bound by fear, and that our mission is not to conquer, but to discover.
That is our destiny: a destiny written in the stars… and so we boldly go where we have never gone before.
That’s an opening-credits Star Trek monologue if we ever heard one – but will it be featured in Star Trek: Discovery‘s episodes? We’ll find out September 24.
It’s the final day of 2017’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention, and one of the highlights is our first look at the in-development What We Left Behind documentary centered around the legacy of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Hosted by documentary director Adam Nimoy, the panel featured producers Ira Stephen Behr, Kai De Mello-Folsom, David Zappone, and more — all wearing Behr-esque blue goatees and sunglasses on the big stage in Vegas — first rolling out a short preview video of the upcoming film showcasing interviews with DS9 cast members Nana Visitor, Terry Ferrell, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Armin Shimerman, Cirroc Lofton, James Darren, as well as a number of fans.
Behr and Mello-Folsom discuss the unexpected success of the fundraising campaign.
While there is still no confirmation that the documentary will contain high-definition Deep Space Nine content quite yet, the team is still working to make that happen and Behr commented while on stage that he’s been speaking with Mike Okuda – who worked on the TNG remastering project – and has been hearing “very positive” comments about the possibility of that happening.
In addition, on the topic of the CGI elements used in the series, the team revealed that there have been discussions with some people who still have some of the digital content from the 1990s, and specifically called out that there “will” be HD clips of the “Sacrifice of Angels” space battle sequences in the documentary.
Nearly 100 hours of interview content has been amassed over the last four years of the documentary’s development, revealed David Zappone, with more fan interviews happening through this week’s STLV event. They have a goal of completing projection around January 2018, with release to the public later in 2018 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Deep Space Nine.
Director Adam Nimoy (far right) hears a fan speak his mind about DEEP SPACE NINE.
Behr also spoke with great anticipation on the “DS9 Season 8” feature, where he and former DS9 writers Ron Moore, Hans Beimler, and more get together and pitch their ideas for what a premiere episode following “What You Leave Behind” may find the DS9 crew – and hopes to somehow make the full “six to seven hours” of filmed discussion available to fans.
Regarding the participation of series lead Avery Brooks, there is still at this time no on-camera involvement from the station commander – and the documentary team says Brooks feels he has nothing new to contribute. He has, however, been provided several clips from the documentary, and Behr maintains that Brooks has given the project his “full support.”
The full panel, hosted by documentary director Adam Nimoy.
In terms of archival content featuring Brooks, the documentary team revealed that they not only have access to past interviews with the actor from The Captains and other documentary interview – but they also have film of all of Brooks’ on-stage appearances at Creation Entertainment Star Trek conventions to mine for clips to include.
Director Adam Nimoy also shared praise the documentary team has received from CBS, sharing that the studio not only supports the project but has also opened up their archives (photos, etc.) for the team to access – and in their quest to dig into the CBS vaults, the team is also planning to include original DS9 cast audition tapes in the documentary, and also expressed their hopes at digging up possible cut scenes and other deleted episodic content as part of the process.
Another fan at the STLV convention shares her feelings about DS9.
Just like many of you, we’re extremely excited at the prospects of all the opportunity to see this Deep Space Nine content when the documentary premieres next year – so keep checking back here to TrekCore for all the latest news on this project!
At Star Trek Las Vegas today, McFarlane Toys CEO Todd McFarlane took the stage to a packed room of Trek collectible fans, and shared a great amount of detail about their heavily-detailed Captain Kirk and Captain Picard figures – but also revealed their first plans for their forthcoming Star Trek: Discovery line of tie-in merchandise.
Todd McFarlane on stage in Las Vegas.
First up is the Kirk and Picard figures in command uniforms, coming to market as 7-inch figures this fall at a $19.99 price point. Each figure contains an exceptional 18 points of articulation, which will allow fans to not only pose their captain for action, but will also allow the figures to be seated properly in captains chair models for display.
There is also a planned command-green tunic variant of Kirk set to follow these figures.
But their big news, of course, was the official release of information on McFarlane’s previously-announced Star Trek: Discovery toy line, with reveals that their 7-inch figures will start with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and T’Kuvma (Chris Obi) in late 2018.
Each actor was both photographed and 3D-scanned in costume on the Discovery sets in Toronto to give the figure sculptors the best reference information possible during the design phase, and we are sure that once the prototypes are revealed sometime next year, they’ll both be very close to screen-accurate.
Additionally, the first accessory toy will be the new Type II phaser prop from Discovery, set to hit stores in 2018 at a $39.99 price point. Like the character figures, the phaser toy has also been scanned and photographed for best detailing from the original source prop.
Lastly, Todd McFarlane confirmed to the crowd that these won’t be the last Trek toys that will be coming from his company – he revealed that their new Trek license covers all films and television series from the prime timeline, from The Motion Picture to Star Trek: Enterprise, meaning we’re sure to see a wide variety of Trek merchandise over the next few years.
Keep coming back to TrekCore for more news as it breaks from STLV!
The Las Vegas Star Trek convention continues here for another day, which means we’ve got even more Trek news to share out of the biggest event of the year!
Our friend Ben Robinson, captain of the Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection model line, hosted his yearly panel on the fan-favorite starship fleet at STLV today where he revealed a number of new details on plans for the ongoing collection… including some new announcements on the highly-anticipated Star Trek: Discovery vessels!
We caught up with Ben to talk about his plans for Discovery, the Kelvin Timeline, and the continuing voyages of the Official Starships Collection as we look ahead to 2018.
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TREKCORE: What’s new to discover in Star Trek model starships, Ben?
BEN ROBINSON: Well, we’re announcing today the Star Trek: Discovery ships – we’ll be doing one a month; the idea is that they’ll start [for subscribers] in the first quarter of next year. They’ll be larger than the first series; more of a specialty size, 7 to 8 inches like the [current] specials, to try and keep the prices under control.
There will be more than enough ships to get us through [2018] until, we hope, there is a second season. I’m not sure if I can say how many ships there are, but there are a LOT of ships in Discovery.
The USS Discovery, from CBS’s “Star Trek: Discovery” trailer.
TREKCORE: Just from the trailers, there’s easily five or six ships we’ve already seen.
ROBINSON: Well we know now there’s a war – that involves a lot of ships, on both sides.
TREKCORE: But the main hero ships – the Shenzhou and Discovery – are in your plans?
ROBINSON: Mm-hmm. [Nods]
TREKCORE: What about some of the other ones featured, like the Europa or the Torchbearer ships?
ROBINSON: I don’t know exactly which ships we’ll be able to do yet, as [the VFX team] is still finalizing – but we’re getting a lot of cooperation and excellent reference [files].
We’ve already made the physical tooling for the Shenzhou and Discovery models, but the final paint and textures are still being tweaked. We’re hoping that if all goes smoothly, we may be able to start producing those ones before Christmas, and then the whole subscription itself will start around the time comes back for the second half of the season.
The USS Shenzhou, from CBS’s “Star Trek: Discovery” trailer.
TREKCORE: So, like a January timeframe.
ROBINSON: Yeah, there are a lot of logistical things that have to be overcome, and we want to make sure that it’s a continuous one-a-month [release schedule]. But we need to wait a little bit to get the stuff before we know that we can achieve that.
TREKCORE: So the Star Trek: Discovery digital team is feeding you the files directly?
ROBINSON: The effects have been done by Pixomondo, and they’ve been supplying us every possible preparation [tool]… I mean, I’m getting files that are dated yesterday!
Robinson holds a prototype size-review mock-up of the USS Discovery.
TREKCORE: Do you find that to be different from how you’ve received reference information for the ongoing line of models?
ROBINSON: Yes – there was no real process for archiving the models on the previous shows. It was something that happened, and there was a VFX team, [often] a third-party company, and [the files] were never sent back to [the studio].
TREKCORE: It was interesting when you mentioned on stage the other day that all the digital models from Star Trek: Insurrection were not saved, to your knowledge.
ROBINSON: Yeah, and basically how the whole thing worked was that there was no archiving process. [The files] weren’t even held by anybody on the movie’s FX team – so like Ron B. Moore, or Gary Hutzel, they didn’t have copies of the models; they were held by the [effects] vendor.
So the models were at Eden FX or Foundation Imaging or whoever, and while people kept some copies, fortunately, and there are people who have archives of them, there was no formal process to get them back to [Paramount].
We do have renders from the time, so there is reference to construct [the Insurrection ships], but we keep hoping that someone’s got a copy of [the original files] somewhere. But in that particular case it’s more complicated – even if someone had a copy of them, no one has the software needed to open the [files]!
TREKCORE: Getting back to the Discovery ships, that will be a separate subscription from the ongoing Official Starships releases, correct?
ROBINSON: Yes – it will be offered, obviously, to everybody who is already a subscriber, we’ll be in touch with them to see if they’d like to add this.
Robinson holds a prototype size-review mock-up of the USS Shenzhou.
TREKCORE: Do you have an idea yet of the price point for the Discovery subscription?
ROBINSON: We don’t have that information yet; but the idea is to keep it roughly the same as [the current subscriptions], but rather than getting two ships a month you’ll get one larger one.
TREKCORE: For the regular subscription, the UK and US release schedules are offset by a few months…
ROBINSON: They’re getting closer to each other – and for Discovery, that will launch in the US and UK at the same time. I don’t know what our plans are for Germany – our other major territory – or Japan, but our first plan is to launch in our English-language markets, with Australia that normally follows shortly after.
TREKCORE: And the magazines to go with the ships, as well?
ROBINSON: That’s the plan! I don’t know what will be in them, yet, but I know there’s a lot of concept art.
TREKCORE: Yes, they’ve certainly showed a lot here and at Comic-Con in the Discovery gallery, and John Eaves featured more Shenzhou art on stage Friday morning.
ROBINSON: I haven’t been asking for the artwork until I need to – but that’s going to happen very soon.
The large-scale Enterprise models released to date.
TREKCORE: We’ve talked a lot about your new plans for Discovery, but what about the continuing Official Starships line of models? You’ve got the first three large-scale Enterprise models out — the NCC-1701, the –D, and the –E, with the NX-01 coming later this year — but what’s next?
ROBINSON: The idea with those is that we’re doing them as a series. There was a lot of interest in having the real hero ships at a larger scale, but while we there was some concern that people already had them [as the smaller editions], we’ve sort of put our toes in the water and those first few have gone well.
There’s now a likelihood that we will do a dozen or so of the hero ships — all the Enterprises, the Defiant, Voyager – at that larger size.
TREKCORE: The Enterprise-B and -C as well?
ROBINSON: Slightly depending on sales, but that’s the plan!
Sean Hargreaves’s concept art for the Enterprise-A.
TREKCORE: What can you tell us about perhaps doing the Enterprise-A from Star Trek Beyond?
ROBINSON: There’s an issue there – it’s not so much getting the reference material, but that it’s not seen in a lot of detail in the film. Although it obviously exists in detail [as a digital model], we don’t know what the state of there being a next [Kelvin Timeline] movie yet.
ROBINSON: Many people assume there will be one, but the filmmakers have [hinted] that ‘Well, we might change it, if and when we get to the next movie.’ So for now we are holding until we know.
That doesn’t mean it will change, doesn’t mean it won’t change, it just hasn’t been decided yet.
Concept illustration of the Jefferies PHASE II Enterprise refit.Concept rendering of Andy Probert’s original Enterprise-C (right).
ROBINSON: But the other thing we are doing – as a bit of a departure – is starting to do concept ships. On top of the regular series, because these are not canon, we’re doing Andy Probert’s original Enterprise-C, we’re doing Matt Jefferies’ version of the Enterprise designed for Star Trek: Phase II.
We’re also doing Rick Sternbach’s original USS Voyager that got built as a study model, and Rick’s been supervising the construction of that one.
The early USS Voyager prototype design.
TREKCORE: Are there other concepts you’re targeting?
ROBINSON: For now; we’re trying to stick to Enterprises – I tweeted out a photo of the Enterprise ringship, so that’s nice, and new, and different.
TREKCORE: And from the novels, you have both the Titan and the Aventine on the way too.
ROBINSON: Yeah, that’s an interesting experiment which I hope will go well; they should be out in time for New York Comic Con in October – and if they go well, a lot of people have expressed interest in the Odyssey [from Star Trek Online]. I’m sure there are other ‘soft-canon’ things that people would like, and if this works then there’s every reason to think that we would do them.
TREKCORE: A lot of the literary fans would really like that; they’ve been hoping for the Titan for quite a while.
ROBINSON: They have – those ships have a tight following and there are a lot of people who love them, and designers Sean Tourangeau and Mark Rademaker have been very keen to help.
TREKCORE: Anything else on the way you can tell us about?
ROBINSON: There are more specials we’re doing – the Klingon destroyer from the 2009 film’s Kobayashi Maru simulation… and the Kobayashi Maru itself.
We also have the Star Trek Beyond version of the Enterprise, which we expect for the first half of next year.
The 2009 Kobayashi Maru simulation ships.
TREKCORE: You’re working on a Kelvin Timeline shuttle set, too, right?
ROBINSON: Yes! All four shuttles.
TREKCORE: And which shuttles are you including in that set? There’s the shuttle Kirk is born in…
ROBINSON: Yes, and Pike’s shuttle; there is Scotty’s shuttle from Star Trek Into Darkness, and one more as well.
TREKCORE: Well, there’s the one Kirk and McCoy took to the Enterprise in the first film…
ROBINSON: Yes. The thing that’s interesting is that when you go through the films, there are four basic different shuttles, but there are lots of different variations, all very similar but just a bit different – wings out, different color schemes – but there are four actual designs. It’s taken me a while to work that out!
TREKCORE: And aside from the K-7 Station already on display, are there plans for any further starbases? I don’t know how it would happen – but how about Starbase Yorktown?
ROBINSON: [Laughs] I don’t know how we could do anything that would look remotely satisfying for that! But I think it’s extremely likely we’ll be doing Spacedock.
There’s also another set of Designing Starships books coming; the next one focused on the Kelvin Timeline movies this year, the next one set for next year. I have a massive collection of Deep Space Nine concept art that wasn’t released in previous magazine issues.
TREKCORE: How many ships is the Official Starships series now projected to?
ROBINSON: Well, we’re approved out to 130…
TREKCORE: Plus the larger specials, plus the Kelvin ships…
ROBINSON: Yeah, plus, plus, plus! That also doesn’t include the shuttle sets or the new Discovery series – and I’m optimistic that by New York Comic Con we should know whether we are doing any more issues past 130. I think it’s extremely likely we will, the question now is just how many more.
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Also revealed at STLV were several new additions to the upcoming regular Official Starships Collection line: the USS Curry (from “A Time to Stand,”) the Freedom-class (from “The Best of Both Worlds”), the Ferengi freighter from Enterprise‘s “Acquisition”, Captain Bateson’s USS Bozeman, the Hirogen holoship from Voyager’s “Flesh and Blood,” and Kasidy Yates’ SS Xhosa freighter from Deep Space Nine.
We’ll keep you posted as soon as we’ve got more detail on the forthcoming Star Trek: Discovery starships, and everything else coming down the line from Eaglemoss – so come back often to TrekCore to stay up to date!
When looking at the incredibly unique and memorable Star Trek: The Next Generation 30th anniversary poster by Dusty Abell, one of DeForest Kelley’s lines from an earlier Star Trek adventure comes to mind: “Have you ever seen the like?”
Luckily for us, we have! If you made it to last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, then you were able to see Abell’s incredible 50th anniversary Star Trek poster that featured every Original Series character that one could imagine; from the recognizable to the most obscure – helpfully for those fans less versed in their one-time guest characters, the TOS posters also included an identification guide to assist in putting names to faces.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of The Next Generation, so of course, the annual Las Vegas Star Trek convention is rife with both TNG stars and fans alike – and also features Abell’s newest work, a two-poster take on his character showcase artwork centered around The Next Generation heroes and villains!
I sat down with Dusty Abell ahead of the Vegas convention, to discuss his latest artistic creation.
It was after my interaction with the guys at Roddenberry at 2016’s Las Vegas convention that this really started to take off. It was really fun!
I’d never been to a “Star Trek” convention and the first question I got (about the 50th Original Series poster) was: are you going to do a Next Generation one?
This was a venture that was destined to succeed from the very beginning. Abell has been an artist with Warner Brothers Animation, and has worked on some of their most memorable and iconic characters. A comic lover and devoted Star Trek fan, it’s very cool to see his love of Trek transferred over to a body of art that not only drips homage to the comic artform, but also real respect and reverence for the characters from both series.
These days, however, it’s Abell’s Next Generation piece that is captivating Trek fans! Now, with the support of both CBS and Roddenberry Entertainment, this new work of art is sure to capture the hearts and imaginations of Star Trek fans everywhere – and is here just in time for both TNG’s 30th anniversary and 2017’s big convention out in Las Vegas.
The Duras sisters.
Looking at the poster pair, Abell has dedicated the first to TNG’s heroic and ‘good’ characters, with the second featuring a medley of less-then-heroic enemies of the Enterprise-D. Focus on either one, and I guarantee you’ll be staring at it for at least half an hour trying to place each character and their episodes.
There are so many characters in this show that I had to break it up into the two posters. I mean, there are 178 episodes and it would be wrong to cram it all into one!
It’s the sheer variety and amount of characters that almost overpowers the viewer upon first glance. Then, it becomes a challenge to identify every one of them. Finally, after checking with the included answer key to verify your identification, you then have the opportunity to smugly declare yourself a true TNG fan.
In the end, you are left with a tremendous experience and a scintillating work of art that would do any Star Trek fan proud to have hanging on a wall.
Kivas Fajo and Sirna Kolrami.
In my conversation with Abell, I asked him to elaborate on how he settled on the concept design for this year’s posers.
For the first one, I envisioned it as being on the bridge of the Enterprise. I was going to put everybody, there, but I didn’t think it did justice to the ship design. So, the first one was placed planet-side so it could showcase all the great ships as well.
There are a lot of fans of the ships as well. The tough part about the Next Gen piece was that there weren’t as many iconic structures or landmarks as there are in the Original Series.
The Miramanee Obelisk stands out in the first one. But that was a challenge for the Next Gen piece. So that was why I thought the holodeck arch would be perfect for all the characters to gather around and for the ships around them. That’s they there are grid patterns in front as well.
That kept me guessing!
The careful observers will also notice that the Next Generation piece is completely rich in detail. While the characters are present – in various incarnations and forms – Abell spared no effort in exhausting both his memory and available external references to fill the two works.
There is something from every episode of The Next Generation in these prints. That’s the fun part for fans. Then it becomes sort of a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ contest and they really need to be seen up close to be fully appreciated.
It’s filled with small images and really needs a careful eye.
One of the fun things for me to do in San Diego and Las Vegas last year was to see people off to the side with their friends and family, going through the TOS piece – and there was a lot of finger pointing and cries of ‘Oh, that’s that guy!’ and discuss who they were – that was the best part for me.
They’re such interactive works of art that for me, that’s so gratifying to see people enjoy my work so much.
Young Ro Laren, Timothy (from ‘Hero Worship’), Sarjenka, and Alexander Rozhenko.
The real measure of art appreciation is how much time people are willing to invest in looking at it. For me, looking at Abell’s earlier work in an art gallery at San Diego Comic-Con last year was a fully interactive process. I remember looking at my watch and realizing that fifteen minutes had passed by while I was looking at the 50th anniversary TOS piece.
I had a similar experience looking at the Next Generation posters this week, and it was one shared by my family. This time however, this was not a silent appreciation period, it was one of constant questioning and explaining as I went through every character in the prints — and had to provide a mini-summary of the episodes the characters were in.
It became a fun family experience, and I’m sure it can be one for other families as well – and in my mind, it’s that meaningfulness in any shape or form that makes art successful.
Abell has a great love of comics and he cites this background as instrumental in his work.
I’ve been really fortunate to have the background I do. I’ve worked with some great people and that’s given me the inspiration to do what I love. I
’m a big comics guy and you get to run in all those circles and meet your childhood heroes and become close with a lot of them. It was quite a thrill and a real privilege.
Abell was very modest in his description of his background, but when he casually dropped names like Jerry Ordway, Mike Carlin, or even Star Trek fan and comic book creator, John Byrne, then it became apparent that his comic circles were fairly rich in their pedigree.
It was a real thrill. John Byrne was a real influence in my work growing up.
Jenna D’Sora, Janice Manheim, and Hugh.
The TNG piece is currently featured on the Roddenberry Entertainment website. I asked Dusty to talk a little about what it was like to work with the folks over there, the original source of Star Trek.
It was nothing but a real pleasure. I had a real sense of independence in putting the piece together after we got back from Las Vegas last year. They were very accommodating and I made sure that I hit all my deadlines and they had everything printed!
I can’t say enough good things about them. Rod [Roddenberry] was really cool and he really enjoyed the Original Series one. Like I said, they’ve been a real pleasure to work with.
Dusty also made use of the visual archives and other references that TrekCore has available to complete his work. We talked a little about how he took advantage of our massive library of TOS and TNG resources as he used them for his designs.
It was beyond helpful! I don’t think I could have done it without the resources I found on TrekCore. I mean, the screengrabs…
I’m a real stickler for little details: ornamentation, jewelry, weapons – the technology you find on the characters. Fabrics – particularly for the first series. Gary Seven’s tie has the same pattern as you’ll find in the show. The ships, the crazy hair, the likenesses…
TrekCore has some really finely categorized images.
Dusty Abell’s work is vividly entertaining. One of his past projects includes a homage to 70’s and 80’s sci-fi shows and he hopes to continue with future projects in the same style. However, don’t take my word for it – take a look at his official site and when you see the Enterprise-D storm out of your monitor, you’ll get a sense of what I’m talking about.
Dusty Abell at STLV 2017.
To fully appreciate the work, you really need to check it in person. While you can order the prints online at Abell’s website, if you are one of the fortunate fans to be at Creation Entertainment’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention, you can also stop by the Roddenberry booth to pick up these pairs – and Abell will be signing through Friday afternoon.
Or perhaps you’ll just get a glance of him off to the side, watching you enjoy his art.
If you’re a fan of Disruptor Beam’s Star Trek Timelines mobile strategy game, then you’re in for an upgrade this fall as characters from Star Trek: Discovery are transporting to your mobile device after the launch of the new series!
Disruptor Beam announced today that the characters of Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Saru (Doug Jones) have been acquired as licensed avatars to join the franchise-spanning game, along with ships from the upcoming television series.
STAR TREK TIMELINES players and Discovery fans can look forward to the addition of new crew members to the game, including Lt. Commander Michael Burnham and Lt. Saru, as well as new ships from the Federation and beyond. Players will also get hours of brand-new Discovery-related game content, including a month-long Discovery Mega-Event.
Members of our team are on-hand this weekend with our partners at CBS Consumer Products at Star Trek Las Vegas to mark the announcement of our extended partnership. It’s largely due to our great relationship with CBS that we’ve been able to bring such a broad range of Star Trek content into a single game.
Watch your digital devices for app upgrade notices once the Discovery content goes live!
We’ve been getting better looks at the starships of Star Trek: Discovery with each new trailer that CBS releases, and at San Diego Comic-Con we also got some views of starship concept art during the Discovery exhibit on site.
At today’s starship design history panel at the Las Vegas convention – hosted by longtime Star Trek ship creator John Eaves – a few new shots of the Walker-class USS Shenzhou from the upcoming series debuted to the audience.
We’re hoping to learn much more about the Shenzhou – and of course, the hero starship of the upcoming series, the USS Discovery – in the coming days and weeks as we approach the launch of the series.
More Star Trek news t come this week, so keep checking back to TrekCore!
Now, the largest version yet of the Beyond vessel is on the way from Moebius Models, a massive 15.5-inch, 1:350-scale edition under development as a kit for collectors to purchase and assemble at home.
Moebius had their fresh-off-the-3D-printer prototype on display at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention for fans to take in, a still-in-development version which is due to be finalized in the coming months.
News on ordering and availability is yet to be announced.
Stay tuned for more Star Trek news out of Las Vegas in the coming days!
