Back before Star Trek: No Subtitle (2009) came out, I expressed some concerns about where the reboot might be taking the franchise, and making some comparisons to Marvel's Ultimate Comics:
And I fear this might become the future of the rebooted franchise. How long until someone starts asking Abrams when we get "his version" of Khan? Or the new "Shore Leave?" Or the "updated to attract modern audiences" New Trek Tribbles?
Because I fear that, like the Ultimate books, we're going to end up retreading the same ground...And now that the publicity mill is already churning about when (not if) his next Trek movie will be, I'm not terribly confident that we're going to get new, unique stories, but instead just re-visitations and re-imaginings of old stories.
Now, at least in part I was obviously right (although that doesn't acquit me from the charge of being a cranky old man). The ink had barely dried on the reviews when people began agitating for the next moving to feature Khan. There's a vast new universe to play in, and the first thought on everyone's mind is "remake that one really cool story from 30 years ago!"
Now, after a brief hiatus, now IDW is resuming their Star Trek comics, and, well, the other shoe is dropping hard.
Starting in September, IDW will be giving us a continuing, monthly book starring the new crew. Fine, OK, those guys deserve their own comic. But the details?
The adventures of the Starship Enterprise continue with the new cast from the film as they embark on missions that re-imagine the stories from the original television series, along with new threats and characters never seen before.
Under the creative direction of [Robert] Orci, fan-favorite STAR TREK writer Mike Johnson and artist Stephen Molnar bring this alternate universe to life and begin the countdown to the highly anticipated Star Trek sequel. The series kicks off with a dramatic new envisioning of The Original Series second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before."
Yup, under the "creative" direction of Robert Orci, the first post-movie comic story for the new crew will be...retelling the second pilot story, except with this crew in place.
And yeah, it's the same story as that second pilot, as the solicit for the second issue makes clear:
A photo-realistic drawing of Gary Mitchell, as played by Gary Lockwood, is our cover. And our plot description: "when crewman Gary Mitchell is possessed by an entity of unfathomable power."We'll leave the continuity questions until the issue comes out (Mitchell wasn't just "a crewman," he was Lieutenant Commander and helmsman and Kirk's best friend! He wasn't "possessed by an entity!" Yes, I'm a nerd). No, what's of more concern are the "bullet points" at the end of the solicit copy:
Fully sanctioned by Paramount pictures, with direct ties to the new movie!"Classic Star Trek episodes updated in the new mythology." Unfortunately, exactly as I predicted.
The new adventures start here! Classic Star Trek episodes updated in the new mythology!
It's hard to envision a more thorough case of a lack of ideas, to come up with a more damning case of creative bankruptcy. Paramount has rebooted the franchise because of all that pesky continuity...and then all they can come up with is to
The galaxy at their command---literally any story they can come up with would be in bounds for the "new mythology"--and the best that "creative director" Orci and company can come up with is
So brace yourselves, comic readers, for Nu Trek Shore Leave, Nu Trek Galileo Seven, and Nu Trek City On The Edge Of Forever.
Terrible. Terrible and saddening. And the stunning shortage of originality leaves me feeling even more trepidation about the next movie...
I'm of two minds really. On the one hand, you're right, it's silly. On the other, the comic might act as a place to get that idea out of the way so that films and other extra-canonical material can concentrate on something new. It's only comics, and it might be fun as a "What if/Elseworld" type deal.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the use of the same premise, but I do want the stories to stray from the original details. How are things changed by them happening 10 years early? How is Amok Time done without a Vulcan?
However, if the series basically draws the original episodes with the new cast's faces, that's gonna be a real drag.
So what I want from this series now that they've committed to it is almost a COMMENTARY on the original episodes and how modern sensibilities might have told that story differently.
I'm putting a positive face on it for now.
If there is a NU-trek trouble with tribbles I must know about it...
ReplyDeleteI'm with my esteemed colleague from Canada on this one. Part of me thinks this is being done because there's really no script yet for Trek 2: Electric Boogaloo at this point and there's demand for licensed product featuring the Nu Crew Revue.
ReplyDelete-De (can't get Blogger to work with my phone)
Siskoid--It's risky to get too judgmental from a solicit blurb, but "Gary Mitchell possessed by an alien entity" sure sounds like they're not going to so much do a commentary on the original episodes as they are going to strip away any attempts at allegory or messages. To me, taking WNMHGB and removing the "absolute power corrupts" and "do we have the wisdom to handle great power" morals to replace them with Hal Jordan/Parallax redux is not a net benefit. Then again, I'd expect no less a dumbing down with Orci in charge.
ReplyDeleteI would have said that WNMHGB was one of the episodes you couldn't do in Nu Trek (yes, I made a list). With Kirk never having served on other ships to maintain and build a long relationship with Mitchell, with Mitchell not saving Kirk's life earlier in their careers, with there being no room in the bridge crew for Mitchell, don't you lose a lot of the conflict and decision-making that make the episode what it is? Yeah, you could completely redo WNMHGB...but nope, they're going to do the same story, Mitchell and all. This makes me less than hopeful that we'll get any thoughtful examination of the implications of a different history, either in comics or movies.
De--even if they don't have a script yet, that doesn't require them to go to "Re-Run Theater" for the comics. You could do licenced product with original stories, right?
Plus, of course, the blurb about "direct ties to the new movie" does indicate that a) they at least have an idea of what they're doing and b) we might be going "re-tell" for that movie to. Or, maybe it's a stupid blurb...
Many people derided TNG for making Naked Now their first non-pilot episode, being essentially a re-telling of the same story Classic Trek did. This strikes me as the same thing, only more so, because it's not just the same plot, it's the same plot with the same characters (except younger and edgier).
I, too, was worried about Trek 2.0 taking this approach, and not just with all the "Khan" talk, but even after some of the "Khan" talk died down, the speculation on the next film has all centered around the usual question that dominates any superhero-movie sequel discussion, "Who's gonna be the villain next time!" Any Trek film HAS to be a blockbuster, which therefore pretty much rules out any approach that doesn't involve a villain of some sort. I'd love to see a good Trek film where the ship never once fires a single phaser or photo torpedo, but with this creative team, I don't grant much chance at all of that happening.
ReplyDeleteOn the re-casting of "Where No Man..." specifically, I wish I could say I was surprised, but given Orci's lack of understanding of the source material to begin with, again, I'm not surprised at all. It still bothers me that Orci-and-company still look at the original Trek as "Kirk-and-Spock", when anyone who paid attention knows that it was "Kirk-Spock-McCoy". And that's a shame, really, because even with all its enormous faults, I still think that Trek 2009 is a total blast to watch. It's the most entertaining movie -- in spite of its flaws -- that I can think of since Independence Day.
Snell, I have little doubt that you will be proven right, but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteSiskoid, did you really just write "it's only comics"? Hang your head in shame.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that bothers me beyond what's already been said is that it isn't a "new" crew, it's the same old crew, just with altered personalities. New Trek was at least telling its own story, but this telling old stories with old characters, but with new personalities. It seems a waste of potential to me. My only hope is Siskoid is right about them using the comic to retread old stories and nemeses while leaving the movies free to not break out Khan or the Omegans or Apollo or whatever.
Look on the bright side, at least it's not Nu-V'Ger.
ReplyDeleteMe, I'll just go slam my fingers in a door to numb the pain.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who pretty near reviewed every Star Trek comic ever made (except the Brit stuff, I think), I can honestly say the bar's been set pretty low.
ReplyDeleteStar Trek Retread will no doubt be a little boring. At least we have the Star Trek/LSH crossover to look forward to. Unless that was a third season episode I'm failing to remember (like The Lights of Zetar, which I've forced myself to forget).
Yeah...right from the photo real Mitchell this seems like a bad move. Despite the time travel obsession and a supernova destroying a chunk of the galaxy... I enjoyed Trek '09.
ReplyDeleteBut Abrams had admitted that he was not a fan of the original show...and I wonder if they produced an entertaining film by accident. Trek '09 didn't have the opening audio excrement of Enterprise. For that I was thankful. But how can Khan be the nemesis back from 15 years of exile...if they never met? Or will Trek 2 simply be Space Seed with a re-paint?
I am not hopeful.
Hey, I was right! I'm looking forward to photo-realistic Terri Garr and and Son of Sam in "New York City on the Edge of Forever."
ReplyDeleteIs that 1967-1977 Terri Garr? Will Pitt, Freeman and Spacey return for The Return Of Gary 7even?
ReplyDelete