|
The first DC series picked up immediately after Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, beginning in February 1984 but after eight issues started to place stories after Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. In these later issues, Kirk, after a multi-issue showdown with the Mirror Universe, is given command of the Excelsior, while Spock, mentally restored after mind-melding with his mirror self, is given the command of the USS SURAK sometimes depicted as an Oberth Class Science Vessel. However, with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home taking place right after III left off, the series quickly wiped the slate clean by having Kirk lose command of the Excelsior and Spock return to the state he was at the end of III. After the release of The Voyage Home, the series continued with Kirk commanding the Enterprise-A. These later issues also re-introduced the characters of Arex and M'Ress from Star Trek: The Animated Series. In 1988, the series ended when Paramount required all tie-in licenses to be renegotiated.
The first series ended in November 1988 after 56 issues.
After a year's hiatus, DC's second Star Trek series began with an adaptation of Star Trek V and took place in the large gap between Star Trek V and Star Trek VI, but did not continue on from the previous series, so storylines from that series were either ignored or rewritten. (One storyline was continued by Peter David in an original Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, Strike Zone.) Although more limited in scope than the first series, due to restrictions from Paramount (a prohibition on creating non-series-related ongoing characters resulted in R.J. Blaise - a popular character and love interest for Kirk - disappearing from the comic without explanation), the series lasted 80 issues and fleshed out some of the changes between V and VI, such as Sulu's promotion to captain of the Excelsior. As part of Paramount's increased restrictions on storytelling, planned appearances from Arex and M'Ress were shelved, with some formative artwork showing M'Ress (that appeared in a preview) re-drawn. The series was mainly written by Peter David and Howard Weinstein, who are also Star Trek novelists.
| |
