After growing up from the little science-fiction show Gene
Roddenberry created in the 1960s, the venerable Star Trek franchise in recent years had just about worn out its
welcome in the eyes of all but its most devoted followers. Enter J.J. Abrams and
his high-octane, supercharged re-imagining of the classic series, resulting in
one of 2009’s most commercially and critically successful films, released today on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Star Trek’s
unprecedented popularity at the box office has also revitalized interest in
past adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Many such tales have been chronicled in comics form
since the 1960s—while the classic series was still on the air! After
boldly going into our vast archives, we have emerged with six stories that we
consider worthy representatives of the more than four decades of Star Trek comics history.

In order of publication:

1: “The Museum at the End
of Time” – Star Trek #15,
Gold Key Comics, August 1972

Love them or hate them, the Gold Key Star Trek comics occupy a special place in the hearts of old-school
Trekkies. The 61 issues—complete with crazy character likenesses as well
as the Enterprise belching fire from
its warp engines—helped to fuel fans’ needs for new Star Trek stories in the early 1970s. This story features the
Enterprise pulled through a cosmic vortex into a mysterious region where time
has no meaning. There, the crew finds all manner of trapped spacecraft and captive
beings—along with a ship full of angry Klingons! A tale typical of the
Gold Key run, this issue is noteworthy as being an apparent inspiration for
“The Time Trap,” an episode of the animated Star
Trek series produced a year later by Filmation Associates. 

(Reprinted in Star Trek: The Key Collection, Vol. 2
, Checker Book Publishing Group,
December 2004)

(more…)

It seems the least Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza could do was offer a full scholarship.

Ryan announced on the Least I Could Do website on Friday that they have created “The Rayne Summers Webcomic Scholarship”, at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont:

Beginning in the fall of ’10, we will be covering the full tuition for
the selected applicant. The applicant who, I might add, is working
towards a career in webcomics. Over the course of the next 5 years, we
plan on adding 1 student per year, thus by 2015, the Scholarship will
be putting 5 students through the program per year.

This scholarship will be managed by Blind Ferret, though there will be
heavy involvement from others in our field, in the form of a board of
Directors and a selection committee.

More information will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks,
including fund raising events, application rules and deadlines and
more. Keep an eye on this space.

Applause, applause, gentlemen. And this actually hints at a bigger question– why hasn’t any other comics company stepped up to fund such a scholarship? There’s the Dave & Paty Cockrum scholarship at the Kubert School that’s funded from the sale of Dave’s personal collection and through the tireless efforts of Paty and Clifford Meth, and Diamond and First Second also had a scholarship at CCS, although it’s not clear if that was just a one time thing.

Why doesn’t DC or Marvel have any? Do they actually have some that are so poorly promoted that I’ve never heard of them? Or would they rather just draft straight from high school into the major leagues?

(Note: of course, DC and Marvel both have internship programs, I went through one from DC. But they do require you to be where the office is, and you have to be there during 9-5 hours, which is hell on a college class schedule.)

A movie adaptation of author/producer Frank Beddor’s young adult book trilogy The Looking Glass Wars is in the works.  During an appearance to promote the third book in the series, ArchEnemy, on Good Morning America on Friday, Beddor said he was working with producer Charles Roven (The Dark Knight, Rex Libris) to bring The Looking Glass Wars to the big screen.

The series has already spun off a graphic novel version and the spinoff series Hatter M, written by Beddor and Liz Cavalier with art by Ben Templesmith in volume 1 and Sami Makkonen in volume 2. A lengthy preview of the series can be found at HatterM.com.

The Award-winning author Ray Bradbury will be returning to television with the announcement yesterday of The Bradbury Chronicles, which will be a six hour miniseries based on his works. White Oak Films announced the deal although no network has picked up the project for broadcast.

White Oak’s John Philip Dayton will executive produce with Merrill Capps, Todd Klick, Cory Travalena and Dale Olson doing the actual production chores. Bradbury will be an executive producer with input over stories selected and overseeing the adaptations themselves. Dayton previously partnered with Bradbury on Showtime’s The Ray Bradbury Theater, which ran from 1985-1992.

The author, now 89, remains largely confined to his home given declining health, but continues to write with Summer Morning, Summer Night his most recent work, due out in paperback next June.