Today, IDW Publishing has released a new Star Trek comic called Star Trek Ongoing. As much as I'd like to, I can't get behind that. As I shared the other week, Star Trek played a huge role in my life and shaped much of who I am today. It is all I can do to contain my nerd rage in order to explain why this comic has me so angry. But I am going to try my best to channel my inner Spock and explain why this latest move by the Abramsverse has me so enraged.
If you have yet to read this news, let me share the description of this new comic:
If you are a hardcore fan such as myself, then you know Where No Man Has Gone Before was the second pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series.
My brain is currently stuck in the following thoughts, "So... once upon a time, there was this man. His name was JJ Abrams. He had this idea to reboot Star Trek and give it new life. He had this idea to create a brand new universe and timeline, one that would attract new fans, whilst keeping Roddenberry's original vision intact and untouched. THEN WHY IS HE BEHIND REWRITING THE SECOND PILOT AND STICKING IT IN A COMIC!? What on earth happened to the new universe not touching the original?!"
I will admit, I have a lot of issues with the reboot. So many, if I were to write them out, it would be a novel in itself. However, despite my issues with the new Star Trek, I was able to accept it as valid as it used an existing device from within cannon: Alternate timeline. Using this device, Prime was still there and untouched. The Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, etc., that I grew up with were still there, waiting for someone to carry on their story. Because of this, I could accept, even if only, this new Star Trek, one that lacked the substance and the human story that I grew-up with.
I think that if the Abramsverse wants to create a new comic, based off of the rebooted characters and set within this alternate timeline, then they can fill their boots. My issue is that this isn't new. He had said that he wanted to respect Roddenberry's original creation. If that is true, then why is the original series being butchered rewritten? Why are they not taking full advantage of this new timeline? They have this great opportunity to do something that makes Star Trek what it is: To explore strange new worlds... to seek out new life and civilisations... to boldly go where no-one has gone before! Instead, they are going where they've gone before and no new words, life or civilisations are being sought out.
With Star Trek, Abrams has a lot of opportunities for brand new stories. Like, what if the Klingons and the Federation never went to war? What if the Orions went to war with the Federation and tried to enslave them? There is so much to explore in a fun, new way, whilst still telling the human stories that make Trek what it is. If this new franchise is already out of new ideas, it is in serious trouble.
I watch Star Trek because it challenges my perceptions of the world and forces me to think, whilst entertaining me. I can sit down with my children and watch pretty much any episode, from any series, and have a real discussion with them about humanity, our place in the world, social woes and so much more.
In the last GeekMom podcast, they had an interesting discussion about the things added to Star Wars and how a new generation will grow up thinking that Han did not shoot first and they may never learn to know the difference. I had one person on Twitter ask me, when I was raging about this new comic, "Does George Lucas have his hands on Star Trek now too?" I see that as a serious problem. Not because of the changes in of itself, but because the original universe was suppose to remain intact. My children will know the difference and I'm not sure they'll be able to accept them either; not if the re-imagined Trek is using a good portion of the original Trek.
If Abrams wants to introduce new mythology and create new cannon, great. I only wish he didn't do it at the expense of the original series. Roddenberry tackled a lot of very tough and sensitive issues. Those messages and issues need to be preserved. Many of them are still issues to be talked about it; some of which were tackled in Where No Man Has Gone Before. I do not see this branch of the reboot as being an honour to Gene's memory but, instead, a real dishonour.
To restate: If you are going to make Star Trek new, then please make sure that it is, in fact, new. Why create a whole new universe if you are not going to explore it?
You can see a preview of the new comic below.
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