Tuesday, June 16, 2009

NY Trekkie

Hi Trekkies! Today's NY Times has an article about the comptroller of New York City and how he's a super-major-major-king-kong Trekkie. Oh, yeah, and he's running for mayor. Why not? We already have a Trekkie president!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Herb Solow Reviews Star Trek

Herb Solow, the executive in charge of developing Star Trek and Mission: Impossible for Desilu Studios back in the 1960s, has just written a review of the new film for the BBC website.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Comparative Chronology

Hi Trekkies. As you probably know, history is changed in the new Star Trek movie. I'm taking a stab at creating a comparative timeline for the movie and the Star Trek Prime universe (i.e. the one that all the TV shows happen in). I'm listing the date, then what happened in the Prime universe. Then the movie universe in italics. Then an attempt at an explanation for the difference.

DISCLAIMER: This is based on my math and supposition and I'm doing a lot of it from memory, so I'd LOVE feedback, corrections, etc. I don't own the Star Trek Chronology or anything but I think this is consistent with what is mentioned on screen in the series.

Okay, here we go.

---------

2151-2161
PRIME TIMELINE: Voyage of Enterprise NX-01. (Star Trek: Enterprise)
MOVIE TIMELINE: NX-01 mission probably altered to some degree.
REASON FOR DISCREPENCY: Many key events of the prequel series such as the Klingon first contact ("Broken Bow"), the Romulan first contact ("Minefield") and the Xindi Expedition (season 3) are caused or altered by time travelers from a future that may no longer exist in the wake of Nero and Spock Prime's incursions. Because the effects of Nero and Spock Prime's actions on the distant future are impossible to predict and the motivations and identities of the temporal cold warriors were never revealed, guessing the results is a dizzying proposition. However, Scotty's reference to Jonathan Archer suggests that, at the very least, Archer remains a prominent Starfleet officer in the movie timeline, still on active duty at age 146.

2161
PRIME TIMELINE: The Federation is founded. ("The Outcast," "These Are the Voyages")

2232
PRIME TIMELINE: Spock born.
MOVIE TIMELINE: Spock born.

2233
PRIME TIMELINE: Kirk born.
MOVIE TIMELINE: Kirk born. Nero arrives in the past and destroys the USS Kelvin, killing Kirk’s father.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Direct intervention by Nero.

c. 2243
PRIME TIMELINE: Kirk survives Tarsus IV massacre by Kodos the Executioner (“Conscience of the King”). Spock fights bullies ("Yesteryear").
MOVIE TIMELINE: Kirk destroys his stepdad’s car. Spock fights bullies.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Since George Kirk is dead Kirk grows up in Iowa and never lives on Tarsus IV.

2245
PRIME TIMELINE: Pavel Chekov is born. (Age established in "Who Mourns for Adonais?")
MOVIE TIMELINE: Pavel Chekov is four years old at this point. His statement that he's 17 years old in the movie means he was born in 2241.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Chekov is established to have been an only child in the prime timeline in "Day of the Dove." If something about Nero's changes in the timeline caused Chekov's parents to conceive a child earlier and that child was male, Pavel Andreievich Chekov would probably be their first choice for a name. That would mean this Pavel Chekov is a brother to the prime timeline Chekov, rather than an alternate version like Kirk or Spock. That explains why this Chekov is a genius, while the prime Chekov was not, at least to the same extent. It is unknown whether an alternate version of the prime Chekov exists in this timeline. It's worth pointing out that Sulu and Uhura were also conceived after Nero's incursion into the timeline, meaning they could also be siblings rather than alternate version of their prime timeline counterparts.

2250
PRIME TIMELINE: Spock enters Starfleet Academy.
MOVIE TIMELINE: Spock enters Starfleet Academy.

2251
PRIME TIMELINE: Kirk enters Starfleet Academy.
MOVIE TIMELINE: Kirk graduates from high school with high aptitude but stays in Iowa.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Spock Prime says Kirk’s father was his inspiration for joining Starfleet in the prime timeline. Kirk never knew his father in the movie timeline.

2254
PRIME TIMELINE: Spock graduates from Starfleet Academy. Spock begins serving with Captain Pike (based on the duration of his service with Pike from “The Menagerie”). Pike takes command of the Enterprise. “The Cage” occurs (based on the fact that it is said to have happened 13 years in the past in “The Menagerie.”)
MOVIE TIMELINE: Spock graduates from Starfleet Academy and serves as an instructor at Starfleet Academy. He begins a four-year stint programming the Kobayashi Maru test. The events of "The Cage" never occur. Spock falls in love with Uhura.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Construction of the Enterprise has not been completed in the movie timeline. While Spock's romantic interest in a human seems out of character at first glance, "The Cage" demonstrates that he was less guarded about expressing his emotions in this era than during the original series, which was set in the following decade.

2255
PRIME TIMELINE: Kirk graduates from Starfleet Academy. He is assigned to the USS Farragut.
MOVIE TIMELINE: Kirk is convinced to enter Starfleet Academy by Captain Pike. The Enterprise is under construction in Iowa.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Kirk lacked inspiration to join Starfleet Academy due to his father’s death. There is no clear reason for the delay in construction of the Enterprise. It is generally believed (though not canonical) that the Enterprise was constructed in spacedock in the prime timeline, like the Enterprise-D ("Booby Trap"), Columbia NX-02 ("The Expanse") and all other starships we have seen under construction. Perhaps Nero’s mysterious attack necessitated greater security in the Federation, requiring the ship to be built on the ground and causing a delay. Perhaps the need to replace the USS Kelvin delayed starship development and construction. In any case, the fact that the Enterprise was completed at least five years later in the movie timeline than in the prime timeline explains the minor design differences.

2257
PRIME TIMELINE: The majority of the Farragut crew, including the captain, are killed by an attacking cloud creature at Tycho IV. Kirk blames himself for not firing on the creature, though it's later proven the ship’s phasers would have had no effect. (“Obsession”)
MOVIE TIMELINE: It is unknown whether these events occurred. If they did, Kirk was not present.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Other than Kirk's absence there may be no discrepancy. The death of such a large portion of the crew may explain why the Farragut is one of the ships at the Earth spacedock in 2258 when Nero attacks Vulcan.

2258
PRIME TIMELINE: No known events. Kirk may be serving on the USS Republic at this time, per “Court Martial.”
MOVIE TIMELINE: Spock Prime arrives in the past. Nero attacks and destroys Vulcan but is killed before he can destroy Earth. Kirk takes command of the Enterprise.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Direct intervention by Nero and Spock Prime.

2261
PRIME TIMELINE: David Marcus, son of Kirk and Dr. Carol Marcus, is born.
MOVIE TIMELINE: David Marcus is probably never conceived.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Many people have speculated Carol Marcus was the "little blonde lab technician" that Gary Mitchell mentioned setting Kirk up with in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Mitchell set Kirk up with Carol while Kirk was his professor at Starfleet Academy. Since Kirk is already the captain of the Enterprise in the movie timeline, Kirk probably never has Gary as a student and never meets Carol. Without David Marcus, the Genesis Device will never be created, meaning most of Star Trek II and III will never happen.

2265
PRIME TIMELINE: Kirk takes command of the Enterprise. The five year mission begins. “Where No Man Has Gone Before” presumably happens this year, with the rest of the TOS first season taking place in 2266 and 2267.
REASON FOR DISCREPANCY: Kirk takes command of the Enterprise later because Nero’s attack hasn’t killed a large number of Starfleet officers, disabled Captain Pike and given Kirk a chance to distinguish himself in the Prime Timeline. These events allowed him to advance to command rank more quickly in the movie timeline.

2269
PRIME TIMELINE: Five year mission ends.

2272-2291
PRIME TIMELINE: TOS movies.

2368
PRIME TIMELINE: Spock moves to Romulus to pursue reunification. ("Unification")
MOVIE TIMELINE: Since Spock’s life has been radically different and since Vulcan no longer exists to be reunified with Romulus, Spock likely doesn’t go to Romulus.

2364-2379
PRIME TIMELINE: TNG, DS9, Voyager and TNG movies.
MOVIE TIMELINE: Most of these events probably still occur but they would be altered by the destruction of Vulcan and any subsequent changes.

2387
PRIME TIMELINE: Romulus destroyed by a supernova. Spock and Nero travel back in time. (Based on Spock Prime’s statement that he comes from 129 years in the future.)
MOVIE TIMELINE: These events probably don’t happen. One hopes that the Federation could find a way to save Romulus with 129 years to work on the problem. If the supernova does occur in this timeline, Spock probably doesn’t live on Romulus so it’s unlikely he promises to save the planet.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Getting Their Kirk On

The New York Times has an amusing article this morning about Trekkies who build replicas of Kirk's chair for their living room. Apparently it's quite the trend...

Friday, February 13, 2009

Off Topic



This has nothing to do with Star Trek, but "Hi Trekkies" is a series of columns I write for Pink Raygun and I want to mention another article I wrote for them. Plus it's my blog, Trekkies, so suck it. The article's about latest issue of Batman, a wonderful story by Neil Gaiman (Coraline, Sandman) about Batman's surrealistic funeral. You can read my review at Pink Raygun now.

I'll be back to writing about Star Trek soon with (I hope) an interview of novelist and comic book writer Peter David. (I'm still waiting for him to get back to me with his answers.)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

You Like Me 'Cause I'm a Scoundrel

Forgotten Treks: Haunted!

Hi Trekkies. In a recent spree in the dollar bins at New York Comic Con, I dug up some gems. I'm going to write a little series of reviews on this blog called "Forgotten Treks" where I'll review non-canon Trek stories, and I'm going to start with these comic books. As I mentioned in my last post, these stories are not always great but they're the foundation that this franchise was built on -- and the people who wrote them were mostly Trekkies like us!


Star Trek #4 (Marvel, vol. 1): “The Haunting of Thallus” (July 1980)
Star Trek #5 (Marvel, vol. 1): “The Haunting of the Enterprise” (Aug. 1980)

written by Marv Wolfman, illustrated by Dave Cockrum

After returning from making contact with V’ger (issues #1-3 were an adaptation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and this is the first original story of the series), the Enterprise is assigned to escort a deranged escaped prisoner Raytrag M’gora back to a prison he escaped from on Thallus. Accompanying them is Ambassador R’kgg of Thallus. M'gora proves very dangerous when he escapes en route but is no match for Kirk and Spock. Arriving at Thallus the Enterprise receives a signal directing it to new coordinates. What Kirk assumes must be a penal space station turns out to be a haunted house adrift in space. Meanwhile the Enterprise is boarded by manifestations of ghosts and vampires, including a Dracula who murders Ambassador R'kgg.

Kirk leads a landing party to the haunted house and discovers an amnesiac blonde and a Klingons ambush. The Klingons lured the Enterprise with the new coordinates so they could capture it and learn the secret of its newly refitted engines. They kidnap Spock for his knowledge of the engines, intending to let their army of ghosts kill the crew and deliver them the ship unscathed. Returning to the Enterprise with the blonde, Kirk finds his ship overrun by deadly spectres. The Klingon captain reveals the Klingon plan to Spock: to capture the Enterprise without loss of Klingon life, they have hooked a captured human horror film archivist up to a thought projector, tempting him with the chance to make his dead wife live again, then taking control of his mind and forcing him to create the monsters, which are projected aboard the Enterprise through a brain implant in M'gora, a Klingon spy.

By mind melding with the archivist and manifesting as a ghost aboard the Enterprise, Spock instructs McCoy to kill the blonde, who is the image of the archivist’s wife. The psychic pain at her death overwhelms and kills M'gora and the images feed back—the monsters attack the Klingon ship, allowing Spock to escape with the thought projector and film archivist. Back on the Enterprise, McCoy teases Spock because his life was saved by human emotions.


REVIEW: When it comes to writing comics Marv Wolfman isn't exactly a lightweight -- he created Blade and Nightwing, wrote Crisis on Infinite Earths and had runs on most major series at one time or another. This story definitely isn't his best work, however. I can only assume that he was trying to mix Star Trek with the horror comics that were so popular in the late '70s. Unfortunately he's also invoking the classic Trek episode "Catspaw," which wasn't the original series' greatest moment! The highlight of reading these issues was probably an ad in issue #5 where the Hulk fights a group of rampaging disco skaters. In an interesting trivia moment, the Klingon captain refers to his government as the High Council, anticipating the terminology of Star Trek: The Next Generation by ten years.

GRADE: B-

Canon vs. Non-Canon

Hi Trekkies! For some reason we Trekkies spend a lot of time and energy thinking about what is "canon" and what isn't. T

Recently, a very wise Trekkie pointed out that only Star Trek fans seem to care about this type of thing. He pointed out that Batman, for example, has many different inconsistent versions. There's a separate continuity for the Golden Age, Silver Age, modern age, the Adam West series, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, the Tim Burton Movies, Batman Forever/Batman & Robin, the Christopher Nolan movies and The Dark Knight Returns. Batman don't care and never get confused. Why are Star Trek fans up in arms when Enterprise is inconsistent with TOS or when the new Star Trek movie ignores the TV continuity? I don't know but we are.

I'm going to go a step farther and say that we Trekkies should care even less than Batman fans about continuity. A lot of us grew up with multiple Star Trek series creating official canon stories every week but we should remember what came before that. There were 79 episodes of the classic TV series. That's a pretty bare skeleton to build a franchise on. For eighteen years, 1969-1987, there was no canon Trek except four movies.

This was the era when the Star Trek Universe was really created. It was built on the bare bones of the old series, and it wasn't built by clever TV writers -- it was created by Trekkies like us in the competing continuities of Gold Key, Marvel and DC Comics, animation, fanzines, Best of Trek anthologies, Saturday morning animation. At times these "Forgotten Treks" were bad, at times they were inspiringly done. But the important thing is that, more than any other series, Star Trek's universe was explored and shaped by fans rather than professionals. Maybe that's why it's done so well.

So, Trekkies, don't be a canon Nazi. Try to enjoy the Star Trek Universe in all its glory.