This seems like as good a place as any to bring this up, but am I the only one who thinks that Robin Curtis' Saavik is hugely underrated? Unlike TWOK (where she's mostly there to roll her eyes at the wacky humans), TSFS gives her a lot more to do, and Curtis handles some potentially tricky moments really well; the pon farr scene could have been totally laughable, but she makes it work. She deserves far better than to be dismissed as Not Kirstie Alley.
Agreed. That's why I don't understand why Nick Meyer didn't like Curtis and refused to bring her back as Saavik for STVI when they couldn't get Alley. Valeris was clearly meant to be Saavik originally and her story would've packed far more punch that way
@@richardjohnson9543 wasn't that because Roddenberry objected? I remember hearing Nick say he was annoyed that he couldn't do what he wanted with a character he created.
Kirstie Alley had star power (especially for later viewers familiar with her work on Cheers) but I agree, Robin Curtis put in a better performance and where my biases are concerned is not (to my knowledge) a Scientologist so points all around for her.
When my kids saw the Triforce symbols on Spock's robes when they saw Star Trek III for the first time, they came to the immediate conclusion that Vulcan is Hyrule in the future. Thus the pointed ears, the symbols, everything. Spock might even be a current incarnation of Link.
@carolinemcgovern4488 if you know the gist of Zelda there’s not really any real lore to follow. People try to put it into a timeline so that each game goes into the next but honestly don’t fret, just have fun
Star Trek's first DC run in the 80s holds a special place in my heart. I always admired the way they filled in the gaps between II, III, and IV but then had to sort of undo their plot lines to get everyone and everything in place for the next movie
I kind of just assumed they were in some sort of legal limbo for a while. Perhaps as a founding member of the Federation, Vulcan has some sort of special status or whatever that makes it more difficult to just hand over Kirk and his crew.
It’s a shame that “Star Trek Continues” had to halt their productions. I was looking forward to seeing their adventures evolve into the style, and aesthetics of the films. 🖖🤓
Yeah, Star Trek Continues has a BRILLIANT episode that reveals more story from the mirrored universe!❤️ Too bad the actor for Captain Kirk, years later, without looking up the details to recall completely, got into some kind of trouble in real life!😐
People always seem to forget the comics. Almost every franchise has them, and they're usually packed with good to great stories about our favorite characters and more adventures than we know what to do with but so many fans just skip out on them for some reason
Probably because most people would rather watch the story than read the story. To that end I would put it that comics are the most inclusive readable movies ever and people are missing out on these stories!
Tie-in media like books and comics are often non-canon or disposable canon that the showrunners can freely ignore. This sets the expectation for some fans that it doesn't really matter what happens to favorite characters in a tie-in medium because it will never inform their story in any lasting way. People forget tie-in comics because they are often designed to provide short-term entertainment over impactful long-term additions to the lore.
Captain Jesus, lead character of the hit novel The Bible 2 - This Time It's Biblical. I do like that Jesus is still always portrayed as looking like the same young Italian guy that Da Vinci was doinking when he made all those paintings.
I enjoyed those comics very much. Also, after The Undiscovered Country, these comics went on for a few more years telling stories set BEFORE that movie. Then one day they decided to go on telling stories set at the TOS time. I didn't like that. I felt Star Trek had evolved beyond that. Even today, when I think of Kirk and Spock, I see them in their monster maroon uniforms.
I am so glad I stumbled into your youtube video on these classic Star Trek issues. As a kid I really loved these issues because they were able to give depth to these legendary characters in a way that the original series was unable to accomplish. After Lein, left the series Peter David would become the primary writer and I absolutely loved his era with the comic. In the late 90s, Mr. David also wrote Star Trek novels and I was actually able to invite him to the bookstore I managed at the time and converse with both him and Robert Greenberger the editor of the book at the time. Man, they loved doing those books as much as we loved reading them. And as a bonus they actually signed all my comics that I had over that time period even though they were there to promote their novels.
Well that was fun. And even though the comics you spoke of did do a fun job of “maintaining continuity” in a convoluted manner, they can also be an example of the fun you can have by ignoring continuity and telling your own story.
I really appreciate how you make your videos accessible to those who only have a casual familiarity with Trek. I've seen most of TNG and Voyager (it was current when I was a kid), Piccard season 1, about half the movies, and a smattering of episodes of the other shows and I know more than is needed to enjoy your videos.
Picard season 2 is well worth watching, and I’m on pins and needles for S3 of Lower Decks to drop this weekend. I enjoy that so much more than I expected to. By the way speaking of Trek cartoons, the old Star Trek: The Animated Series from the… late 70s? Early 80s? Is often forgotten but well worth checking out. And fun fact? That was actually where the concept of starships having a Holodeck was first introduced!
I admire how some of the artists made no attempt to make the ship interiors, control consoles, etc. look anything like they did onscreen. Also, I know that at this point we’d seen no Romulans outside of those two episodes of TOS, but wow … the 1930s Buck Rogers yellow peril aesthetic here is really something else.
I remember being obsessed by this particular run of issues for the reasons you mentioned, namely how they managed to adapt to a film that completely upended the status quo in a way that allowed them to get back to telling the stories they wanted to tell (and the readers wanted to read), and then reset everything back to the ending of the film without discarding any stories they'd told along the way. With the exception of the minor cheat you mentioned in the trial dialogue, I thought that it was a masterful solution, and worked well within the spirit of the franchise.
I've read a lot of Star Trek comics. If you're looking to jump in, I recommend anything written by Peter David in the 80's or 90's and anything written by Scott & Dave Tipton in the modern IDW era. Have fun!
I'm always interested in the Enterprise-A era (canonically, the period between movies 5 and 6), not unlike the Enterprise-E era outside the movies. Would love to see a deep dive into that.
The Trek comics after ST3 were my introduction to a monthly comic series I could get into. They had great adventures. Some of the highlights included: a ST annual issue that focused on the transition between Pike and Kirk, a second annual that dealt with the end of the five year mission, unique Surak crew members, and the Ajir and Grind fighting to the death! (nudge nudge, wink wink). Sulu also got to fight in a giant robot once. Then there were the original characters of Lt Bryce, Bearclaw and a Klingon named Konom. The stories the comic dealt with were some of the best out there IMHO. There was even a "Who's Who in Star Trek" set of special issues which acted as a Trek Encyclopedia years before the Okudas did theirs for Pocket Books. Great stuff!
Those action adventures between Star Trek 3 and 4 reminds me of a few series of 4 novels about the action adventures between TOS and The Motion Picture. These were 'The Lost Years' by J.M. Dillard, 'A Flag Full of Stars' by Brad Ferguson, 'Traitor Winds' by L.A. Graf, and then 'Recovery' by J.M. Dillard. (I've just read the first one.)
I hope you will include "Dark Mirror" by Diane Duane in your perspective of the mirror universe. Having not seen TOS before TNG as a kid, that was my first introduction to it. I think it definitely holds up. AND, your favorite TNG character gets to play a bigger part in it 😀
I loved Dark Mirror so much. Even though I'd already seen the original episode, and had caught a couple of the issues he'd mentioned above, that was the beginning of my obsession with the concept.
That?! I read it recently and it seemed as if Duane had never seen TNG--or she didn't like it much. Data had barely a role; Crusher was non-existent and a brunette (what, how?); and there was some weird premise about telepathic porpoises. The few interesting things were evil-Troi and altered Shakespeare.
That was definitely a classic star trek novel. The mirror universe in that novel was indeed very dark. I think I might've fit in nicely or die early for some snarky remarks. " is old shiny still taking his afternoon nap?" "References to my head withstanding, i stop needing naps in kindergarten and you Mr. La Forge are just asking for trouble!" Classic absolutely classic!!!
@@RideAcrossTheRiver yeah the dolphin bit was a stretch a long taffy like stretch indeed. This is why the enterprise official has subaquactic(?) quarters and other areas of ship filled with water. What the fk? Really! I mean, come on Really SMH...... I don't recall data being in the mirror universe and of course crusher was the captains woman (ugh). Got to admit wesley in the agony booth would've been. Hoot to see and Troi was absolute beast. Tho no change in Riker, he was just as slimy and useless in the mirror universe as he was in the normal universe.......
The mirror universe was an interesting idea in the original series, and it was a nice nod to the original series to revisit it in Deep Space 9, but I am sick of seeing it featured in every new Star Trek. Discovery was particularly bad for this in that they built such a convoluted plot around it, including a redemption arc for a mass murdering dictator from the mirror universe. Redemption arcs are tedious at the best of times, but for mass murdering dictators they are absurd. Also, the mirror universe seems to be the bad makeup universe.
One of my favorite Star Trek moments is when Kirk and crew had to steal the Enterprise James Horner's music and just the effects alone was one of my favorite moments. And of course the destruction of the Enterprise was shocking and awesome at the same time. Love your content you just got to subscriber out of me
Thanks for this. These were my only connection to Trek back in the 80's. No internet, only the comic shop or Waldon's Books keep me in the know for Star Trek. Funny that just two weeks before this presentation, I found all the back issues I missed for this run at a comics shop for a buck a piece. Quick piece of info, Harve Bennette wanted the crew to get the Excelsior after ST:IV not the Enterprise-A. But Gene Roddenberry said no.
Great video. I was surprised by how nostalgic I got seeing some of the comic panels I hadn't seen in years, especially from the Star Trek VI adaptation (which I read before seeing the film in 1991). Only a very few months before she died, I watched Star Trek III with my late mother for the first time in about 20 years. I believe she had only previously seen it once, on a black and white TV with poor reception, so this was the first time she was *really* seeing it, and she *loved* it. After the movie I mentioned that "Voyage Home" was a direct sequel to "Search for Spock", and that the ending flowed directly into that movie. Unlike "Search for Spock", she had seen "Voyage Home" many times and it was always her favorite Trek movie, so she was pleased to be reminded of this. However, although I hadn't read most of the comics featured in this video, I then qualified my statement about III leading into IV by sketching out what I knew about the comics. My mother seemed very displeased and unhappy about this, and I felt guilty about wasting her time talking about it (since she was, after all, terminally ill). Then Mom said something I've never forgotten: "Only the TV shows and movies count, not the comic books." And she said this categorically enough that it was clear she was talking about, not only Star Trek, but any fiction franchise in which TV shows and/or movies are the primary component (e.g., "Doctor Who"). Therefore, I asked, "Does that mean that for characters like Superman and Spider-Man, who were created for comic books, that only the comic books count?" And with the same certainty as her previous comment, she said, "Yes." The MCU already existed then (in 2012), but Mom never saw any of it. As much as I've enjoyed what little of the MCU I've seen (and as much as Mom respected RDJ as an actor), it's fascinating to realize that Mom wouldn't have regarded it as being "as real" as the Marvel comic books. Similarly, Mom would be unfazed by the dumpster fire the DCEU has become -- and as for "Riverdale", the less said the better...
Thanks for that review. I haven't read those ST comics since they came out so have forgotten all that stuff. Also remember in the movieverse there were many years between ST V and ST VI. Lots of room for comic stories.
4:59 I'm immediately reminded of Star Trek: TNG's "Family"... one of the best and, in a way, most radical episodes of the series because that kind of thing appeared so rarely. I was going to wonder what happened to Mirror Spock's revolution that was implied at the end of "Mirror, Mirror", but I guess in these stories we kind of get the beginning of it.
I love the Kirk et al on the Excelsior comics. Such a neat alt- reality example. I hadn’t realized they did that course correction to line up with the movies.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I still own the entire run of both DC's Star Trek series. Pardon me while I pop open my comic book boxes and sit on the floor, visiting some old friends.
In the early 90s there was an anthology Trek comic called "Star Trek Special." The first issue has a story called "The Needs of the One," by Michael Collins. It follows the crew on Vulcan, as well as Spock coming back to himself and reliving parts of his past (his pet sehlat, his experiences with T'Pring, the events of Amok Time, etc) while his consciousness rebuilds itself. This was always my personal canon for what happened between movies.
Wait… you’re telling me this comic I’ve never heard of has “Sorak” in it, and I just started playing Solasta which also has “Sorak” in it? OMG IM IN THE MATRIX
Yep. You and I could have some great conversations about a great number of topics. Your style of presentation closely matches my own. I love this. Star Trek V was supposed to continue the WOK story arch, but we all know how that turned out. With all due respect to Mr. Shatner, Star Trek V isn't as bad as I remember it. It's actually not a bad action-comedy set in a possible future. 'The probe' in STIV was very V'gery, but it was really interesting, and then they didn't do anything with it. The vessel was supposed to be commanded by a crew of aquatic life which can communicate with aquatic life on other planets. I know it's far-fetched. But they team-up with the Romulans in her book "Probe" written by Margaret Wander Bonanno. The probe leaves Earth after making contact with whales, and sets course for the next planet of 'intelligent' life, in The Beta Quadrant, on Romulus. Well done, Steve Shives. Coffee is on me next time you're in Denver.
I used to have Star Trek comics from Gold Key when I was a kid about a hundred years ago, of the original series, of course. I don't remember much about them, but for 8 year old me it was just like having new episodes in comic book form.
Love the fact that DC began their Star Trek comics with stories set between ST2 and ST 3... two films that fit together seamlessly with no gap between them. Gotta love a comic book that publishes stories that fit into gaps that don't exist.
They pretty much did. Halfway in is when Sulu left to take command of Excelsior. The comics and pocket books have enough adventures to cover a large part of this era. By VI they had either completed another five year mission and were back on earth for occasional assignments, or were doing the "ongoing" thing for the last six years. It's stated at the beginning of six that Spock had requested personal leave for a few months when he was negotiating with Gorkon.
I randomly ended up with a copy of debt of honor the graphic novel by dc that took place after IV. I liked how it explored kirks guilt over being an absent father and the loss of David. The nod to Dr. Gillian Taylor trying to find her way in the 22nd century was cool too. Only mirror universe stuff I liked was the tng novel by Diane Duane I felt it was a much more solid exploration of the theme.
I enjoyed the Star Trek DC comics as a kid. I particularly liked the Mirror Universe issues at the beginning of the series. I also remember a particularly touching story about a romance that lasted decades, involving the Federation's best engineer, Scotty.
Fantastic video Steve. I read a lot of those comics back in the day and got a kick out of clever way they reset the board to movie continuity. I also loved how the comics never caught up to Star Trek VI, except of course for the adaptation of "Ashes of Eden".
9:37 ahh yes, the conclusion of the "first" of the "New Frontier" type stories. Fans eventually got a novel *and* a Star Trek book series with that title, over the years. Nice commentary and review, thanks! ☺
Hi Steve, Kirk and Co had stayed on Vulcan to allow time for Spock following the refusion beween he and McCoy, his mind was a blank and "Bones" had all his marbles so Spock needed the time to get his entire memory and knowledge back
Thanks for this video! I own a couple of issues from the mid-80’s (the hilarious Grond vs. Ajir conflict). I had no context for them, so when I opened to the first page and saw the old faces on the Excelsior, I immediately thought “WHAT?!?!”
It's funny, when you were announcing the next topic, I couldn't figure out where you were talking about, despite having thought "Jeez, _again?_ " when you mentioned it during the main video!
I was not as big a fan of Robin Curtis as Saavik, and I can pinpoint exactly why. I read the novelization of The Search for Spock before I saw the film itself, and the novelization gave Saavik such a rich inner life, characterization, and then in the film, not only was Saavik portrayed by a new actor, but the character didn't act like the one from the novelization. The half-Vulcan half-Romulan conflict from the novelization was largely absent, as was the relationship between Saavik and David. I will admit to not having consumed either piece of media in a good twenty years, so it's possible if I rewatch with fresh eyes I'll enjoy it more. Does Saavik get any good character moments in the DC comics' run? I did enjoy the character greatly in Wrath of Khan, and would love to see more story for her. There's part of me that wonders how Star Trek VI would have played out if, rather than Kim Cattral's new Vulcan character being the traitor, it was Saavik instead.
It would have been dramatically fantastic if Saavik had been Valeris character like Nick Meyer had originally intended. Meyer was mighty pissed when Roddenberry went to the Paramount brass and forced the change.
I know it maybe doesn't matter, but I thought of a way to link the continuity error you mentioned about the charges of theft, destruction, etc. Let's say the Romulan situation blew up amongst some Romulan Government Officials and Certain Military leaders, so as a show of good faith, the Federation offered to play the whole incident down to the point that it never happened. Capt Stiles was happy to go along with keeping everything hushed up, as he now had the chance to keep his repeated getting embarrassed by Kirk from never getting out. Plus, basically, the Mirror Universe people's actions had stirred up tons of trouble, and the Federation didn't want that becoming public knowledge either, as could they be held accountable for actions of Star Fleet in another dimension? I mean, Star Trek ships and people go between dimensions and timelines as part of their daily routine, and they don't have immunity when they're there.
That would be my take as well. Events being covered up. Especially as Kirk's hearing at end of IV seems to be in public, Kirk facing the original charges of taking the Enterprise to rescue Spock etc. probably sound more palatable and cause less alarm to the public then Kirk breaking treaties to go into Romulan space (potentially starting a war etc.)
I remember in the very early 90s having to go on a family road trip for a reunion several states away. I was an only child & we were traveling with my grandparents, so I was expecting a long, boring ride. We first stopped at a truck stop & dad said I could grab a book or magazine. At about 12 yrs old, I had a love for Star Wars, but this was the "wilderness years" with very few merchandise available. I had a lesser interest in Trek, so I was kinda pleased to see some Trek comics on the shelf. The artwork was pretty good & the story took place in between ST:V & ST:VI. It had to do with another mission with Gary Seven & it read like an episode of the old series, but contemporary on the Enterprise-A (my fav!). It made the trip a lot less boring & I'm still appreciate of it.
I really like issue 34 from 1992 where Kirk enters a kind of fantasy land and finds that his son, David, is one of his officers, fighting the (pre-Star Trek VI) Klingons. It seems so much more 'Kirk' than what we saw in Star Trek Generations.
I never read a ton of the Star Trek comics, but I have very fond memories of Retrospect (DC Star Trek Annual 3). It tells a love story starring Scotty starting sometime after the events of Star Trek IV and jumping repeatedly backwards in time until it reaches a point prior to the original series. Great writing on that one.
The Mirror Universe Saga is one of my favorite Trek comics storylines. I read it in back issue form after getting issue #9 new. The trouble was, I had no idea how many parts the story was, so after tracking down each new issue of the story, I'd discover that it continued into yet ANOTHER new issue! (Eight issue storylines were practically unheard of in the 1980s.) I eventually got them all and was able to read the entire story, but it took me a while.
Yowza, Steve. This is fabulous. Thank you for keeping your finger squarely on the pulse of the comic-book threads, where introspection and talented actors playing compelling characters relegated to beta roles on the big screen can receive the spotlight in comic-book form. It's refreshing not only to learn that writers and artists were receiving paychecks between the big Hollywood splashes, but also to be reminded that one of your best videos featured your retelling of City on the Edge of Forever, comic-book style, which used a script closely honed to Harlan Ellison's original script. Until I saw your video, I had no idea why Harlan's reaction to Gene Roddenberry's take on his story left him feeling so bitter; but after seeing your video, the answer became self-evident. Thank you for breathing narrative and life into these hidden gems, Steve. You've done stellar work here. ~ Peter Ferber ⚘
I wasn't reading the comics at the time, but, its really cool to hear these reviews and admire the creative world building and timeline reconciliation skills of those old pulp daddy's.
Kirk and co has spent three months redesigning and refitting there stolen bird of prey. Remember the bridge and the rest the ship change completely between Star Trek 3 and 4
Nice video! But I'm more interested in what happened between TMP and II; Do we know how much time there was between them and why the drastic uniform change? And where does Saavik fit in, exactly WHEN did Spock adopt her, during the original five-year mission, afterwards? How did she fit into his attempt to attain kolinar? Etc...
Why uniform change? In our universe, the cast and fans mostly didn't like the TMP uniforms. In continuity? I'm not sure if something was ever offered as a reason. Timeline between first two movies and where the uniform change fit in? I'm sure there is a canonical timeline somewhere (or very close to canon). Rough numbers... TMP was set 2.5 years or so after end of the first five year mission. Proceeding from TMP, Kirk & company complete their second five-year mission together, Kirk returns to desk job (but more with Academy, not Operations), Chekov gets a promotion and new assignment on Reliant, Enterprise gets assigned to training duty with Spock in command. Figure at least two or three years for Kirk to start chafing at the desk job again before the start of WoK. Other reference point - in WoK, Khan says it had been 15 years (since the events of Space Seed, which was sometime in the first half of the first five-year mission). There's wiggle room, but all of those references can coexist. Uniforms between movies... I would say no later than the end of the second five-year mission. Non-canon, several of the licensed novels from that period had the cast wearing the later uniform, so it could be as soon as a year after TMP. Another data point might be Captain Bateson and the crew of the Bozeman in TNG - they wear the WoK uniforms. He mentions a specific calendar year - it might be interesting to compare that with the 2270s date of TMP and the late 2270s/early 2280s period of WoK (along with the reference in that episode to how long the Soyuz-class chips had been out of service and the established calendar years of TNG). Saavik... I forget what official timelines might say. I would think Spock found her sometime in the middle or second half of the first five-year mission (after it was established that Romulans were related to Vulcans). Certainly no later than the end of the first five-year mission (or immediately after) because I think it is canon that Spock resigned his commission when Kirk took the first promotion and he began his studies for Kolinahr within a few months or a year. At that point, it's much less likely that he was participating in search/rescue missions on border worlds. I don't know if he literally adopted her or if it was more of a sponsor/ward sort of thing. If she was around the equivalent of ten or twelve years old then, that would fit with her being an Academy grad and a command-school cadet by the beginning of WoK (10-12 years later. I don't know how she fit into his Kolinahr studies. I'm not even sure if she was living with him, or him and his parents, or just at boarding school somewhere. Some of the novels suggest Spock was living with his parents in the early portion of the Kohlinahr studies, and had to take his leave of them to pursue final stages.
I still live for the possibility I can enter the dimension where Kirstie Allie took the job on VI that was turned into Lt. Valeris. Kim Cattrall did amazing, but the emotional resonance of Saavik being the traitor to the Federation and more so to Spock would’ve been E P I C. And idky but that last part “our heroes, can live forever” really got me misty, true feels on that one.
I once found the Dante's Inferno issue (or one of them I forget) like a day or two before Randy Milholland referenced it in Something Positive. I remember the comics fondly.
And we THANK her for teaching you, Steve! 'Heard from your daughter lately?' That's 15 yards for clipping. And loss-of-down. And, in all seriousness - all I want for my next birthday is Scotty's rad armor.
I just saw this and was great. You didn't mention in the 2nd Star Trek run of DC #35, started the arc where Capt. Sulu was promoted and gained command of the Excelsior. Putting the timeline of #35 several years before ST: VI.
I have to admire the ingenuity of the comic writers who had to radically change course and managed to almost perfectly realign the ongoing comic storyline to fit with Star Trek IV. I found some of the old comics from this era showing the adventures with the mirror universe crew. Sadly I never got to see the end of that storyline. Good to know where they went with it.
I have to say, I found this very interesting, and I wasn't aware of the comic, or these events, so to learn about it, after all these years, was great! I often wondered whatever happened to Dr. Marcus, and Regula; what she went on to do without her project, or her son? Kirk didn't really hook up with the lady whale biologist from IV, longterm, bit he didn't seem to be with Carol, either. It did seem weird he wad put in charge of the Excelsior, but was still an Admiral. Some interesting events!
My spirit has been rejuvenated hearing that Diane Duane, my FAVOURITE Trek author of my FAVOURITE Trek books ever (My Enemy, My Ally and the rest of the Rihannsu books) wrote for the comics 😍 Gonna have to read them now. Also sidenote: everyone ever should read My Enemy, My Ally seriously
This seems like as good a place as any to bring this up, but am I the only one who thinks that Robin Curtis' Saavik is hugely underrated? Unlike TWOK (where she's mostly there to roll her eyes at the wacky humans), TSFS gives her a lot more to do, and Curtis handles some potentially tricky moments really well; the pon farr scene could have been totally laughable, but she makes it work. She deserves far better than to be dismissed as Not Kirstie Alley.
She was the superior Saavik, no doubt. Alley had a better eyebrow game, but that was about it. Curtis gave the character some depth.
it's just that Kirstie Alley would have done STIII so much better.
Agreed. That's why I don't understand why Nick Meyer didn't like Curtis and refused to bring her back as Saavik for STVI when they couldn't get Alley. Valeris was clearly meant to be Saavik originally and her story would've packed far more punch that way
@@richardjohnson9543 wasn't that because Roddenberry objected? I remember hearing Nick say he was annoyed that he couldn't do what he wanted with a character he created.
Kirstie Alley had star power (especially for later viewers familiar with her work on Cheers) but I agree, Robin Curtis put in a better performance and where my biases are concerned is not (to my knowledge) a Scientologist so points all around for her.
When my kids saw the Triforce symbols on Spock's robes when they saw Star Trek III for the first time, they came to the immediate conclusion that Vulcan is Hyrule in the future. Thus the pointed ears, the symbols, everything. Spock might even be a current incarnation of Link.
but then who's Zelda?
@@Ugly_German_Truths Kirk, obviously!
I'm very tempted to write that fic now. Sadly I know jack shit about Zelda.@@Jay0hAych
@carolinemcgovern4488 if you know the gist of Zelda there’s not really any real lore to follow. People try to put it into a timeline so that each game goes into the next but honestly don’t fret, just have fun
@@iceblaster1252 Ah thank fuck for that.
Star Trek's first DC run in the 80s holds a special place in my heart. I always admired the way they filled in the gaps between II, III, and IV but then had to sort of undo their plot lines to get everyone and everything in place for the next movie
"The adventure never has to end!" -- The most Star Trek think Steve ever uttered.
The Romulan commander as played by Bugs Bunny. "Of course you realize, this means WAR!"
You’re dessssspicable” Daffy Duck.
As big a Trek nerd as I am, this is a question that has never actually occurred to me.
I kind of just assumed they were in some sort of legal limbo for a while. Perhaps as a founding member of the Federation, Vulcan has some sort of special status or whatever that makes it more difficult to just hand over Kirk and his crew.
It’s a shame that “Star Trek Continues” had to halt their productions. I was looking forward to seeing their adventures evolve into the style, and aesthetics of the films. 🖖🤓
Star Trek Continues was absolutely brilliant 👍
Yeah, Star Trek Continues has a BRILLIANT episode that reveals more story from the mirrored universe!❤️ Too bad the actor for Captain Kirk, years later, without looking up the details to recall completely, got into some kind of trouble in real life!😐
Vic’s Kirk is amazingly good. Doesn’t have to rely on a cheesy shatner impression to do it.
Star truck continues comes to a halt. That's hilarious. I guess it didn't continue.
Grant Imahara was great in that. Damn, he's missed.
People always seem to forget the comics. Almost every franchise has them, and they're usually packed with good to great stories about our favorite characters and more adventures than we know what to do with but so many fans just skip out on them for some reason
Probably because most people would rather watch the story than read the story. To that end I would put it that comics are the most inclusive readable movies ever and people are missing out on these stories!
Tie-in media like books and comics are often non-canon or disposable canon that the showrunners can freely ignore. This sets the expectation for some fans that it doesn't really matter what happens to favorite characters in a tie-in medium because it will never inform their story in any lasting way. People forget tie-in comics because they are often designed to provide short-term entertainment over impactful long-term additions to the lore.
Most of the adventures described in this video were goofy as hell, even for Star Trek adventures. 😂
*cough cough* transformers *cough cough*
It’s a real problem just look at alien and predator comics.
Captain Jesus, lead character of the hit novel The Bible 2 - This Time It's Biblical.
I do like that Jesus is still always portrayed as looking like the same young Italian guy that Da Vinci was doinking when he made all those paintings.
The comics had some fantastic arcs. The Trial of James T Kirk was great, not to mention when the crew had to escape Dante's Inferno.
I enjoyed those comics very much. Also, after The Undiscovered Country, these comics went on for a few more years telling stories set BEFORE that movie. Then one day they decided to go on telling stories set at the TOS time. I didn't like that. I felt Star Trek had evolved beyond that. Even today, when I think of Kirk and Spock, I see them in their monster maroon uniforms.
And there have been a few comic books covering Star Trek : The Original Series, or varying iterations of varying quality.
I'm impressed that they were able to make the stories match up without using time travel or erasing all the previous issues from history.
First time watcher. The writing and delivery in this video is top tier. Wow.
Most important Trek, Actually entry yet. Star Trek III is close to my heart.
I am so glad I stumbled into your youtube video on these classic Star Trek issues. As a kid I really loved these issues because they were able to give depth to these legendary characters in a way that the original series was unable to accomplish. After Lein, left the series Peter David would become the primary writer and I absolutely loved his era with the comic. In the late 90s, Mr. David also wrote Star Trek novels and I was actually able to invite him to the bookstore I managed at the time and converse with both him and Robert Greenberger the editor of the book at the time. Man, they loved doing those books as much as we loved reading them. And as a bonus they actually signed all my comics that I had over that time period even though they were there to promote their novels.
Well that was fun.
And even though the comics you spoke of did do a fun job of “maintaining continuity” in a convoluted manner, they can also be an example of the fun you can have by ignoring continuity and telling your own story.
I really appreciate how you make your videos accessible to those who only have a casual familiarity with Trek. I've seen most of TNG and Voyager (it was current when I was a kid), Piccard season 1, about half the movies, and a smattering of episodes of the other shows and I know more than is needed to enjoy your videos.
Highly recommend finishing TNG, the ending is phenomenal!
Also Deep Space Nine is amazing especially if you see a lot of TNG before it
Picard season 2 is well worth watching, and I’m on pins and needles for S3 of Lower Decks to drop this weekend. I enjoy that so much more than I expected to.
By the way speaking of Trek cartoons, the old Star Trek: The Animated Series from the… late 70s? Early 80s? Is often forgotten but well worth checking out. And fun fact? That was actually where the concept of starships having a Holodeck was first introduced!
I admire how some of the artists made no attempt to make the ship interiors, control consoles, etc. look anything like they did onscreen. Also, I know that at this point we’d seen no Romulans outside of those two episodes of TOS, but wow … the 1930s Buck Rogers yellow peril aesthetic here is really something else.
My nephews love it when I pick them up and yell "Give... me... Genesis!!!"
I remember being obsessed by this particular run of issues for the reasons you mentioned, namely how they managed to adapt to a film that completely upended the status quo in a way that allowed them to get back to telling the stories they wanted to tell (and the readers wanted to read), and then reset everything back to the ending of the film without discarding any stories they'd told along the way. With the exception of the minor cheat you mentioned in the trial dialogue, I thought that it was a masterful solution, and worked well within the spirit of the franchise.
Never seen a Star Trek comic and frankly, I’m intrigued by the art alone
I've read a lot of Star Trek comics. If you're looking to jump in, I recommend anything written by Peter David in the 80's or 90's and anything written by Scott & Dave Tipton in the modern IDW era. Have fun!
I'm always interested in the Enterprise-A era (canonically, the period between movies 5 and 6), not unlike the Enterprise-E era outside the movies. Would love to see a deep dive into that.
The Trek comics after ST3 were my introduction to a monthly comic series I could get into. They had great adventures. Some of the highlights included: a ST annual issue that focused on the transition between Pike and Kirk, a second annual that dealt with the end of the five year mission, unique Surak crew members, and the Ajir and Grind fighting to the death! (nudge nudge, wink wink). Sulu also got to fight in a giant robot once. Then there were the original characters of Lt Bryce, Bearclaw and a Klingon named Konom. The stories the comic dealt with were some of the best out there IMHO. There was even a "Who's Who in Star Trek" set of special issues which acted as a Trek Encyclopedia years before the Okudas did theirs for Pocket Books. Great stuff!
I loved ST III when it came out and it's always been one of my favs! "I.... have had... enough of... YOU!"
I could never get into the comics when I was younger but your narration and presentation made them seem so exciting. I would love to see more of this.
Those action adventures between Star Trek 3 and 4 reminds me of a few series of 4 novels about the action adventures between TOS and The Motion Picture. These were 'The Lost Years' by J.M. Dillard, 'A Flag Full of Stars' by Brad Ferguson, 'Traitor Winds' by L.A. Graf, and then 'Recovery' by J.M. Dillard. (I've just read the first one.)
I hope you will include "Dark Mirror" by Diane Duane in your perspective of the mirror universe. Having not seen TOS before TNG as a kid, that was my first introduction to it. I think it definitely holds up. AND, your favorite TNG character gets to play a bigger part in it 😀
Yeah, that was the First Trek book I got, and it's still my favourite
I loved Dark Mirror so much. Even though I'd already seen the original episode, and had caught a couple of the issues he'd mentioned above, that was the beginning of my obsession with the concept.
That?! I read it recently and it seemed as if Duane had never seen TNG--or she didn't like it much. Data had barely a role; Crusher was non-existent and a brunette (what, how?); and there was some weird premise about telepathic porpoises. The few interesting things were evil-Troi and altered Shakespeare.
That was definitely a classic star trek novel. The mirror universe in that novel was indeed very dark. I think I might've fit in nicely or die early for some snarky remarks. " is old shiny still taking his afternoon nap?" "References to my head withstanding, i stop needing naps in kindergarten and you Mr. La Forge are just asking for trouble!" Classic absolutely classic!!!
@@RideAcrossTheRiver yeah the dolphin bit was a stretch a long taffy like stretch indeed. This is why the enterprise official has subaquactic(?) quarters and other areas of ship filled with water. What the fk? Really! I mean, come on Really SMH...... I don't recall data being in the mirror universe and of course crusher was the captains woman (ugh). Got to admit wesley in the agony booth would've been. Hoot to see and Troi was absolute beast. Tho no change in Riker, he was just as slimy and useless in the mirror universe as he was in the normal universe.......
The mirror universe was an interesting idea in the original series, and it was a nice nod to the original series to revisit it in Deep Space 9, but I am sick of seeing it featured in every new Star Trek. Discovery was particularly bad for this in that they built such a convoluted plot around it, including a redemption arc for a mass murdering dictator from the mirror universe. Redemption arcs are tedious at the best of times, but for mass murdering dictators they are absurd. Also, the mirror universe seems to be the bad makeup universe.
Thanks for this. I never got a chance to read this story and this helps fill in the blanks. As usual you did a great job summarizing this story.
Spock was busy studying the whole time to determine the answer of "how do you feel". Gets him every time.
One of my favorite Star Trek moments is when Kirk and crew had to steal the Enterprise James Horner's music and just the effects alone was one of my favorite moments. And of course the destruction of the Enterprise was shocking and awesome at the same time. Love your content you just got to subscriber out of me
I loved those two runs of Star Trek. It gave me ST when there was nothing new for years. So great.
Thanks for this. These were my only connection to Trek back in the 80's. No internet, only the comic shop or Waldon's Books keep me in the know for Star Trek. Funny that just two weeks before this presentation, I found all the back issues I missed for this run at a comics shop for a buck a piece. Quick piece of info, Harve Bennette wanted the crew to get the Excelsior after ST:IV not the Enterprise-A. But Gene Roddenberry said no.
Great video. I was surprised by how nostalgic I got seeing some of the comic panels I hadn't seen in years, especially from the Star Trek VI adaptation (which I read before seeing the film in 1991).
Only a very few months before she died, I watched Star Trek III with my late mother for the first time in about 20 years. I believe she had only previously seen it once, on a black and white TV with poor reception, so this was the first time she was *really* seeing it, and she *loved* it. After the movie I mentioned that "Voyage Home" was a direct sequel to "Search for Spock", and that the ending flowed directly into that movie. Unlike "Search for Spock", she had seen "Voyage Home" many times and it was always her favorite Trek movie, so she was pleased to be reminded of this. However, although I hadn't read most of the comics featured in this video, I then qualified my statement about III leading into IV by sketching out what I knew about the comics. My mother seemed very displeased and unhappy about this, and I felt guilty about wasting her time talking about it (since she was, after all, terminally ill).
Then Mom said something I've never forgotten: "Only the TV shows and movies count, not the comic books." And she said this categorically enough that it was clear she was talking about, not only Star Trek, but any fiction franchise in which TV shows and/or movies are the primary component (e.g., "Doctor Who"). Therefore, I asked, "Does that mean that for characters like Superman and Spider-Man, who were created for comic books, that only the comic books count?" And with the same certainty as her previous comment, she said, "Yes."
The MCU already existed then (in 2012), but Mom never saw any of it. As much as I've enjoyed what little of the MCU I've seen (and as much as Mom respected RDJ as an actor), it's fascinating to realize that Mom wouldn't have regarded it as being "as real" as the Marvel comic books. Similarly, Mom would be unfazed by the dumpster fire the DCEU has become -- and as for "Riverdale", the less said the better...
Thanks for that review. I haven't read those ST comics since they came out so have forgotten all that stuff. Also remember in the movieverse there were many years between ST V and ST VI. Lots of room for comic stories.
I really loved those Star Trek comics as a kid. Growing up I was the only person I knew who read them.
4:59 I'm immediately reminded of Star Trek: TNG's "Family"... one of the best and, in a way, most radical episodes of the series because that kind of thing appeared so rarely.
I was going to wonder what happened to Mirror Spock's revolution that was implied at the end of "Mirror, Mirror", but I guess in these stories we kind of get the beginning of it.
Loved this Steve, I have read and own all of those original comics, and for me this was a great stroll down memory lane. You have a subscriber sir.
I love the Kirk et al on the Excelsior comics. Such a neat alt- reality example. I hadn’t realized they did that course correction to line up with the movies.
Currently reading Legacies (pre-flashpoint DC thingie) and missing Len Wein's as a writer. And Mike W. Barr never disappoints, tbf.
Barr is an incredibly underrated writer. He wrote a lot of Batman stuff in the '80s and '90s that I have loved since I was a teenager.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I still own the entire run of both DC's Star Trek series. Pardon me while I pop open my comic book boxes and sit on the floor, visiting some old friends.
One other cool thing about that run was none other than George Perez doing the first few covers!
“visiting some old friends” is exactly what I tell people when they ask how I can possibly like TMP and TFF.
In the early 90s there was an anthology Trek comic called "Star Trek Special." The first issue has a story called "The Needs of the One," by Michael Collins. It follows the crew on Vulcan, as well as Spock coming back to himself and reliving parts of his past (his pet sehlat, his experiences with T'Pring, the events of Amok Time, etc) while his consciousness rebuilds itself. This was always my personal canon for what happened between movies.
Excellent narration by Steve "Waylon" Shives, there at 17:17 😄
Im waiting for a "A stitch in time" video from you. I really liked the book and i think Andrew Robinson captures Garak so well in it.
Wait… you’re telling me this comic I’ve never heard of has “Sorak” in it, and I just started playing Solasta which also has “Sorak” in it? OMG IM IN THE MATRIX
Yep. You and I could have some great conversations about a great number of topics. Your style of presentation closely matches my own. I love this. Star Trek V was supposed to continue the WOK story arch, but we all know how that turned out. With all due respect to Mr. Shatner, Star Trek V isn't as bad as I remember it. It's actually not a bad action-comedy set in a possible future. 'The probe' in STIV was very V'gery, but it was really interesting, and then they didn't do anything with it. The vessel was supposed to be commanded by a crew of aquatic life which can communicate with aquatic life on other planets. I know it's far-fetched. But they team-up with the Romulans in her book "Probe" written by Margaret Wander Bonanno. The probe leaves Earth after making contact with whales, and sets course for the next planet of 'intelligent' life, in The Beta Quadrant, on Romulus. Well done, Steve Shives. Coffee is on me next time you're in Denver.
Steve… you consistently crack me the hell up. You’re the close friend I have never met.
I used to have Star Trek comics from Gold Key when I was a kid about a hundred years ago, of the original series, of course. I don't remember much about them, but for 8 year old me it was just like having new episodes in comic book form.
Man, the Gold Key comics were pretty good classic 1960s-1970s science fiction, but Star Trek? Often not a great fit.
Star Trek 3 very much opened up the universe. I loved the new ships and new looks
Love the fact that DC began their Star Trek comics with stories set between ST2 and ST 3... two films that fit together seamlessly with no gap between them. Gotta love a comic book that publishes stories that fit into gaps that don't exist.
Apparently there’s a six year gap in-universe between Final Frontier and Undiscovered Country. Plenty of time for a whole other Five Year Mission.
They pretty much did. Halfway in is when Sulu left to take command of Excelsior. The comics and pocket books have enough adventures to cover a large part of this era. By VI they had either completed another five year mission and were back on earth for occasional assignments, or were doing the "ongoing" thing for the last six years. It's stated at the beginning of six that Spock had requested personal leave for a few months when he was negotiating with Gorkon.
I fondly remember the New Frontiers story line.
I randomly ended up with a copy of debt of honor the graphic novel by dc that took place after IV. I liked how it explored kirks guilt over being an absent father and the loss of David. The nod to Dr. Gillian Taylor trying to find her way in the 22nd century was cool too.
Only mirror universe stuff I liked was the tng novel by Diane Duane I felt it was a much more solid exploration of the theme.
I enjoyed the Star Trek DC comics as a kid. I particularly liked the Mirror Universe issues at the beginning of the series. I also remember a particularly touching story about a romance that lasted decades, involving the Federation's best engineer, Scotty.
IDW's "Star Trek Year Five" (2019) is pretty good for a Star Trek comic. Recommended if you're looking to try one out.
Fantastic video Steve. I read a lot of those comics back in the day and got a kick out of clever way they reset the board to movie continuity. I also loved how the comics never caught up to Star Trek VI, except of course for the adaptation of "Ashes of Eden".
3:58 you blew it by not using Jeffrey Hunter.
9:37 ahh yes, the conclusion of the "first" of the "New Frontier" type stories. Fans eventually got a novel *and* a Star Trek book series with that title, over the years.
Nice commentary and review, thanks!
☺
17:21 talking about crazy "ol Jim Kirk plans" Star Trek V has what you need.
lol 😉
I love your articulation of the medium between comics and reality. Bravo!
Hi Steve, Kirk and Co had stayed on Vulcan to allow time for Spock following the refusion beween he and McCoy, his mind was a blank and "Bones" had all his marbles so Spock needed the time to get his entire memory and knowledge back
You are a great storyteller! I enjoyed listening to your synopsis :)
You really can't appreciate "Point Break" until you hear it in the original Romulan.
Really great content. I love your posts. I didn't even know about the comics, Thanks. Peace.
Thanks for this video! I own a couple of issues from the mid-80’s (the hilarious Grond vs. Ajir conflict). I had no context for them, so when I opened to the first page and saw the old faces on the Excelsior, I immediately thought “WHAT?!?!”
It's funny, when you were announcing the next topic, I couldn't figure out where you were talking about, despite having thought "Jeez, _again?_ " when you mentioned it during the main video!
Steve - Star Trek is not Right for Comics, Star Trek was the Space Wagontrain to the Stars.
I was not as big a fan of Robin Curtis as Saavik, and I can pinpoint exactly why. I read the novelization of The Search for Spock before I saw the film itself, and the novelization gave Saavik such a rich inner life, characterization, and then in the film, not only was Saavik portrayed by a new actor, but the character didn't act like the one from the novelization. The half-Vulcan half-Romulan conflict from the novelization was largely absent, as was the relationship between Saavik and David. I will admit to not having consumed either piece of media in a good twenty years, so it's possible if I rewatch with fresh eyes I'll enjoy it more. Does Saavik get any good character moments in the DC comics' run? I did enjoy the character greatly in Wrath of Khan, and would love to see more story for her. There's part of me that wonders how Star Trek VI would have played out if, rather than Kim Cattral's new Vulcan character being the traitor, it was Saavik instead.
It would have been dramatically fantastic if Saavik had been Valeris character like Nick Meyer had originally intended. Meyer was mighty pissed when Roddenberry went to the Paramount brass and forced the change.
Impressive! Give that Star Trek D.C. Comics writer/editor who resolved the `inconsistencies' a Pulitzer !!
I know it maybe doesn't matter, but I thought of a way to link the continuity error you mentioned about the charges of theft, destruction, etc. Let's say the Romulan situation blew up amongst some Romulan Government Officials and Certain Military leaders, so as a show of good faith, the Federation offered to play the whole incident down to the point that it never happened. Capt Stiles was happy to go along with keeping everything hushed up, as he now had the chance to keep his repeated getting embarrassed by Kirk from never getting out. Plus, basically, the Mirror Universe people's actions had stirred up tons of trouble, and the Federation didn't want that becoming public knowledge either, as could they be held accountable for actions of Star Fleet in another dimension? I mean, Star Trek ships and people go between dimensions and timelines as part of their daily routine, and they don't have immunity when they're there.
That would be my take as well. Events being covered up.
Especially as Kirk's hearing at end of IV seems to be in public, Kirk facing the original charges of taking the Enterprise to rescue Spock etc. probably sound more palatable and cause less alarm to the public then Kirk breaking treaties to go into Romulan space (potentially starting a war etc.)
I remember in the very early 90s having to go on a family road trip for a reunion several states away. I was an only child & we were traveling with my grandparents, so I was expecting a long, boring ride. We first stopped at a truck stop & dad said I could grab a book or magazine. At about 12 yrs old, I had a love for Star Wars, but this was the "wilderness years" with very few merchandise available. I had a lesser interest in Trek, so I was kinda pleased to see some Trek comics on the shelf. The artwork was pretty good & the story took place in between ST:V & ST:VI. It had to do with another mission with Gary Seven & it read like an episode of the old series, but contemporary on the Enterprise-A (my fav!). It made the trip a lot less boring & I'm still appreciate of it.
Your kindergarten teacher sounds a lot like mine before her morning mug of "wake-up juice".
Thank you so much - I grew up with these comics in between the movies and LOVED them. They were my fix in between films.
As Mr. Raised Eyebrow himself would say, "Fascinating." Len Wien ingenuity is needed now more than ever before.
Fantastic ending of the video, made me sad that the stories have to end but made me realized that maybe they never have to.
Yes I read the D. C. comics they were pretty good actually. It was the crew's adventure on the excelsior.
I really like issue 34 from 1992 where Kirk enters a kind of fantasy land and finds that his son, David, is one of his officers, fighting the (pre-Star Trek VI) Klingons. It seems so much more 'Kirk' than what we saw in Star Trek Generations.
I Loved Star Trek 3:The Search For Spock 🖖! 1984 Was a Year For Films During My High School Years 🤙💯🇨🇦!
I never read a ton of the Star Trek comics, but I have very fond memories of Retrospect (DC Star Trek Annual 3). It tells a love story starring Scotty starting sometime after the events of Star Trek IV and jumping repeatedly backwards in time until it reaches a point prior to the original series. Great writing on that one.
I think Peter David wrote that issue in the style of Harold Pinter...
I absolutely adored this video, I would love to see you summarise some more star trek comics 🔥✨
🔔 THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH STAR TREK III WAS THE HORRID ACTING OF ROBIN CURTIS. KIRSTIE ALLEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN LET GO.
The Mirror Universe Saga is one of my favorite Trek comics storylines. I read it in back issue form after getting issue #9 new. The trouble was, I had no idea how many parts the story was, so after tracking down each new issue of the story, I'd discover that it continued into yet ANOTHER new issue! (Eight issue storylines were practically unheard of in the 1980s.) I eventually got them all and was able to read the entire story, but it took me a while.
I'm very jealous of his DS9. But I want a DS9 model so big it can have a Galaxy-Class dock at the spires.
How big does the Galaxy-Class have to be?
Yowza, Steve. This is fabulous. Thank you for keeping your finger squarely on the pulse of the comic-book threads, where introspection and talented actors playing compelling characters relegated to beta roles on the big screen can receive the spotlight in comic-book form. It's refreshing not only to learn that writers and artists were receiving paychecks between the big Hollywood splashes, but also to be reminded that one of your best videos featured your retelling of City on the Edge of Forever, comic-book style, which used a script closely honed to Harlan Ellison's original script. Until I saw your video, I had no idea why Harlan's reaction to Gene Roddenberry's take on his story left him feeling so bitter; but after seeing your video, the answer became self-evident.
Thank you for breathing narrative and life into these hidden gems, Steve. You've done stellar work here.
~ Peter Ferber
⚘
As a collector of Trek comics, I really enjoyed this entry. Made me want to pull out DCs Star Trek First Monthly Series and give these a reread.
I had your t-shirt as a poster, several decades ago. Great vid!
I mean it probably took them three months to replace the Klingon bird of prey bridge alone
I wasn't reading the comics at the time, but, its really cool to hear these reviews and admire the creative world building and timeline reconciliation skills of those old pulp daddy's.
These comics were my first real encounter with the mirror universe and I love the concept all the more because of it.
I love that the Romulan ship is a Z-1 Nova from the FASA Romulan Ship Recognition Manual. FASA Star Trek RPG for the win!
Kirk and co has spent three months redesigning and refitting there stolen bird of prey. Remember the bridge and the rest the ship change completely between Star Trek 3 and 4
Nice video! But I'm more interested in what happened between TMP and II; Do we know how much time there was between them and why the drastic uniform change? And where does Saavik fit in, exactly WHEN did Spock adopt her, during the original five-year mission, afterwards? How did she fit into his attempt to attain kolinar? Etc...
Why uniform change? In our universe, the cast and fans mostly didn't like the TMP uniforms. In continuity? I'm not sure if something was ever offered as a reason.
Timeline between first two movies and where the uniform change fit in? I'm sure there is a canonical timeline somewhere (or very close to canon).
Rough numbers... TMP was set 2.5 years or so after end of the first five year mission. Proceeding from TMP, Kirk & company complete their second five-year mission together, Kirk returns to desk job (but more with Academy, not Operations), Chekov gets a promotion and new assignment on Reliant, Enterprise gets assigned to training duty with Spock in command. Figure at least two or three years for Kirk to start chafing at the desk job again before the start of WoK. Other reference point - in WoK, Khan says it had been 15 years (since the events of Space Seed, which was sometime in the first half of the first five-year mission). There's wiggle room, but all of those references can coexist.
Uniforms between movies...
I would say no later than the end of the second five-year mission. Non-canon, several of the licensed novels from that period had the cast wearing the later uniform, so it could be as soon as a year after TMP. Another data point might be Captain Bateson and the crew of the Bozeman in TNG - they wear the WoK uniforms. He mentions a specific calendar year - it might be interesting to compare that with the 2270s date of TMP and the late 2270s/early 2280s period of WoK (along with the reference in that episode to how long the Soyuz-class chips had been out of service and the established calendar years of TNG).
Saavik...
I forget what official timelines might say. I would think Spock found her sometime in the middle or second half of the first five-year mission (after it was established that Romulans were related to Vulcans). Certainly no later than the end of the first five-year mission (or immediately after) because I think it is canon that Spock resigned his commission when Kirk took the first promotion and he began his studies for Kolinahr within a few months or a year. At that point, it's much less likely that he was participating in search/rescue missions on border worlds. I don't know if he literally adopted her or if it was more of a sponsor/ward sort of thing. If she was around the equivalent of ten or twelve years old then, that would fit with her being an Academy grad and a command-school cadet by the beginning of WoK (10-12 years later.
I don't know how she fit into his Kolinahr studies. I'm not even sure if she was living with him, or him and his parents, or just at boarding school somewhere. Some of the novels suggest Spock was living with his parents in the early portion of the Kohlinahr studies, and had to take his leave of them to pursue final stages.
Ah, the Mirror Universe. I thought you were going to be talking about Riza, the Sandals of the Federation.
I still live for the possibility I can enter the dimension where Kirstie Allie took the job on VI that was turned into Lt. Valeris. Kim Cattrall did amazing, but the emotional resonance of Saavik being the traitor to the Federation and more so to Spock would’ve been E P I C.
And idky but that last part “our heroes, can live forever” really got me misty, true feels on that one.
I once found the Dante's Inferno issue (or one of them I forget) like a day or two before Randy Milholland referenced it in Something Positive.
I remember the comics fondly.
And we THANK her for teaching you, Steve!
'Heard from your daughter lately?' That's 15 yards for clipping. And loss-of-down.
And, in all seriousness - all I want for my next birthday is Scotty's rad armor.
I just saw this and was great. You didn't mention in the 2nd Star Trek run of DC #35, started the arc where Capt. Sulu was promoted and gained command of the Excelsior. Putting the timeline of #35 several years before ST: VI.
What?! Feels from a Steve Shives video. Great stuff.
I have to admire the ingenuity of the comic writers who had to radically change course and managed to almost perfectly realign the ongoing comic storyline to fit with Star Trek IV.
I found some of the old comics from this era showing the adventures with the mirror universe crew. Sadly I never got to see the end of that storyline. Good to know where they went with it.
I have to say, I found this very interesting, and I wasn't aware of the comic, or these events, so to learn about it, after all these years, was great! I often wondered whatever happened to Dr. Marcus, and Regula; what she went on to do without her project, or her son? Kirk didn't really hook up with the lady whale biologist from IV, longterm, bit he didn't seem to be with Carol, either. It did seem weird he wad put in charge of the Excelsior, but was still an Admiral. Some interesting events!
My spirit has been rejuvenated hearing that Diane Duane, my FAVOURITE Trek author of my FAVOURITE Trek books ever (My Enemy, My Ally and the rest of the Rihannsu books) wrote for the comics 😍 Gonna have to read them now. Also sidenote: everyone ever should read My Enemy, My Ally seriously
You just reminded me of my FIRST Classic Trek 📕Novel!
To paraphrase the great Mr. Leslie T. Hope, thanks for the memory.
🖖