Sequart puts Star Trek comics under scrutiny in new book

 New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics

 

The Sequart Organization has just announced the release of New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, edited by Joseph F. Berenato, which includes coverage of the Star Trek comics originated in the UK.

The creation of visionary futurist Gene Roddenberry, the Star Trek TV series, with its progressive stance on civil rights, explored not only strange new worlds in the final frontier of space, but also the human condition, revealing the heights to which humans could soar, while exposing the ugliness of racism, sexism, and war. Although cancelled after only three seasons, Star Trek soon returned in syndication, spawning a cult phenomenon that has since expanded to include four follow-up TV series, an animated cartoon, a dozen movies (and counting), and a staggering number of ancillary novels, short stories, and comic books. Once deemed a network failure, Star Trek survived to become one of the most influential franchises of all time.

 

Gorgeous work for an episode of the British Star Trek comic by Mike Noble... but why is Kirk in an infamous red shirt? Star Trek © CBS

Gorgeous work for an episode of the British Star Trek comic by Mike Noble… but why is Kirk in an infamous red shirt? Star Trek © CBS

 

Licensed Star Trek fiction has played no small part in that success and spin-off comics have enjoyed almost continuous publication since 1967, spanning more than a thousand issues and storylines to date, from Gold Key / Western, City Magazines / IPC, Marvel Comics, Power Records, the L.A. Times Syndicate, DC Comics, Malibu Graphics, WildStorm Productions, Tokypop, IDW Publishing, and Wired Magazine. Quality has varied, from hilariously off the mark (Gold Key’s efforts and the early weekly British strips, which can be put down to the creators, who included artist Mike Noble, lacking adequate reference material); to wonderfully reverential (DC’s longstanding titles and IDW’s current run). But from one era to the next, the illustrated voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise have continued Star Trek‘s ongoing mission as a “Wagon Train to the Stars”.

New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics examines the long history of Star Trek in the four-colour realm, featuring insightful essays from popular Star Trek comic scribes and novelists, as well as other experts.

After almost 50 years, the human adventure is still just beginning — find out why Star Trek comics have not only lived long, but prospered.

By age three, the book’s editor Joseph F. Berenato began a life-long love affair with comic books, monster movies, and science fiction. Hailing from Hammonton, NJ, Joe obtained a B.A. in English and spent four years as the entertainment editor of The Hammonton Gazette before returning to his roots at his family’s blueberry farm. Joe was a contributor to Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays on Why the 1960s Batman TV Series Matters, and is currently hard at work authoring or co-authoring two reference guides for Hasslein Books: It’s Alive: The Unauthorized Universal Monsters Encyclopedia (with Jim and Becky Beard) and Something Strange: The Complete Unauthorized Ghostbusters Encyclopedia. A graduate student at Rowan University, Joe will earn an M.A. in writing in 2015. In what little spare time he has left, Joe serves as an administrator, art director, and content contributor at AtomicWanderers.com.

New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics features a foreword by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning auhtor David Gerrold (who wrote the Star Trek episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”) and a cover by Patricio Carbajal. It runs 304 pages and is available in print and on Kindle.

The Sequart Organization is devoted to the study of popular culture and the promotion of comic books as a legitimate artform. They have released twenty books, five films, and thousands of online articles. Its documentaries include The Image Revolution, and its books include Grant Morrison: The Early Years. In 2015, Sequart will release the documentary She Makes Comics (about the history of women in the comics medium) and another documentary on writing powerhouse Neil Gaiman.

• Sequart Official Site: http://sequart.org

Buy New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics from amazon.com

Buy New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics from amazon.co.uk

Buy the Kindle edition of New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics



Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Books, Comics Education News, downthetubes Comics News, Star Trek, US Comics

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  1. For Your Hugo Consideration… | Joseph F. Berenato
  2. New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics Update | Go Gator 1's Grins & Gripes

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