A STARDATE UPDATE: PANICCIA ON TOKYOPOP'S STAR TREK MANGA

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Star Trek: Nemesis was supposed to be the final journey for Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Next Generation.

Longtime lovebirds William Riker and Deanna Troi finally walked down the aisle as Picard, who was the best man, complained that everything around him was changing.

And what a change it was…

In the end, the android Data sacrificed himself to save his friends from new Reman Praetor Shinzon, revealed to be a Romulan clone of Picard.

However, as announced earlier, Tokyopop has acquired the rights to produce a new manga series based on Paramount’s Star Trek property. The stories in the anthology, according to editor Mark Paniccia in an earlier interview, will be mostly set in the Next Generation time frame (2363 and after, for the hardcore – with 2363 being the year Captain Jean-Luc Picard took command of the Enterprise-D), and will run 200-250 pages. “Think Animatrix for Star Trek in manga form,” Paniccia said. “This is all new stuff. There might be a familiar face but this is a very unorthodox approach to the property. That's what will make this book stand out from previous Star Trek comics. It will be published in our standard Tokyopop size.

“I've collected an eclectic group of writers and we're in currently in development. All art will be done in Japan but by who depends largely on schedules and availability.”

We caught up with Paniccia for an update as well as the manga publishing powerhouse’s spin on the property.

“A look and format you’ve never seen before,” Paniccia replied when asked what the manga version of the property will be like. “This will be an anthology featuring five stories that will clock in at around 50 pages each, give or take a page or ten. Stylistically, you’ll have a very Japanese looking/feeling book.

“Originally I was looking for stories from the far-flung corners of the Star Trek universe. Stories featuring favorite secondary, or all new characters. Paramount and I strongly felt it would help bypass certain approval hurdles. My original mandate was to find writers familiar with the Star Trek universe, but who had never written Star Trek before. The problem with this was that, in some cases, the stories had little or no Trek feel to them. I then searched for writers who had experience with Trek. And in some cases I felt they weren’t thinking out of the box enough. Eventually, our Japanese publishing partners felt strong enough that the stories needed main cast members that we modified one of the approved stories and took on some new pitches. So my focus changed at times depending on what I thought the definition of the book was. What we ended up with was a mix of first timers and a familiar name or two previously associated with Trek comics. We compromised with the Japan office and have two stories that feature the main cast.



“Licensed manga editor Jake Forbes and myself contributed to the on-staff portion of the anthology - two stories - and Jim Alexander, Chris Dows and Mike Barr provided the remaining three.

Elaborating more on the writers Paniccia said: “Mike Barr came up with this cool and creepy space spider story that features the main cast and Jake did a great holodeck story with Worf in Feudal Japan. Chris Dows — who co-wrote some DS9 stories for me with Colin Clayton back in the Malibu days — wrote this really fun Q story where he’s split into three personalities that can’t seem to get along in the midst of a galactic crisis. Scottish scribe Jim Alexander provided a kickin’ Klingon battle story and I wrote a little tale that takes place in my favorite alternate reality, the Mirror Universe.

Art-wise, Paniccia hoped the manga version of Star Trek would reflect the look and feel of the phenomenon that’s taken the publishing industry by storm. “We’re looking at a wide variety of Japanese artists, but it will be entirely up to whose model sheets get approved and have time in their schedule.”

Deep Space 9 is also set in the same era as Next Generation, as is Voyager. Will there be cameos from any of the crew members, and will there be separate storylines/arcs that solely focus on DS9 and Voyager? “No, we’re just going to see Next Generation for this anthology,” the editor confirmed.

The first issue of the anthology is not yet on Tokyopop’s schedule.

concept art by Shin-Ichi Hiromoto of Stone, from the "Skin Deep" story by Jim Alexander.

[bob_at_york]

The art is interesting. ALthough one drawing of a Klingon reminds me of Lobo. Not sure about the series but I will take a look at it.

[Von Raven]

UGH...

Ugly stuff.

[Godfather]

An interesting idea but I can't say the art jumps out and grabs me. Well maybe it does, but uh I think I want it to let go.

[Cormorant]

Wow.

If there's one single manga artist I would have picked for this project, it's the very guy who did the sketches here: Shin-Ichi Hiromoto. He did absolutely phenomenal art and storytelling on the Dark Horse adaptation of RETURN OF THE JEDI several years ago, actually transforming the weakest of the original STAR WARS trilogy into the best of its comic adaptations. He's a real stylist, but he can turn on a dime and render ships and hi-tech with vivid realism.

Honestly, those manga STAR WARS adaptations are what convinced me that about the LAST thing a good adaptation of a licensed product needs is a photorealist artist. Looking back at Al Williamson's art on the old Marvel STAR WARS adatpations - beautiful drawing skills, but at the same time, I can't help but think that the realism in the art made the comics come across as the poor man's version of the films. Bring some style and flair, I say. Better use of the medium's unique qualities.

I definitely suggest that those taken aback by the art in these static shots give it a chance in sequential form where I think the artist will surprise you. I mean, I love the visuals here, but I can understand that they're jarring if you're expecting something less stylized. Give 'em a shot in comic form, though. And note, too, that this is just one sampling from several artists who'll be involved.

I'm happy. Even though I'm far more Classic Trek than Next Gen, I'm happy.

-Dave

[jasinmartin]

Well, let me just add a vote to the positive side here... man those character designs look sweet!

It's really cool to see the Star Trek universe through a manga lense!

I'm not a big Trek fan, like the original series, a couple of the movies, and what not, but I'll definitely check this out.

[Cormorant]

For those interested in a bit more of Horomoto's licensed work, here're some pages from his adaptation of RETURN OF THE JEDI:



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Man, there's just something about his mixture of high-energy exaggeration and ultra-grounded technology and backdrops that really makes his stuff shine for me. As with many manga artists, though, his work is probably best viewed in the context of an extended sequence to really take its measure. Much as I dig all the images here, single pages don't quite do the guy justice.

-Dave

[saiyanspider]

Beautiful Star Wars stuff.


The trek stuff is nice too.

[grphxkindaguy]

Originally posted by bob_at_york
ALthough one drawing of a Klingon reminds me of Lobo.

That same drawing reminds me of a Predator, the one from the Ah-nuld movie...

If the quality of this new Manga Star Trek series is even half as good as any of the Star Wars Manga adapatations were, IT WILL BE AWESOME!!!

[candrusiak]

I wonder how long they are going to leave Tokyopop's fax number up there.......

[drifter13x]

Is this the same artist that did one of the Star Wars Manga trades? I like his work. I'll give this is a try, seeing as how I need something to replace my trek fix (And Enterprise is not the answer )

[skaly]

This stuff has potential. I used to love Star Trek. So much storytelling potential that ended up being wasted by recent shows. At least in comics they can take us places and show us creatures we were unable to see on TV. Hope they don't blow it.

[Beyerstein]

It would have been cool to see some sketches of the enterprise or regular characters

[beta-ray]

I am not that enamoured by the sketches myself, but I do like the last one.

That being said, it would be wise to wait for actual layout and panels to see just how these stories are.

And drifter13x, maybe the upcoming season of Enterprise might be better. They will be delving more into Trek history. I am not holding my breath, but as a Trek fan even through the Voyager years I do hope.

Too bad it is only TNG (though that makes the most money), my favorite is DS9...

[drifter13x]

Originally posted by beta-ray
I am not that enamoured by the sketches myself, but I do like the last one.

That being said, it would be wise to wait for actual layout and panels to see just how these stories are.

And drifter13x, maybe the upcoming season of Enterprise might be better. They will be delving more into Trek history. I am not holding my breath, but as a Trek fan even through the Voyager years I do hope.

Too bad it is only TNG (though that makes the most money), my favorite is DS9...

Well, if this does well enough we might see more ST manga in the future, DS9 would be cool, but I'd like TOS even more. Can you imagine the the Anime style alien femme's Kirk would get to mak every issue

As for ENT, I gave them a chance last season finale and they gave me Nazi Alien Lizards. That was enough for me.

[Peter Geddes]

I quite enjoy seeing familiar Western properties interpreted by Japanese artists (the Dark Horse Star Wars adaptations and DCs Batman: Child of Dreams spring to mind).

This looks like being another interesting spin on a big franchise, and as no other Trek comics are being produced I'll particularly look forward to these.

It's great that they're going to be big 200+ page monsters too although I can't see anything that details whether or not they will be printed in the right-to-left Japanese format.

[grphxkindaguy]

Originally posted by beta-ray
Too bad it is only TNG (though that makes the most money), my favorite is DS9...

I feel the same way, DS9 is my fave as well. I re-discovered how much I enjoyed the series, since they started showing the reruns on SPIKE TV (cable).

Damn, I'm having more fun watching them again then I did the first time!

oh, and I'm really looking forward to this Star Trek Manga!!!

[samnoir]

I'm amazed that Peter David isn't writing anything for this book. It would seem like something right up his alley.

______________________________________

RARE NEIL GAIMAN and DAVE MCKEAN books, magazines and comics for sale on eBay.

JMS TEEN TITANS CYBORG Comic Book for sale on eBay. The 1st comic book story he ever wrote!

[Scavenger]

Originally posted by drifter13x
Well, if this does well enough we might see more ST manga in the future, DS9 would be cool, but I'd like TOS even more. Can you imagine the the Anime style alien femme's Kirk would get to mak every issue

As for ENT, I gave them a chance last season finale and they gave me Nazi Alien Lizards. That was enough for me.

You like TOS, but Alien Nazi Lizards are a problem? It's the most TOS like thing they've done!

[Scooby2099]

Urgh... the sketches look pretty dreadful--especially the one of the "Klingon Gal."

[Cormorant]

Originally posted by Scooby2099
Urgh... the sketches look pretty dreadful--especially the one of the "Klingon Gal."

Out of curiousity, is it the...err..."sketchy" nature of the sketches you don't like? 'Cause even great artists often put down very rough sketches to get a feel for a character, and I suspect the STAR WARS scans are probably more indicative of what the final product will look like.

Or is the manga look in general that turns you off? If that's the case, I don't have an answer. The whole premise is STAR TREK by way of manga, so no getting around it.

Or is the "dreadful" nature of the sketches something else entirely? Not looking to diss on non-manga fans here - I'd just be interested to hear some specifics about what they don't like.

-Dave

[woodstock]

I'm not the greatest fan of manga, but even I can see the quality in those sketches, especially the pages from the ROTJ adaption.