IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing is the latest comic book publisher to have obtained the Star Trek licence. They did so in 2006 with the first comics published in January 2007. IDW's comics so far have been based either on ' or '. In their first year IDW tested the format with various innovative miniseries, in their second year they intend to push the line forward with the involvement of big names such as D.C. Fontana and Peter David, branding their output for the year Star Trek: Second Stage.

Format
IDW has so far released Star Trek comics in miniseries of five or six issues over several consecutive months. Each comic is thirty-two pages in length, twenty-two of which are actually story. The story pages flow uninterrupted with the final ten pages consisting of adverts, previews and interviews relating to other IDW projects, letters pages, and in some issues The Trek Life comic strips. The inside front cover of each comic contains a title a credit page and an opening monologue like paragraph of text related to the miniseries. Each comic is available in several covers, the fewest so far has been three, the issue with the most had seven, the back inside cover of each comic is a cover gallery for that issue. Once each miniseries is completed it is released as a paperback omnibus book.

After the first few issue of the first series IDW released two comics a month throughout their first year. With the launch of their Second Stage titles they we upping production to four issues a month, intending to deliver a new comic each week.

Completed series
IDW's first miniseries, which began in January 2007, was titled The Space Between, celebrating TNG's 20th anniversary with six issues set variously through TNG's TV seasons. The series was written by David Tischman and the series artist was Casey Maloney. The first five issues of the series told apparently stand alone stories, released out of chronological order. The epilogue in the fifth issue and the entire sixth issue then tied the entire series together. The omnibus of this series was released in September 2007.

IDW's second project, starting April 2007, was a TOS miniseries; Klingons: Blood Will Tell. The five issue series presents the Star Trek universe from the Klingon's point of view. A framing story set amongst the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country looks back at TOS episodes, creating interconnectivity between the episodes and adding a Klingon twist. The series was written by Scott and David Tipton with art by David Messina. The omnibus of this series was released in November 2007.

IDW's third project, Year Four, began in July 2007, which over six issues told stories set in what would have been the forth season of TOS. The series was written by David Tischman with art by several different artists; Steve Conley, Gordon Purcell and Rob & Joe Sharp. The omnibus of this series will be released in March 2008.

In September 2007 another six part series, Alien Spotlight, started. Each comic in the series was a one-off TOS or TNG story focusing on a different alien species, with each issue written and illustrated by a different creative team. The ominbus for this series will be published in May 2008.

In production
IDW's fifth project is a five part TNG miniseries titled Intelligence Gathering which will explore the TNG characters from angles not typically seen. Like the previous TNG series each issue will be "done-in one" story which may lead to some sort of general conclusion to the series. This series will be written by Scott and David Tipton with art by David Messina.

In March of 2008 IDW kicked off a new round of miniseries with the launch of the first ' title; a five-part ' miniseries called Turnaround, written by Peter David with art by Stephen Thompson.

Forthcoming series
The next Second Stage title will begin in April 2008. The Year Four saga will continue in Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment, written by D.C. Fontana and Derek Chester with art by Gordon Purcell. The five part story arc will be sequel to the episode "The Enterprise Incident" featuring both the Romulans and Klingons.

The third Second Stage title will by Assignment Earth, written and illustrated by John Byrne. The five Gary Seven stories will bring to life the spin-off series that never was from the episode "Assignment: Earth". Each issue will take place a year apart from each other, starting in 1968. This series will begin in May 2008.

In June 2008 the fourth Second Stage title will start. Mirror Images will be a four part mirror universe series written by Scott and David Tipton, with one issue co-written with Chris Ryall and art by David Messina. The series will depict $𝜇$'s rise to captaincy of the ISS over $𝜇$.

Late 2008 titles
Later in 2008, there will be a second mirror universe series, this time a in the TNG era, written by Andrew Steven Harris and George Strayton.

There will also be a second Alien Spotlight series, with an issue by Keith R.A. DeCandido. Andrew Steven Harris, has previously implied Dan Taylor may write an issue of this series.

Possible future series
IDW currently only holds the licenses for the two most popular Trek series; TOS and TNG, and are continuing to test the waters with various projects before considering expansion into other series. The company have the right of first refusal to the rest of franchise should they later decide to expand out from those two series. The current licences include the full breadth of both series and spin-offs so IDW could do, and are doing, stories in the era of Captain Pike and comics from the New Frontier series.

IDW editor Andrew Steven Harris has suggested the company plan to work on some sort of collaborative project with Pocket Books, though any such plans are only in the early stages at present. Andrew Steven Harris has stated that " and DS9 are the two far-and-away front-runners" for series IDW might wish to develop.

Further TOS and TNG titles
Following on from their first two Year Four miniseries' IDW have vague plans for two more Year Four miniseries, making a total of twenty-two issues over the four minis, equivalent to a full season of The Original Series. After that they plan to continue on to Year Five miniseries’.

Announced in Focus on... Star Trek another project in the works is Probability Factor, a six issue miniseries, three issue TOS and three TNG. The series was to tell "What if?" stories exploring episodes that might have been is some factor had changed. The episodes choose for the alternate universe treatment were to be selected by and voted for by fans. However since its initial announcement no further news on the series has been announced while other new miniseries have gone ahead. If the series is still to be published it doesn't appear it will be until at least late 2008.

Beyond 2008, IDW are currently developing an idea for a post-Nemesis TNG series, working with an unspecified individual who has previously worked on Star Trek projects form Marvel and DC comics. This series could start sometime in early-2009.

The company has also made clear an intention to publish an adaptation and possibly other tie in comics for the new Star Trek movie, now due to be released in early summer 2009.

Deep Space Nine
Andrew Steven Harris, David Tischman and Dan Taylor have all expressed an interest in a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine comic series, with Harris identifying the series as his favourite, and acknowledging a great deal of demand from the fan-base ("easily the most requested series"). Harris has commented "I would give up a year of watching baseball if it meant we could do new stories for DS9. But, as they say, you never know, so keep your eyes peeled..

IDW may be testing the waters with something related to DS9 in the works for a possible release towards the end of 2008.

Voyager and Enterprise''
On  comics Andrew Steven Harris has stated they are currently unlikely to happen any time soon if at all.  comics have a similar, if not worse, outlook with Harris noting likeness issues with certain members of the cast would be problematic. Enterprise, being the series with the smallest fanbase, would also make such a venture risky, ie. developing comics on a series that may be less commercially successful.