So since we’ve long confirmed that JJ will be tackling Star Trek 2, and then confirmed it again just for the hell of it, it’s time for the anticipation machine to start charging its warp core. The studio will certainly be eager to see the unexpectedly huge level of response to the first film start sizzling again, and they’ll be stoking it among the core fans with a line of Star Trek comics that will not only be planting the new crew into stories from the original series, but will be a larger story that increasingly deviates from the original timeline and ultimately seques into the new film.

Startrek.com got the lowdown right before the weekend when they dropped an interview with comic writer Mike Johnson and comic supervisor and film co-writer Bob Orci (I was too busy with my own amazing Friday interview to catch it until JoBlo brought it to my attention this morning). The two discussed their workflow, which boils down to them choosing an old TOS episode together, Johnson writing a script, Orci looking over the script for places to integrate foreshadowing of the second film’s narrative/characters, and then two of them supervising the final art. All certainly very fascinating to any Trek fans that will be following the new extended universe. They do mention that their approach to tying in the comics with the new film will mirror what was done with comics that tied into the first film…

…in the way that the “Countdown” series set up backstory for the last movie. It’s fantastic to have Bob’s input, because he can steer us clear of story elements that might conflict with what’s coming up in the next movie, and we can lay in subtle clues to what’s coming up so that once you see the new movie you can go back and see how it evolved in the comics. 

I will say their approach to the project seems right in line with the clever way in which the film had its canon cake and ate it too: the re-imagined  show episodes will be tweaked with the new dynamics of the updated crew. For example:

What other episodes will you tackle, and what excites you most about your fresh takes on those episodes?

Johnson: Each episode will be told in two issues, so in issue #3 and #4 we will revisit the events of “The Galileo Seven.” I’m excited about this one because it’s a Spock-centric story that explores his brief experience as a commanding officer and how he was affected by losing command of the Enterprise to Kirk in the last movie. I can’t spoil which episodes come after that, but I can say that events will deviate more and more from the TOS versions as the new timeline evolves.

There is the suggestion that the comics may end up being the place to be introduced to new characters that will show up in the film, so again, this will be your place to get a canon Star Trek fill during the long wait for the new movie.

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