As Star Wars Insider magazine has been a success for Titan Comics it was perhaps inevitable that Star Trek Magazine would be made over in something like the same fashion. The new style Star Trek Magazine Explorer was announced in August and arrived on the US newsstands in November with the UK following early in December.
If you were a reader of the previous incarnation there will be familiar sections. Larry Nemecek returns with his Fistful of Data segment answering readers’ questions. His opinion piece Canon Fodder also continues, which in this issue examines the relationship between the UFP Government and Starfleet. As the first issue was clearly in planning for at least a year the new season of Discovery has made a couple of his comments here out of date but is still an interesting look at an aspect of the Trek Universe I hadn’t thought about.
A Different Perspective
There is however much that is different about the new magazine. As this is in effect a new title with issue 1 written boldly on the cover it seems to be doing its best to draw in those unfamiliar with the wider world of Star Trek. Perhaps people who have found Discovery or Lower Decks in recent years.
The Trek 101 feature focuses on Gene Roddenberry and is a pretty good potted biography. A feature replicated from Star Wars Insider is a general guide to an aspect of Trek. In this case the series Enterprise. This is almost a magazine in itself with a look at the characters and core plot points, ten suggested best episodes, which I can’t fault, and a quick examination of that final episode which, to its credit, is far from negative.
One of the best bits of this guide is the “First Contact” section where someone new to Enterprise comments on the first episode ‘Broken Bow.’ She has some good points to make about the series in general which will send me back to watch it again soon. Another mini-magazine is the apparently monthly feature ‘Inside Trek.’ This time the focus is James T Kirk. That magazine favourite the top 10 list pops up, but also an engaging profile of the man, that if you are new to the world of Star Trek would dispel some of the cliches about the character.
Original Short Stories
Inside Trek features one of the most important facets of this rebooted magazine. Fiction. Two, that’s two, new original stories in each issue. I won’t spoil them here but the Kirk centric one ties the man in with one of the themes of the film ‘First Contact’’ as well as a character who I’m sure many readers have longed for him to meet. The other story from long time Trek TV writer Lisa Klink is set in the TNG era, although I’m not quite clear about when exactly.
For at least some fans (and certainly me) the fiction will be the reason to buy the magazine, and with at least one first rank Star Trek author saying in an interview recently that they had been commissioned to write for the magazine this all looks very promising. The old-style magazine had occasionally featured fiction, and some of that will be collected in a book due for publication in April 2022, but this is the first time that new work has appeared in every issue.
The interviews, particularly those with Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander (Adira and Gray in Discovery) are insightful, for the most part, avoid the cliché questions and walk the line between professional and fan very nicely. The interview with Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise was clearly done well in advance of season four’s premiere and as such is careful while remaining informative. The scoop though is an interview with David Cronenberg which suggests that big-name interviews will be a regular feature.
The news pages don’t come off as second best compared to the many websites featuring Trek news and manage to be relevant and engaging, something which is always going to be a problem in a quarterly magazine. There are several other articles and strands that will clearly be regular features. The Q Continuum segment asks who should be in a Star Trek Hall of Fame? With opinions from mainly actors and writers, it focuses on the people we see in the credits but may not realise how much impact they have on their colleague’s onset and the shape of the shows.
Many buyers will want to hang onto their magazines, and Titan has recognised that. The paper quality is better than many similar publications, and as it’s Perfect Bound you will be able to find the issue you want on your shelf. Image quality, design and printing are as good as you would expect from Titan, making this an easy read.
Star Trek Explorer is pitched so that it has content to appeal to the Trek novice, attracting them into the universe they may only just have discovered. It also has more detailed material that long-time fans will want to read. The big plus for the latter is of course the fiction, and with a digital supplement available to subscribers that will contain one or two more original stories each issue Titan Comics are clearly relying on this being the big draw for the established reader.
I have been enjoying Star Wars Insider for some time now, and as they seem to have improved on this for Star Trek, I’m looking forward to seeing what future issues offer.
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