Review by C.J. Bunce

He’s one of Star Trek’s greatest contributors to the look of science fiction aliens in 21st century entertainment.  He’s creature designer Neville Page.  Showcasing the 12 years of his entire Star Trek career, a new visual retrospective celebrates Page’s style and designs.  Star Trek: The Art of Neville Page is now available here at Amazon.  In this deluxe, full-color hardcover account, readers will examine the visionary creature designs for some of Star Trek’s most innovative new aliens.  We discussed previously at borg some of Page’s greatest works in our review of The Art of Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline here and more can be found in The Art of Star Trek here.  The new book comes from writer Joe Nazzaro, who interviewed Page extensively for his book Star Trek Beyond: The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow, reviewed here.

Page has applied his expertise to the creation and development of the aliens of the Star Trek universe from the movies Star Trek (2009) through to Star Trek Beyond (2016) as well as the series Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek: Picard.  Page’s concept artwork, both detailed and intricate, defines what new Star Trek looks like as distinguished from the first 45 years.  In this book readers will find out what the source of that “intricacy” is: 3D tools.  The torchbearer armor from Star Trek Discovery illustrates this new method of costume and makeup design best, featuring details you really notice in person, but even on the screen 3D printing brings entirely new worlds of detail to life.

Originally making a break into functional artwork designing things like wheelchairs, Page entered his Star Trek years working for J.J. Abrams on the kaiju beastie for Cloverfield.  Focusing on his concept art and sketches for Star Trek 2009 and Star Trek Beyond, but with most content from Star Trek Discovery, Star Trek: The Art of Neville Page features Page in conversation with author Joe Nazzaro.  It’s a look into Page’s creative process via a collection of primarily digital art, which may make readers and fans of classic Hollywood design and makeup long for the days of practical effects.  Several of the creatures and aliens are re-works of classic Star Trek creations, but if there is a defining look for Page it’s his monsters that feature a facial symmetry of fleshy blobs and bits, and a preference for multiple sets of eyes.

The book includes a foreword by Alex Kurtzman and afterword by Michael Westmore.  Page’s creations for Star Trek: Picard form a smaller portion of the book’s content.

Take a look inside Star Trek: The Art of Neville Page courtesy of its publisher, Titan Books:

For a good look into the aliens developed by Page for the recent movie entries in the Star Trek franchise and Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, don’t miss Star Trek: The Art of Neville Page, available now from Titan Books here at Amazon.