Tag Archive: Star Trek: The Next Generation Mirror Broken!


Star Trek Voyager: Mirrors & Smoke–The starship Voyager crew spins into the alternate universe

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April 30, 2020

Review by C.J. Bunce

While most of the comic book industry is on hold resulting from the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, we’re looking back to some recent books you may want to give a try while you’re sheltering at home or recuperating from work and in need of some good distractions.  One of those books continues a series bellwethered by one of our favorite artists, J.K. Woodward, known for his beautiful illustrations in the Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover miniseries Assimilation², the IDW adaptation of Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever, the covers of the Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover miniseries, the jaw-dropping, photo-real paintings bringing the crew of the USS Enterprise-D into the mirror universe in Mirror Broken, and Star Trek 20/20, a tale of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in his USS Stargazer years.  Continuing his expanded universe of Star Trek’s mirror realms is the winter release Star Trek Voyager: Mirrors and Smoke, where Woodward partnered with writer Paul Allor (Clue, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe) to at last bring the characters of Star Trek Voyager (my own favorite Star Trek television series) into Trek’s infamous mirror universe.

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Star Trek: Picard–Go behind the scenes with the cast in new hardcover book

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April 28, 2020

picard

Now that the series has wrapped, a new hardcover book from Titan is taking a look at the long-awaited return of Patrick Stewart as beloved Star Trek Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Via a series of interviews with cast members and key crew, Star Trek: Picard–The Official Collector’s Edition provides fans of the CBS All Access streaming service show Star Trek: Picard with insight into the latest generation of Starfleet tales.  Now a retired admiral, Picard sets off on what might be a lost cause, protecting a young woman who may have ties to Data, the android who gave his life to save Picard the last time we saw the characters on the big screen in 2002’s Star Trek Nemesis.

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Missing your comic book fix? Never fret, you have options

Filed under: Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment
April 3, 2020

Free comics comixology

While you are sitting at your computer at home pretending to be paying attention to conference calls, you need something to do for your sanity, right?  How about comics?  The best thing you can do is order from the hundreds of graphic novels at your local comic book store.  Many will be willing to send you overnight or within a few days anything you’re after, especially if you’re behind on the latest and greatest comics have to offer.  Your own comic book shop stands ready to take your order now.  And local shops may be able to get you comics often quicker than online retailers right now.

With most single issues of new titles on delay for now, you can still get your single-issue comic fix via free comics at the Digital Comic Museum, which hosts hundreds of full Golden Age public domain comics, including many featuring superheroes (like the original Captain Marvel, Bulletman, Captain Midnight, and Spy Smasher, plus Westerns (like Gene Autry and Tom Mix), war comics, sports comics (like Jackie Robinson), jungle comics, sci-fi comics (like Captain Video), romance comics, and crime series.  Comixology also has hundreds of comics you, your kids, or your cat can read right now for free.  It’s a great way to get wind of a great story you may have missed or never considered, which you can then order in its complete series from local or online stores  Note: Comixology also has an unlimited program (currently priced at $5.99 per month) with more than 25,000 digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, and more.  Those carry the white “Unlimited” ribbon in the bottom right corner of the comic cover icon.

The current list of totally free comics on the Comixology website (just set up a free account), is easy to use, and updates regularly with new titles.   We’ve identified many we’ve recommended before at borg for you to check out (click the Comics & Books tab above anytime to find nearly a decade of recommendations).  These include: Usagi Yojimbo, Stranger Things, Hellboy, Predator/Aliens: Fire and Stone, Centipede, Xena: Warrior Princess, Charlie’s Angels vs. The Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, and Star Trek: The Next Generation–Mirror Broken.  Thinking about watching TV or movie tie-ins?  Check out the free issues from the original comics at Comixology for The Umbrella Academy, I, Frankenstein, and Captain Marvel.  You can even read the first Batman appearance ever in Detective Comics, Issue #27, or see early Superman in Superman, Issue #1, and the original issue from the 1970s of Swamp Thing, Issue #1.

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More Mirrors–Three ways to get your Star Trek: The Next Generation fix this year

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March 27, 2018

For fans of Jean-Luc Picard, Data, Worf, Riker, Troi, Crusher, and LaForge, few efforts have come as close to original episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation since the series finale aired 24 years ago as IDW Publishing’s continuing adventures of the crew in the pages of the comic books.  Last year artist J.K. Woodward painted a brilliant new story of the Star Trek: The Next Generation era with writers David Tipton and Scott Tipton in IDW Publishing’s nostalgic Mirror Broken series.  Known already for his beautiful illustrations in the Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover miniseries Assimilation², the IDW adaptation of Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever, also with the Tipton brothers, and the covers of the Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover miniseries, Woodward brought his jaw-dropping photo-real paintings to Mirror Broken–providing poster-worthy interior artwork for every page of the series.  Woodward not only gave fans their first look at the ships and places in the Mirror universe of the TNG years, he created the never-before-seen look of each character for the franchise.  Beginning today you can get all five issues of the series plus the lead-in story from last year’s Free Comic Day one-shot in the trade paperback edition.  You can order it today through your local comic book store and via Amazon here.

But Picard and his crew don’t stop with Mirror Broken.  Coming this May, the Brothers Tipton are back to continue the Enterprise-D adventures in the Mirror universe with Star Trek: The Next Generation: Through the Mirror.  Chris Johnson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) will take the lead with the main story arc artwork and Woodward will provide back-up stories in each issue.   The crew is looking for new worlds to conquer, and they’re crossing over to the Prime Star Trek universe to find them.  Readers will learn how the Mirror universe crossover began, and fans will see an old friend again as Emperor Spock enters the picture.  Read the individual issues of the series or pre-order the trade edition here at Amazon.

J.K. Woodward homage to the NextGen crew, Mirror style, based on the 10th anniversary Continuing Mission photo.

But that’s not all that will be arriving at comic book stores this year.  Just when you thought it was safe to return to the Prime universe, a member of the crew is not what he seems to be in the IDW series Star Trek: The Next Generation: Terra Incognita.  Again David and Scott Tipton take on the writing duties, but this time fan-favorite Star Trek artist Tony Shasteen (Star Trek, Star Trek: Boldly Go, Star Trek: Discovery: Light of Kahless) takes over as illustrator of the series.  Star Trek: The Next Generation: Terra Incognita will feature six episodic issues reflecting the style of the and feel of the classic series over six issues.

Take a look at twelve covers released in advance by IDW of the two new series and the Mirror Broken trade edition:

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The borg.com Best of 2017–The Best in Print

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment
December 29, 2017

Our borg.com Best of 2017 list continues today with the Best in Print.  If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2017 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2017 here, and the Best in Television here.

So let’s get going.  Here are our selections for this year’s Best in Print:

Best New Edition of Previous Published Work – The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame, David Petersen (IDW Publishing).  David Petersen’s artwork was the perfect excuse to get Kenneth Grahame’s wonderful classic The Wind in the Willows into the hands of new readers.  The new edition from IDW Publishing was the perfect storybook, and Petersen, known best for his Mouse Guard series, showed his understanding of these characters and their natural world full of wonder through his fantasy images.

Best Read, Best Retro Read – Forever and a Death, Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime).  Not every good idea comes to fruition.  Not every excellent project gets off the ground.  Not every great book gets published.  The Hard Case Crime imprint of Titan Books came through again, seizing the opportunity to take a lost, never before published work of Donald E. Westlake--Forever and a Death--and brought it to life.  And what a great adventure!  Originally the story commissioned to be the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, the projected was shelved, and only now do we get fantastic characters (like environmental activist and diver Kim Baldur) in a very Bondian situation–destroying Hong Kong as payback for China taking it back from Great Britain.  Honorable mention for Best Retro Read: Turn on the Heat, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Dragon Teeth, Michael Crichton.

Best Sci-Fi Read – Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom: A Novel of Retropolis, Bradley W. Schenck (Tor Books).  Imaginative, new, and fun, Schenck took us into a timeless world full of nostalgia and classic science fiction.  Great tech, and a sprawling story.  Interesting characters and great world-building, this novel will be a great surprise for sci-fi readers.  Honorable mention: War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations, Greg Keyes.

Best Fantasy Read – An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors, Curtis Craddock (Tor Books).  The plot of this debut novel is labyrinthine and action-packed, full of assassination attempts from all quarters, courtly intrigue galore, grandiose philosophies, and a cast of characters anchored by the strong, smart, resourceful, and eminently likeable heroes.  Supporting everything is Craddock’s strong, confident, often-funny, and sharply observant writing that goes from heart-wrenching to hilarious on a single page without missing a beat.  A dazzling debut.

Best Genre Non-fiction – Middle-Earth: From Script to Screen, Daniel Falconer (Harper Design).  We wish every genre franchise had such a magnificent, thorough, monumental guide.  Falconer’s guide to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies is full of interviews at all levels of the creative process, and supported by concept art, photographs, maps, and so much more.  Worthy of the six films it covers, it’s the ultimate fan book and a model for any franchise attempting to put everything fans could want into a single volume.

There’s much more of our selections for 2017’s Best in Print and more, after the jump…

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Previews–New issues of Mirror Broken, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina arrive at comic book stores today

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August 16, 2017

   

Captain Jellico and an over-the-top Wesley Crusher join the crew of the Enterprise-D and get to play in the world of daggers, sashes, and deception with today’s release of the third issue of IDW Publishing’s limited comic book series Star Trek: The Next Generation–Mirror Broken.  Plus, for the second consecutive month of a series usually only issued sporadically, Archie Comics’ Archie Horror imprint is releasing the eighth issue of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.  We have previews of both issues below for borg.com readers, courtesy of their publishers.

The creative brother team of David Tipton and Scott Tipton continue the Mirror Universe adventures of the Star Trek: The Next Generation era with another round of beautiful pages by J.K. Woodward in Mirror Broken’s next installment.  Look for the standard cover by Woodward and great variant covers by Tony Shasteen and George Caltsoudas.  This time Woodward has created a look for Wesley Crusher that will appeal to both lovers and haters of the classic sci-fi series’ obligatory child character.  Get prepared to see who wins and who loses in the ultimate strategy battle between Picard and Jellico.  And Trek fans should always check every corner of each panel for hidden throwback gems from the TV series.

   

In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, comic book writer and show runner of the CW’s Riverdale,  and artist Robert Hack continue to take Sabrina down a darker path than the character has ever experienced.  Sabrina has returned Harvey from the dead, but at what price, and will anyone be able to stop what has been unleashed before it’s too late?  The creative team continues to flesh out the personality of Riverdale’s timeless teenage witch, blending a young heroine’s tale with equal parts Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed.  Plus Hack’s classic pulp horror comic imagery gets better with each new issue.

Check out these previews for Star Trek: The Next Generation–Mirror Broken, Issue #3, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Issue #8: Continue reading →

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IDW Publishing’s “Mirror Broken” series–The Star Trek event of the year?

Filed under: Comics & Books, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, TV — Leave a comment
July 13, 2017

Of course there’s a new Star Trek television series coming our way this year, but a new comic book series is going to knock your socks off in the interim.  Star Trek produces some of the best tie-in stories of any franchise.  Every now and then we witness a story that we wish we were watching on television or at the movies, and that next great story is IDW Publishing’s limited comic book series Star Trek: The Next Generation–Mirror Broken.  For the first time ever the crew of the Enterprise-D gets to play in the world of daggers, sashes, and deception in the evil Terran Empire instead of the idyllic Federation, already seen by the crews of the original Star Trek series, Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek Enterprise. 

Only three issues in and the next issue can’t get here soon enough.  Brothers David and Scott Tipton (who touched on the NextGen Mirror universe in IDW Publishing’s 2008 Mirror Images series) return to Star Trek comics to script a dark, parallel timeline fans never got to see in seven seasons of the TV series (although we were treated to plenty great alternate universe shows in episodes like “Parallels” and “A Few Good Things…” and even a Mirror-like universe in one of the series best episodes, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”).  Known already for his beautiful illustrations in the Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover miniseries Assimilation², the IDW adaptation of Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever, and the covers of the Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover miniseries, artist J.K. Woodward now brings his jaw-dropping photo-real paintings to Mirror Broken–providing poster-worthy interior artwork for every page of the series.  Woodward not only gives us our first look at the ships and places in the new Mirror universe, he created the look of each character for the franchise.

The first issue of the mini-series is actually an introduction to the new Mirror universe in IDW’s Free Comic Book Day issue from this past May.  Readers learn all the subtle, and not-so-subtle, changes in the alternate universe via Lieutenant Barclay, played in the series by Dwight Schultz.  We see not only a different view of Starfleet, but Barclay himself is a changed man, having fought his way up the ranks.  Fan favorite Tasha Yar, played by Denise Crosby in the series, is woven into the story as well.  The main cast is fleshed out in the first and second numbered issues: a ruthless Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a tough Commander Will Riker, and Counselor–now Inquisitor–Troi, who is not just a Mirror pin-up beauty but a sharp and manipulative power center as Picard’s main confidante.  Lieutenant LaForge is still the go-to engineering whiz and Commander Data is still trying to know what it’s like to be human, only in a world of skewed objectives and uncertain loyalties.  And everyone looks believably like the original actors (updated with Woodward’s blend of Michael Westmore make-up, of course).

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Preview–Free Comic Book Day returns this Saturday, May 6

Filed under: Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment
May 1, 2017

   

If you love comics and especially if you haven’t read a comic book in years then this Saturday’s Free Comic Book Day is all about you.  See what you have been missing out on at comic book stores across the United States as shops hand out free issues of new comic books from your favorite franchises and publishers Marvel, DC Comics, IDW, Archie Comics, Dark Horse, BOOM!, Titan Comics, and more.

Star Trek fans won’t want to miss out on the first ever view of the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew in the mirror universe story Mirror Broken! with incredible artwork by the incomparable J.K. Woodward.  Doctor Who fans will find an all-new story assembling the last four Doctors and companion Bill’s first appearance in comics.

Dozens of new FCBD stories will be available.  Check out the great covers above and below, plus previews of Avatar, Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Attack on Titan.

   

If you’re in the Kansas City area check out Elite Comics, and if not, use this comic book store locator to find your nearest participating shop.  Below, check out more comic books you will find Saturday (get there early if you don’t want to miss anything!), plus some videos about the event.

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First look–Meet Evil Picard and Crew in new Star Trek: The Next Generation series

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January 29, 2017

fcbd-woodward-tng-mirror-2017

Space… The Final Frontier.  These are the voyages of the I.S.S. Enterprise.  Its continuing mission: to conquer strange new worlds, to enslave new life and new civilizations… to boldly go where no one has gone before.

First there was “Mirror, Mirror” in the original Star Trek.  Then there was Deep Space Nine’s “Crossover,” “Through the Looking Glass,” “Shattered Mirror,” “Resurrection,” and “The Emperor’s New Cloak.”  Then “In a Mirror, Darkly” on Enterprise.  The closest we got in Star Trek Voyager was seeing Kes’s evil side in “Warlord,” or the Voyager crew depicted as cutthroat villains in “Living Witness.”   But what about Star Trek: The Next Generation?  With all the episodes playing off of the original series, how did the writers miss an opportunity for mirror versions of Picard, Riker, Worf, Data, Crusher, Troi, LaForge, and Yar?

Dynamic writing duo Scott Tipton and David Tipton and stellar artist J.K. Woodward are making up for the gap with a new IDW Publishing series coming later this year: Star Trek: The Next Generation–Mirror Broken.  But first, everyone will be able to go to their local comic book shop this May 6 for the annual Free Comic Book Day to get their own free prequel issue for the series.  After the break below is a preview featuring fan-favorite character Lieutenant Reginald Barclay, the sometimes bumbling, sometimes awkward, sometimes outright genius Starfleet engineer from both NextGen and Star Trek Voyager.  But first, how incredible are these original painted images of the cover of the FCBD issue?  Star Trek fans already know J.K. Woodward, the multi-year borg.com “Best of the Year” artist from his past work on Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who–Assimilation², Harlan Ellison’s City on the Edge of Forever, and the Star Trek 50 Years, 50 Artists art exhibition.

mirror-data-woodward    troi

According to early solicitations, the Star Trek: The Next Generation miniseries, Mirror Broken will reveal the Mirror Universe like never before:  Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the I.S.S. Stargazer will stop at nothing to get his hands on the Terran Empire’s newest starship, the Enterprise-D.

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