Jeff Mariotte's Responses

Query From: Mark David

Thanks for bringing back the comics for us fans.

How long is your license with Paramount good for?

Do you have the license for the characters created by Marvel/Paramount and can we expect to see any continuation of these series? (i.e. Early Voyages, Unlimited, and Starfleet Academy)

Best Regards
Mark

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

Our license is for two years, from late 1999 to late 2001. And my understanding is that anything created for Star Trek becomes property of paramount, so we could presumably do stories based in those series if we see any stories that are too cool to pass up.

Query From: Chris

Which of the announced Trek comics will be published in November and December?

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

The plan is to launch with Star Trek: Voyager -- False Colors, by Nathan Archer, art by Jeffrey Moy and W.C. Carani, in November. In December, we'll have the first issue of the Star Trek: The Next Generation miniseries, Perchance to Dream, by Keith R.A. DeCandido, art by Peter Pachoumis and an inker to be named shortly.

Query From: Roy Gales

You have made it pretty clear that you would prefer to do new stories rather then adapt any old ones, but will you or DC be reprinting any of their previous books. I have been tring to get a copy of "Ashes of Eden" that DC published since I read the novel and found out that it had also been published in comic book form. But I haven't been able to on the secondary market or at any conventions. I belive it had a very low distribution.

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

It's unlikely that we'll do any reprints, but I don't know if DC has any plans to reprint any old stories.

Query From: Jon Huff

I wondered, in your list of writers you mentioned several people who had written Star Trek novels but who had not, to my knowledge, written any comics. I mention this because the Voyager series at Marvel had an author who was accomplished as a book author, but she didnt seem to fully grasp that in comics you let the pictures do the setting up of the scene, not the words. This made the stories come off as a bit clunky in the dialouge department sometimes.

Also, a continued frustration of mine with Star Trek comics in general is that far too many writers limit what kind of stories they tell in order to "maintain the feel of Star Trek" when in fact the writers on the various TV shows often dont get to tell the kind of stories they want because of budgetary reasons. From the stories proposed so far, would you say we are going to see the Star Trek universe "expanded" or "opened up a bit" in the comics?

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

Of the writers named in the initial release, I think the only one who hasn't written any comics previously is Keith DeCandido. I've seen his first script, and he has a very good understanding of the demands of the genre. He certainly has read comics for a long time, and his job as editor of the Marvel and WildStorm novels has kept him close to it. The other writers, even the ones who are primarily novelists, have all written comics.

And yes, part of what makes these comics cool is that there is no special effects budget to worry about.

Query From: RichardM

Is there any chance of one monthly title, perhaps an anthology title like Marvel's "Star Trek Unlimited", and will there be any chance that the Early Voyages comics will be renewed, as I'm sure Paramount said they owned the rights not Marvel, or the DS9 mini of Marvels that was never produced?

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

I'm not saying there will never be a regular monthly ST title from us, but it's not in our current plans for the line.

Query From: William mercado

Will there be stories involving any or all of the characters from DS9?

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

Yes, there will definitely be DS9 stories, mostly set after the final episode of the series.

Query From: GUSTAVO LEAO

Dear Mr. Mariotte,

In a recent interview to WIZARD magazine (issue 83, July 1998, page 54) writer-artist-fan favorite John Byrne said :

"I was digging around in some stuff upstairs a while back and found this [unsold] Star Trek screenplay that i wrote when i was 18. I sent it to DC and said "Hey, do you want to do this as a comic ?" And the DC editor, being brilliant, said "Oh, it's not quite what we're looking for". This is your chance to terminally embarass me in front of everybody by doing a comic based on a screenplay i written when i was 18 - and you're going to pass on it ?"

Byrne is my favorite writer-artist. He is working for Marvel (Spider-Man) and DC (Super Man / Batman Generations) these days and a Star Trek comics from him would be a event in itself. How about give him a chance ?

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

I'm open to submissions from John.

Query From: Roy Gales

question: Most of the questions sent into you (myself included) have been regarding the stories. But what makes comics unique is the artwork. What artists will be working on your stories. Can you get Jim Lee to do any? I think it would be great to see some different styles then what had been used before, in regard to artwork. Mr Birdsong has done some beautiful covers on some Star Trek novels and hope to see some of his work on your books. Your probably getting tired of hearing from me, but I hope to see some great things coming from your company.

Response From: Jeff Mariotte

I don't know that Jim Lee is going to be able to do any full stories or miniseries, but you have my word that you will see Jim's version of popular Star Trek characters now and again. And the other artists we have working on this line will bring some interesting new looks and fresh approaches to the line.