Star Trek: A Comic Book History [Paperback]

Alan J. Porter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2009

Now for the first time the complete history of the Star Trek universe in comic books and newspaper strips from all over the world. Written by pop-culture historian Alan J. Porter, author of the bestselling James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007, this book will be the definitive history on the subject. Nine information-packed chapters detailing the history of Star Trek in comic books and newspaper strips from the first Gold Key comic books, to the English newspaper strip, to the Marvel and DC titles, to the present day. Exhaustively covers all publications of the entire Star Trek universe. Includes creator interviews, unpublished artwork and a detailed checklist. Published to coincide with the release of the new Star Trek movie. Boldly goes where no book has gone before!

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Hermes Press (October 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932563350
• ISBN-13: 978-1932563351
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.5 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan J. Porter has been a regular writer on various aspects of popular culture and publishing technology for over fifteen years.

He is the author of "BATMAN: The Unofficial Collectors Guide," (Schiffer Books), "BEFORE THEY WERE BEATLES: The Early Years 1956-1960," (Xlibris), JAMES BOND: the history of the illustrated 007," and "STAR TREK: A comics history." (both for Hermes Press.), "WIKI: Grow Your Own for Fun & Profit" and "THE CONTENT POOL" for XML Press. He is currently reseraching and writing "THE JAMES BOND LEXICON" to be published by Hasslein Books. He has also contributed to over 10 other book titles for publishers such as HarperCollins, Titan Books, BenBella and Greenwood Press.

His comic book credits include work for Tokyopop, BOOM Studios, and Disney/Marvel

He is also an Editor-at-Large at RevolutionSF.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book about a great subject October 13, 2009

By John Robey

Format:Paperback

I've been a Star Trek fan since the series' inception and I actually remember the Gold Key comic books when they came out. I've followed the shows, movies and their comic book incarnations since that time. Finally there's a complete history of all the comic book and comic strip adventures of the Star Trek Universe in one volume. It's a beautifully designed full color book detailing each comic book and comic strip adventure of the various Star Trek characters with illustrations that complement the material. The next-to-last chapter has interviews with various creators of the comic books, and, to borrow from one of Star Trek's most famous characters, is, fascinating. The book's in full color, printed on nice, heavy paper, and is a great deal of fun to read and look at. It makes a perfect companion for the comic books and strips and it's interesting on its own or just as a good read. All in all, a great book which is highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, but a little lacking. July 5, 2010

By J. Smith

Format:Paperback

I've been waiting for a book like this, since Pocket Books released a history and critique of the Star Trek paperback prose. Now, that its comic book counterpart is here, I find the information provided both insightful and nostalgic.

First off, Mr.Porter has done a tremendous job in picking some of the great ST comic book covers I grew up with. Looking at the painted covers done in the early Gold Key years brought back a good many memories of me waiting Monday evenings for the new comic books to be put out at a local grocery.

Also added: Some of the great Bantam Star Trek covers done for the James Blish adaptations done in the late sixties, early seventies. Remember, this was before VCR's and people were hungry for anything that could bring back the TV experience throughout the week. Again, I had forgotten how gorgeous some of the covers were. Beautiful and striking.

Probably the most difficult task for Mr. Porter was writing up all the various Trek synopsis' for all the comic book stories. This can get to be awfully repetitious after awhile, when one is summarizing another's story, but the author gets everything capsulated. Though some entries are more entertaining than others.

It might have helped if Mr. Porter had been able to get some sort of checklist (from ST comic book critics) of some of the best of the these tales. I noticed that Peter David, who was one of the more accomplished Trek comic book and fiction writers gave little feedback for this text. That's a pity because Mr. David's further input would have made some great stories here.

Extremely enjoyed seeing the UK art and stories, as being from the US, I never had the opportunity to experience this early rendition of Gene Roddenberry's universe. There's a quaintness to it, as invariably like Gold Key's earliest issues there's quite a few errors with Trek canon and history. Still it's fun reading it, and it's not boring.

Over the years there have been various versions of the Enterprise's final first five year mission, alternate returns to Talos IV, and
Kirk's childhood. It's interesting to refer to these stories, but
the book shows, just like its prose version, that there can be a bit of Trek "overload" with too many interpretations of the same characters. Maybe it's good that some of the ST fiction and comics slowed down over the years.

Excellent reference text. It brought back some memories, and if there's a second edition I look forward to it.

JThree
Williston, ND
[e-mail]

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice, but unnecessary October 18, 2012

By Dennis McMullen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Mr. Porter has put together a nice review of Star Trek comics history, starting with the Gold Key issues, and he does an excellent job of giving plot summaries of the stories. Porter also supplies lots of comic frames from numerous editions. For me the problem is that ST: a comics history, which was published in 2009, isn't really necessary. A site called, Star Trek comics checklist covers most of this information. Admittedly, the plot summaries are much shorter in the checklist. If you are really into ST comics then this is a nice purchased. I actually bought a used copy.