Next up was the portion of the panel that I, frankly, could care less about. But for my Trekkies out there, a couple of cool nuggets were discussed:
- The adaptation of the City on the Edge Of Forever is coming (Okay, ignore what I said before. I do actually care about this one). And the omnipotent royal pain in the Next Generation’s ass, Q, meets the JJ Abrams Trek universe. Issue #35 sees the start of The Q Gambit (Where’s Rogue?) and it will run for six issues starting in June through the fall.
- It seems Star Trek and time travel go together like overused plot device and every movie ever made for the SyFy channel. For those that aren’t snarky douchebags like yours truly, Star Trek: Flesh and Stone might rock your world like a wild night with Lt. Uhuru and a bottle of Romulan ale. Actually evolving from a cool collaboration between IDW, CBS Consumer Products, and XPRIZE who are sponsoring a competition to create a real-world, practical use tricorder. The comic story, written by Scott and David Tipton will involve all six Star Trek doctors somehow overcoming being separated by over two hundred years and divergent timelines to deal with a virus run amok. You can check it out in July and let the jaded Padre know what you think.
- In more licensed news, X-Files: Year Zero, with a first issue variant cover by Francesco Francavilla, will delve into the true, very first x-file. Add another one to the Guy Padre must buy list. Somewhere, we know “Fox Moody” is listening…
- Silent Hill Downpour: Anne’s Story will be set in Ryall state penitentiary, so named after E&C Chris Ryall. Tom Waltz is bringing in another new title that is threatening to play stick-up kid with my wallet in The Last Fall. A creator owned, five issue limited series, I was sold on the description of it as a sci-fi military drama. The comic book will feature Marcus Fall, who, having served multi tours in a questionable war finally goes home, only to have his family killed by a suicide bomber. Blinded by revenge, he heads back to the war to payback those he feels are responsible. But the true enemy is not always who we think it is. Have I said “SOLD” yet? Yeah, SOLD!
- The October Faction brings together horror comic icon Steve Niles and Damien Worm (together Monster & Madman) on a new ongoing series about a retired monster hunter, now academic, his twisted family and mysterious enemies. More $$$ leaving the Padre’s pocket. Borderlands returns to comic shelves this summer. The books are supported fully by the game’s publisher and are considered canon. The Extended Universe Star Wars franchise just cried a little.
- In the Q&A that highlighted the last few minutes of the panel, we learned that IDW does not have the rights to the new Godzilla movie. Their series will continue but be based on their own canon. There won’t be an adaptation of the new Transformers flick and we were told to hold off on judging the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film just yet. The panel swore by the script and the parts of the movie they have seen. While most of you fanboys have stopped reading this to continue cursing the name of Michael Bay, it was said that the new film would contain a great family element that would leave fans pleasantly surprised.
All in all, a fun filled, info-overload time was had by all. This was the most fun panel I attended at WonderCon 2014, brothers and sisters, and felt more like a casual conversation between fans of the four color funnies than a corporate shill session. No bible ratings this time. Just a “well done”, IDW. Let’s do it again next year.