“Welcome aboard the USS Challenger. I’m Captain Jeff Chamberlain. If you’ll step down off the transporter pads, we’ll begin our tour.
Captain Jeff Chamberlain, deck 3 corridor, USS Challenger
“Before we begin, I’d like to give you a little context about Challenger‘s mission. In just a short time, the USS Enterprise should conclude its five-year mission, the only Constitution-class starship out of the original 12 to do so. The other 11 starships succumbed to the dangers of space exploration. The USS Intrepid lost all hands to a giant space amoeba near Gamma 7A. The USS Constellation was destroyed while battling the so-called Doomsday Machine near L-374. The crew of the USS Exeter were killed while investigating Omega IV.
“The Hood, Potemkin, Excalibur, and Lexington were severely damaged due to the runaway M-5 computer. The Excalibur lost all hands and was set adrift, while the Lexington sustained severe damage to the engineering section but was able to continue in its mission. I served aboard the Lexington, and lost my best friend, Chief Engineer Harold Bichel. I continued serving under Commodore Wesley as the new chief engineer until the Lexington, too, met its demise to an aggressive D-7 Klingon cruiser near Beta-Delta XII. I was part of the surviving crew who had to stay alive on the class-L planet for 40 days until help arrived. My back was broken, and I can tell you that it was a long 40 days. That’s where Challenger comes in.”
“During my recovery at Starbase 1, I petitioned Starfleet to create a new kind of ship and mission. I had plenty of time flat on my back in the medical bay to work on my proposal. Using all the data from every ship in Starfleet to that point, I outlined and addressed the weaknesses that led to the destruction of the ships and the loss of their crews. At the same time, I examined the non-sentient parts of the Enterprise that have contributed to its singular survival. All of these traits have been incorporated by Admiral Krause at Tycho Starship Yards into one prototype: Challenger. Now, I understand that the Enterprise will be getting overhauled. I’ve seen some of the fancy new engine designs that they’re planning. I wanted none of that. I wanted the most reliable, dependable, tried and true technology that Starfleet had to offer. Challenger may be the first, last, and only ship of its kind. She’s a forward-looking throwback. She’s the size of a Constitution-class starship, but she only crews 204. I’m hoping you’ll be part of that crew. Each of you were recommended to me by your individual captains.
Comparison of Constitution-class and Challenger-class
Challenger‘s mission is not one of exploration. Challenger‘s mission is crisis and emergency response. You won’t find state-of-the-art astrophysics labs or stellar cartography decks onboard. You will find an entire deck of emergency crew quarters to house survivors and refugees. You will find large cargo holds to transport medicines and grains. And you will find an expansive shuttlecraft bay with no fewer than 16 N-type Javelin shuttlecraft for emergency evacuation and rescue.
“But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the top. If you’ll follow me…”
Turbolift, USS Challenger
Shhkkkt.
“Computer; bridge.”
Shhkkkt.
Vrrrrrrr
“Such a satisfying sound, isn’t it? I understand that newer ships will have silent doors. I think that’s a shame. As you can see on the deck plans here, there are two turbolifts that go to the bridge. We typically use the main turbolift on the port side of the communications station. We reserve the secondary turbolift for emergencies. During my convalescence, I read too many incident reports of crew being trapped on the bridge after an incident with the sole turbolift being taken out of commission.
Shhkkkt.
Bridge, USS Challenger
“Captain on the bridge!”
“Shin, you’re the only one here.”
“Yes, Captain, except for the recruits you’re bringing on.”
“You have me there. Everyone, this is Lieutenant Shin Ch’tolnan, one of our tactical officers. It’s something new we’re trying out, separating the weapons systems from the conn. It’s enough to have to fly the ship under duress. It is thought that a dedicated weapons alcove would be more efficient. It’s one of the changes I didn’t come up with, but seems like a good idea.
“As you can see, there are two security stations, one for internal security and one for weapons systems. If necessary, they can be manned by two crewpersons. Shin knew we were coming because of an alert from his station. So, the port side of the bridge is typically manned by engineering or security officers. Communications is right behind the captain’s chair.”
Bridge, port stations, USS ChallengerLt. (j.g) Shin Ch’tolnan, junior tactical officer, USS ChallengerBridge station layout, USS ChallengerBridge, starboard stations, USS Challenger
“Over on the starboard side, we have Landing Party Monitoring, the medical station, and your typical science station. The interesting one is Landing Party Monitoring. You’ve probably noticed the device on my uniform that looks like a belt buckle. It’s called a Perscan, and it automatically feeds biometric data back to the ship via subspace link. It also helps maintain a transporter lock without relying on a communicator, which can be lost or taken away.
Perscan deviceMain bridge seen from viewscreen, USS Challenger
“And obviously, we have navigation, the helm, and the captain’s chair. Nobody really ever gets this view, since you have to stand in front of the viewscreen to get it. All right, take a good last look around and head to the main turbolift. You remember which one is the main lift, right?
“It’s the one on the port side. If you ever forget, it’s the one with the dedication plaque next to it.
Dedication plaque, USS Challenger
“Get back on that simulator, Shin. You need to get up to speed.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Isometric view of bridge, USS Challenger
Shhkkkt.
“Computer, deck three, aft.”
Vrrrrrrrr
Shhkkkt.
“Here we are, back on deck three. Deck two is taken up by a docking port. I was against that idea, because it provides easy access to the bridge for intruders, but I was overruled. Once we get underway, I’ll probably have the chief engineer weld it shut. Once we have a chief engineer, anyway.
Conference room, deck three aft, USS Challenger
“This is the conference room. On Constitution-class ships, the conference room was too far away from the bridge to be of practical use most times. In situations where solutions are not obvious, I always invite suggestions from my staff, and even debate, right up until I make my final decision.
“I like this room because it provides a good view of the nacelles. I may be a captain, but I’m still an engineer at heart.
Isometric view of conference room, USS Challenger
Shhkkkt.
“Also on deck three, we have transporter room one, where you beamed in. The Constitution-class ships had four transporter rooms. We have eight, and each one has eight pads and a cargo pad instead of the previous six-pad platforms. When we dedicate enough power to it, we can transport 80 people at the same time. That means we can move our entire crew in about two minutes if they’re standing by.”
Lt. Hal Bichel, security/communications officer, USS Challenger
“Ah, and Hal got here while we were gone to stock the armory. Everyone, this is Lieutentant Hal Bichel. Hal is a rare breed. She is both a communications and security officer. She had a double focus at the Academy.”
“What’s that, Commander? She has the same last name as my best friend? That’s not a coincidence. He was her father. Hal was with us on the Lexington when she was just a cadet. She’s also my goddaughter. Let’s–go ahead and continue our tour. I’ll see you later, Hal.”
Isometric view of Transporter Room 1, USS Challenger
Shhkkkt.
“Computer, deck five aft.”
Vrrrrrrrr
Shhkkkt.
Isometric view of Sick Bay, USS Challenger
“Pretty impressive, right? Here we are in the aft section of the middle of deck five, in the most heavily protected part of the ship. This is unchanged from the Constitution-class. None of the Sick Bays ever took direct hits in combat. This, however, is one of the most advanced medical facilities in Starfleet, only second to Starbase 1, though capacity is smaller, for obvious reasons. Sick Bay even has its own dedicated transporter room.
“Oh, and look who’s lurking about. This is Dr. Jenn Carmichael, my personal pain in the–”
Dr. Jenn Carmichael, nerve specialist, USS Challenger
“Don’t you say it, Captain. And speaking of backsides, have you done your physical therapy yet?”
“I’m getting to it. I’m a little busy, as you can see.”
“Captain, if you want to keep your command, you will do your physical therapy twice a day. I may not be the Chief Medical Officer, but I’m responsible for YOU.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Hey, everybody, remember how I told you that I broke my back? Well, turns out there was a little permanent nerve damage that went with it, which also happens to be my nickname for Lieutenant Carmichael. My sciatic nerve acts up from time to time. Good thing Starfleet made a new rule about landing parties. Captains pretty much stay in their chairs unless it’s absolutely necessary. And I have a really good chair.”
Office of the Chief Medical Officer, USS ChallengerMain bio bed room, USS ChallengerPhysical examination room, USS ChallengerLt Commander Brag bav Blav, trauma counselor, USS Challenger
“Oh, and look who it is! Dr. Brag bav Blav, everyone. Our trauma specialist. How’s it going, Doc?”
“How do you think it’s going, Captain? I just restocked my Saurian brandy. Again. I’m having Bichel put up a security force field on my display. These the new recruits?”
“Hopefully.”
“Well, I can’t wait ta get inside yer heads, kids.”
“Uh, okay, then, let’s continue, everyone.”
Shhkkkt.
“Computer, deck 16. aft.”
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Shhkkkt.
“And here we are in my favorite place, Engineering. I saved the best for last.
“Over to the side is Auxiliary Control, where we can actually operate the ship if the bridge is compromised. And over here you see the warp core. What’s wrong, you’ve never seen anything like it? Well, my friend Woody, there, can tell you why. He’s the Assistant Chief Engineer. Lieutenant Wooderson?”
Lieutenant Chadwick “Woody” Wooderson, assistant chief engineer, USS Challenger
“All right, all right, all right! You must be the new recruits Cap’n has been trying to woo. This here is the fastest warp engine ever devised. Challenger has been rated for sustained speeds of warp factor eight, but we can push her up to warp nine if we have to. Of course, we can’t shoot when we go that fast, but you can’t have everything. She’s got some giddyup, and she purrs like a kitten at warp six. The only thing she don’t like is sittin’ still.”
Upper deck of engineering, USS ChallengerJeffries tube, USS Challenger
“Thanks, Woody. As you can see the warp core is installed vertically, requiring a second floor, which is new. And yes, we have a Jeffries tube for control access. No one likes to go in there, and hopefully no one will have to.
Isometric view of engineering, lower deck, USS ChallengerIsometric view of engineering, upper deck, USS Challenger
“Well, that pretty much concludes our little tour, unless you’re excited by cargo bays and crew quarters.
“If you’re still interested in serving aboard Challenger, I’m reviewing applications for the next several days. I look forward to reading yours.”
Credits:
Ship and shuttlecraft design by Bill Krause, @buckadmiral on Twitter, @admiralbuck on Instagram
Interiors by Craig Shoosmith, @tekknonerd on both Twitter and Tumblr
Spoilers for Season Two, Episodes 1-5 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follow. Go watch it!
Well, that was a whirlwind! I just finished watching the second season finale of Strange New Worlds season two, and I have to say, the whole thing went by much faster than I wanted it to. Using the modern format of 10-episode seasons made popular by the BBC and carried into the cable/streaming era here in the United States, SNW made the most of a limited format, carrying overarching character plots. Despite the episodic feel of the show, a deliberate departure after the slow, soap opera-like burn provided by its immediate predecessor, Star Trek: Discovery, we got satisfying character development arcs from many of the main characters.
In episode one, The Broken Circle, we pick right up where they left off last season, with Number One, Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley, in Federation custody for lying about her species on her Starfleet application, which takes Pike right off the screen for the season opener, which I thought was an odd choice. This leaves Spock in command to answer a call from La’an, who took a leave to find Newt’s–er, Oriana’s parents from season one, episode nine. Against Admiral April’s orders, he steals the Enterprise for the very first time (see many other episodes of Star Trek for reference) and goes to her aid. We also get a brand-new chief Engineer in Carol Kane’s eccentric Pelia, and a dark backstory for both Chapel and M’Benga, who relive a little of their war experiences as they reveal a Klingon plot to restart the recent war. Spock ends up being a successful diplomat with the Klingons due to his willingness to drink Bloodwine. Spock is obviously still afflicted by emotions that he lost control of in S01: E09. M’Benga gives him the famous Vulcan Lyre to help deal with his overwhelming emotions, especially in regards to Christine Chapel. That was a lot to unpack for one episode! No wonder they sent Pike off-screen!
The second episode, Ad Astra Per Aspera, gives us a fantastic trial story, which is one of Star Trek’s true strengths. Through the years, there have been a number of great ones, from TOS’s Court Martial to TNG’s The Measure of a Man. This one is just as good. We get a healthy dose of Number One’s backstory, with the difficulty of an Illyrian trying to live within the Federation. It’s nothing short of inspiring. We also get to see Captain Pike’s sometime girlfriend, Captain Batel, back to prosecute the case. This lays groundwork for their relationship for the rest of the season as well. But one of the things that Star Trek does best is to hide modern issues under the veneer of science fiction. This episode was all about civil rights and identity politics and was well done. And just pencil Yetide Badaki in for an Emmy for best guest performance in a drama. The only thing that kind of tripped me up about this episode was wondering why Captain Batel was a prosecutor working for the JAG office when she’s a starship captain, in command of the Cayuga. She even refers to her “boss,” Vice Admiral Basalk, a Vulcan with a mean streak.
Then, in the third episode, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, we get thrown for an entire loop, with a seemingly random time travel episode featuring La’an Noonien-Singh and her new boyfriend, Captain James T. Kirk?? What? La’an encounters a time traveler, who puts her on a path to another timeline where there’s no Federation because of an event in the 21st century. She and alternate timeline Kirk do the buddy cop thing and are whisked off to what Kirk thinks is New York City. It’s actually Toronto, which is hilarious because Toronto often stands in for New York in television. After the trademark Star Trek bit where local clothing has to be procured, Kirk gets them some operating capital by hustling chess. I love this particular bit, because so often Kirk is relegated to a horny frat boy in today’s thinking. But TOS first season Kirk was a master strategist, and beat Spock at three-dimensional chess, so this was a great callback to his original depiction in TOS. As with so many time travel stories, they are confronted by whether or not to kill Hitler, or in this case, Khan Noonien-Singh, La’an’s ancestor and Kirk’s deadliest enemy (in the future). In the process of investigating the source of a bridge explosion, they need ground transportation, and this Kirk shows his aptitude for driving cars is far superior to his prime timeline counterpart. The kicker is, though, that La’an falls in love with alternate timeline Kirk. She finally lets her very tightly-wound hair down a little, but he’s killed. La’an spares Khan, who by Star Trek history, should have by now already taken over a quarter of the world, but due to Romulan and other time-travelling interference, the timeline has been officially altered. The timeline is restored, but La’an is forever changed, and according to regulations, is forbidden to talk about it. La’an contacts the James Kirk in her timeline under the pretense that she’s checking on his brother Sam, which leads to some great stuff down the road.
The fourth episode, Among the Lotus Eaters, requires an aside. This title is so reminiscent of TOS, it’s just perfect. It’s metaphorical, and has no actual literal connection to the episode. It does have a literary connection, and that’s something the original series did to the extreme. A nice touch. Pike takes a step back from Batel just as she is refused a promotion, blowback from her weak prosecution of Una. Terrible timing on his part. The Enterprise returns to Rigel VII, the very mission Pike describes to Phillip Boyce in the beginning of The Cage, the first TOS pilot. He goes into more detail about the people lost on the mission here, and chooses a small landing party, including the doctor. M’Benga is a little miffed because he was chosen for his combat skills. Starfleet has spotted a delta shape in a garden using photography, since the atmosphere of the planet prevents scanning. At the last second, Ortegas, who was jumping at the chance to fly a shuttlecraft down, finally getting to be on the landing party, has to remain behind to fly the Enterpise on a complicated course. When the landing party arrives, under cover, they are taken captive. The supposed bronze-age society is armed with phaser rifles. Turns out that Pike’s yeoman from five years ago, Zac, is alive and well, and ruling the people. He punishes Pike and company by deliberately exposing them to the planet’s radiation’s terrible effects, where they lose their memories every night. That’s where the title comes from in Greek mythology. With the radiation affecting the ship as well as the landing party, everyone is in danger, especially La’an, who is sliced open while defending Pike.
When M’Benga and La’an recover their memories after Pike overthrows Zac, the two most traumatized members of the crew realize that the short respite, thanks to not remembering, could be pleasant. In the end, Pike and Batel realize that very few people could understand each other the way they do, and they kiss and make up.
After four very serious episodes, the fifth gives us Vulcan highjinks again, like last season’s Spock Amok. I like Vulcan shenanigans. Charades delves into Spock’s struggle with the emotions released in S01:E09 to the point where, on the eve of meeting T’Pring’s parents, he is involved in a shuttle accident and an alien life force transmutes his entire genome into that of a human. Yes, when he wakes up, the ears are round. Now, I want to pause here a minute to talk about something very serious: Spock’s sideburns.
Spock’s sideburns were a mess during the entire first season. They were worse on Discovery when he finally shaved off his beard, but all through the first season of SNW, they struggled to get it right. It’s been great during the second season!
Trial and Error
In Charades, Spock and Chapel are still dancing around one another, feeling awkward about their obvious relationship. To make matters worse, Chapel is applying for a Vulcan fellowship, studying with Roger Korby, whom we know is to be engaged to Christine. It’s part of her backstory, revealed in the TOS episode, What Are Little Girls Made Of? That makes us, the viewers, quite uncomfortable if we’re routing for Spockel–Chock? Whatever their merging would be called. Due to a shuttle accident, Spock is injured, then healed by an alien life force. Unfortunately, the source code they use to rebuild him was based on Chapel, who is completely human. Spock wakes up fully human and then the fun begins! Spock’s mother shows up in anticipation of Spock’s and T’Pring’s engagement dinner. She can tell immediately something is wrong. When they try to hide it, it’s very difficult for Spock to adapt. He almost strangles Sam Kirk in a meeting when Sam leaves a mess in front of him on a table. In the meantime, Chapel arranges for Ortegas and Uhura to travel adjacent to the anomaly that caused the crash, where they deal with aliens who I would call the Customer Servicians. They speak like the worst customer service people imagininable. In the course of Christine’s interaction with the Customer Servicians, she is forced to admit that she has feelings for Spock, admitting to a serious affection that she has had difficulty expressing for anyone for the entirety of the series. This character growth empowers her later when the Vulcan Science Academy turns her application for the fellowship down. During the engagement dinner, we meet T’Pring’s parents, and they are the most human Vulcans ever. T’Pril is an overbearing stereotype of a mother, and Sevek is the beaten-down husband whose testicles are being stored in a drawer. It is hilarious to witness the interplay between two Vulcans who are more human than Spock despite their full-blooded genomes. By the end of the episode, T’Pring has broken off the engagement with Spock, who reveals his temporary human nature to the in-laws to honor his mother, whom T’Pril has insulted continually since her arrival on board. This gives Spock and Chapel the opportunity to explore their feelings for one another, a tension that will be felt for the rest of the season.
Two years ago, I asked my wife if I could buy two “toys” that could be for both my birthday and Christmas presents. I wanted the 1/6 scale Batman and Robin from the 60s TV show that my friend Scott Wiles had just picked up. These things are insane. They come with multiple hands and batarangs bat-cuffs, and radios. And yes, Batman comes with a bomb. Some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb, you know?
They were $500 for the pair. Crazy money, I know, but bear with me. I got a good deal on them, and I was going to display them in my office/studio, when I finally got it done. I loved this TV show when I was a kid and it was the impetus for me learning to read.
Sideshow Collectibles 1/6 scale Batman and Robin
Well, I started putting stuff on shelves and I dug the two “toys” out, still in their multiple-layered boxes. Just out of curiosity, I looked up their current prices on Ebay. $1100-$1200 for the pair!
Wait. What?
It may be the small town/country kid in me, but I can’t own two toys worth $1200. I just can’t do it. So, this past weekend, I sold them as part of the stuff that I had at the Elkhart Collectibles Expo when I sold everything on my table in one fell swoop. Cleaned out a lot of storage space in my garage, too.
Now, I do like collecting things. I like the thrill of the hunt. I like finding things in unusual places and getting bargains. And while I sold off most of my most collectible things when we adopted Sera, one thing stuck with me for a long time: My vintage Mego Superman. I told the story of it here.
Even at 50 years old, Superman still has it!
When I wrote “The Case of the Eight-Inch Action Figures” for my Solution Squad comics, I remembered what great fun those 8″ figures were. My brother and I eventually had Superman, Spider-Man, Kirk, Spock, Captain Marvel, Kid Flash, Johnny Gage from Emergency, and Hondo Harrelson from SWAT. We could only get away with playing with them at my dad’s and my grandparent’s houses, but we loved them.
This week, I was thinking, well, if I can’t bring myself to have $1200 toys, maybe I can still collect Mego figures. I have been picking up the 50th anniversary set, and last summer I bought a great set of the first six Star Trek Megos from 1974. Captain Kirk came with a broken leg, but I actually had a bag of Mego cadavers that I picked up somewhere or other, and I used a pin from a detached leg to repair him as good as new.
“We can rebuild him…”
So, the other day, I started down a rabbit hole. A few years before Mego made a comeback as a company, there was another called Figures Toy Company and they had produced 8″ figures in the style of Mego in mass quantities. I wanted to see just what they had out there. I immediately found what I was looking for.
Are they Hot Toys quality? Of course not, but I don’t care. They’re $50 for the pair, not $1200! While I was exploring the various figures they had, I was taken by the fact that they also sell blank bodies and heads in various colors. And I thought, I could make my own custom figures, as a friend had done for me with Radical.
I started looking at videos of how to customize Mego figures and I watched one guy just crush an Indiana Jones figure with a 3D-sculpted head, and all he used were cheap acrylic paints and a clear acrylic coat. My eyes aren’t good enough to paint tiny gaming miniatures anymore, but I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at that.
But what compels me to collect things like this? Clearly, the theft of my childhood inspired me to draw a line in the sand, but one would think that after years and years of recovering it, I’d feel complete by now. I don’t. I don’t think I ever will. I don’t play with the toys. They sit on shelves and look cool. But I did play with Mego figures and even make sets for them up until the day I went to high school. My dad, thanks to my grandmother’s advice, let me make up for lost time. But he gently suggested it was time to grow up, especially since I had a job, could drive a car and change its oil, chopped wood with an axe, and worked with power tools. When I started playing football in 9th grade, the desire just kind of went away, especially when I was trying to get the attention of girls.
Since my wife hasn’t threatened to leave me unless I grow up, I guess I’ll continue to enjoy the things I enjoy! Here’s just a sample of what I’ve found online so far:
I liked to help out my grandparents whenever I could. My grandpa had just turned 68 at the end of January and my grandma turned 64 on Christmas Eve of 1977. That was one of the funny things about my Grandma McClain. She had a December birthday, like me, and knew what it was like to get those combination gifts. Some of you know, I’m sure: “This is for your birthday and Christmas both.” She always made sure that I received separate gifts and cards for my birthday, and she always made me a cake after I went to live with my dad. You know, looking back on it now, it only happened six times before I was off to college, but I appreciated that chocolate cake with chocolate frosting every time.
My grandpa installed a woodstove in the dining room of their small house in Mesick. It was the 70s, you know, and that meant the energy crisis. The cost of oil was skyrocketing, and that included heating oil. My grandparents had a heating oil tank outside the kitchen window that powered the furnace in the winter and it was getting expensive. My grandpa bought wood by the cord and it was stacked up outside the back door, which led to the mud room. Whenever the woodbox in the mudroom got low, they had me come over and split wood. Yes, with an axe, just like a lumberjack. I would spend an hour or so out on the back patio, gradually de-layering from my winter coat to a down vest, down to a flannel shirt as I chopped. I could work up a pretty good sweat, even in the winter. I’d switch from chopping right-handed to left-handed to work out different muscles and avoid getting too sore. I’d been chopping wood since I was 12, and I knew a few tricks. When I was done, my grandpa would slip me a dollar without my dad knowing. My dad would have really been upset if he’d known Grandpa was paying me anything. They were already helping us out while my dad was out of work. I would take the money, though, and buy comic books or trading cards and the occasional candy bar.
I bought one of my favorite comics ever with one of those dollars. It was Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #239.
Superboy #239, cover by Mike Grell and Josef Rubinstein
I loved the Legion books because they were teenagers, just like me. Well, they were probably a little older since I’d been a teenager for two whole months, but you get the point. It had a science fiction bent, being set in the 30th century, always 1000 years ahead of our time. So, this one would have been set in 2978 instead of 1978. I always thought it was funny that it wasn’t 1000 years ahead of Superboy’s time. It was 1000 years ahead of Superman‘s (our) time. In the best way, the Legion stories were kind of like Star Trek and superheroes combined.
This particular comic starred my favorite Legionnaire, Ultra Boy. As I wrote here, I like Ultra Boy because he could only use his ultrapowers one at a time. He could be strong or invulnerable or fast. He could fly or use his penetra-vision (like X-Ray vision but he could see through lead, too) or his flash vision (think heat vision), but only one at a time. He was limited, and had to be smart about it. There’s an entire power framework in the superhero RPG Champions built around this concept. The power slots are labeled “ultra” slots with good reason!
In the comic, Ultra Boy wakes up in a crashed space ship without his flight ring and no memory of how he got there. In fact, he’s not even sure on which planet or moon he is. As he slowly figures things out, he gets sold out by a former flame, who is then immediately murdered by a weapon that mimics Ultra Boy’s flash vision. Jo (Ultra Boy’s real name) quickly discovers that he’s being hunted on his home planet of Rimbor, and not by just anyone, but the Legion itself, his own teammates. He’s been framed for murder! Ultra Boy leads them on a merry chase, using his knowledge about his friends to keep things to his advantage. Ultra Boy uses his strength to defeat Star Boy, who had pinned Ultra Boy with his gravity powers, then takes his flight ring so he can fly and use one of his other powers at the same time. He even manages to outmaneuver Superboy and Mon-El so that they crash into each other at superspeed, stunning both. But eventually, Colossal Boy sucker punches Ultra Boy from around a corner, and Superboy and Mon-El combine to knock him out with a timed simultaneous punch. When Ultra Boy comes to, he’s about to be turned over to the authorities, when Chamelon Boy shows up to clear his name, using good old-fashioned detective work, which he was doing while the rest of the Legionnaires were busy fighting.
This is still one of my favorite issues of all time. It has great artwork by Jim Starlin, inked by Joe Rubinstein, with finished dialogue by Paul Levitz.
I love it so much that when I wrote an illustrated prose Solution Squad story for my graphic novel, I had a cover drawn by my friends Paul Schultz and Shelby Edmunds that is reminiscent of the cover of this book.
Cover of The Last Boy, by Paul Schultz and Shelby Edmunds
Looking back, much of my Solution Squad graphic novel was informed by these influential comics of my adolescence. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Spoilers for Season one of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follow. Go watch it!
I love this show. I really do. I have watched all 10 episodes of the first season six times each. I will likely do so again before the new season begins on June 15. Yet, according to the person I was for over 50 years, I should hate it with a fiery, red-hot passion.
Confused?
Strange New Worlds is a prequel series to TOS (The Original Series), also known as Star Trek. It takes place about six years before Captain Kirk takes command of the Enterprise. In the year 2259, the Enterprise is commanded by Captain Christopher Pike, whom, as TOS fans know, ends up paralyzed in an accident. He appears in the season one two-parter, “The Menagerie,” which utilizes the original pilot (entitled “The Cage”) for Star Trek, but with a new wrapper featuring the characters the series ended up with. Pike is so bad off, he can only answer questions with one beep or two, to indicate yes or no. In that episode, Spock commandeers the Enterprise to return Pike to Talos IV, where Pike can live a life free from his metaphorical prison with the help of the mental illusion powers of that planet’s inhabitants.
Captain Kirk with Captain Pike
In Strange New Worlds, Christopher Pike is in his prime, at the height of his powers, one of which has to be his remarkable hair.
Captain Christopher Pike, played by Anson Mount and his hair
This Pike is unlike most captains on Star Trek. He is charming and affable, yes, but he freely mixes and mingles with his crew, often inviting them to his incredibly spacious cabin for gourmet meals, which he prepares.
Pike, with his Number One, Commander Una Chin-Riley
But Pike also has a slightly dark side. When he appeared in Strange New Worlds‘ predecessor, Star Trek: Discovery, Pike experienced his grisly future through the magic of Klingon time stones. Pike knows what’s coming and deals with this knowledge in different ways throughout the series.
We are given a number of other characters familiar to us from TOS, including Number One, a younger and more emotional Lieutenant (not Commander) Spock, and communications officer Uhura, a fourth-year cadet from Starfleet Academy. We also get to know Dr. M’Benga better, as he is the Chief Medical Officer of this Enterprise, instead of a guest star who specializes in Vulcan physiology, assisting Dr, McCoy. Even Christine Chapel is on board, as a nurse, maybe, but not simply a subordinate to the CMO. Chapel is an expert on manipulating genomes and can even make genetic disguises for the crew to blend in with alien races. This is where the old version of me would have gone ballistic.
Let’s start with Chapel. I love Jess Bush in this role. She’s spunky, she’s smart, she’s charming, and she and Spock have become good friends over the course of the season. They have incredible chemistry together. Gone is the pining nurse who can never have or know the Vulcan science officer. On TOS, Chapel appeared as if she had no clue who Spock’s betrothed T’Pring was when she appeared on the Enterprise viewscreen. Uhura even asked who T’Pring was. On Strange New Worlds, Chapel and T’Pring know each other and even worked together to deceive an alien who had taken over the Enterprise. This is clearly not a strict prequel, paying attention to what has aired before.
There are a whole lot more of these instances in the 10 episodes. Everyone, for example, seems to know about Vulcan mating rituals, where on TOS, it was so secret, McCoy didn’t tell Kirk even after he learned of Spock’s condition due to Pon Farr. “It is not for outworlders; intensely private,” Spock says. Yet the human characters in Strange New Worlds joke about being hit with lirpas, the traditional Vulcan weapons used in Kal-If-Fee, the mating ritual by challenge. All that said, I don’t care. The Vulcan episodes with T’Pring are fun, bordering on shenanigans. They even use callback music during a dream sequence with Spock fighting himself in “Spock Amok,” just as he will eventually fight Kirk in the “Amok Time” episode of TOS.
The Gorn, seen in the TOS episode “Arena,” are super fast and extremely aggressive in this show, very much unlike the Gorn captain whom Kirk defeated. They are a combination of the Xenomorph from Alien and the Predator, from the movie of the same name. Despite this retroactive continuity, this actually provides some entertaining and deeply moving psychological storylines featuring Lt. La’an Noonian-Singh, played by Christina Chong. She’s one of my favorite characters on the show, as she’s dealing with a whole lot of trauma and doing the best she can to get by. The Gorn episodes are not only reminiscent of TOS, but of the science fiction/action movies of the 80s. It’s a great addition to have a formidable villain that’s not a Klingon or Romulan, despite its lack of attention to the continuity of the franchise.
One of the most striking differences in Strange New Worlds is the Enterprise herself. The ship has a luxuriously massive interior, in no way compatible with the original Enterprise that everyone knows. Just take a look at the difference in the bridge scenes, as they look out the viewscreen.
A tale of two viewscreens
Ridiculous? Maybe, but you know that if Gene Roddenberry had had this kind of money to spend and technology to utilize, he would have. This new bridge is glorious. And thanks to Episode 10, “A Quality of Mercy,” we know that this is the same as what the Enterprise would look like in their version of TOS. We are simply being asked to accept that this is what was intended, and I, for one, am willing to go along with it 100%. Honestly the art design of this show hits me in the sweet spot, combining mid-20th-century sensibilities with a view of the future that TOS Matt Jeffries gave us almost 60 years ago. It looks like the late 1950s exploded through futuristic technology. It’s like Disneyland’s Tomorrowland on steroids and I’m here for it.
One of the best ways that Strange New Worlds ties itself to the Star Trek franchise is through the music. There are callbacks and call-forwards to other great Star Trek themes. Nami Melumad grabs cues from everywhere and melds them flawlessly with her original pieces. It really works. I’ve been waiting for this score to drop forever, and today, it finally did. I look forward to writing to this music for a long time to come.
Strange New Worlds has a “truthiness” quality to it. It presents things as they might have been, could have been, or maybe even should again on Star Trek, and just tells good stories around them. I’m okay with that. I’m not just okay with that, I’m 100% onboard. With literally hundreds of Star Trek episodes and a dozen movies to limit story choices, at this point, are we really going to worry about the combination to the safe in the captain’s quarters? Ten years ago, I might have, but life is short, and the more I get to see of this show, the better.
Following the massive success of Star Wars, magazines were keen on remembering movies of times past that were similar in theme and genre. Science fiction was for a time no longer simply the milieu of nerds. One of the first such magazines was Science Fantasy Film Classics, which debuted with this issue:
Science Fantasy Film Classics #1
Naturally, because Star Wars was on the cover, I asked my grandma to buy it for me, which she did. She loved how much I read about everything that interested me. But this particular magazine had something that caught my dad’s eye, too. It had a feature about Forbidden Planet, the 1956 science fiction version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. He had seen Forbidden Planet when he was 12, so in a a way, it was very much his Star Wars. I had read the article, but didn’t think very much about it, because in 1978 there was no way to see a movie like Forbidden Planet unless it was shown on television, and 1956 movies were too old to be profitable in prime time. Cue the CBS Late Movie.
Back in those days, the CBS Late movie would come on following the news, up against Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. They would fill a two-hour time slot with whatever content they had readily available. Reruns of McCloud back-to-back with another hour drama like Kojak, or MASH, followed by a 90-minute classic movie. So, imagine my surprise on Friday, January 6, when my dad roused me out of a deep sleep at midnight because, “JIMMER! FORBIDDEN PLANET IS ON!”
I was instantly awake. We had just talked about Forbidden Planet that week. Mind you, we were only able to watch it on our 9″ black and white TV, but it hardly mattered. As I watched the movie, enthralled, the C-57D floated through space similarly to the starship Enterprise. The links to the familiar didn’t end there. Here was Robby the Robot, whom I’d seen on Lost in Space. Chief Quinn was played by Richard Anderson, who I knew as Oscar Goldman. Police Woman’s Lt. Bill Crowley, Earl Holliman, was Cookie.
Earl Holliman as Cookie, with Robbie the Robot
Forbidden Planet was like the best episode of Star Trek ever. The C-57D is dispatched to determine the fate of the Bellerophon, a scientific research vessel that had been sent to Altair IV 20 years before. There, they find one original survivor, Dr. Morbius, and his young daughter, Altaira. The rest of the Bellerophon crew is dead, including Altaira’s mother. Morbius, the lone survivor, is not happy to see the crew of the C-57D, and wants them to simply go away. He has been studying the lost civilization of a race called the Krell, who harnessed the powers of the mind to create incredible scientific advances. Morbius himself has been able to created incredible technologies like Robbie the Robot, who acts as servant, manufacturer, and protector to Morbius and his daughter. When the captain, played by a very straight Leslie Nielsen, inform him that they are required to investigate, Morbius tries resisting them at every turn. However, he is foiled by his daughter Altaira, who has grown up without peers on Altair IV. She is very interested in the captain and his crew, and therein, a very Kirklike struggle begins.
I love this movie, and the more I saw it over the course of years, finally in color, then in digital widescreen format, I loved it even more every time. I picked up the novelization at a yard sale years later, and, as I always did, I read it cover to cover, trying to glean every last bit of information from it.
Perhaps most importantly, though, my dad and I bonded over something that we now had in common, and even though I was up until 2 AM, I got my full night’s sleep, waking up late. But I was dreaming of Altair IV.
