Star Trek’s aliens species getting featured in IDW’s pages is a good thing

IDW launching one-shot comics about Star Trek’s aliens.

Comic publishing brand IDW has announced that on top of the regular Star Trek comics that it produces every already, they’ll begin producing a series of one-shot comics that focuses on the aliens of the Star Trek franchise.

The franchise has been producing comics for the brand for some time now, with 2020’s four-issue release of Star Trek: Voyager – Seven’s Reckoning being a notable one, and current series like Star Trek: Year Five, and Star Trek: The Mirror War.

In October IDW announced that tie-in comics for Year Five will be released soon, and now a new branded one-shot series that focuses on iconic Star Trek aliens will follow suit. These single-shot comics will be extra-long compared to your normal, monthly release.

The first of these extra long comics will be Star Trek: Klingons, which will look at the legendary Kahless; set for a February 2022 release. The follow-up book will be the Ferengis turn in April. Not sure what you can do with the Ferengi that will be captivating enough to get their own book but we’ll certainly find out.

The books will be set in the prime timeline of Star Trek lore, your home for the Next Generation’s, Voyager’s, and Discovery’s of the Trek canon. This isn’t to be confused with the events of Trek’s Mirror War event, which is taking place in the alternate universe first introduced in the original series.

The original series is also continued on in the aforementioned Year Five series as well, making that part of the prime universe.

IDW releases a press announcement for the new Star Trek one-shots

Here’s IDW’s official announcement about the comics;

"‘Star Trek: Klingons’ Comic Book Chronicles the Unforgettable Legend of a Warrior King: IDW’s February ‘Star Trek’ Special Ushers in a New Line of Oversized Comics Expanding the Lore of Alien SpeciesSAN DIEGO, CA (November 17, 2021) – IDW, the proud home to Star Trek comic books and graphic novels since 2007, will explore strange new worlds beginning in February with Star Trek: Klingons, the first thrilling installment in a series of extra-long one-shots spotlighting the franchise’s many memorable alien species.Writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, two of the lead story architects on the critically acclaimed Star Trek: Year Five series, join the fan-favorite Timothy Green II (the artist of such sci-fi hits as Starlord, Annihilators, and Animal Man) to relate the legend of Kahless the Unforgettable, the greatest warrior of the Klingon Empire, from the death of his coward brother Morath to his victory at Three Turn Bridge.“I was, in large part, raised by Star Trek… and no culture helped me come to terms with my masculinity, my anger, and my personal code of honor more than the Klingons,” says Lanzing. “So when I tell you the only thing more exciting to me than taking the Enterprise crew on their final journey in Star Trek: Year Five is getting to show the man behind the myth of Kahless The Unforgettable, you can believe it.”“The Klingon people provide a rich counterpoint to the Federation. They present a lifestyle that is loud and fearless, but also incredibly egalitarian and fair; no matter who you are, respect is earned, not given,” says Kelly. “We’ve been pitching this story since before we’d ever been hired to write Star Trek. We never in a million years thought it would be a story we actually got to bring to life. And with an artist of the caliber of Timothy Green II — whose detailed, beautiful work owes so much to the greats of Japanese tradition — this will be a saga worthy of Kahless.”Following February’s tale of the legendary Klingon warrior Kahless, IDW will continue its tour of prominent species with Star Trek: Ferengi in April, featuring the Milky Way’s most cunning and avaricious aliens. These special one-shots will provide fans with new stories set within the “prime reality,” while IDW’s massive Star Trek: Mirror War event (comprising a miniseries of nine issues and several spin-off one-shots) delves into the lore of the Mirror Universe and its evil Enterprise crew.“There is no Star Trek without the vast population of alien species calling the universe home,” says editor Heather Antos. “From Klingons to Ferengi, Vulcans to Trill and beyond, it’s so exciting to delve deep into what makes each of the species a unique addition to the world of Trek, Mirrorverse, or otherwise!”Star Trek: Klingons will be available with two cover variants for retailers and fans to enjoy, including Cover A by interior artist Timothy Green II and a Retailer Incentive edition by Alexandra Beguez."