Star Trek Explorer issue 3 delights with interviews, short fiction

Star Trek Explorer issue 3 beams onto newsstands on June 28.

A few days ago, we at Redshirts Always Die brought you an exclusive excerpt from the newest issue of Titan Comics’ Star Trek Explorer magazine. The issue hits newsstands this Tuesday, June 28. If you liked that first glimpse, you’re going to love the whole thing!

Even in 21st-century fandom, when information and opinion about our favorite franchise are only a push notification and a mouse click away, taking time for the more leisurely reading a magazine offers is a lot of fun.

Press deadlines don’t allow Star Trek Explorer to be the bearer of breaking Star Trek news. But its 120-plus pages of interviews with stars and creators, deep dives into the Trek mythos, and even original short fiction, all generously illustrated with full-color photographs from throughout the franchise’s 56-year history, make this magazine a delight.

De Lancie and Mulgrew interviews headline Star Trek Explorer issue 3

Star Trek Explorer issue 3 features interviews with two Star Trek actors reprising their iconic roles. John de Lancie returned as Q in season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, and Kate Mulgrew is Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy—as well as the Mirror Universe’s Janeway in the Star Trek Online game. Both performers talk about the extent to which they are or aren’t playing themselves when acting their roles and about the difference their connection to Trek has made in their careers and their lives.

The issue also contains an interview with Prodigy co-creators The Hageman Brothers and co-executive producer and director Ben Hibon and the last interview the late Eddie Paskey gave. Most familiar to Trek fans as regular “background” crew member Lieutenant Leslie, Paskey appeared in 58 of The Original Series’ 79 episodes—and in more roles than you may have realized. I never knew, for instance, that Paskey played the driver of the truck that hit and kills Edith Keeler in “The City on the Edge of Forever.”

Other pieces examine the first 100 years of the United Federation of Planets, the most memorable moments involving an Enterprise, and the biography of Captain Christopher Pike—in all his iterations—from a mostly “in-universe” perspective. Larry Nemecek takes a crack at answering fan-posed continuity conundrums while Chris Dows presents an article about the real-world science of fusion power.

The four original short stories in Star Trek Explorer issue 3 were all treats. Greg Cox spins a tale of the Botany Bay crew’s second attempt to take over the Enterprise, tightly plotted and neatly slotted in between the last scene of “Space Seed” and the ship’s arrival at Ceti Alpha V. And Lisa Klink delivers retro, pulpy sci-fi fun with “Kill Captain Proton!”

Then, the two stories in this issue’s digital supplement make timely complements to the recently “refit” Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Chris Dows’s “Cumulative Damages” gives his answer as to why Kirk accepted a promotion to the admiralty, and Peter Holmstrom’s “Explorers of the Storm” imagines a turbulent first meeting for Will Decker and Ilia that is also one of the Star Trek Phase II character Xon’s few appearances in licensed Star Trek fiction.

Star Trek Explorer issue 3 offers something for every fan, whether their interest is behind-the-scenes production information, detailed Trek trivia—or even coloring pages! Look for it on newsstands now, or check the Titan Comics website for availability and to subscribe.