Maiden Voyage

Greetings, Mes Amis! And welcome to the inaugural post for my Star Trek fan-comic: Other Trek. Or what if Captain Kirk's mind was trapped in Janice Lester's body after the final episode of the original series. More talk after the cover image below. Oh yeah, Star Trek and all related likenesses are trademark and the intellectual property of CBS corporation.
(P.S. for now the posts are running oldest to newest. So the most recent entries will be at the bottom)



Still here? Great! As you can tell, I'm a huge fan of Star Trek and have wanted to do a fan production for the longest time. Unfortunately, I still don't have the time to do a fan film, but I was able to do the beginning of a fan comic. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. I also hope that you'll return as I continue the story, a few pages at a time. And now, our story:

To be continued! As I said, I hope you enjoyed my little tale and that you'll leave comments below. I can't make any money off of this, so I'd really appreciate just the feedback. So, until next time, Bon Voyage!

Behind the Scenes

Hello, all,
As you wait for the next installment of Other Trek, I thought I'd share some production sketches to hold you over until I can post the next couple of pages. As you can guess, Lieutenant Uhura will be spotlighted soon and this blog will also herald the return of Yeoman Rand. Stay tuned for more BTS stuff, plus some Q-n-A from me next time!
Boy Voyage!
(Or as they said in the He-Man movie "Safe Journey!")

WIP: Just what IS comic art?

Welcome back, my fellow voyagers!
It seems I'll have the next couple of pages completed before I do my Q-n-A thread. First, though, I'd like to share something with you. I am using this blog to not only tell some stories that I've always wanted to tell, but to also do some experimentation with the artform.  I'd love for you to let me know if you think these experiments are successful or not.
On the topic of original art, I always enjoyed collecting it in the old days because you had the complete package: pencils, inks and letters (and by extension, script). But these days the lettering is done separately on computer. It is no longer part of the original art. And I miss that!
So, for this chapter, I tried something different. I printed out the dialogue on the the board in black with the blue lines to ink to approximate the old process. Now, I know this will make things harder for me. It will make the process of doing corrections slightly more difficult. And If I suddenly have an epiphany as to a better placement for a word balloon I'm screwed. But I'm glad I have the original art in this form.
So, what do you think Other Trekkers? Do you like your original art with the word balloons? Or does it matter to you? Please let me know what you think below.
Bon Voyage!
David Neal Miller

Prog 2

Hey, there, Series-Fluid Trekkers! It's time for another chapter in the life of an alternate reality star ship captain. As I've said previously, I'm still playing around with size and format for this thing. Seeing what will work best in this venue. But the story must go on! (I'm thinking it works best when read on an iPad).
To help keep the narrative posts straight from the opinion pieces, I will be naming the story posts "Progs" like in the English comics numbering. This is Prog 2. The next will be Prog 3 and so on and so on. So, enjoy the next few panels, please leave comments below.
Mahalo!
David Neal Miller

Dreaming Out Loud

  

Welcome back, Fellow Travelers! I thank you for your patience as I work on the next installment of Other Trek. And for indulging me on these little think pieces. One can't work on a project like this and not wonder what it would look like on the small screen played out by actors. No matter how unlikely the prospect.
When one asks who would be the best actress to bring this character to life it's really a 2-pronged question, isn't it? Are you looking for someone to do a 21st century version of Sandra Smith's resting bitch face? Or do you want someone who can exude William Shatner's palpable charm and confidence? Let's go over it, shall we?
If you want the RBF it begins and ends with Anna Kendrick. That's not even open to debate. And she's not just a pretty . . . face. The lady can act. I think she could do Captain Kirk just as well as anyone.
That said, if you want someone who can do James T. Kirk bursting out of a fleshy prison in the most charismatic fashion I would have to put Anne Hathaway out there for consideration. This is a win-win situation. Either actress could do a wonderful job as Captain Kirk. If I had my druthers, though,  I'd keep the Abrams movie cast and recast Chris Pine with one of these actresses.
Of course, this is just a little parlor game we're playing here because this concept will NEVER be championed by anyone who owns the rights to Star Trek. I hope I'm proven wrong someday, but I doubt it.
So, that's it. What do you think of these choices to play the role. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing the blog. Until next time, Bon Voyage!
(ps I'm going to pin this post to the top for now. There is also a new post at the bottom.)

The Q-n-A

Greetings, Fellow Voyagers!
As I said before this will be a questions and answers post, but with a twist. Because I will be asking you the questions.
This series is a work in progress. Very much like the beginning of Marvel Comics at the start of the 60's. So I'm trying different approaches as we make our way toward the right tone for the blog and I'd love your feedback.
First of all, I am not a colorist by trade and am always wondering if the coloring on the strip is appealing to you all. I was wondering if the strip should be done black and white. Almost like a manga. So I did a test which I'm sharing below. Do you prefer the story to continue as a black and white strip or stay as color. Check it out:

Finally, because of the configuration of most computer screens, would you like the art to be formatted  like a comic strip (horizontal format)? Or to compose the page with horizontal panels so it's easier to read when scrolling? I know this works really well on an iPad or phone, but I want to consider everyone's experience.

Well, that's it for now. I am squeezing this in between paying work, so please be patient for the next installment. Though I will have more think pieces like this one.

Bon Voyage!

David Miller