Just found out that the Star Trek: Alien Spotlight Trade Paperback is due in comic stores today.  Although my contribution, the Andorians issue, garnered mixed reviews, I was pretty happy with the way the story came out.

Beyond the Andorian tale by myself and artist Leonard O'Grady, the spotlight also falls on the Gorn (written by Scott & David Tipton with art by David Messina), the Vulcans (written by James Patrick with art by Josep Maria Beroy), the Orions (written by Scott & David Tipton with art by Elaine Casagrande), the Borg (written by Andrew Steven Harris with art by Sean Murphy) and the Romulans (with story and art by comics legend and longtime Trek fan John Byrne). If you're a Trek fan, I think you'll be intrigued and entertained by these explorations into the cultures of the various alien races.

I have to say, as a lifelong Star Trek fan myself, getting to contribute to the legacy, even in a small way, was a pretty damn cool experience. 

Hope that those of you who snag the TPB (or read the Andorian issue when it came out) enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The 24th Century, to be precise.  Because, you see, Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: Andorians has arrived on comic book store shelves across North America today.  Tomorrow?  Well, I'm not sure about the world, but the UK usually gets their new comics on Thursdays.

Published by IDW as part of their 6-issue Alien Spotlight mini-series, Andorians features a story by yours truly and art by Leonard O'Grady.

It's the tale of one Ortees Sharad, a Starfleet Intelligence officer who returns to his homeworld only to find that a great deal of anti-Starfleet sentiment has risen in his absence.  Ever wondered why you saw so few Andorians during the Next Gen?  This should give you an idea why.

This particular comic holds a special place in my cold, withered heart for a number of reasons. 

One, I've been a Trek fan as long as I can remember.  I watched a lot of TOS as a kid, thrilling to the exploits of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov.  I played Star Trek with my neighborhood pals.  I built model kids of phasers and tricorders.  I bought iron on Trek insignia so I could put 'em on my T-Shirts to make 'em look like Starfleet uniforms.  I even started the script to a Star Trek "play" (basically an episode to be performed live) on the battered Royal typewriter that sits on my desk as I type this. 

Two, the Andorians first appeared on the episode Journey to Babel.  The one where we meet Spock's parents and his father almost gets offed by an assassin.  There is a great bit, towards the end, where Spock's human mom is chiding her husband for not thanking his son for saving his life (via blood transfusion).  He says it was the only logical thing for Spock to do.  Spock agrees with him.  No thanks are necessary.  She's more than a touch frustrated with them both.  Then comes this exchange:

Spock: She is highly emotional.
Sarek: Indeed.  She has always been so.
Spock: Then why did you marry her?
Sarek: At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do.

My dad and I did that bit, verbatim, more than a few times when my mom was off on one or the other of us for something. 

Three, I got to explore the the blue-skinned, antennaed, oh-so-cool Andorians! 

Four, I got to set a scene on Ten-Forward on the Enterprise-D.  Heck, I even got to put a few words of dialog in Deanna Troi's mouth.

Five, it was a chance to finally work with the fine folks at IDW, who have been putting out excellent comics for several years now.

Six, did I mention that I've been a Trek fan for as long as I can remember?

If you have to, head out to your local comic book store and pick up a copy, won't you?

Oh, and "Live Long and Prosper."

Hey Folks,

Just got a look at the alternate cover for Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: Andorians by Zach Howard and I thought I'd share.



Click for larger version

I think you've still got time to put in your orders at your local comics retailer, so if you want to make sure you get a copy, pass along Previews order code SEP07 3773.  The two covers are being shipped in a 50/50 ratio, rather than having separate order codes for each, so if you have a preference, you should probably let your retailer know that as well!

Also, as previous mentioned (Has it actually been a week since I updated this thing?!?), Wednesday the 26th saw the release of the Captain America: Red, White & Blue anthology in softcover.  Very cool.



If you didn't get a copy of the hardcover, I highly recommend picking up the softcover edition.  Lots of great stories.  Lots of great art.

News so exciting, I'm posting it from the road at a ridiculous hour!

I have, quite literally, been a Star Trek fan for as long as I can remember.  So when IDW offered me the opportunity to play in that particular sandbox, I was tremendously excited.

Well now I'm pleased to announce that my first journey "...where no one has gone before!" (Yeah, I know it was originally "no man" but the story is set in the era of Star Trek: The Next Generation) is in the Previews catalog (Order Code: SEP07 3773) for comics being released in November.

Here's the scoop:



STAR TREK: ALIEN SPOTLIGHT: ANDORIANS
Written by Paul Storrie, art by Leonard O'Grady, covers by Zach Howard and O'Grady.

In the vast Star Trek universe, many diverse alien races abound, and now they finally get their due!  Continuing a series of one-shots, each by a different creative team and featuring a different Star Trek alien race.  Now, the spotlight shines on the Andorians.  In the issue written by Paul Storrie, Andorian Ortees Shared, a Commander in Starfleet Intelligence, returns to his homeworld while on leave and finds himself in the midst of mistrust and deception, and is captured by a renegade commander of the "True Heirs of Andor."

Make sure to let your local comics retailer know that you want a copy!