Publication History
The comic came about because Anthony Pascale, editor of TrekMovie.com, kept requesting to the film's co-writer Roberto Orci a way of having The Next Generation characters "pass the baton" back to the originals. When asked whether the filmmakers' involvement in the comic made it canonical, Orci stated he was in no position to declare whether it was, though he felt it could easily remain as such unless it was contradicted in a future film.
Writers Tim Jones and Mike Johnson were fans of The Next Generation and worked for Orci and Kurtzman's production company. They were allowed to read parts of the script and watch parts of the film to understand Nero more. They chose to give his Romulan crew informal dialogue to reflect that they are miners, not politicians or warriors. In figuring out where The Next Generation characters would be eight years after Star Trek Nemesis, Jones and Johnson decided if Picard had left the Enterprise, then Data – whose resurrection in B-4's body was heavily hinted at the end of Nemesis – would become captain since he is Starfleet's most capable strategist. The writers made an error of Spock stating he had lived on Romulus for forty years, which the writers tried to explain by saying Spock might have visited the planet before "Unification". The word forty was later changed to twenty in the trade paperback.
The Starfleet uniforms seen in the comic resemble those developed for Star Trek Online. Cryptic Studios is tying into the comic by including Picard's promotion to ambassador to Vulcan and Data's resurrection and promotion in the backstory to its game. Another in-joke in the comic is the inclusion of the mascot from Bad Robot Productions – J. J. Abrams' production company – in Picard's quarters.
The third issue of Star Trek Countdown was the first comic to be released in stores and on the iPhone on the same day. The four-issue comic series Star Trek: Nero takes place shortly after the events in Countdown.
IDW published the Star Trek Into Darkness prequel in 2013. The 4-issue mini-series was called Countdown Into Darkness.
Read more about this topic: Star Trek: Countdown
Famous quotes containing the words publication and/or history:
“I would rather have as my patron a host of anonymous citizens digging into their own pockets for the price of a book or a magazine than a small body of enlightened and responsible men administering public funds. I would rather chance my personal vision of truth striking home here and there in the chaos of publication that exists than attempt to filter it through a few sets of official, honorably public-spirited scruples.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)