Star Trek is generally pretty cool and relevant. (It’s even more true that bad things in our world, emotions are proven.) However, there’s no denying that Star Trek: Lower Deck has brought a new generation to the collective. The franchise’s first comedy (and the first animated series since 1974), the Lower Deck cleverly demonstrates the mind and humanity that immerses this massive universe.
In fact, low decks are so successful that they have been spun into the world of comics in the last few months (provided by IDW). The Lower Decks title has already released six issues, with writers Ryan North and artists Derek Charm and Jack Lawrence extending the show’s sensible humor, strange charm and cheesy sci-fi magic of deep love. Now in issue 7, the new team is about to expand their low-deck winning streak as Tim Sheridan and Robby Cook launch an all-new story, Extrayansable Arc.
It is scheduled to be released on May 14th (FOC is FYI, Monday, April 7th), and Lower Decks #7 focuses on the relationship between Captain Freeman and Beckett Mariner’s mother-daughter. Here, the Good Captain is re-registering her stubborn daughter with the story that she “just when she was younger (Beckett)” and “mistakes help us grow.” All of that is that the young Freeman once “mistaken all the crew accidentally disappeared in an experiment,” and everything has it all. Bad science is not an excuse, but at least it’s a good excuse for family ties!
Prior to Lower Decks #7, I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Sheridan via email. So we talked about his love for the Star Trek franchise, the “resurrection” promoted by the show’s lower deck, the sentiment of this new arc, his collaboration with Cook, and what to expect from the long-term title. Live long, thrive completely, and continue reading.
Check out the exclusive interior art below (gifted by IDW).
Provided by IDW.
AIPT: How many trekkies were you in advance? Do you really have to be that big in the series to create a Star Trek story? Is the franchise so big that it is available?
Tim Sheridan: I don’t know what it’s like to create a Star Trek story without becoming a fan. Because this franchise has been a huge part of my life every day since I was a boy. I grew up in the 80s when the original cast film came out and generated a lot of new interest in trekking. There were reruns of TOS, new TNG shows, comics, novels, conventions and toys. It was a golden age and I was very happy for all of it.
AIPT: It generally feels like a low deck takes off and is a “revival” of Star Trek as a whole. Do you agree and why do you think so?
TS: It’s a lot like the resurrection that led me to trekking as a child. There was nostalgia that existed among our parents, and when they first aired or rerun, they would tell their kids that. The low deck feels like it’s packed with nostalgic feelings about every ST, especially in the TNG era. So people of my age have the opportunity to get their kids the opportunity to love it in this fun, entertaining, as well as very classic sci-fi animation show. But then – and this will shock you – they’re just good, so good things take off. And the TV show on the deck below was very good. I enjoyed Canon a bit and knew when to rise in high stakes situations and become a hero and when to add it.
AIPT: What are the elements that make a good Star Trek story? I’m thinking of something like the next Gen episode, “Darmok.”
TS: For me, it’s first and foremost about the relationships between the main cast. It’s something that can easily be relevant for all of us. No matter what century we live in, it’s the same in science fiction. The great science fiction that is the foundation of everything in trekking is masking the cool, virtual veneer stories that readers and viewers who they see as being personally involved can personally relate to. All science and fiction is like a spoonful of sugar to help with the medicine of what we are trying to say about the world of the present. Good Star Trek is good sci-fi, and good sci-fi is honest.
Art Problem #7 for the Lower Deck. Provided by IDW.
AIPT: Are you worried or worried about taking over the popular series? How much are you trying to “hold” what other teams/writers have done in advance?
TS: I’ve been referring internally to the task of fodging both Mike McMahon and Ryan North as the ultimate no-win scenario, “Megayashi Maru.” But that doesn’t make me nervous because I know that Valeries might say, I can never replace them. What makes me nervous is making sure I’m giving the fans something that I can really enjoy.
I want to make sure the comics offer something fun and valuable as they cost a lot more than they did when I was buying DC’s Star Trekline with a 75¢ issue in the 80s. As for retaining what has come before, when it comes to television shows and trekking canon, we are following strict orders from the Federal President (Heather) Antos and obeying the established ones. And to keep my head in the right space, I’m only reading two of the problems of Ryan (a great deal of my own frustration). It’s so fascinating to compare what I’m doing with what he’s done and run up the wall above it. So I’m keeping me along those issues with Heather and her team waiting to dig the rest until I’m wrapped in a run. Dear reader, this is an option only available to me! You shouldn’t wait to read the 1-6 issue! That’s essential that you do, or they may never release mine.
To be honest: Did I make this answer completely Boimler? !
AIPT: The first story appears to focus on the relationship between Beckett Mariner and her mother, Captain Freeman. Why is that dynamic so interesting for you?
TS: It is the dynamics of the most exclusive relationship to a low deck. And it becomes almost unique within Canon. Certainly we had a parent-child relationship, but the most notable is the crusher, but the dynamics vary widely, especially since Wesley did not report to his mother and was rarely ruined. Unlike the Mariner, it is a swirling dervishes of wild energy, and is somehow included in Starfleet uniforms. She appears to be very different from both her parents, so I thought it might be fun to check in with the young Ensign Carol Freeman.
AIPT: How about working with Robbie Cook? How does his style shape or influence what you are doing and what you are trying to add to this epic universe?
TS: The lobby is an absolute joy to work with. I don’t know how comfortable I feel knowing he tells this story. Creating a house blueprint is one thing, but actually building a house is completely different. So having someone commands the characters, the environment, the relationships, etc. frankly works like a magical thing. I dream of it, write it down, send it to the lobby through a pneumatic tube, and it comes fully realized and comes back better than I imagined. And on top of that, he looks like a better person than me. So technically, I should want him and splash, but I have no such luck.
Art Problem #7 for the Lower Deck. Provided by IDW.
AIPT: What can we expect from this Mariner Freeman-centered story? Do you have a sense of how long you and the chef will stay in this book? Do you want this to be a long-term or a short arc?
TS: First off, I’m still finding the feet of space while Robbie knows his onions, so in many ways I hope it’s a Wired Story (even stranger than onions and dated mentions to the legs of space). But at its heart, this is the story of the bonds that unite different generations and the moments that test our tempers and help us grow into people of destiny.
As for how long we will be in the book, I can only speak for myself, and all I know is that I’m working on three stories on six issues. IDW knows he likes to spin talent to keep things fresh (and perhaps make sure the book leaves on time!). But I was able to write a Star Trek story in one way or another and be happy until I was burned and more. I hope there’s a chance.
AIPT: If you could tell a Star Trek story in the world without restrictions, what would that story look like?
TS: LOL – like I was going to tell you. thank you.
AIPT: Is there anything you need to know about the deck below, Star Trek, manga, space travel, and more?
TS: Yes! And that’s very important! The fate of the galaxy may depend on what I am trying to tell you! And that’s this… under any circumstances, it’s not a fzzzzhhzhzz bedoop (a transmission packed in the source).
