An ongoing discussion of how the comics provide prequels, sequels, and tie-ins to the Star Trek episodes and films, soon to be a book from BearManor Media. Click here to view an archive of this article series.
55: Marvel Comics, 1996–1997
In 2015, IDW launched its Starfleet Academy miniseries, from writers Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrot. The comic centered around the difficulties faced by new recruits in proving themselves worthy of Starfleet and in forming a cohesive team. The series and its characters were well-received, but this wasn’t the first time a comic by that title had been published. It was, in fact, the third—and from the third publisher, to boot.
The first was DC Comics’ Star Trek Annual #2, produced in 1991 and set during James Kirk’s tumultuous Academy days. The second, published five years later, was one of multiple titles launched after Marvel regained the Trek license from DC. Deep Space Nine had begun its fifth season on television, with Nog (portrayed with great nuance by Aron Eisenberg) having decided to join Starfleet in season three’s “Heart of Stone.” This week’s column examines the first six issues of Marvel’s Starfleet Academy, from writer-artist Christian “Chris” Cooper. Chris Renaud and Andy Lanning adeptly illustrated five chapters, with John Royle and Tom Wegrzyn filling in for issue #3.
Marvel’s Starfleet Academy takes place in season four, sometime after Nog arrives on Earth in “Little Green Men” to begin his studies. Academy life isn’t easy for Nog. As Starfleet’s first Ferengi cadet, he faces bigotry from classmates who distrust him due to past encounters with his profit-based culture. Given how the Ferengi were initially depicted in The Next Generation‘s “The Last Outpost,” as hyperactive monkeys who sounded like Peter Lorre hopped up on crystal meth and sugary drinks, this is hardly surprising.
Still, despite his upbringing, Nog is unlike his bar-owning Uncle Quark. The character’s evolution throughout the first three seasons was remarkable, as Nog grew from being an immature troublemaker to a young man determined to prove himself more than just another greedy wealth-seeker worshipping the Rules of Acquisition. The support Nog received from the Siskos—and from his father, Rom—provided one of the show’s most endearing character arcs. Cooper built off that development in a way that was both entertaining and organic, making Starfleet Academy a delight to read.
In Marvel’s series, the Ferengi youth has begun his Academy training alongside Cadet Matt Decker, the great-grandson of Commodore Matthew Decker (The Original Series‘ “The Doomsday Machine”) and the grand-nephew of the commodore’s son Willard (Star Trek: The Motion Picture). Their team also includes Kamilah Goldstein, a human of dual Jewish and Muslim heritage; Pava Ek’Noor Aqabaa, a formidable Andorian who would later join the cast of the Star Trek: Titan novels; and T’Priell, a Vulcan with a shocking secret: she’s actually a Romulan spy, as unveiled in an ongoing storyline reminiscent of what would play out years later with Ash Tyler/Voq on Discovery.
Despite a rocky start, which includes bullying and even an attempted murder accusation, Nog proves himself a valuable team member and forms a close friendship with his fellow cadets, particularly Decker. But trouble lies ahead for Starfleet’s newest recruits—and not just in the classroom—as they train under Commander Kyethn Zund, a joined Trill. Goldstein is murdered by a Klingon cadet (a devastating shock, given her popularity), and is replaced by a highly telepathic but rather unstable Betazoid, Edam Astrun, who adds some satisfying character conflict and unpredictability to the dynamic.
Matt Decker’s family has roots going back to the early days of Star Trek. The letters page to Starfleet Academy issue #4 describes him as Will Decker’s grand-nephew, and dialogue in issue #6 calls him Commodore Decker’s great-grandson. Issue #4 names the younger Matt’s father Dennis Decker (an admiral), whereas issue #6 calls the man Matthew and retains his rank. Given the Matthew lineage and the fact that Will is Matt’s grand-uncle, not his grandfather, this indicates the commodore had a second son (Will’s brother) who was also named Matthew. Issue #2 gives Matt an older brother, Robert, who is said to have perished prior to the series.
Cooper had previously created Victoria Montesi, Marvel’s first openly lesbian main character, for 1992’s Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins #1. He also introduced an openly gay man, Yoshi Mishima, to Starfleet Academy, and was thus nominated for a GLAAD Media Award, which honors comic writers for depicting themes and characters representing the queer community. Mishima’s introduction was a milestone, as Star Trek had long avoided having LGBTQ-based stories, with David Gerrold’s The Next Generation AIDS allegory script “Blood and Fire” rejected despite Gene Roddenberry’s support, and with Andy Mangels’ attempts to introduce gay characters coming to naught. Like
In The Original Series‘ “Turnabout Intruder,” Arthur Coleman never stopped loving Janice Lester when she inhabited James Kirk’s body—a surprising early example of queer representation, though Coleman’s orientation was never discussed. Deep Space Nine depicted same-sex Trill romance but stopped short of labeling Jadzia Dax as bisexual, while on The Next Generation, Beverly Crusher ended her fling with Odan once the Trill gained a female host. Enterprise‘s Phlox had a group marriage, but his involvement with the other husbands went unexplored. “The Outcast” admirably had Will Riker fall in love with the androgynous Soren, but a female actor was cast in the role, lessening the impact. And while mirror Kira Nerys and Ezri Tigan were openly bisexual, Kira was also evil.
In recent years, the franchise has shattered the queer representation ceiling with Hikaru Sulu and his husband Ben in J.J. Abrams’ films; Hugh Culber, Paul Stamets, and Jett Reno on Discovery; Seven of Nine and Raffi Musiker on Picard; and Gray and Adria later joining the Discovery lineup (see Valentine’s Day Special: Was TV’s First Multicultural Kiss Really on Star Trek?). Cooper beat them all to it with Mishima, though he’d initially wanted to depict main character Matt Decker as gay. Paramount’s licensing office nixed the idea, he says, allowing instead a secondary gay character, Yoshi… but barring Cooper from showing men kissing.
Regarding tie-ins to onscreen lore (besides the Decker family tree), the first six issues provided a number of fun callbacks. Soon after joining the Academy, for instance, Nog annoys Boothby (“The First Duty”) by sitting in his flower bed. Boothby’s mysterious past is hinted at, as he apparently once traveled the galaxy with Zund, presumably with a former host and possibly as a Starfleet officer himself. Later, during Goldstein’s funeral, the gardener sadly beams his prized roses into space in her honor.
T’Priell, meanwhile, criticizes Vulcan society for the male privilege it enshrines with its misogynistic koon-ut-kal-if-fee ritual (“Amok Time”) and its males-only kahs-wan ordeal (“Yesteryear”)—an excellent bit of insight that resonates even more strongly now than it did in the 1990s, thanks to the #MeToo movement. It’s no surprise, then, that Cooper did something else unprecedented in Star Trek beyond featuring gay characters: he had his female main cast members (T’Priell, Pava, Goldstein, and Zund) outnumber the males (Nog, Decker, and Astrun).
In issue #1, Omega Squad undergoes first-contact training simulation on the holodeck, and Nog installs some special modifications that inadvertently grant sentience to the holodeck computer (shades of James Moriarty in “Elementary, Dear Data” and Voyager‘s EMH). Amusingly, and not unpredictably, Nog and his fellow cadets nearly end up killed as a result when the holodeck turns off its safety protocols during simulations involving the Gorn (“Arena”) and the Crystalline Entity (“Datalore” and “Silicon Avatar”). Never trust a holodeck computer.
The second issue sees Nog unsealing Decker’s centuries-old comic books. Anyone who collects vintage comics would cringe at the sight of their value being ruined in this way, but Nog’s incredulous response at his friend’s anger—surely, they’re meant to be read and enjoyed, not stored away!—provides a pointed commentary on speculators who buy comics for the wrong reasons. Nog makes up for it by gifting Matt with a mint-condition copy of 1939’s Marvel Comics #1, featuring the debut of Namor the Sub-Mariner, which Nog had swiped during the events of “Little Green Men.” His anger abated, Matt learns to start reading his comics before sealing them. (This, incidentally, means Marvel Comics exists in the continuity of Star Trek comics published by Marvel Comics.)
Decker is invited to join Red Squad, an elite cadre of cadets which Nog had been eager to join in the episode “Homefront.” Here, its members hold Nog in low regard and pressure Matt to betray the Ferengi as part of his initiation. Matt’s discomfort with this puts him at odds with the Reds, and—in an exciting storyline overlapping “Homefront” and “Paradise Lost”—he rejects Red Squad and helps the Omegas thwart Admiral Leyton’s onscreen Starfleet coup during the Changeling infiltration of Earth.
Goldstein’s death occurs during a heartbreaking two-parter in issues #4 and 5, in which Zund takes the cadets on a training mission. Klingon cadet squad First Cadre attacks their runabout, and Zund is critically injured when both vessels crash on an uninhabited world. There, Pava is reunited with her Klingon ex-lover Kovold, who seems more honorable than his fellow cadets and resists the order to invade Federation space to murder Starfleet recruits. Nonetheless, when his bloodlust is ignited during combat, he slays Kamilah by impaling her with a bat’leth, much to her teammates’ horror.
Goldstein’s unexpected demise occurs with two potential futures in play. In one, war erupts with the Klingons, who slaughter everyone at Deep Space Nine, with an older Nog and an eye-patched Decker dying while attempting to avenge Sisko’s crew. The other offers a more positive outcome, in which Goldstein negotiates peace between Federation and Empire, while Pava and Kovold are happily married, Decker and Yoshi live on Deneva (“Operation—Annihilate!”), and Nog serves aboard the Intrepid. Kamilah’s death overwrites the more positive timeline, pointing to a rather grim future for all involved. What Yoshi and Matt are doing on Deneva is unknown, but the fact that they’re together implies Cooper slyly made Matt gay anyway, despite Paramount’s refusal to allow it.
Issue #6 introduces Astrun, and while Goldstein’s loss is felt, the Betazoid makes an excellent addition to the cast. He crashes Kamilah’s funeral—literally, by falling off a hoverbike into her open coffin—and thus does not get along with his squad-mates, who view Edam as reckless, insensitive, and lazy. But there’s another side to Astrun, which readers and Omega Squad soon come to recognize—and it provides another fun tie-in to The Next Generation. Recruited to monitor for the presence of Changelings, Astrun has such strong telepathic skills (the highest in his planet’s history) that he becomes overwhelmed by the emotions of others in large crowds and must take medication to dull his senses. Another Betazoid, Tam Elbrun, suffered a similar problem in “Tin Man.”
Starfleet Academy would continue for nineteen issues before its untimely cancelation, and the remaining issues will be discussed in the weeks ahead. But first, next week’s column will examine Marvel’s Star Trek: Early Voyages, featuring the pre-Strange New Worlds adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew under Captain Christopher Pike.
Looking for more information about Star Trek comics? Check out these resources:
- My ongoing column for Titan Books’ Star Trek Explorer magazine
- The Complete Star Trek Comics Index, curated by yours truly
- The Star Trek Comics Checklist, by Mark Martinez
- The Wixiban Star Trek Collectables Portal, by Colin Merry
- New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, by Joseph F. Berenato (Sequart, 2014)
- Star Trek: A Comics History, by Alan J. Porter (Hermes Press, 2009)
- The Star Trek Comics Weekly page on Facebook
Rich Handley has written, co-written, co-edited, or contributed to dozens of books, both fiction and non-fiction, about Planet of the Apes, Watchmen, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Stargate, Dark Shadows, The X-Files, Twin Peaks, Red Dwarf, Blade Runner, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman, the Joker, classic monsters, and more. He has also been a magazine writer and editor for nearly three decades. Rich edited Eaglemoss’s Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection, and he currently writes articles for Titan’s Star Trek Explorer magazine, as well as books for an as-yet-unannounced role-playing game. Learn more about Rich and his work at richhandley.com.
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