David Tischman Talks Star Trek: The Next Generation

Starting this month (January 07), IDW will be setting course for the world of Star Trek with a new limited series titled Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between. The series will be written by David Tischman with art by Casey Malone. We had a chance to sit down with David a bit to chat about the upcoming series.

CNI - First, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you get into writing comics, what other series have you worked on, and how did you end up working on this particular project?

David - I got into comics in 1999. I was working with a producer with a deal at Fox, and was really feeling burned out. I had been a fan of Howard Chaykin's comic growing up, and Howard and I had become friends, and had tried to get several movie projects off the ground. We got our fifth pass on one of those projects, BARNUM -- about P.T. Barnum and six circus freaks saving the United States in 1888 -- and I said to Howard, "Let's do this as a comic book." And that's how I got started. I was always into comics, and this was a great way to feed that creative urge and a great segue from movie development. Since then, I've done a bunch of projects, mostly creator-owned stuff for Vertigo -- "American Century" and "Bite Club" are probably the best known, and I love the Elseworlds projects I did for DC.

CNI - How many issues will this first limited series be?

David - Six issues.

CNI - Are you a big Star Trek fan? Whose decision was it to start off by doing Next Generation stories?

David - I am a huge STAR TREK fan -- somewhere between a TREKKIE and a TREKKER. I've seen every episode of every iteration of TREK, and I can appreciate the episodes for the relationships, the smart use of science fiction -- and occasionally the camp.

Chris Ryall and Dan Taylor at IDW discussed it, and we all agreed we should start with THE NEXT GENERATION.

CNI - I know this limited series starts off during the first season on Next Gen, but does it expand past the first season?

David - The idea behind THE SPACE BETWEEN is that the stories we're telling take place BETWEEN the episodes throughout the series' year-year run. Issue #1 takes place during Season 1, but Issue #2 takes place during Season 5; and Issue #3 takes place during Season 7. Issue #4 takes place during Season 6, Issue #5 takes place during Season 2, and Issue #6 takes place during Season 7.

CNI - Will you touch on any loose ends from the TV series? For instance, will we see those little alien creatures from the episode "Conspiracy" that sent a homing signal off into the galaxy at the end of that episode never to be heard from again?

David - We weren't interested in doing "follow-up" stories to the series episodes. Our stories are meant to be stand-alone single-issue stories that could have been episodes of the series.

CNI - Who is your favorite character in Star Trek and who is your favorite captain?

David - I'm writing THE NEXT GENERATION, so my favorite captain is Jean-Luc Picard -- but you can't get into TREK without loving Captain James T. Kirk!

Of all the series, my favorite character -- and this really is an unfair question -- might be Garak from DEEP SPACE NINE

CNI - What is it like to take on a project with so much history connected to it? How did you research and come up with the stories for this limited series, and how hard is it to write these stories without worrying about messing up established events?

David - I don't worry too much, to be honest. The parameters set by the existing episodes make it pretty clear what can and can't be done. The trick is to find new ideas that haven't been done by not only THE NEXT GENERATION, but by any of the other TREK series -- that's a lot of episodes and books and movies. I'm concentrating most on getting the character stuff down, and the interpersonal relationships between those characters -- if that feels authentic to the fans, I will have succeeded.

CNI - What's your favorite Star Trek TNG episode and what is your favorite Star Trek movie?

David - Favorite NEXT GENERATION EPISODE is "Second Chances." I don't believe it when people say they have no regrets. That's crap. We all wish we'd done some things differently. That episode deals with the choices Riker's made in a realistic, smart way. My favorite STAR TREK movie -- without hesitation -- STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN.

CNI - Will the stories in this limited series tend to focus on one or two particular characters for each issue, or will they tend to focus on the crew as a whole?

David - Each issue focuses on or or two characters -- Issue #2 for instance, is very much a Picard issue, and Issue #5 focuses on Ensign Ro and Worf -- but ALL of the characters -- and ALL parts of the Enterprise -- are serviced throughout the mini-series.

CNI - Will we get to see any fan-favorite aliens from The Original Series pop up here like the Gorn, or will you be sticking with TNG aliens and characters only?

David - No Gorn, or any other aliens from TOS. We do use Bolians and Bajorans and Vulcans and other secondary alien races throughout the series -- but as characters within the stories, NOT as active enemies.

CNI - Star Trek has been done by many different comic book companies in the past. What would you say will make the IDW run stand out above those previous attempts to bring Star Trek to the world of comics?



David - These IDW books are constructed to be "lost" episodes of THE NEXT GENERATION series. The readers should get the same feel from reading these stories that they do when they watch an episode on TV.

CNI - Besides Star Trek, are there any other projects you are working on that you would like to talk about?

David - I'm writing a creator-owned mini-series at Vertigo, which should be announced soon, and I have a few other projects in the works, too -- a sexy horror project, and a 1950's-style crime book that's letting me revisit some of the themes I dealt with in "American Century."




Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between #1
David Tischman (w); Casey Malone (a) Dennis Calero, photo (c)

Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation with this all-new relaunch of the Trek franchise in comics. In the first issue of this special miniseries, planet Tigan-7 requests entry into the Federation, but the Enterprise is attacked as a hostile invader when it makes contact, and the planet's leader has no record of any communication with any outside world. Riker, Tasha, and Data beam down to the planet in secret, and discover an information-obsessed culture, rewriting pieces of its 6,000-year history on a daily basis, to maintain political stability. An all-new, all-different, Next-Gen adventure, featuring Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise D!

*Covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio

*Retailers: See your order form for special incentives

FC • $3.99 • 32 pages