Star Trek

Trek has been part of my life since I was an infant. I have bookcases full of Trek books. One of my tattoos is the Vulcan calligraphy for “kol-ut-shan” (IDIC). This is my home fandom.

The Typography of Star Trek

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Typeset in the Future: Star Trek: The Motion Picture

If you’re a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series, you might be expecting to see the font from its opening titles in Star Trek: The Motion Picture too. This font was (perhaps unsurprisingly) called Star Trek….

The Star Trek font also appeared in a non-italic version, to introduce William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy to 1960s TV audiences. Sadly, this is where the good news ends. When The Original Series returned for a second season, it added DeForest Kelley (Dr. “Bones” McCoy) as a second “ALSO STARRING”.

The problem here is obvious, isn’t it? Unlike the Es in “SHATNER” and “LEONARD,” the ones in “DEFOREST KELLEY” have straight corners, not curved ones.

Alas, The Original Series’s inconsistent typography did not survive the stylistic leap into the 1970s. To make up for it, The Motion Picture’s title card introduces a new font, with some of the curviest Es known to sci-fi. It also follows an emerging seventies trend: Movie names beginning with STAR must have long trailing lines on the opening S.

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📚 thirty-eight of 2020: The Captains’ Honor by David and Daniel Dvorkin ⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng

Somehow the Roman gladiator planet from TOS has become a full member of the Federation, with a Starfleet ship crewed entirely by these neo-Romans. It does not go well.

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📚 thirty-five of 2020: Masks by John Vornholt ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng 🖖

Given current events, it’s kind of amusing to be reading a Trek adventure in a society where everyone wears masks at all times, and their status is determined by the type and quality of their mask.

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📚 thirty-four of 2020: Power Hungry by Howard Weinstein ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng 🖖

Much better than the last one. While the environmental themes are pretty heavy-handed, it’s nice to find a Trek novel where everything isn’t wrapped up neatly with a bow by the end.

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📚 thirty-three of 2020: Strike Zone by Peter David ⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng

Can’t decide if it wants to be comedic or serious, and has wildly out-of-character (or ridiculously exaggerated) moments for nearly every main character. Amusing moments, but not a good Trek novel.

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📚 thirty-two of 2020: Survivors by Jean Lorrah ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tng

Explores Tasha Yar’s past, her reconciliation with parts of that past shortly before her death, and her relationship with Data. Despite having some early-novel oddities, this one was a bit above average. 🖖

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📚 thirty-one of 2020: The Children of Hamlin by Carmen Carter ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #tos

Decent for early TNG, though more than a bit on-the-nose with the Pied Piper connections (children abducted from a place called Hamlin by aliens whose language is music). 🖖

Star Trek: LDS meets TAS

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Here’s a gag I’d like to see on Lower Decks: Either through needing to research something that happened on the TOS Enterprise and reviewing ship’s logs, or perhaps (if necessary, though it’s been done to death) through a time travel mishap, we see the TAS Enterprise crew in all their ’70s Filmation glory.

Here’s a few quick mockups I tossed together using screenshots from the first LDS episode.

The TAS bridge crew says hello to…well, a few random background extras, I guess, since this was the only bridge shot with the view screen in LDS S01E01.

TAS vs. LDS 1

Captain Freeman looks up some historical data on Captain Kirk while briefing Ensign Boimler.

TAS vs. LDS 2

Someone reviewing one of Mr. Spock’s science logs, perhaps?

TAS vs. LDS 3

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📚 thirty of 2020: Die Standing by John Jackson Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek #dis

A thoroughly entertaining romp with Emperor Georgiou between seasons one and two of DIS, as she adjusts to her new universe and gets recruited by Section 31. Plus ties to TOS and DS9. Fun! 🖖

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📚 twenty-nine of 2020: The Peacekeepers, by Gene DeWeese ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #startrek 🖖

A bit of early TNG taking on the Prime Directive. A marked improvement from the last (first) novel, but still obviously at a point where the characters were still being developed.