The fact that another addition to the seemingly never-ending Star Trek saga beamed down to us in September was great news, especially since it came via the medium of comic books. However, it wasn’t really earth-shattering, breaking news. The really earth-shattering, breaking news is lurking inside the various details of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive from IDW, and the reason it made tsunami-like waves in the industry was that one of the most polarizing creative geniuses in the entire Star Trek canon signed on as writer. His name is Brannon Braga.
Unless you are one of the legions of basement dwelling, nerdy obsessed Trekkies, you most likely have not ever heard the name Brannon Braga before. Most folks, unfortunately, don’t pay a lot of attention to who the writers are when it comes to TV shows and Hollywood movies, where Braga has toiled in relative obscurity for most of his extensive writing career. Their names scroll past our eyes, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but even if we are paying attention, we are usually too distracted by what we’re going to watch next or what we’re going to do after the movie to remember them.
So here is a little background information for you to get you even more pumped to read Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive.
Brannon Braga, A Brief Unauthorized Biography
Braga began his Star Trek writing career way back in 1990. He lent his considerable writing talents to two of the major Star Trek motion pictures and three of the television series in the broad pantheon of Star Trek.
Perhaps Braga’s most high profile gig within the Star Trek universe was his work on the ill-fated television series Star Trek: Enterprise (originally given the simple title Enterprise, but added the Star Trek as it kicked off its third season on UPN). The series, on which Braga served as co-creator and one of the executive producers, acted as a prequel of sorts to the previous Star Trek series, portraying the adventures and explorations of the starship Enterprise ten years prior. The show ran for four seasons, from September 2001 to February 2005.
Now: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive: The Story
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive is a mini-series that debuted in September in which the dreaded Borg explode back onto the scene to threaten the equilibrium and serenity of our Galaxy. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the intrepid crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise swoop in to save the day.
In the press release from IDW announcing the mini-series, Braga said that the comic book and graphic novel format is the perfect visual storytelling medium in which to portray what will ultimately close the book on what he called, “the Borg saga.”
Kevin P. Hanson
kevin@comicattack.net
