Harlan Ellison’s Classic ‘Star Trek’ Episode Retold in Comic Book Miniseries

Written by Harlan Ellison, David Tipton, and Scott Tipton
Art by Juan Ortiz and J.K. Woodward
IDW PUBLISHING

by Michael Brown, staff writer

“The City on the Edge of Forever,” Harlan Ellison’s critically acclaimed Star Trek episode, will be released as a five-part comic book miniseries by IDW Publishing, and told in its entirety as Star Trek: Harlan Ellison’s The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay. The classic, fan-favorite episode was originally written by Ellison as part of a much larger story arc, but the episode was edited and changed before it was filmed, and is much different than Ellison’s original vision. Few people have had the opportunity to see Ellison’s original teleplay, but the IDW miniseries will feature Ellison’s complete and unedited story, with Ellison himself serving as Executive Producer.

“The City on the Edge of Forever” first aired on CBS in April 1967 as part of Star Trek’s first season, in which Kirk and Spock pursue a dangerous criminal into the 1930s, jeopardizing their own futures in the process. Star Trek fans have always regarded the episode as the greatest Trek episode of all time, with TV Guide adding it to their 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time, as well as one of its 100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History. But as highly regarded as the episode is, IDW Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall says “It ain’t nuthin’ compared to what Ellison did in his original teleplay ... even to fans who have that beloved episode memorized.”

Giving the teleplay the comic book treatment are writers Scott Tipton and David Tipton, who are already widely known by fans of IDW’s Star Trek universe. J.K. Woodward, who painted the interior art on the epic Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who miniseries, will be handling the art here, as well. Cover art for each issue will be drawn by Juan Ortiz, with variant covers drawn by movie poster artist Paul Shipper.

Regarding the upcoming miniseries and having his original story told in full, Harlan Ellison told IDW, “It was a superlative joy of my long life to have worked with Leonard Nimoy … and an equally heart-happy joy to be working with J.K. and the Tipton Bros … on this long-awaited visual of my (humbly, I say it) brilliant original City …”

This will be the first-ever comic book adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s original teleplay, and Star Trek fans will finally get to see it the way very few have ever seen it before.

Star Trek: Harlan Ellison’s City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay #1 from IDW Publishing is scheduled to land in comic book shop shelves in June.

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Michael Brown

Michael Brown is a comics nerd and a father who lives in small town Tennessee. When he’s not making his players mad in his “Shadowrun” RPG or experimenting with new and inventive uses of duct tape on his children, you can find him checking out the latest comics and movies for SCIFI.radio!