Star Trekis set to collide withTitanic, bringing together two of Hollywood’s most surprising IPs for one wild crossover. WhileStar Trek: Lower Decksusually reserves its best jokes for theTrekfranchise, it has not shied away from lampooning other pop culture properties. Now,in a first look atStar Trek: Lower Decks#6, from IDW Publishing, theCerritoscrew has a date with an iceberg–and dinosaurs.
Ryan North is also writing the monthlyFantastic Fourtitle for Marvel.
IDW released solicitations for its April-shipping titles, includingStar Trek: Lower Decks#6. Written by Ryan North and drawn by Jack Lawrence, the issue picks up where the previous left off, with theCerritoscrew pursuing a dangerous time traveler. IDW’s solicitation for the issue reads as follows:
When Mariner asked the Krulmuth-B portal to send her, Rutherford, Tendi, and Boimler to the moment when they could make the biggest impact on history, she meant, like, to the time period where they could help their crew the most. But they’ve ended up on board the Titanic! Yes, THE Titanic, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The time traveler who’s responsible for a deadly wave of Federation rewrites is still at large, and the Lower Deckers are now further than ever from stopping them.
In addition, IDW has unveiled Lawrence’s cover forStar Trek: Lower Decks#6,featuring Brad Boimler and Becket Mariner recreatingTitanic’siconic “King of the World” scene, all while dinosaurs roam the ship’s decks.
BothStar TrekandTitanicAre Pop Culture Giants
TitanicWas Unstoppable At the Box Office
The worlds ofStar TrekandTitaniccould not be further apart. The former is a pop culture juggernaut, with a diverse fan base stretched across the world. It has been a part of the cultural landscape since 1966, and has inspired countless spin-offs. The filmTitanic, directed by James Cameron, was seemingly inescapable upon its release in 1997. Its soundtrack sat atop theBillboardcharts for months. When its theatrical run was finished,Titanicranked as the highest-grossing movie of all time, a record it would hold for over a decade.
Part ofTitanic’srunaway success was how easily it blended Hollywood spectacle with historical events. While the film had its detractors, there was no denying it looked amazing. No detail was spared in recreating the world of 1912 and the hubris that led to theTitanic’suntimely destruction. Movies about theTitanicwere nothing new, but the story had never been told on this scale before. The tragedy of theTitanichas exerted a pull on culture since the ship’s sinking, and Cameron’s film tapped into the various elements that make it a compelling story in the first place.
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Episodes like “A Piece of the Action,” “Bread and Circus” and “Spectre of the Gun” all take place on planets resembling different, darker times in humanity’s past, be it gangland Chicago or a modern-day Roman Empire.
Star Trekhas also mined gold with stories from Earth’s history. Captain Kirkand the crew of theEnterprisewill encounter more than one world that was based on a particular era in Earth history. Episodes like “A Piece of the Action,” “Bread and Circus” and “Spectre of the Gun” all take place on planets resembling different, darker times in humanity’s past, be it gangland Chicago or a modern-day Roman Empire. There are also time travel episodes throughout the franchise, such as “City on the Edge of Forever,” allowing for even more exploration of Earth’s history.
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These “themed worlds,” while not as common in later permutations of theStar Trekfranchise, have still become a trope nonetheless. The real reason so many of these episodes even existed was due to budget concerns. A show such asStar Trekoften used much of its money for special effects, leaving little cash for costuming and props.Star Trek’screators, in a bid to save money, recycled old costumes from the Paramount lot. This led to theEnterprisecrew meeting Roman gladiators and 1920s-style gangsters. While perhaps stretching credibility, these episodes ensuredStar Trek’ssurvival.
Star Trek: Lower Decksregularly sends up franchise tropes, and the “themed worlds” and historical episodes are two of them. The story running through issues five and six will give North and Lawrence plenty of ammunition to poke fun atStar Trek’shandling of history. Boimler,Mariner and theCerritoscreware trying to bring a rogue time-traveler to justice, sending them on an odyssey in space and time. The sinking of theTitanicwas a monumental event, and one practically begging to be filtered through the lens of theStar Trekfranchise.
AStar Trek/TitanicCrossover is Long Overdue
Just How Did Dinosaurs Get On Board theTitanic?
Yet North and Lawrence are not merely sending theCerritoscrew back to 1912, they are also bringing dinosaurs with them. The mysterious time-traveler has somehow teleported dinosaurs aboard theTitanic, and now Boimler and company must protect the passengers, all while the ship is sinking. In addition to giving the crew an additional menace to fight, it also gives the story a humorous and bizarre layer, keeping withLower Decks’spirit. Writer Ryan North, who has penned every adventure of theCerritosin comics, has proven he knows what makes this particular corner of theStar Trekfranchise tick.
The Blues BrothersandTwin Peaksgot shoutouts onLower Decks, and now it isTitanic’sturn.
Star Trek: Lower Deckspaid homage to other pop culture IPs in its five-season run.The Blues BrothersandTwin Peaksgot shoutouts onLower Decks, and now it isTitanic’sturn. Jack Lawrence’s cover usesLower Decks’characters to bring one ofTitanic’smost iconic scenes to life, and when dinosaurs are thrown into the mix, it becomes downright hilarious. Beyond being an Easter Egg, the cover actually has a bearing on the issue’s story. Why the crew of theCerritoswas brought back to theTitanicremains a mystery for now, but the results promise to be fun.
Star Trek: Lower Decks#6 is on sale April 9 from IDW Publishing!
