STV: David Goodman edits Kirk's bio! —Part 1

Didn't get all the best Trek goodies on your list for the holidays?

If you didn't already grab a copy of David Goodman's The Autobiography of James T. Kirk from Titan Books, maybe now's the time! Available everywhere live and online, it's David's second foray into non-fiction gap-filling, after FEDERATION: The First 150 Years in 2012. (And you know how I am about Trek gap-filling.)

In fact, I grabbed David once again in the off-hours at his office as Family Guy writer-producer to talk about the tome in a new vidchat: his choices, the process, and even fan feedback after Federation. 

WARNING: Loaded with all kinds of sidelong and unexplained Trek references, of course.

SECOND WARNING: Watch for the remainder of this chat in follow-ups in coming days!


FYI: Portal 47 members got to view this video up to 72 hours early before it went public—one feature of their deep-dive Trekland access.

You found your way here: It's Stellar Cartography day!

I'm already hearing... from reviewers, from fans lucky enough to get an early delivery...

For today, finally, is the birth of my latest baby, Star Trek: Stellar Cartography, from 47North/Amazon and Becker&Mayer, a trio of talented artists, and concept folks who approached me about it last winter.
And I expect, for this newest generation of JJ/Bluray-borne Trek fans of the past decade, this title will really put Star Trek star-charting on the map.

So far, the early word has been great: "Lords of Kobol, these maps...I think I am going to need more walls...!" my twitterbud @StarbaseUGC declared Monday when his set arrived early ... his franchise-mixing forgiven.


"I have my set all over the floor—it has taken over my house!" an interviewer from WIRED magazine/website confided to me.

Did you reserve your copy on pre-order? (We'd love it if you used our link—and it's gift season, you know.) I'm just bracing for the reaction from all levels of fandom: canonistas, tech heads, art fans, armchair fans, Klingon fans, DS9 fans (see photo left), TOS fans... even general pop culture fans and map fans (yes, map fans).

(NOTE: These grabs are made from low-res pdf files;  actual printing is MUCH sharper.)

Now, nothing is perfect; I know in thousands of data points (and "gap-filling" in lieu of others) there are things we missed, or with a third or fourth voice might have tweaked a little differently. And yes, these are couched as being the Top 10 Most Viewed maps at Memory-Alpha—and having 2-D maps in a 3-D century is a bit of stretch.. but hey.  But this project is built on the sturdy and well-tested shoulders of those who have gone before; we didn't so much re-invent the wheel as come up with some new upholstery fabric, some antique accessories, and all-new foreign materials to make the body out of.

Need some details? Well...
I first talked about "Maps 2013", my own nickname—as opposed to Maps 1977, Maps 1980, and Maps 2002!—in this Trekland post. We did a preview at Vegas Trek, and startrek.com has carried both my thoughts and an interview with artist Ian Fullwood, who tackled six of the maps; the magazine and website 3DArt Direct carried an interview with Ali Ries, the other talented artist who completed three of the alien maps (at right). Sometime I hope to get some thoughts from my old star-map buddy Geof Mandel, who I've worked with on ALL of those projects to one degree or another—and who contributed the "kitchen sink history map" in this set.


Everyone who agonized over the limited book format of "tiny" pages in Geof's 2002 classic Star Trek Star Charts should love our ten varied 2x3-foot posters here—and you even get a LOCATOR INDEX for the main maps, this time around! My guidebook is not as sexy as the maps, but there's a ton of new observations, conclusions, imaginings—and, finally, real sense made of the Dominion War's "astrography,' which turned out to be my biggest single all-new contribution here (aside from figuring out how the heck the Delphic Expanse once fit into local space.)

In coming weeks online and live at cons I'll be talking about some of the hundreds of snap-decisions on "gap-filling" I made here, at times consulting the think tank when needed—our good friend John van Citters at CBS, and of course under the wrangling of Becker & Mayer editor Dana Youlin, who survived another sprawlingly dense Trek backgrounder after David Goodman's Federation: 150 last Christmas, and art editor Rosanna Brockley.

But for right now, I'd appreciate hearing what YOU think, no matter what slice of fandom you hail from. Please sound off here, if you will!  I already suspect we overlooked a beloved TOS "guest planet" that got clipped from the 2002 book (we did re-include many more of them); there's likely others, so we'll start a to-do list for the Next Iteration. At the same time, the text and maps (and a few name in-jokes) in this set will keep you scouring for hours... and, I'll bet, adding some 2x3 poster frames to your shopping list. Ali and Ian's maps are all somewhere between cool and gorgeous and deserve to be the works of art they were dually intended. And better get Geof's map framed as well: it'll save inevitable wear and tear from the fingerstains of constant use.

Yes, original and cool-concept Trek backgrounding is back, baby! Merry Christmas!

STV: Gap-filling Star Trek with David Goodman and "Federation: The First 150 Years," Pt. 2

I'm rushing this into print because I hope you late shoppers still needing a cool Trek gift might see this and still do something about it!

That, and I just want to get more of this interview out, after our Part 1—because David Goodman and I had such a hoot. My very first reaction to Star Trek*, after posters and model kits, was the urge to fill up those annoying background gaps when it seemed we might not get any more on film--but to do it in a smart and agreeable way.

And with our fallow period of new Trek now in the Prime 'verse, and a return to Star Trek non-fiction looking better than ever, finally, David was the first true background fan to get a big chance again. I'm STILL jealous—and it has nothing to do with his time writing on Enterprise, or Futurama, or the MacFarlane Empire like Family Guy and American Dad—or just selling a new animated series to FOX, Murder Police.

So just hit that play button, because while I may even get an interviewee to cry, I rarely get them to curse at me. And rip me off on camera!

And know too: There is a Part 3 coming—one last entry about Trek canon and his gap-filling choices—plus a Part 4: apart from "FEDERATION: 150," David's prognostications on Trek now and future and my reaction to them. Keep staying tuned ... and for starters, listen to David's answer to the Eugenics War Conundrum ... the Cloaking Dilemma ... and Trill vs. Vulcan Parallelism...





*And I don't mean in 2009 ...

STV—"Federation" canon gap-filling, with David Goodman

Trek Background lovers, take note! You finally get your place back in the sun.

Star Trek Cool Week continues—as does our erstwhile focus on the new FEDERATION: The First 150 Years non-fiction book, capped now as promised by Part 1 of an extended and EXCLUSIVE vidchat with author and onetime Enterprise writer-producer David Goodman.

Oddly, it's the American Dad offices where we caught up with David to talk about his little history baby, FEDERATION: The Cool Book, and this look in brief at the beloved (by some of us) art of Trek "gap filling" that has gone on since the 1980s—and seems to blossom especially in time of "fallow production" (ie, a movies-only era, as then and now).

Listen as we hit some of the issues that fervent Trek canonistas care about—and I can say that, being one!—that he had to tackle and make choices.

And remember, this is just Part 1 with David... there is SO much more to come... in Part II!

Prime importance

Base! Dibs! I’m gettin’ this on the record first!

Actually, it’s a good thing I’m not a cynic, or else I’d already be out there making the point that Leonard’s role in ST ’09 was specifically called “Spock PRIME” … meaning that he existed in the Prime Timeline … or perhaps, more exactly, the “Primetime Line.” Meaning… anything else was not ready for Prime Time?

Or implying, by process of deduction, that anything else actually comes from the Sub-Prime Timeline?

Well, we all know just how much trouble the Sub-Primes have caused lately …

(Baddump-bump)