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Who Wants More Wheaton?!

Big thanks to A Comic A Day for keeping up with all things Trek in sunny Southern California. I know of one local Portland filmmaker that just can't get enough of little 'ol Wil... No, it isn't me. Not that I hate the guy, I've come to terms with the fact that Wil Wheaton is not Wesley Crusher. It was step 9 in my pop culture ascension. Anyway, enough of my inane rambling. On with KB's report! - AD

Writers and artists from TOKYOPOP's Star Trek: The Manga completed their Southern California promotional tour on Sunday, September 30, at the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday, sharing their thoughts on the current volume and revealing their schedule for upcoming projects.

The panelists were writers Wil Wheaton, Christine Boylan, and Mike Wellman, artist Don Hudson Moderator and moderator Luis Reyes, TOKYOPOP Senior Editor...

In her eagerness to announce the panel’s participants, the sweet older lady facilitating the "That’s Entertainment Pavilion" introduced Wil Wheaton as Mike Wheaton, and in good humor the actor quickly changed his name tag accordingly. The writers discussed the joys and challenges of creating new Star Trek material, which included getting "the voice" of the characters accurate. Further, Wheaton explained how he had pushed for a particular line of dialogue for Scotty, which the executives at CBS wanted to cut: in response to an urgent request from Captain Kirk, the engineer replies that he’ll get it done in "jig time", a piece of vernacular that Wheaton asserted fit the character’s usual 19th century Scottish brogue.

Reyes revealed that a third TOS volume is in the works, along with a TNG anthology, for which writers may gather to flesh out their thoughts together. July and October 2008 are projected dates for these projects.

Many of the questions from the audience were for Wheaton , who shared his personal experiences and respect for Roddenberry’s writing style and overall vision. "Gene wasn’t afraid to fight City Hall", Wheaton explained of the Trek creator’s tenacity against network executives and critics. When asked of his opinion about the Trek universe post-Roddenberry’s involvement, Wheaton replied that producers, rather than treat Trek like a delicate child that needed nurturing to mature and be let out into the world, treated the franchise like a cash cow that could be milked until it died – to paraphrase. "One word", he concluded, "Enterprise".

The entire panel expressed "cautious optimism changed to just plain optimism" for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming feature film franchise. "J.J.'s really good at starting things", Wheaton explained.

The panel lasted its fully scheduled hour under a warm Hollywood sun, and the creators signed books afterward in cooperation with Golden Apple Comics.