Star Trek: Assignment Earth

Comics icon John Byrne provides a prequel to the SECOND STAGE titles with the February finale of IDW’s Alien Spotlight series in an issue showcasing the Romulans, the writer/artist’s first-ever illustrated Star Trek story in a decades-spanning career. But in May, Byrne will unveil his first full-blown Star Trek comic series, the five-part, time-jumping Star Trek: Assignment Earth.

The original TV episode "Assignment Earth" had been the Season Two finale for the Star Trek series. It introduced the cryptic character Gary Seven and was intended by Gene Roddenberry as the pilot for a spin-off series that never came to pass. Now, however, Byrne will bring Roddenberry’s dream to life, delivering the spin-off 40 years after it would have debuted. The series tells the tale of the interstellar time traveler and his Earth-born assistant as they covertly confront threats to the past so that they can save Star Trek’s future.

Byrne will both write and draw the series, which steps one year forward with each installment, beginning with 1968, the year that the original "Assignment Earth" episode aired.