Launch date 2005-07-25 | Genre(s) Star Trek fandom | |
Current status / schedule Suspended online, Running in Star Trek Magazine | ||
The Trek Life was a thrice-weekly comic series about three Star Trek fans (Carl, Steve and Kate), written by David Reddick and published on StarTrek.com. The Trek Life first appeared in 2005-07-25. It was a regular feature on the Web site with a new episode every Monday. The Trek Life also appears in every issue of Titan Publishing's Star Trek Magazine, and also appears as a backup feature in IDW Publishing's Star Trek comic books. David Reddick also writes and draws for the Garfield comic strip for Jim Davis at the Garfield studio (Paws, Inc.).
Reddick calls The Trek Life "the perfect merging of my love of Star Trek and my love of cartooning ... I like Star Trek fans. I understand them. I find them to be intelligent, thinking people."
Beginning October 1, 2007, The Trek Life was expanded from one to three strips per week.
New episodes ceased on StarTrek.com when the website went dormant in December 2007. However, in an interview on Roddenberry.com, Reddick assured fans that it is not dead, and still in publication in Star Trek Magazine, while at the same time looking at other publishing options.
Characters
Carl, Steve, and Kate have been friends since childhood, and all of them are Star Trek fans. The Trek Life follows their lives through their work, home and free time as they discuss Star Trek and all there is to it. They are all different people; however, Star Trek is part of their lives. Carl is a fanatical Star Trek fan, while Steve is more relaxed. Kate is new to the Star Trek world, however she learns a great deal from her friends Carl and Steve.
Carl Jennings: Carl is the central character of the series. His character is a satire of obsessive Star Trek fans. Carl has been a fan of Star Trek since he was young and has been able to speak Klingon since the sixth grade. Carl is obsessed with Orion slave girls. In his own words, he is a "redshirt in the Star Trek episode of life." His thoughts almost solely consist of Star Trek, green women and cheese dip. He has romantic feelings for Eve Hoople, complicated by the fact that she is his boss' (Mr. Hoople) daughter. And Carl does not get along with Kate's Trek-loving cat, Snuggles.
Steve: Steve is Carl's friend. He has been a Star Trek fan since college. Steve is a huge Star Trek fan, but not anywhere near the level of Carl.
Kate: Kate is another of Carl's childhood friends. She is the least fanatical of the three main characters (i.e. she thought a Jedi was along the same lines as a "Trekkie" or a "Trekker"). Kate has her own real-life advice column on StarTrek.com called "Ask Kate."
Other recurring characters
Mr. Hoople: Mr. Hoople is Carl's boss at Hoople Industries. He cannot appreciate Carl's obsession with Star Trek.
Sylvia Jennings: Sylvia is Carl's mother and is also a devoted Star Trek fan. She favors Archer over Kirk and appreciates both for their "buff bods". She is the source of Carl's love of Star Trek.
Eve Hoople: Mr. Hoople's daughter. She is also a Star Trek fan. She is romantically involved with Carl.
Snuggles: Kate's Trek-loving cat, and arch-enemy of Carl. He frequently pretends to be a Klingon Bird of Prey.
Jack: An employee at Hoople Industries. He is the stereotypical sports-loving, macho man; "the office stud". Eve Hoople says if you squint your eyes and use your imagination, he looks like a Gorn.