Trekker (comics)

Last updated
Trekker
Publication information
Publisher Dark Horse Comics
Image Comics
Format Ongoing series
Genre Science fiction
Publication dateJanuary 1987
Main character(s)Mercy St. Clair
Creative team
Written by Ron Randall
Artist(s) Ron Randall, Dave Dorman
Letterer(s) Ken Bruzenak
Colorist(s) Jeremy Colwell, Grace Allison
Editor(s)Jim Gibbons

Trekker is a retrofuturistic, science fiction comic book series written and illustrated by American artist Ron Randall. The series follows the turbulent escapades of Mercy St. Clair, a bounty hunter or "Trekker" making her way through the violent streets of New Gelaph in the year 2226. The comic has primarily been published in various formats by Dark Horse Comics, but has also appeared in single issues from Image Comics and online at Thrillbent. Since September 2011 the comic's entire run has been serialized online by Randall at Trekkercomic.com. [1] The site continues to update with new material from Randall every Monday.

Contents

Creative team

The majority of the Trekker stories are written and illustrated by Randall with lettering by Ken Bruzenak and colors (where applicable) by Jeremy Colwell. Additional letterers include Steve Haynie and David Jackson. The Trekker episode "Chinks" featured finished art by Dave Dorman. [2] "City of the Dead", Randall's crossover story with Karl Kesel for Thrillbent, featured colors by Jeremy Colwell and Grace Allison. [3] The Trekker Omnibus, released by Dark Horse in 2013, was edited by Jim Gibbons. [4]

Characters

Mercy St. Clair: A young, troubled bounty hunter working the streets of New Gelaph. Her skills are unmatched but her stubbornness and tough exterior tend to hold back her personal relationships. Mercy is scraping by on bounties from tracking down criminals the over-taxed police can't reach. As the series progresses, Mercy's journeys carry her farther from her home city into blasted wastelands, other cities and the stars. As her world expands, she becomes aware of the forces that shape her role in the greater playing field of interstellar human society. In the midst of this morally ambiguous and complex universe, Mercy gets the sense that she has a larger role to play.

Molly Sundowner: Mercy's best friend and owner of a modest music store in New Gelaph. Molly is self-possessed and blessed with a generous outlook on life, something she tries, often unsuccessfully, to transfer to the stony Mercy. On the surface, they seem oddly matched, but ultimately no one is more important to the emotionally distant Trekker.

Paul Clemmons: Mercy's erstwhile boyfriend. A cop on the New Gelaph force, Paul is surprisingly emotional for an officer of the law and is hellbent on getting Mercy to open up to him.

Thompson Richards: An academic living in Mercy's apartment complex. He assists her with some crucial research in "The Trail to Scarmen's Burn" (Trekker #2, July 1987), but his motives seem more rooted in romantic attraction than scholarly altruism.

Roger Vincent: A rival Trekker who butts in on Mercy's business in "Rules of the Game" (Trekker #3, October 1987). While Roger is eager to collaborate in catching a crook, Mercy is adamant in her policy of working alone. However, when Vincent cons Mercy of her share of the bounty he jumps to the top of her hit list. The two cross paths again in "Vincent's Share" (Dark Horse Presents #21, August 1988) with unexpected results.

Lt. Alex St. Clair: Mercy’s uncle, a lieutenant on the New Gelaph police force. Alex is Mercy’s only surviving blood relative. He does what he can to help his headstrong and impulsive niece. Alex tends to rely on Mercy for assistance when the bureaucracy of the police force prevents him from making progress on a case.

Scuf: Mercy’s pet dox (a dog/fox cross breed). Scuf is becoming ancient, but remains Mercy's only connection to her early days.

Lasmusi: An underworld thug, but often an ally and reliable source for Mercy. They share a mutual respect, but both know that trust can only extend so far in their world.

Jason Bolt: An agent of the mysterious resistance organization Rigel. Bolt and Rigel use non-lethal methods to resist the powerful government forces. Mercy dismisses their efforts quixotic, their methods naive and Bolt a hopeless idealist, yet he keeps reappearing in her life and adventures. It is clear that Rigel has its eye on the young Trekker, regardless of her opinion of them.

Reception

In January 2013, the Trekker webcomic collection received an extensive write-up on science fiction news site io9. Reviewer Lauren Davis calls it "a fun and smartly written pulp" and praises Randall's take on a hardbitten character who remains flawed enough to draw us into her world with a sense of empathy. [5] In her introduction to the Trekker omnibus edition, Gail Simone notes: "It's of stuff like Trekker that revolutions are begun. A female character that is sexy but not sexualized, that is tough but not without flaws and doubts, and that is dangerous and without compassion or remorse". [6]

Publication history

Related Research Articles

<i>Dark Horse Presents</i> Comic book published by Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Presents was a comic book published by Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010. A third incarnation began in April 2011, released in print form once again.

Karl Kesel is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio and is best known for his collaborations with fellow artist Tom Grummett on The Adventures of Superman, Superboy, and Section Zero, as well as the first Harley Quinn comic title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Grummett</span> Canadian comics artist and penciller (born 1959)

Thomas Grummett is a Canadian comic book artist and penciller. He is best known for his work as penciller on titles such as The New Titans, The Adventures of Superman, Superboy, Power Company, Robin, New Thunderbolts and Heroes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan North</span> Canadian writer

Ryan North is a Canadian writer and computer programmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Kesel</span> American writer and editor of comic book

Barbara Randall Kesel is an American writer and editor of comic books. Her bibliography includes work for Crossgen, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics.

Gorilla Comics was a short-lived American comic book imprint launched in 2000 by creators Kurt Busiek, Tom Grummett, Stuart Immonen, Karl Kesel, Barry Kitson, George Pérez, Mark Waid, and Mike Wieringo. Characters were creator-owned, and books were published through Image Comics.

<i>Digger</i> (webcomic)

Digger is a webcomic drawn and written by Ursula Vernon, and published in print form by Sofawolf Press. It has drawn comparisons to Bone, Cerebus, and Discworld. Digger won the Hugo and Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, and was nominated for an Eisner Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Randall</span> American comic book artist

Ron Randall is an American comic book artist best known as the creator of the character Trekker.

<i>Strong Female Protagonist</i> American superhero webcomic

Strong Female Protagonist is a superhero webcomic written by Brennan Lee Mulligan and drawn by Molly Ostertag, published online since 2012. It has been on hiatus since 2018.

Shadowbinders is a young adult fantasy webcomic that features a number of steampunk themed elements. The comic is written and drawn by husband and wife Kambrea "Geeky Sparkles" Pratt (writer) and Thomas "Kneon" Pratt (artist), who has worked on Disney comics for Gemstone Publishing. According to a television interview on WTAJ-TV, the current storyline came about when the Pratts mixed two different story ideas together. Since its publication, Shadowbinders has been covered and reviewed by comics media outlets such as Comic Book Resources and Sequential Tart.

<i>Never Satisfied</i> Fantasy webcomic by Taylor Robin

Never Satisfied is a webcomic by Taylor Robin that began in 2015. Following the teenage magician apprentice Lucy, Never Satisfied presents a group of young people competing to become their city's magical representative. Robin's webcomic has been praised for featuring a varied LGBT cast, as each character has a different ethnicity, body type, and color palette.

<i>Avas Demon</i> 2012 science-fantasy webcomic

Ava's Demon is a science fantasy webcomic written and drawn by Michelle Czajkowski Fus and colored by a number of colorists. The comic, which has been ongoing since 2012, is known for its painted art style and animations. The first physical publication of Ava's Demon was released in 2013 after a successful Kickstarter project, and another Kickstarter in 2020 became the most-backed webcomic Kickstarter at the time.

<i>Polar</i> (webcomic)

Polar is a 2012 webcomic and series of graphic novels written and illustrated by Spanish cartoonist Victor Santos. Featuring "international hitman Black Kaiser", the webcomic is inspired by a variety of action and noir fiction. Polar is characterized by its highly stylized design and complete lack of dialogue, though speech balloons were added in the graphic novel publications by Dark Horse Comics. A live-action film based on the webcomic premiered on Netflix in January 2019.

Evan Dahm is an American webcartoonist from Asheville, North Carolina known for creating the Overside universe of webcomics. Dahm started creating the surrealistic webcomic Rice Boy in 2006, which follows the titular Rice Boy as he travels through Dahm's constructed world. Once Rice Boy was completed in 2008, Dahm followed it up with Order of Tales, a more traditional high fantasy adventure. In 2010, Dahm completed his second story and started Vattu, a webcomic about a tribal girl forced into slavery. Dahm has collaborated to create the Benign Kingdom series of art books and has published illustrated re-releases of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Moby Dick. In 2019, First Second published a graphic novel by Dahm titled Island Book. In December 2022, Dahm began publishing 3rd Voice, a fantasy webcomic serial about the adventures of Spondule and Navichet, set in "an invented world in a state of apocalyptic crisis, and the precarious lives of many people therein".

Snarlbear is a 2012 webcomic by Natalie Riess. It follows the adventures of a teenage girl who is transported to a fantasy world, where she becomes a monster hunter.

<i>Oglaf</i> Sexually-explicit comedy webcomic

Oglaf is a sexually explicit comedy webcomic produced by Australians Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne.

<i>Widdershins</i> (comic) Webcomic by Kate Ashwin

Widdershins is a free webcomic drawn by Kate Ashwin. It has ten complete stories, and is presently updating the eleventh and final story.

<i>Namesake</i> (webcomic) Fantasy webcomic

Namesake is a fantasy webcomic by Megan Lavey-Heaton and Isabelle Melançon. In Namesake, many worlds from other works of fiction are real parallel universes, and people with certain names can travel to certain worlds.

References

  1. ↑ Trekkercomic.com
  2. ↑ "Dark Horse Presents #22" wiki entry on Comic Vine. Retrieved 11-29-2013.
  3. ↑ Kesel, Karl and Randall, Ron (2013-3-25). "City of the Dead". Thrillbent.com. Retrieved 11-29-2013.
  4. ↑ Trekker Omnibus trade paperback details at the Dark Horse website
  5. ↑ Davis, Lauren (2013-1-12) "Saturday Webcomic: Trekker is an ass-kicking bounty hunter from our pulp retro future" io9. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  6. ↑ Randall, Ron and Simone, Gail. Trekker Omnibus. Dark Horse Comics, 2013, p.2
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.