Vertical Space
WRITER EXCLUSIVE
Vertical Space
Two new stories warp Star Trek into the Webtoon universe
WORDS: RICHARD EDWARDS
THE LCARS COMPUTER interfaces and Deep Space Nine’s Promenade will be familiar to anyone who has watched The Next Generation, DS9 and Voyager. But despite their familiar settings, two new Star Trek stories are transporting the 60-year-old franchise into a new frontier.
Webtoons originated in South Korea, and are designed to be scrolled vertically, one panel at a time. Stargazers and Recollection both consist of 40 episodes, released weekly across the Webtoon platform and mobile app.
Set on DS9 after the Dominion War, Stargazers is a love story about teens trying to work out what they want to do with their lives.
“I’m a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope!” writer Jarrett Melendez laughs. “I’m known for my slice-of-life queer romance stories, and that translated very well to telling a slice-of-life queer romance story on Deep Space Nine. They’re all civilian kids, and some of them want to join Starfleet, and some of them don’t. Some of them couldn’t care less about