But never mind that, it’s a whole other axe to grind.

It’s funny you should mention DC’s attempt to deal with that problem of lengthy tangled continuity. I think it’s only fair to acknowledge that the makers of the new Star Trek have had that very same problem to deal with. To us as long-time fans it doesn’t seem like a problem, but for brand-new viewers, it’s fairly daunting. After all, to catch up with all previous Star Trek starting from zero, one would have to watch not only the 10 existing movies, but 716 episodes of the various TV series! That’s child’s play compared to trying to catch up on the X-men or Superman or Batman, sure, but it’s still quite a hefty amount of baggage. Now of course, if recent Star Trek movies had been much, much better, that wouldn’t have been so much of an issue. Fans of The Next Generation (like myself) were dealt a truly harsh blow with the horrifying spectacle of uncaring blah that was Nemesis, the tenth movie. And Insurrection was pretty meh, but it suddenly looks great compared to Nemesis… At least the original generation got a nice sendoff in Star Trek VI. The Next Generation got a kick in the face with Nemesis.

So, having thoroughly botched so much with a less-than-token effort in recent times (through the old calculation that fans are desperate, they’ll probably buy anything, which turned out not to be quite so true), they basically had to try and attract all-new, non-disgruntled viewers. And the only way to do that is to unburden them of trying to catch up on a lengthy and complicated continuity.

All that said, it is actually the official position of the screenwriters that this new Star Trek universe is indeed an Alternate time line, not a wipeout. Here is an exchange from an interview with screenwriter Alberto Orci (who incidentally respected TNG more in the Countdown comic prequel to the new movie more than Paramount did in Nemesis);

*******************************************

Q: The history of Kirk’s predecessor, Capt. Christopher Pike (played by Bruce Greenwood) is also rewritten. Will that completely change his history as known to “Trek” fans?

A: Pike’s history is not completely different now, but it has certainly changed significantly, and that’s an example of our approach to time travel. Rather than stick to the familiar Einsteinian approach, our story is inspired by more current thinking in theoretical physics.

Q: You’re referring to the increasingly popular “many worlds” theory about the possible structure of the space-time continuum.

A: Exactly, and we chose that approach not only because it’s the most up-to-date speculation about time travel, but in terms of telling a time-travel story it inherently preserves the established events of “Star Trek” in an alternate reality, and that allows breathing room between those stories and what we’re doing now. It’s also really fun for us, as writers, because “Star Trek” got us into science and now science is helping us to preserve “Star Trek,” which is pretty amazing when you think about it.

********************************************

So there you have it. While I don’t disagree with what Stephanie said, this evolution was indeed reached through a remorseless logic that is hard to argue with, from a money-making product standpoint. And Alex, you are absolutely right that there is no safe retirement for narrative when money-making comes calling. After all, the avalanche of 80s-plundering movies coming up is ample proof of that.

But again, as far as Star Trek Prime (as you notably put it) goes, novelizations and comics remain

In conclusion, my apologies about making you endure the horror of my relentless run-on sentence habit.

When DC decided in the 80′s to clean up their cluttered histories and myriad characters in Crisis on Infinite Earths, it was a practical strategy to simplify and rectify the confusing and hard-to-write for maze of decades of company titles. After creatively unifying their various storylines, they left the “original” Superman and Lois Lane in a private little world apart from the new single, sort of a sweet parting gift for years of faithful service, rather than Xing them out of existence or killing them off. But of course, that wasn’t the end, if you know of the travesty of Infinite Crisis where they were made the starting point of a botched cosmic catastrophe. There is no safe retirement in popular culture narratives when the editors and executives come calling.

Heck, Conan-Doyle couldn’t even kill off his own creation when fans outraged over Sherlock Holmes’ death at Reichenbach Falls was reversed and a less inspired version character returned for many years afterward to please his public. So sometimes the public gets what it wants, more or less, or, in my case, has to settle with memories of Star Trek Prime.

Just like any fandom, fans have chosen what to acknowledge and appreciate from the “official” canon they’ve been given, and what not to. In other words, they’ve chosen to customize their experience in a way that they found most enjoyable, which is only right. Paramount may not consider novelizations and comics “canon”, but really, the distinction is absurd to make. Fiction is fiction, and the kind written on pages is certainly “official” enough. There is nothing stopping one from deciding their preference for how they imagine the stories continue. For example, many (myself included), greatly enjoyed John Ford’s version of Klingon culture from “The Final Reflection” (much of which was in fact eventually co-opted in “official canon”). Then of course there is the whole business of Klingon ridges. The series Enterprise (which certainly massively overwrote much of continuity, if you believe in “canon” to that extent) had a decent explanation of it. But the great graphic novel Debt of Honor (which came years earlier) has a much better version of the story, and features the return of Dr. Carol Marcus to boot as well.

Star Wars fans have had to reconcile themselves to the abominations that are the Prequel movies, which among many, many other flaws, show that merit in the galaxy is all about eugenics and biological superiority (controlling the Force is suddenly based on “midichlorians”, which you must be born with, otherwise tough luck). Can you imagine, Star Trek suddenly being retroactively painted in a way that implies it’s all about being born a genetically superior ubermensch? Well, Lucas did it to Star Wars fans. And he didn’t make it an alternate universe. He made it part of the very same timeline.

Canon is a tricky thing to latch on to. The studios themselves have only a cursory belief in it. We could go on for pages listing all the contradictions in official canon.

Another good example of selective memory is the Alien series of movies. Alien & Aliens were fine works. Alien 3 & 4 were utter abominations (more so Alien 4). There are still plenty of fans out there who enjoy the franchise while completely ignoring the disagreeable elements.Interestingly enough, once again comics came to the rescue – Dark Horse has done some great work continuing the stories, any number of which would have made for a better third and fourth movie than were actually made.

The bottom line is that although the new movie represents a new, other Trek, it doesn’t wipe anything out. The existing continuity wasn’t nullified, it simply branched out. After all, every major historical event (and even relatively minor decision) creates a new time line. Traveling in time doesn’t erase and re-write, it takes the other fork in the road.

And if you still need proof the existing Star Trek continues, you need go no further than the bookstore. Random arbiters of “canon” may disagree, but most of us know better.