This is an easy one! If you’re a fan of the original Star Trek (or know someone who is), this is your lucky day. A new oversized book from Titan titled Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz has just been released that contains artwork from artist Ortiz that offers up each of the original episodes as either a movie poster, magazine cover, or book cover. All 80 episodes (this includes The Cage) are made available as 11 x 17 inch prints, and I’m having a very difficult time trying to figure out which one is my favorite and will be pulled out and framed for hanging in my office.
These are 60s-style retro covers — some are quite psychedelic, others have a more propaganda look and feel, and a few are given the pulp magazine cover treatment. Each print has one or more elements that is key to the episode in general, but if you find yourself scratching your head over an episode title as I did a few times, the back of the book contains a very brief summary (one or two sentences) along with a snippet of conversation or a single quote to help set you straight. Along with the summary is a thumbnail of the matching image and a short blurb from Ortiz that offers up a bit of detail about his motivation or inspiration for that cover. (The writer and director of each episode is also included along with the air date.)
Each poster has a one inch (1″) gap between the edge of the poster and the binding, so there’s no need to worry about damaging a poster should you choose to pull it out and frame it. I really am having difficulty picking one out, and I imagine you will, too. But if you’re not keen on ripping out pages, on pages 13 and 45, there’s are two full page posters (non-episode related) of the Enterprise that would look great on the wall.
Some of my favorites posters? Charlie X. The Corbomite Maneuver. The Menagerie Parts One and Two (two different posters that each have an amazing take on Pike’s part in the story). Balance of Terror. Arena. Errand of Mercy. The Doomsday Machine. The Ultimate Computer. Spectre of the Gun. And, of course, The Cage.
I really like Ortiz’s style, and I’d actually love to see him tackle some other shows that had limited runs. The Prisoner and Firefly come to mind…
As I said earlier… if you’re a fan, you will go crazy over these amazing prints. If you know a fan, Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz is perfect gift material. Whether you have a geek cave or not, I am certain that fans of ST:TOS will find one or more episodes worthy for the wall(s). You’ve got 80 full-color options to choose from… I’m already wondering if there’s someone out there who might go so far as to wallpaper a room!
Note: I’d like to thank Tom at Titan Books for providing a review copy.
