Mark A. Altman

Mark A. Altman  is a writer/producer, author, and comic book writer having written a number of issues for Malibu Comics, including the entire Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Maquis: Soldier of Peace and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Hearts and Minds series as well as "". He also contributed a story for DC Comics. 

Altman is also the co-author of several unlicensed reference books about the Star Trek saga, most of them with Edward Gross and many of which stem from his writings for Cinefantastique magazine. Their latest collaboration, The Fifty-Year Mission, Volume One: The First 25 Years, is the first of a two-volume set, each devoted to 25 years of the franchise, and was released in .

While working for Cinefantastique from 1989 through 1993, he contributed numerous Star Trek articles for their themed issues. During his time with the magazine, Altman visited the  and Deep Space Nine sets many times during filming. In 2003, he acquired publishing rights for the magazine, after it folded upon the death of its founder and chief editor , and relaunched it with Mark Gottwald under the new title CFQ in 2003. Returning to its original formula of being a critical review magazine, they sold the magazine after several years to publisher Joe Sena.

In addition to his works as a journalist and authoring Star Trek comics, he is also a movie producer and was one of the writers and producers of the award-winning 1999 comedy  , which was directed and co-written by Robert Meyer Burnett. Altman had met Burnett at San Diego Comic-Con, and through their mutual interest as Star Trek fans inspired the story line in which two less than successful film producers, approaching mid-life crisis and clinging to their geeky sci-fi obsessions, suddenly meet their idol William Shatner. Shatner agreed to the role when the two rewrote his character in the comedy as an over-the-hill, womanizing alcoholic, allowing Shatner in turn to poke fun at himself.  The film won numerous awards, including a Writers Guild of America Award for Altman as "Best New Writer".

While Altman is a life-long Star Trek fan, he became concerned that the franchise was beginning to overstretch itself and lose its uniqueness, commenting in 1999, despite his great affection for the two series, "When Deep Space Nine and Next Generation were on the air simultaneously, that was the beginning of what some would say was the overkill – beating it into submission, exploiting the crown jewel."  With the launch of , Altman continued to express his concerns, telling TV Guide that it should be given "a rest and re-launch in a few years when fervor has built again."  With Star Trek having been off the air for over a decade, Altman thinks that 2017 is "absolutely the right time to bring back Star Trek to the small screen" and is enthusiastic about the new show. 

Since Free Enterprise, Altman has continued to branch out into the motion picture industry, predominantly working as a writer and producer from 1998 onward, working on documentaries, television movies, and television series such as Castle (2009), Necessary Roughness (2011), Femme Fatales (2012), and Agent X (2015). Most recently he was the Co-Executive Producer of The Librarians (2014-2018). One of his very first motion picture projects was Free Enterprise, followed-up by the 1999 "Making-of" documentary, Where No Fan Has Gone Before: The Making of "Free Enterprise". He later produced James Gunn's superhero spoof, The Specials as well as DOA: Dead Or Alive for Dimension Films. 

In addition to this, he was asked to contribute to the 2012 TNG Season 2 Blu-ray release when he featured in the "Making It So: Continuing Star Trek: TNG" special, and then again in 2013's "" in the "Regeneration: Engaging the Borg" special.

Altman is a co-president of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films as of 2011,  the organization responsible for the annual Saturn Award ceremonies at which Star Trek traditionally performs well.

Star Trek credits 
 DC TOS volume 2
 "TOS Special 3" ("Echoes of Yesterday" story)
 Malibu DS9
 Monthly series
 #8: ""
 #9: "Requiem II"
 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Hearts and Minds:
 #1: "For the Glory of the Empire"
 #2: "On the Edge of Armageddon"
 #3: "Into the Abyss"
 #4: "Masters of War"
 "Lightstorm"
 "Terok Nor: Deep Space Nine #0"
 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Maquis: Soldier of Peace:
 #1: "Vacation's Over"
 #2: "Rats in a Maze"
 #3: "Victims of Deceit"

Bibliography 
 New Voyages: The Next Generation Guidebook (1991, with Edward Gross)
 Charting the Undiscovered Country: The Making of Trek VI (1992, with Edward Gross and Ron Magid)
 Exploring Deep Space and Beyond (1992, with David Ian Salter)
 Great Birds of the Galaxy: Gene Roddenberry and the Creators of Trek (1994, with Edward Gross)
 The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion (1994, with Edward Gross)
 Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages (1995, with Edward Gross)
 Creating the Next Generation (1995, with Edward Gross)
 The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion (1995, with Edward Gross)
 Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages (1996, with Edward Gross)
 Trek Navigator: The Ultimate Guide to the Entire Trek Saga (1998, with Edward Gross)
 The Fifty-Year Mission: The First 25 Years (2016, with Edward Gross)
 The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years (2016, with Edward Gross)

Articles 
 "Irish Smiles",

Interviews

External links 
 
 

Star Trek comic authors
Star Trek reference authors