by Sherry Lipp

The Official Star Trek Convention in Seattle kicked off today with appearances from Anthony Montgomery and Jeffrey Combs.

Montgomery didn’t speak about his experience portraying Travis Mayweather on Enterprise, instead giving the audience an impassioned discourse about his current project Miles Away. Miles Away is a graphic novel about a teen boy with “super photographic reflexes” who finds himself battling evil in an interstellar war. Montgomery was quick to point out that Max Miles must learn to use his intellect, rather than his superpowers, to battle evil forces.

Montgomery plans to turn his graphic novel, which is co-written with Brandon Easton (of the New Thundercats), into an animated film series and possibly a live-action feature film. Tying the graphic novel into current events, including the recent protests in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, Montgomery hopes Miles Away will serve as inspiration to youth who are struggling with adversity in their lives.

Veteran actor Jeffrey Combs took a more traditional approach to his panel, delighting the audience with stories about his experiences on Deep Space Nine and Enterprise. Combs opened by telling the Seattle-based audience that he is a University of Washington alumni, where he studied acting.

Combs entertained the audience with tales of his acting experiences throughout his lengthy career. A highlight of his presentation came after an audience member asked how he got his start on Star Trek. It’s a simple question, but as often happens at these Q&A sessions, the answer was a surprise.

I don’t want to give away everything, but as it turns out Combs auditioned for the role of Riker on The Next Generation. Obviously with that role going to Jonathan Frakes, Combs was later up for a role on Deep Space Nine. And who should Combs find in the director’s chair on that episode? Jonathan Frakes himself. Combs was cast in that role, which led to future roles on that show and eventually on  Enterprise, where he worked with Frakes again. As Combs said he began and ended his Star Trek career with Frakes.

Overall it was a great start to the Seattle Star Trek con. Stay tuned or more of our coverage and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for live pics from the show.

Images: Sherry Lipp

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Sherry Lipp
Sherry is a writer/blogger specializing in entertainment and food writing. You can find her gluten and grain-free food articles at scdforlife.com.

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