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IDW Deviations #6-9
Deviations: Beta
What if you favorite stories and characters had entirely different experiences? Find out in this special comic book event series featuring alternate takes on some of your favorite books!
Starfleet protects Earth. Twilight Sparkle is a princess. Fox Mulder seeks the truth. Judge Dredd is the Law. But what if things were different?
Find out in Beta , a special comic book event featuring alternate takes on some of your favorite characters and stories!
In Judge Dredd , what if Dredd turned into a werewolf? Take a sideways look at "Cry of the Werewolf," one of the most celebrated Dredd stories!
In My Little Pony , imagine an Equestria where Prince Blueblood became Celestia's star pupil instead of Twilight Sparkle!
In Star Trek , consider an Earth that wasn't home to Starfleet, but was instead a vast and brutal penal colony. What if everything that was no longer is, because the Romulans defeated the Vulcans, destroyed the Federation, and rewrote history?
In The X-Files , what if it was a young Fox Mulder who was abducted by aliens and never returned, and another Mulder took up the crusade against deception? Agent Samantha Mulder returns with Agent Dana Scully to investigate a shadowy figure who may hold the truth behind the disappearance of Sam’s brother, Fox.
Starfleet protects Earth. Twilight Sparkle is a princess. Fox Mulder seeks the truth. Judge Dredd is the Law. But what if things were different?
Find out in Beta , a special comic book event featuring alternate takes on some of your favorite characters and stories!
In Judge Dredd , what if Dredd turned into a werewolf? Take a sideways look at "Cry of the Werewolf," one of the most celebrated Dredd stories!
In My Little Pony , imagine an Equestria where Prince Blueblood became Celestia's star pupil instead of Twilight Sparkle!
In Star Trek , consider an Earth that wasn't home to Starfleet, but was instead a vast and brutal penal colony. What if everything that was no longer is, because the Romulans defeated the Vulcans, destroyed the Federation, and rewrote history?
In The X-Files , what if it was a young Fox Mulder who was abducted by aliens and never returned, and another Mulder took up the crusade against deception? Agent Samantha Mulder returns with Agent Dana Scully to investigate a shadowy figure who may hold the truth behind the disappearance of Sam’s brother, Fox.
- GenresComics
116 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2017
8 people want to read
About the author
Katie Cook
237 books175 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
I graduated from the College for Creative Studies in 2004 with a BFA in illustration, my love of cartooning and comics has led me to where i am today.
I've done licensed work for DC, Marvel, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic, Fraggle Rock and more. I love being a nerd, so being able to draw nerdy things for a living is the best thing ever.
I'm married to the best guy ever. Ryan keeps me grounded.
I have a daughter, Grayson, who is my booger-y little destroyer of worlds.
I like my cats... a LOT.
...Our dog isn't too bad.
I live in a state shaped like a mitten.
The constant support of my family, pets, friends, and even complete strangers, is what drives me to succeed in art. Thank you everyone, because of you, I am what I am.
Which means... I'm all your fault.
I graduated from the College for Creative Studies in 2004 with a BFA in illustration, my love of cartooning and comics has led me to where i am today.
I've done licensed work for DC, Marvel, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic, Fraggle Rock and more. I love being a nerd, so being able to draw nerdy things for a living is the best thing ever.
I'm married to the best guy ever. Ryan keeps me grounded.
I have a daughter, Grayson, who is my booger-y little destroyer of worlds.
I like my cats... a LOT.
...Our dog isn't too bad.
I live in a state shaped like a mitten.
The constant support of my family, pets, friends, and even complete strangers, is what drives me to succeed in art. Thank you everyone, because of you, I am what I am.
Which means... I'm all your fault.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 10, 2023
An OK second set of alternate universe stories for IDW's licensed properties. The Judge Dredd story is fine. The My Little Pony story is amusing enough, though it might work much better for someone familiar with MLP (I am not). The Star Trek story is probably the weakest in the volume, basically just an introduction without enough explanations. The X-Files story continues the alternate universe from the previous volume, but doesn't really advance things much further. Slightly better overall than the first collection, at least. (B)
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June 15, 2019As with the previous volume of Deviations, this latest release from IDW takes a look at some key moments from a number of their comic universes and reimagines them. What happens to some of your best loved franchises when things take a very different path?
Deviations: Judge Dredd
In the original story ‘Cry of the Werewolf’ a flesheating werewolf made it’s way out of the Under-City and into the streets of Mega-City One. Attacking citizens and turning them into werewolves, Judge Dredd made it his mission to stop the monsters.
After being bitten by one of the werewolves and became one of the monsters. Judge Prager, a Judge on the long walk, managed to capture Dredd, who was returned to normal thanks to a cure developed by Judge Cassidy.
In Deviations: Judge Dredd, however, we find ourselves in a world where Judge Cassidy was killed before he was able to perfect his cure, leaving Dredd Stuck in his new, monstrous form. When the crazed composer Karl Heinz-Pilchards-In-Tomato-Sauce Clayderman causes destruction that puts citizens of Mega-City One in jeopardy, and accidentally frees Wolf Dredd from his confinement, the other Judges discover that Dredd has managed to regain control of his mind.
With Dredd now in control of his new form he stops Clayderman and saves dozens of citizens, leading to him becoming beloved by the city. Unable to allow Dredd to remain in the city he is allowed to take the long walk into the wilderness, where he can continue on as a Judge.
The artwork and story in Deviations: Judge Dredd captures the look and feel of a classic Judge Dredd story, and manages to be a worthy follow-up story to the original. Less intense than a lot of Judge Dredd stories, it does manage to incorporate a strong level of humour and charm to proceedings.
Whether a fan of Judge Dredd, or completely new to the franchise, ‘Howl of the Wolf’ is certain to entertain readers.
Deviations: My Little Pony
The My Little Pony segment of Deviations tells a very different story to the one that fans will know, retelling the very first episode of the series, but with a different hero in place of Twilight Sparkle.
In this new world, Princess Celestia did not choose Twilight Sparkle to be her student, instead choosing Prince Blueblood due to him needing more help with his studies. With Prince Blueblood proving to be self-centred, Celestia sends him to Ponyville in order to make friends in the lead up to the Summer Sun Celebration.
When he arrives in Ponyville he finds that Nightmare Moon has already escaped from the moon, and is terrorising the town. Encountering the ponies that would go on to be Twilight Sparkle’s friends, Prince Blueblood manages to alienate all of them with his selfish and self-centred ways.
Deviations: My Little Pony tells a fun and interesting reimagining of the first My Little Pony episodes, subverting expectations. Instead of having Prince Blueblood replace Twilight Sparkle and replicate her journey, things play out completely differently, with it eventually being Princess Luna who goes on to make friends with the characters of Ponyville.
The book manages to capture the look and feel of the show, keeping the charm that makes the show such a success. A very lighthearted adventure, Deviations: My Little Pony will definitely interest pony fans.
Deviations: Star Trek
Deviations: Star Trek tells a much darker story than most Star Trek fans will be used to, set in a world where the Romulan Empire has captured Earth and enslaved humanity, forcing them into penal colonies.
Over the course of the story we learn that at some point following the first contact with the Vulcans, and the formation of the Federation, the Romulans took over, and that they have since repressed all knowledge of this history from the people of Earth, having them believe that the Romulans found them as a young, savage race.
In this dark and brutal world we discover William Riker and his group of freedom fighters trying to break into a Romulan prison in order to rescue a man who can lead them to a secret federation base. He’s accompanied by Worf, the former prison security officer turned pacific; Geordi La Forge, who can see by having wired himself into the head of the android Data; and Deanna Troi, who was forced to use her empathic power to torture people in the camps. Together the group manage to rescue Jean-Luc Picard, who can help them with their fight for freedom.
Whilst Deviations: Star Trek is a one-shot comic, it feels very much like the beginning issue of it’s own series, more so than any other story in this collection. It ends having completed its story, but ready to take events further, ready to set our heroes off on their own brand new adventure.
The universe that it has created is an interesting one, one in which we don’t know what happened (or when) to change events, but offers a number of hints at some disaster befalling a young Federation. The tone of this universe very much feels like the mirror universe that was visited in Deep Space Nine, and takes a lot of inspiration from this, even down to the look of Deanna Troi being very similar to the mirror universe Kira.
Deviations: Star Trek works well as its own single issue story, but could also act as a great starting point to a new ongoing series. Hopefully this will be a world that IDW will be interested in exploring in the future.
Deviations: X-Files
Deviations: X-Files is a brave comic. With dozens of monster of the week stories that could have been altered, a parts of the overall mythology that could have been explored in a what if style, there were so many options this book could have taken. Instead, it throws the entire X-Files universe that we know on it’s head by simply saying, ‘what if Mulder got abducted instead of Samantha?’
Set in a world where Samantha Mulder went on to be the conspiracy theory believing, alien hunting FBI agent, this story sees her and her partner, Dana Scully, investigate a case of murders where all of the victims are identical looking Park Rangers. When a shapeshifting adversary kills another Park Ranger, and steals all evidence of the case, Sam and Scully must team up with the Lone Gunmen to delve deeper into the mysterious Syndicate and their far reaching conspiracy.
Taking characters and stories from the series and flipping things on their head works incredibly well for this story. We know everything that’s happening, we’ve seen it all before on the show, but the subtle differences make it all new and exciting. The moment when Sam tells Scully of the identical men I knew what story the book was telling. I knew we’d get the alien bounty hunter, and a clone of Mulder, but this pre-existing knowledge of what story beats would be explored didn’t ruin anything; instead it just made me more excited to see what was coming next.
Fans of The X-Files will get a lot of joy out of Deviations: X-Files, in getting to see the X-Files universe shifted so dramatically, yet following a similar path. A brilliant use of the Deviations premise.
Deviations: Beta collects together four amazing stories that explore their respective franchises in new and exciting ways, and would all make great limited or ongoing series in their own right. IDW have managed to deliver amazing content, and I can’t wait to see what ideas they can explore with future Deviations books.
Deviations: Judge Dredd
In the original story ‘Cry of the Werewolf’ a flesheating werewolf made it’s way out of the Under-City and into the streets of Mega-City One. Attacking citizens and turning them into werewolves, Judge Dredd made it his mission to stop the monsters.
After being bitten by one of the werewolves and became one of the monsters. Judge Prager, a Judge on the long walk, managed to capture Dredd, who was returned to normal thanks to a cure developed by Judge Cassidy.
In Deviations: Judge Dredd, however, we find ourselves in a world where Judge Cassidy was killed before he was able to perfect his cure, leaving Dredd Stuck in his new, monstrous form. When the crazed composer Karl Heinz-Pilchards-In-Tomato-Sauce Clayderman causes destruction that puts citizens of Mega-City One in jeopardy, and accidentally frees Wolf Dredd from his confinement, the other Judges discover that Dredd has managed to regain control of his mind.
With Dredd now in control of his new form he stops Clayderman and saves dozens of citizens, leading to him becoming beloved by the city. Unable to allow Dredd to remain in the city he is allowed to take the long walk into the wilderness, where he can continue on as a Judge.
The artwork and story in Deviations: Judge Dredd captures the look and feel of a classic Judge Dredd story, and manages to be a worthy follow-up story to the original. Less intense than a lot of Judge Dredd stories, it does manage to incorporate a strong level of humour and charm to proceedings.
Whether a fan of Judge Dredd, or completely new to the franchise, ‘Howl of the Wolf’ is certain to entertain readers.
Deviations: My Little Pony
The My Little Pony segment of Deviations tells a very different story to the one that fans will know, retelling the very first episode of the series, but with a different hero in place of Twilight Sparkle.
In this new world, Princess Celestia did not choose Twilight Sparkle to be her student, instead choosing Prince Blueblood due to him needing more help with his studies. With Prince Blueblood proving to be self-centred, Celestia sends him to Ponyville in order to make friends in the lead up to the Summer Sun Celebration.
When he arrives in Ponyville he finds that Nightmare Moon has already escaped from the moon, and is terrorising the town. Encountering the ponies that would go on to be Twilight Sparkle’s friends, Prince Blueblood manages to alienate all of them with his selfish and self-centred ways.
Deviations: My Little Pony tells a fun and interesting reimagining of the first My Little Pony episodes, subverting expectations. Instead of having Prince Blueblood replace Twilight Sparkle and replicate her journey, things play out completely differently, with it eventually being Princess Luna who goes on to make friends with the characters of Ponyville.
The book manages to capture the look and feel of the show, keeping the charm that makes the show such a success. A very lighthearted adventure, Deviations: My Little Pony will definitely interest pony fans.
Deviations: Star Trek
Deviations: Star Trek tells a much darker story than most Star Trek fans will be used to, set in a world where the Romulan Empire has captured Earth and enslaved humanity, forcing them into penal colonies.
Over the course of the story we learn that at some point following the first contact with the Vulcans, and the formation of the Federation, the Romulans took over, and that they have since repressed all knowledge of this history from the people of Earth, having them believe that the Romulans found them as a young, savage race.
In this dark and brutal world we discover William Riker and his group of freedom fighters trying to break into a Romulan prison in order to rescue a man who can lead them to a secret federation base. He’s accompanied by Worf, the former prison security officer turned pacific; Geordi La Forge, who can see by having wired himself into the head of the android Data; and Deanna Troi, who was forced to use her empathic power to torture people in the camps. Together the group manage to rescue Jean-Luc Picard, who can help them with their fight for freedom.
Whilst Deviations: Star Trek is a one-shot comic, it feels very much like the beginning issue of it’s own series, more so than any other story in this collection. It ends having completed its story, but ready to take events further, ready to set our heroes off on their own brand new adventure.
The universe that it has created is an interesting one, one in which we don’t know what happened (or when) to change events, but offers a number of hints at some disaster befalling a young Federation. The tone of this universe very much feels like the mirror universe that was visited in Deep Space Nine, and takes a lot of inspiration from this, even down to the look of Deanna Troi being very similar to the mirror universe Kira.
Deviations: Star Trek works well as its own single issue story, but could also act as a great starting point to a new ongoing series. Hopefully this will be a world that IDW will be interested in exploring in the future.
Deviations: X-Files
Deviations: X-Files is a brave comic. With dozens of monster of the week stories that could have been altered, a parts of the overall mythology that could have been explored in a what if style, there were so many options this book could have taken. Instead, it throws the entire X-Files universe that we know on it’s head by simply saying, ‘what if Mulder got abducted instead of Samantha?’
Set in a world where Samantha Mulder went on to be the conspiracy theory believing, alien hunting FBI agent, this story sees her and her partner, Dana Scully, investigate a case of murders where all of the victims are identical looking Park Rangers. When a shapeshifting adversary kills another Park Ranger, and steals all evidence of the case, Sam and Scully must team up with the Lone Gunmen to delve deeper into the mysterious Syndicate and their far reaching conspiracy.
Taking characters and stories from the series and flipping things on their head works incredibly well for this story. We know everything that’s happening, we’ve seen it all before on the show, but the subtle differences make it all new and exciting. The moment when Sam tells Scully of the identical men I knew what story the book was telling. I knew we’d get the alien bounty hunter, and a clone of Mulder, but this pre-existing knowledge of what story beats would be explored didn’t ruin anything; instead it just made me more excited to see what was coming next.
Fans of The X-Files will get a lot of joy out of Deviations: X-Files, in getting to see the X-Files universe shifted so dramatically, yet following a similar path. A brilliant use of the Deviations premise.
Deviations: Beta collects together four amazing stories that explore their respective franchises in new and exciting ways, and would all make great limited or ongoing series in their own right. IDW have managed to deliver amazing content, and I can’t wait to see what ideas they can explore with future Deviations books.
April 1, 2019
Lectura entretenida. Son fragmentos de historias, abiertas en su principio y en su final, salvo quizás la de My Little Pony, que sí tiene bastante contenido en sí misma y es la mejor de las cuatro partes.
May 24, 2019
Nice collection of alternate world takes on Judge Dredd,Star Trek TNG and continuing the X-Files tale from the first collection. Would have scored higher but for the My Little Pony tale which seems jarringly out of place with the tone of the other stories collected.
October 9, 2025
Again fun idea. Wish there was more issues.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews