Editorial: The Comic-Con Community Mourns the Loss of Three ‘Star Trek’ Fan Favorite Actors

San Diego Comic-Con and fandoms go together like franks and beans, and one of the first fandoms to embrace SDCC was Star Trek. Trekkies have been part of Comic-Con from the very beginning, and Star Trek has become one of the most popular franchises at the con. Star Trek‘s annual Hall H panel has become a must-see event for Trekkies to learn the future of the franchise and catch some funny stories from their favorite cast members. The last week of October this year sadly took three convention mainstays from us: Walter Koenig (Star Trek: The Original Series), Sir Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard), and Eric Bauza (Star Trek: Lower Decks). The earliest confirmed SDCC appearance we could find for Walter Koenig dates to 1974, the convention’s fifth year in existence, when he and fellow Star Trek cast member Majel Barrett were among the convention’s guests. Photographs taken by Comic-Con co-founder Shel Dorf capture Koenig at that year’s masquerade at the El Cortez Hotel, a glimpse of his place in the convention’s early history. Sadly, I was never lucky enough to encounter Walter Koenig at SDCC (his last formal appearance at the con was in 2006), but I do...