Before we proceed to our Tale of Trek, let's pause to take a look at Star Trek comics in the USA at that time. The year was 1973. Star Trek had been cancelled for 4 years, but the audience was continuing to grow around the syndicated show. The first movie was a half decade away, an animated series was in production from Filmation, and everybody was ramping up to sing Money!*
At Gold Key, we were getting new Star Trek adventures, but something seemed just a bit off about them...
You might notice that Captain Kirk looks rather un-Kirk-like. This is no fault of the artist, as he had never seen the show and the reference photos sent to him were of Jeffery Hunter - Captain Pike from the first pilot. This was a problem that undercut the book on a routine basis, even when playing with concepts like this which would not come into play until The Next Generation aired over a decade later.
Meanwhile, over in the UK...
Yeah, that Enterprise might spark more than a bit of concern. Inside, however, we find Eisner Award winner Jim Baikie is on, as far as i can determine, one of his first professional gigs. And he has clearly seen the show and knows the actors.
Even if the colourist is unaware of certain little things, like the meaning of tunic colours and the curse of the Red Shirt...
...but not even a red shirt can stop Captain Kirk. (Though Spock is doing all the heavy lifting)
Meanwhile, 10 years later, back at StarFleet...
Yeah... This is gonna get confusing.
At Gold Key, we were getting new Star Trek adventures, but something seemed just a bit off about them...
You might notice that Captain Kirk looks rather un-Kirk-like. This is no fault of the artist, as he had never seen the show and the reference photos sent to him were of Jeffery Hunter - Captain Pike from the first pilot. This was a problem that undercut the book on a routine basis, even when playing with concepts like this which would not come into play until The Next Generation aired over a decade later.
Meanwhile, over in the UK...
Yeah, that Enterprise might spark more than a bit of concern. Inside, however, we find Eisner Award winner Jim Baikie is on, as far as i can determine, one of his first professional gigs. And he has clearly seen the show and knows the actors.
Even if the colourist is unaware of certain little things, like the meaning of tunic colours and the curse of the Red Shirt...
...but not even a red shirt can stop Captain Kirk. (Though Spock is doing all the heavy lifting)
Meanwhile, 10 years later, back at StarFleet...
Yeah... This is gonna get confusing.
What Is This Thing Called Spock? by Jim Baikie for TV21 (1973), Star Fleet by Mike Noble for Look-In (1983)
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