My Epic Trek Comic Book Read #5

Gold Key issue 5 (September 1969), “The Ghost Planet,” serves up equal helpings of a classic Star Trek moral quandary and prime Gold Key nonsense. In "Galaxy Zelta" the Enterprise comes across some Saturn-like rings which may conceal a planet at the center. They cross through a turbulent "two lunar miles" of the rainbow-colored rings …

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My Epic Trek Comic Book Read #4

In Gold Key issue 4, "The Peril of Planet Quick Change" (June 1969), Spock discovers a highly unstable planet in "Galaxy Telpha Z." The constantly shifting surface is dangerous, but Spock has also detected tiantianium ore, "an ounce of which can propel a spaceship for a year," as Kirk says, so a landing party is …

An Auspicious Anniversary

I got busy yesterday and totally forgot to mark the occasion. Five years ago on April 9 I was laid off from my day job. I'd spent ten years with my employer. I started as a copyeditor, moved up to associate editor, then acquiring editor. But publishing continues to go through adjustments in the age …

My Epic Trek Comic Book Read #3

Gold Key issue 3 (December 1968), “Invasion of the City Builders,” serves up a passable automation-gone-too-far story, but once again it’s wrapped in a tortilla with a large side of WTF sauce. The Enterprise, continuing the galaxy-hopping trend of the two previous issues, is now “at the edge of a distant galaxy.” Impossible travel times …

My Epic Trek Comic Book Read #2

Gold Key issue 2 (March 1968), “The Devil’s Isle of Space,” finds a landing party including Captain Kirk trapped on a prison asteroid where the condemned are about to be executed en masse when the planet-sized unstable rock explodes. It’s not a bad concept for a story, and it raises Prime Directive issues even though …

My Epic Trek Comic Book Read #1

I’ve decided I should dive into a comprehensive read of the Star Trek comic books. I’ve read a lot of them over the years, but far from all of them, not like the books, which, except for a handful of more recent titles, I’m all caught up on. There’s no better place to start such …

My Lost Star Trek Sidebar

Back in 2011, the ever-ebullient Bob Greenberger was contracted to write Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History for Voyageur Press. He solicited sidebar contributions from several other Star Trek writers and fans, including myself. I was excited to be able to contribute to the book. In fact, I’d actually helped the book happen behind the …