Star Trek #1 - Marvel Comics

STAR TREK No. 1, April 1980

For those Trekkies unable to experience the American science fiction franchise’s inaugural outing on the big screen in December 1979, this “first of a three part adaption of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture film” originally published in its entirety for Issue Fifteen of “Marvel Comics Super Special”, was probably not going to make all that much sense. Indeed, Marv Wolfman’s script for this particular eighteen-page periodical attempts to depict so many different scenes from the film’s storyline in so short a time possible, that it’s doubtful even some of those fans who had watched director Robert Wise’s movie would be able to follow precisely what was happening every now and then; “Why is any object we don’t understand called a thing?”

For starters, despite seemingly sticking quite meticulously to Harold Livingston’s dialogue, each conversation is largely confined to just a handful of panels, making any progress with the book’s plot rather difficult to navigate as the audience has to initially slowly plod through an apparently endless array of word balloons before reaching such notable highlights as Epsilon Nine’s total destruction, or the U.S.S. Enterprise finally leaving space dock. In addition, perhaps one of the story’s most dramatic moments when Captain Krase suicidally assaults the mysterious “cloud of energetic gas” with an entire squadron of Klingon battle cruisers, is sadly summarised within the space of a single sheet.

Of course, that isn’t to say that Wolfman’s writing is actually bad, far from it, as the Brooklyn-born author does a marvellous job of capturing the tension felt following Admiral Kirk’s ill-founded decision to engage the warp engines of his refitted Constitution-class starship “while still within the Solar System.” The Bridge Crew’s reaction to their precarious predicament inside the wormhole as the vessel fast approaches an oncoming meteorite is arguably far better visualised through Dave Cockrum and Klaus Janson’s proficient artwork than what was actually seen on the ‘Silver Screen.’

However, with hindsight it would seem to have perhaps proved more prudent if the Shazam Award-winner had spent more time focusing on the Klingons’ lethal encounter or Epsilon Nine’s doomed attempt to contact its all-powerful assailant, rather than dedicate an entire page to Lieutenant Ilia’s arrival or the brief introduction and subsequent swift demise of Commander Sonak, courtesy of a fatal transporter malfunction.

Script Editor: Marv Wolfman, and Artists: Dave Cockrum & Klaus Janson