Star Trek #6 - Marvel Comics

STAR TREK No. 6, September 1980

Arguably reading like an actual adaption of a televised episode from the Sixties than simply “the first stand-alone story in the Marvel Comics run”, Mike W. Barr’s script for Issue Six of “Star Trek” seemingly contains just about everything fans of the science fiction franchise would probably want. In fact, it is somewhat hard to imagine just what else the American author could have squeezed into this fast-paced seventeen-page periodical.

For starters this book opens with a truly mysterious murder for the U.S.S. Enterprise’s crew to expeditiously investigate, before the Federation’s latest member decides to instead pledge its allegiance to the Klingon Empire. Ambassador Phral’s bizarre demise whilst locked inside Mister Scott’s transporter beam genuinely proves a perplexing puzzle, especially when he materialises with a dagger in his back, and many a bibliophile must surely have enjoyed Spock’s logical analysis of the facts as the science officer pieces together the only chain of events which could have occurred.

Likewise, this publication contains an intriguing insight into Admiral James Kirk’s early days as a “still wet behind the ears” Ensign aboard the Baton Rouge-class Republic. The former Chief of Starfleet Operations is seriously cankerous during this adventure’s opening quarter, emotionally weighed down by the political catastrophe his younger self caused during his first visit to Yannid IV “fresh out of the Academy”. This surly depiction of the senior officer is somewhat reminiscent of his perceived fixation with destroying a deadly cloud-like entity in the 1969 tale "Obsession", and resultantly it is very easy to imagine actor William Shatner performing the role with his famous thespian gusto; “You have your orders, gentlemen -- Get to it! I’ve a feeling we don’t have much time!”

Perhaps this comic’s biggest highlight however, comes when the original series’ triumvirate act as a highly humorous comedic trio during a covert mission to interrogate the rebellious Doctor Loroc. Superbly illustrated by Visual Engineering Technicians (First Class) Dave Cockrum and Kaus Janson, this tense, action-packed sequence even contains the usual Leonard McCoy bluster, as the ship’s Chief Medical Officer bemoans the Quartermaster’s attempt at disguising them in native garb, and gets to mutter the immortal line “She’s dead. Jim!”

Ship's Log Compiler: Mike W. Barr, and Visual Engineering Technicians: Dave Cockrum & Klaus Janson