(written from a Production point of view)
Star Trek Comic Strips (UK) refer to a series of weekly comic strips based on Star Trek released in the United Kingdom from 1969-1973, with two additional stories that appeared in 1978 and 1979 respectively. The entire run comprised 638 pages.
Published concurrent with the US Gold Key comics, these stories appeared in the pages of Joe 90: Top Secret, TV21, and Valiant. Strips appeared as two- and three-page spreads in magazines printing Star Trek and other adventure-based titles. 257 issues were published over the course of five years, with additional stories running in one Joe 90 annual, three TV21 annuals, a Valiant Super Special, two TV Comic annuals and an issue of Radio Times magazine.
The strips were reprinted by IDW Publishing over three volumes beginning in March 2016 in the Star Trek: The Classic UK Comics series; the series was also collected in volumes 10, 20 and 29 of the Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection in 2017 and 2018.
Setting[]
The comics were loosely based on the USS Enterprise during James T. Kirk's first five-year mission. There are several appearances of Dave Bailey, which may place some stories at the beginning of the mission, while others have appearances by Pavel Chekov, placing them toward the latter portion of the mission. Hikaru Sulu is often seen in a blue uniform, but this may be a coloring error; Kirk often wears a red uniform, and Montgomery Scott a blue one.
Guest appearances and cameos included Andorians, Klingons, and Romulans. Aliens were often anthropomorphic animals, including birds, cats, gorillas, fish, and insects.
Essayist Alan J. Porter wrote in the book New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, "The writers and editors who worked on the strip failed to grasp one essential point: that Star Trek is an American show driven by America's vision of itself as pioneers. So instead of a "wagon train to the stars," the British version of Star Trek became, like Dan Dare, more a "Royal Air Force in space."
Summaries[]
Untitled weekly story arcs[]
Arc # | Dates published | Stardate | Periodical | Pages | Writer | Artist |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 18 January 1969 – 22 February 1969 | 24.09.45 – 25.00.10 (2265-2266) | Joe 90: Top Secret #1-6 | 12 | Angus Allan | Harry F. Lindfield |
2 | 1 March 1969 – 22 March 1969 | 20, 16.45 – 20.23.54 (2266) | Joe 90: Top Secret #7-10 | 8 | Angus Allan | Harry F. Lindfield |
3 | 29 March 1969 – 19 April 1969 | unknown (2265-2266) | Joe 90: Top Secret #11-14 | 8 | Angus Allan | Harry F. Lindfieldz |
4 | 26 April 1969 – 17 May 1969 | unknown (2266) | Joe 90: Top Secret #15-18 | 8 | Angus Allan | Harry F. Lindfield |
5 | 24 May 1969 – 14 June 1969 | 25:11:23 (2265-2266) | Joe 90: Top Secret #19-22 | 8 | Angus Allan | Harry F. Lindfield |
6 | 21 June 1969 – 9 August 1969 | 48 12 46 (2266) | Joe 90: Top Secret #23-30 | 16 | Angus Allan | Harry F. Lindfield |
7 | 16 August 1969 – 6 September 1969 | 24.12.17 (2266) | Joe 90: Top Secret #31-34 | 8 | Angus Allan | Harry F. Lindfield |
8 | 27 September 1969 – 1 November 1969 | unknown (2267-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #1-6 | 12 | unknown | Harry F. Lindfield |
9 | 8 November 1969 – 6 December 1969 | unknown (2268-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #7-11 | 10 | unknown | Harry F. Lindfield |
10 | 13 December 1969 – 17 January 1970 | unknown (2268-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #12-17 | 12 | unknown | Harry F. Lindfield |
11 | 24 January 1970 – 28 February 1970 | unknown (2266-2267) | TV21 & Joe 90 #18-23 | 12 | unknown | Harry F. Lindfield |
12 | 7 March 1970 – 25 April 1970 | unknown (2267-2268) | TV21 & Joe 90 #24-31 | 16 | unknown | Jim Baikie |
13 | 2 May 1970 – 13 June 1970 | unknown (2268-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #32-38 | 14 | unknown | Mike Noble |
14 | 20 June 1970 – 25 July 1970 | unknown (2266-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #39-44 | 15 | unknown | Mike Noble |
15 | 1 August 1970 – 12 September 1970 | unknown (2267-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #45-51 | 21 | unknown | Mike Noble |
16 | 19 September 1970 – 24 October 1970 | unknown (2267-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #52-57 | 18 | unknown | Mike Noble |
17 | 31 October 1970 – 12 December 1970 | unknown (2267-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #58-64 | 21 | unknown | Ron Turner, Harold Johns |
18 | 19 December 1970 – 13 February 1971 | unknown (2267-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #65-73 | 27 | unknown | Harold Johns |
19 | 20 February 1971 – 13 March 1971 | unknown | TV21 & Joe 90 #74-77 | 12 | unknown | Carlos Pino, Vicente Alcázar |
20 | 20 March 1971 – 10 April 1971 | unknown | TV21 & Joe 90 #78-81 | 12 | unknown | Carlos Pino, Vicente Alcázar |
21 | 17 April 1971 – 12 June 1971 | unknown | TV21 & Joe 90 #82-90 | 27 | unknown | Carlos Pino, Vicente Alcázar |
22 | 19 June 1971 – 10 July 1971 | unknown | TV21 & Joe 90 #91-94 | 12 | unknown | Carlos Pino, Vicente Alcázar |
23 | 17 July 1971 – 21 August 1971 | unknown (2267-2269) | TV21 & Joe 90 #95-100 | 18 | unknown | Carlos Pino, Vicente Alcázar |
24 | 28 August 1971 – 25 September 1971 | unknown | TV21 & Joe 90 #101-105 | 15 | unknown | Carlos Pino, Vicente Alcázar |
25 | 2 October 1971 – 9 October 1971 | unknown | Valiant & TV21 #1-2 | 4 | unknown | John Stokes |
26 | 16 October 1971 – 11 December 1971 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #3-11 | 18 | unknown | John Stokes |
27 | 18 December 1971 – 22 January 1972 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #12-17 | 12 | unknown | John Stokes |
28 | 29 January 1972 – 26 February 1972 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #18-22 | 10 | unknown | John Stokes |
29 | 4 March 1972 – 13 May 1972 | unknown | Valiant & TV21 #23-33 | 22 | unknown | John Stokes |
30 | 20 May 1972 – 15 July 1972 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #34-42 | 18 | unknown | John Stokes |
31 | 22 July 1972 – 19 August 1972 | unknown | Valiant & TV21 #43-47 | 10 | unknown | John Stokes |
32 | 26 August 1972 – 21 October 1972 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #48-56 | 18 | unknown | John Stokes |
33 | 28 October 1972 – 9 December 1972 | unknown | Valiant & TV21 #57-63 | 14 | unknown | John Stokes |
34 | 16 December 1972 – 17 February 1973 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #64-73 | 20 | unknown | John Stokes |
35 | 24 February 1973 – 16 June 1973 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #74-90 | 34 | unknown | John Stokes |
36 | 23 June 1973 – 6 October 1973 | unknown (2267-2269) | Valiant & TV21 #91-106 | 32 | unknown | John Stokes |
37 | 13 October 1973 – 29 December 1973 | unknown | Valiant & TV21 #107-118 | 24 | unknown | John Stokes |
Annual stories[]
Story Title | Dates | Stardate | Periodical | Pages | Writer | Artist |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Untitled 1st | 1970 | 20:0605 – 20:1507 (2265-2266) | Joe 90 Top Secret Annual | 6 | unknown | Ron Turner |
Untitled 2nd | 27 June 1970 | 3715.3 (2267) | Radio Times | 1 | Max Ehrlich | Frank Bellamy |
Captives in Space | 1971 | unknown (2265-2268) | TV21 Annual (1st of 3 stories) | 6 | unknown | unknown |
Planet of Rejects | 1971 | unknown (2267-2269) | TV21 Annual (2nd of 3 stories) | 8 | unknown | unknown |
Gateway to the Future | 1971 | unknown (2265-2267) | TV21 Annual (3rd of 3 stories) | 5 | unknown | unknown |
Untitled 6th | 1972 | unknown (2265-2270) | TV21 Annual | 4 | unknown | unknown |
Untitled 7th | 1972 | unknown (2265-2267) | Valiant Summer Special | 6 | unknown | John Stokes |
Planet of the Dead | 1973 | unknown (2265-2268) | TV21 Annual (1st of 2 stories) | 7 | Jack Sutter | Jim Baikie |
What is This Thing Called Spock? | 1973 | unknown (2265-2266) | TV21 Annual (2nd of 2 stories) | 7 | Jack Sutter | Jim Baikie |
The Gods Have Come! | 1978 | 32-19-25 (2267-2268) | Mighty TV Comic Annual | 5 | unknown | John Canning |
Untitled 11th | 1979 | unknown (2267-2269) | Mighty TV Comic Annual | 5 | unknown | John Canning |
Collections[]
- Star Trek: The Classic UK Comics, Volume 1
- Star Trek: The Classic UK Comics, Volume 2
- Star Trek: The Classic UK Comics, Volume 3
- As part of the Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection:
- Volume 10 – The Classic UK Comics, Part 1
- Volume 20 – The Classic UK Comics, Part 2
- Volume 29 – The Classic UK Comics, Part 3
External link[]
- Wixiban's Star Trek Collectables Portal – British Comic Strips index