Spock's Most Outrageous Mission Betrayed Star Trek's Entire Philosophy
In Star Trek's first comic book outing, Mister Spock made an outrageous decision that upended the show’s entire philosophy. In Star Trek #1, published by Gold Key Comics in October 1967, the crew of the Enterprise find themselves face to face with a planet overrun by killer plants, and the only way to stop them runs counter to the spirit of exploration and understanding central to the franchise.
Star Trek has a long history in comics, but it starts in 1967, roughly a year after the show premiered. Gold Key Comics, known for their range of comic book adaptations of live-action shows and movies, was the first to publish Star Trek comics. These Gold Key Star Trek comics were notorious for their lack of fidelity to the source material. For example, the Enterprise interiors in the comics bore no resemblance to the ones depicted on the show, and the comics took a wonky approach to the trademark Star Dates. But perhaps the most egregious breach occurred in the very first issue, which saw Spock and Kirk lay waste to an entire planet.
Related: Star Trek's Captain Janeway is Pirate Queen of The Mirror Universe
While exploring in a distant sector of space, the Enterprise encounters a world dense with lush vegetation. As they investigate the planet, a crew member is attacked by cannibal plants, and another is turned into a murderous plant monster, one who retains his humanity long enough to save his friends and end his own life. Mister Spock and the Enterprise crew conclude that the planet has been overrun by an invasive plant species, and the only way to stop it is to destroy the planet. As the issue concludes, Captain Kirk’s log entry says his last duty in this sector is one of “total destruction,” and the reader sees the
Read more on screenrant.com
