STAR TREK: THE CLASSI C UK COMICS
Trek, Jim, but not as we know it
released 14 April Publisher IDW Publishing
Writers Angus Allan and others
Artists Harry F Lindfield, Ron Turner,
John Canning
After 50 years you might imagine that the final frontier is all too finite. Surely every last detail of Star Trek history has been sensor- scanned, every dilithium deposit excavated, every Tribble in the cosmos spayed?
Think again. This collection of long- lost British comic strips reminds us there are still strange new worlds to discover. And they were rarely stranger than these.
Originally seen in the evermerging pages of Joe 90, TV 21 and Valiant, the strip brought Trek to Blighty six months ahead of its BBC premiere in the summer of ’ 69. It’s a parallel five- year mission, taken from a cracked mirror universe seemingly summoned into existence by mighty beings who overheard someone talking Trek in the boozer one night.
Canon violations fly like photon torpedoes: in early instalments it’s Captain Kurt who commands the Enterprise. The starship lands on planets – its crew disembarking by ramp – and dives underwater ( hi, JJ Abrams!). Perplexingly, McCoy cries, “For Pete’s sake, Scott! You can’t afford to be so emotional!”
It’s Technicolor Trek from an age where the 23rd century was beamed to the UK in black and white. Filled with sabre- toothed sea monsters and giant ants, propelled by glorious art, these off- key adventures have a giddy, pulpy charm. Unbound by the show’s lore, they’re a true journey into the uncharted reaches.
Writer Angus Allan penned nearly every strip in ’ 70s kids mag Look- In, including Space: 1999 and Buck Rogers.
Have a giddy, pulpy charm