Review by Win Wiacek

By the time of these interstellar exploits from 1972 and 1973 most well-intentioned contradictions of established Star Trek lore were long gone, thanks to better reference materials and creators’ familiarity with the actual show. These printed Enterprise incidents and missions are far closer to canonical parity with the TV phenomenon. Len Wein writes all but the final two episodes, and all bar one are pencilled by Alberto Giolitti, responsible for most of the series to date.

Following an entertaining introduction from educator and Trek scholar Joseph F. Berenato, the extra-solar explorations resume with ‘Dark Traveller’, which sees the Enterprise taken over by a shadowy being of incredible power who boosts its capabilities to send the crew hurtling across the universe. Nomad shares his story of a world that grew too perfect and fell into cultural stagnation, and how he abandoned it for more primitive, questing races, before concluding that now his energies are fading his time to return home has come. Can he be trusted?

However, when he and his unwilling travelling companions reach Utopia, they find no paradise but a ruined world wracked by bloodshed, with mechanical killers everywhere, intent on eradicating the organic population.

Next a diplomatic mission goes lethally awry after James Kirk is injured during a landing party excursion. Subsequently tasked with feting an unaligned dignitary whose civilisation and political allegiance is also being courted by Klingon emissaries, the Captain seemingly goes crazy and provokes ‘The Enterprise Mutiny’.

The Enterprise is then propelled beyond reality by a cosmic maelstrom and only becalmed in a region where physical laws don’t work properly. Invited to visit the ‘Museum at the End of Time’ by its uncanny curator, Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy meet explorers from many worlds and eras who have long ago lapsed into immortal indolence. Typically the newcomers cannot reconcile themselves to there being no escape from the timeless limbo that holds them!

Following that, an Enterprise shuttlecraft suffers a catastrophic accident and crashes on a primitive, feudal world where the Federation crew must hide their alien natures from a superstitious, theocratic cult tyrannising the primitive populace. To stand any chance of rescue Kirk, Spock, McCoy and their subordinates ally themselves with a resistance movement to escape torture and death on the ‘Day of the Inquisitors’. This is pencilled by Angelo Todaro, but after Giolitti finished inking it’s difficult to tell the difference.

For the riddle of ‘The Cosmic Cavemen’ Arnold Drake replaced Wein as scripter. On a distant world shared by dinosaurs and stone-age humans, Kirk, McCoy and Chief Engineer Scott are captured and paraded before telepathic priestess Lok. Their shock and disbelief go off the scale when they are taken to an idol which is the spitting image of Spock.

The cosmic comic cavalcade concludes with an interstellar crime caper as planet Styra – threatened with imminent destruction – digitises and records its entire population on bio-magnetic tape, entrusting the Enterprise to transport and restore them to life on a new world. Sadly, comely castaway Allura has already inserted herself aboard ship and begins vamping Spock whilst her partner, deranged showman and magician Anzar, purloins the tape and holds ‘The Hijacked Planet’ hostage.

Fun, thrilling and compelling, these are classics not just for devoted TV fans.