Nearly thirty years later...



I was beginning to wonder if this would ever show up.

Of the eight issues reprinted here, the last five are appearing in paperback for the first time, as Checker moves beyond the 1970s reprint series from Golden Press. So although it's only six months or so since Volume 4 appeared from Checker, I've been waiting since Western's fourth volume back in 1977 for some of this. (I think I actually have all five issues as regular comics, but book form is so much more convenient.)

It's no secret that the Gold Key Star Trek comics weren't the best Star Trek comics ever published. In the early years, the art was done by someone who'd never seen the show, and the writer didn't show many signs of familiarity with Star Trek, either. But as the years went by new writers and artists came on board, some of whom made an effort to make the comic more faithful to Star Trek. By the mid-1970s there had been some definite progress in this respect. One certain sign that a more knowledgeable writer had become involved: two issues reprinted here feature McCoy's daughter Barbara, created for the original version of "The Way to Eden" as Joanna McCoy. In disappointing Gold Key fashion, though, they aren't entirely consistent in her appearance or backstory.

Another sign of Gold Key's progress, not just in terms of Star Trek but reflecting the greater interstory continuity in comics in general: issue 50 ("The Planet of No Life," not yet reprinted) is a sequel to "The Evictors," one of the stories included here.

There are enough stories left over for two more volumes, but there's no word yet on when those volumes will be available.