WhenStar Trekfirst aired in the 1960s, access to media was so much more limited than it is today thatBritish comic book writers, tasked with adapting the series ahead of its debut on UK television in 1969, had to take a number of creative liberties – because they hadn’t had access to episodes ofThe Original Series.
An edition ofCBR.com’s “Comic Book Legends Revealed” columnfrom 2017 explored theStar Trekcomic strip published in the British comic anthologyJoe 90, which fans of the franchise will recognize as a fascinating footnote in the multimedia history ofTrek.
That is because of the strip’s strange divergences fromThe Original Series, but also because of how it speaks tothe propagation ofStar Trekand other American cultural exports during the analog era, long before the internet changed how people all over the world access content.
The Late ’60s British “Star Trek” Comic Strip, Explained
How The Franchise' Landed Overseas In 1969
In the 1960s, American television was not accessible to international audiences the way that it is today; in 1969, the three-season run ofStar Trek: The Original Seriesended in June, while just a month later, the BBC began airing the series from Season One on British television. Several months before that debut,Star Trekcomics began to appearin theJoe 90anthology, as a kind of advanced landing party – or “away team,” in the parlance ofThe Next Generationand later series – for the TV show.
What makes the early BritishStar Trekcomic strips so fun to examine are the ways in which they wildly depart fromThe Original Series.
However, as explained by CBR,the creator of these comics, Harry Lindfield, had not actually seen the series, but rather was limited to the use of promotional material in order to replicate the visual style of the show, and the likenesses of the cast. Though CBR does not go into detail about the story, it can be presumed that Lindfield was given a basic overview of the show’s premise, and its style of storytelling, yet what makes the early BritishStar Trekcomic strips so fun to examine are the ways in which they wildly depart fromThe Original Series.
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Most infamous, of course, is the fact that Captain Kirk is misnamed as “Kurt” in the first several strips – which, by today’s standards, might seem like a major blunder, or a glaring oversight, but in the late 1960s, it was more of sign of how little thought was put into coordinating the multimedia effort for a property likeStar Trek. The instinct was there, as evidenced by the comic’s existence in itself, yet there was much less of a dedication to consistency, if nothing else.
The British “Star Trek” Adaptation From 1969 Highlights Why Comics Are Perfect For The Franchise
The Creative Mind Is The Final Frontier
Other major divergences betweenStar Trek: The Original Seriesand the 1969 British comic adaptation highlighted by the CBR articleinclude the Enterprise making a planetside landing in one strip, and in another, shooting actual, physical torpedoes during ship-to-ship combat. WhileTrekfans will certainly find these elaborations on the iconic starship to be amusing, it is once again worth looking at the context in which they appeared. That is, in retrospect, they seem to contradict solidified franchise canon, but at the time, that canon was still very much “wet cement,” so to speak, not yet hardened, and still malleable.
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In other words, theStar Trekcomic strip featured inJoe 90was an early example of what makes the comic book medium perfect for the franchise – whileThe Original Series, and its successor shows, were limited by budget and time constraints,Trekcomics are only limited by the imaginationsof their creators, and their readers. The BritishTrekstrip was, it must be remembered, an adaptation – it was beholden to a certain level of fidelity toThe Original Series, but it was also intended to be its own unique version of the series.
Fans Will Find The British “Star Trek” Comic’s Canon Curveballs Hilarious, But The Strip Is Culturally Significant
A Window Into Pop Culture’s Past
It is also worth noting that, as much asTrekfans will notice the quirks of the British comic adaptation first, there are many ways in which the strips can be praised for, especially for their art, which captures the essence ofStar Trek’svisual style, while also using the comic strip medium to its maximum advantage. As noted by CBR, theseTrekcomic strips were collected by IDW Publishing,longtime steward of the franchise in the comic book medium, meaning they are available for contemporary audiences to take a deeper dive into.
These vintageTrekcomics are more than just a novelty; they represent more than just a fun fact, or a funny relic of the franchise’s past. They are a cultural artifact, one that should prompt readers to reflect on how radically different pop culture has become.
The 1969 BritishStar Trekcomic is fascinating because of the opportunity it provides for a retrospective look at popular culture in the late 1960s – how it was created, disseminated, and consumed, all of which were significantly different than they are over fifty years later. In that sense, these vintageTrekcomics are more than just a novelty; they represent more than just a fun fact, or a funny relic of the franchise’s past. They are a cultural artifact, one that should prompt readers to reflect on how radically different pop culture has become sinceStar Trekdebuted.
