Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

Star Trek. Everyone has heard of it. It’s an iconic sci-fi television series that has entertained and enamored audiences for decades. 

Back in the 1960s, Gene Roddenberry created what is now an iconic, cult world of space travel and adventure. Giving us the bromance of Kirk and Spock, the sass of McCoy and Scotty, and enough story to keep us entertained for decades to come. 

The original series spawned nine spin-off television shows, 13 films, books, magazines, video games, and of course comics. Starring everyone from William Shater, Leonard Nimoy, Sir Patrick Stewart, George Takei, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Scott Bakula, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, Whoopi Goldberg, and many many many more. This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. 

The franchise has its own subculture, which has been documented in the film Trekkies. It’s been ranked number one by TV Guide. And it’s inspired technology that we use on a regular basis today, from the Palm PDA, to Google maps.

Star Trek has contributed to television history with a multicultural, multiracial cast. Something that was much more controversial in the 60s. The Enterprise crew included a Japanese helmsman, a Russian navigator, a black female communications officer, and a human–Vulcan first officer. Captain Kirk’s and Lt. Uhura’s kiss, in the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren”, was also daring, and is often mis-cited as being American television’s first scripted, interracial kiss, even though several other interracial kisses predated this one. Hell, Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and stated that it was the only show that he and his wife allowed their children to stay up and watch. 

Steve Wozniak has cited Star Trek as a source of inspiration for co-founding Apple Inc. Yes! You get all these fancy devices thanks to Star Trek.

Not to mention the very name Warp Core is inspired from the primary component of the warp drive propulsion of the starships. That’s also because Sahil is a GIANT Trekkie/Trekker!

Maybe we should get him to do a video series on Star Trek?! 

Anyway, I digress. Let’s get on to the voyages of the various crews of the USS Enterprise covered in the comic books. 

Star Trek has been almost continuously published from 1967. Marvel, DC, Malibu, Wildstorm, Gold Key, and many other publishers. As of 2006, IDW holds rights for the comic books.

The comic book history is as rich as the live action history of the show. 

So here’s a few you should check out, if you love the show and comics. 

Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War

Writer: Mike Johnson

Art: Angel Hernandez

Publisher: IDW 

This story starts in an alternate DC Universe where Nekron is on the verge of destroying everything. Ganthet escapes to the Star Trek Kelvin Universe with one of each of the different rings, where his remains are discovered by the Enterprise. The rings find new homes among the Enterprise crew as well as other species around the galaxy. As far as crossovers go, this isn’t even the weirdest of the lot. It makes sense. Space police of the DC Universe, crosses into a parallel universe and meets space explorers. This one stars the cast from the JJ Abhrams Star Trek movies. There was a second crossover called Stranger Worlds.

2. Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation

Writer: Scott Tipton, David Tipton, Tony Lee

Art: J. K. Woodward

Publisher: IDW

This one makes the most sense in terms of a crossover. Both shows premiered in the 60s. Both dealt with space travel and aliens and are science fiction staples. I’m a giant Doctor Who fan (Whovian), so this one was right up my alley. This 2012 storyline also united two very similar threats against these heroes; the Borg from the Star Trek universe and the Cybermen from Doctor Who. The key to defeating this threat was a part of Federation history often left unexplored in the Battle of Wolf 359. Starring the Eleventh Doctor and Captain Picard. Doctor Who also has its own extensive line of comic books.

3. Star Trek: The Trial of James T. Kirk

Writer: Peter David

Art: James W. Fry, Gordon Purcell

Publisher: DC/Titan

In this classic tale, the crew of the Enterprise finally come to terms with all the events that had taken place in the film series from “Wrath of Khan” through “The Voyage Home.” Kirk must stand trial for the Klingon that he killed in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” after first being hunted down by the bounty hunter Sweeney over that killing. Originally published as singles, the collected edition has a different cover, and extras.

4. Star Trek Discovery: Succession

Writer: Kristen Beyer and Mike Johnson

Art: Angel Hernandez

Publisher: IDW

A relatively new addition to the Star Trek universe. This mini-series is a direct sequel to the Mirror Universe episodes in season one of the show. After Lorca is killed and Emperor Georgiou crosses over to the prime universe a power vacuum occurs in the Terran Empire. This series lets readers delve deeper into the alternate reality and the mirror versions of the key characters of this Star Trek series. 

5. Star Trek: Untold Voyages

Writer: Glenn Greenberg

Art: Michael Collins, Keith Williams

Publisher: Marvel

As the Enterprise embarks on a second five-year mission, Spock takes young Saavik under his wing, McCoy visits his daughter Joanna, Kirk learns that the Onlies (from “Miri”) are dying, and the crew encounters Grey aliens. So much story is squeezed into five issues, yet it never seems forced. Marvel’s return to Star Trek yielded several great series, notably Early Voyages and Starfleet Academy, but Untold Voyages was the clear standout of their return. There were also the odd X-Men crossovers. Once with the TOS crew and once with the TNG crew.

Words : Anant Sagar

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