A Book to Color, first story

A Book to Color, first story was the second licensed Star Trek: The Original Series story. Published by Saalfield Publishing in, it was the first of three untitled coloring book stories appearing in the anthology A Book to Color. The story was subsequently revised in 1975 with added details and changes to the sequence of events.

In this story, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) rediscovered a lost planet of circus performers.

Summary
Nyota Uhura detected what appeared to be a floating circus tent and a man on a flying carpet. Records suggested that a nearby lost planet could be inhabited by circus performers. They beamed down and were welcomed by natives, all of whom appeared happy and were dressed as part of a circus. A police officer told them to blend in if they wanted to visit.

A native provided them with a variety of clothing, so Spock dressed as a pirate with an eye patch, Leonard McCoy as a dog trainer, Hikaru Sulu as an acrobat, and James T. Kirk and Nyota Uhura as clowns. The landing party saw that farms were well-kept and crops were healthy. They saw a unicycle rider, an elephant being washed, and a pair of clowns singing a duet. Before they departed, they were reminded that being thoughtful and kind led to happiness.

Characters

 * James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura

Starships and vehicles

 * USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) ( heavy cruiser) • unicycle

Locations


Earth (Starfleet Headquarters) • Venus

Races and cultures

 * Human • Omicron native • Vulcan

States and organizations

 * Starfleet (command division • operations division • sciences division)

Science and technology

 * computer • library computer • transporter • tricorder

Ranks and titles

 * captain • clown • king • police officer • Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s)

Other references

 * assignment patch • beam • book • bridge • castle • circus • dog • doughnut • elephant • farm • flower • flying carpet • history • humanoid • kingdom • lemonade • pirate • planet • singing • space • starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • transporter room • water • year

Chronology

 * The three stories in the anthology took place immediately prior to . At the end of the third story, Kirk referenced the episode.

Production history

 * 1967 : Printed as the first of three stories in A Book to Color (Saalfield Publishing)
 * 1975 : Updated as the first of two stories in the anthology Coloring Book (Saalfield Publishing)

Background

 * Burton Marks updated the story for the 1975 edition. (Star Trek coloring books article at the Star Trek Comics Checklist website)
 * The illustrations of Nyota Uhura looked more like Christine Chapel than Nichelle Nichols.
 * Leonard McCoy was not drawn to resemble DeForest Kelley.
 * Spock would also dress as a pirate in Gold Key Comics' "The Flight of the Buccaneer" and Marvel Comics' "A Thousand Deaths", then became the pirate Black Fire in . Kirk stated, "I always thought Spock was a bit of a pirate at heart" in.

Edition differences

 * Natives' history
 * In the 1967 edition, records reported that a lost spacecraft of circus performers en route to Venus in the 18th century became stranded on an unknown planet. The flying circus tent illustration represented a vessel that the Enterprise followed back to the planet, the location where the performers' descendants lived.
 * In the 1975 edition, a planet of circus performers mysteriously disappeared in the 2160s, and when the Enterprise came across a planet that looked like a floating circus tent, the planet was rediscovered. Using the circus tent illustration to represent a planet raised the question of how and why the planet looked that way. Possibly it was holographically generated, such as the projected serpent image around Kukulkan's starship, or simply artistic license. Imaging technology might explain why the planet had disappeared.
 * Dressing up
 * In the 1967 edition, the landing party dressed in circus clothes prior to beaming down to blend in. When the police officer asked who they were, they removed the outfits and revealed that they were explorers from Earth who wanted to learn about their culture without causing any interference.
 * In the 1975 edition, they beamed down in Starfleet uniforms, but the police officer encouraged them to dress in circus clothes.
 * Natives' reaction to intruders
 * In the 1967 edition, natives were fearful of outsiders and immediately alerted police when Kirk asked for directions to their leader.
 * In the 1975 edition, natives welcomed the outsiders.
 * Use of "Omicron"
 * In the 1967 edition, the third story of the anthology used it to refer to Omicron Ceti III and the events of.
 * In the 1975 edition, Omicron was the name of the circus performers' planet.
 * Character introductions
 * In the 1967 edition, James T. Kirk, Spock, Nyota Uhura, and Hikaru Sulu were introduced by name, with Uhura misspelled as Uhara. Leonard McCoy was labeled only as the ship's doctor.
 * In the 1975 edition, Sulu and McCoy were left unnamed.

Related stories

 * – In 2264, the ship ferried a troupe of circus performers.

External link

 * A Book to Color, first story article at PlaidStallions website.