The Gods Have Come!

The Gods Have Come! was a five-page Star Trek: The Original Series comic strip published in. It was the tenth of 11 annual stories from the UK comic strips series and was printed in the United Kingdom in Mighty TV Comic Annual 1978. In this story, Kirk and Spock tried to rescue warring races near an active volcano.

Publisher's description

 * Omnibus teaser
 * The Enterprise picks up strange sounds coming from volcanic planet Alpha 332, where Kirk and Spock impose peace on a pair of warring tribes, the humanoid Parracas and the simian Turracas.

Summary

 * Captain's log – stardate 32-19-25. The Enterprise is moving through the edge of Galaxy 517. This is unexplored territory and my orders are to proceed with caution…"

Unusual voices were detected by Nyota Uhura which Spock traced to an active volcano on a nearby planet. Uhura provided Kirk and Spock with a bearing, and they beamed down to investigate. Through smoky, sulfurous gases they found a group of humanoids led by Maracu who were praying to the volcano. She interpreted Kirk and Spock as messengers of the volcano, and through telepathy with Spock explained that they were praying for an end to war with their neighbors. Montgomery Scott radioed that the volcano could blow at any moment. She heeded Spock's warning — her people packed their belongings and headed away from their village down the mountainside toward a valley.

Kirk and Spock rode on saddled Paraca beasts toward the other side of the volcano, but were captured by ape-like warrior Paracas led by Turr. They were also telepathically receptive to Spock, but Turr refused to believe Spock's warning about the volcano. Turr decided to sacrifice Kirk and Spock to the mountain. Before Turr could toss them into the boiling lava, Scott beamed them back to the ship. The Paracas were spooked by the transporter effect and started to flee, just as the volcano erupted. Aboard the Enterprise, Kirk was glad that at least one of the two races would survive.

Characters

 * James T. Kirk • Maracu • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Turr • Nyota Uhura

Starships and vehicles

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

Locations

 * Galaxy 517 (Alpha 332 • Biluddin)

Earth

Races and cultures

 * Human • Paraca • Turraca • Vulcan

Science and technology

 * communicator • geology • rifle • scanner • transporter

Ranks and titles

 * captain • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • lieutenant • lord • Starfleet ranks • warrior

Other references

 * atmosphere • bow • beam • bridge • century • crater • day • god • helmet • lava • logic • galaxy • kilometer • magic • minute • mountain • Paraca beast • peace • prayer • radiation • religion • second • space • spear • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • sulfur • telepathy • village • volcano • war

Chronology

 * The science station's paper printout capability suggests a placement for this story in late 2265 or early 2266, prior to a bridge refit, but after Nyota Uhura joined the crew and after the introduction of new Starfleet uniforms.

Production history

 * 26 August 1977 : First published in Mighty TV Comic Annual 1978 (Polystyle Publications)
 * September 2017 : Reprinted in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 3 (IDW Publishing)

Background

 * The source of the August 1977 publication date was Amazon.com.

Related stories

 * – Mintakans misinterpreted Captain Jean-Luc Picard and USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) officers as deities.
 * – Spock portrayed the deity Unruho by materializing and dematerializing in front of warring tribes of cavemen.
 * – An erupting volcano threatened the crew of the Galileo.