Menace of the Moloth

Menace of the Moloth was a Star Trek: The Original Series comic strip published in 1969 and 1970. It was the 10th story arc in the UK comic strips series, released in six parts within issues of TV21 & Joe 90. This was the tenth of 11 stories illustrated by Harry Lindfield. In this story, James T. Kirk and Spock were forced to fight the Moloth, a giant beast.

Publisher's description

 * Teaser summary, 27 December 1969
 * Caught up in an interplanetary war between Eldor and Norus in the Sigma Draconis sector of space, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock from the starship Enterprise had been captured by Norusians. Accused of spying, they were subjected to the savagery of trial by ordeal!

Summary
Kirk and Spock boarded a drifting spacecraft in environmental suits from a shuttlecraft. They found it abandoned, as if its crew had been beamed away. Suddenly they were transported to the planet Norus and captured. The planetary council believed they were spies from enemy planet Eldor and sentenced them to a trial by combat against an enormous creature called the Moloth. It turned out to be a robot, and Spock was able to cripple its visual sensors. When it randomly targeted the president of the council, guards shot it down. Kirk and Spock were put in a prison cell to await execution.

When Kirk and Spock didn't respond to hails, Montgomery Scott and two crewmen boarded the spacecraft, retrieving documents about the Norusian-Eldorian war. Just then, another vessel approached the Enterprise. Commander Karth of the Eldorian warship Lebron warned that the Enterprise would soon be within attack range of Norus, but Lebron 's deflectors could withstand their weapons and block the Norusian transporters. He also knew Kirk and Spock were being held on Norus, so Scott and nine crewmen joined Lebron 's crew to make a joint commando raid.

Lebron withstood anti-aircraft fire, disabled surface cannons with missiles, and landed. Norusian tanks surrounded the warship. The forward section of Lebron extended telescoping legs to the ground and detached, becoming a. Its legs crushed the enemy tanks. Norusians panicked and fled as the vehicle approached the city limits. Scott's rescue party set off for the prison area while Karth's crew set destruct charges to blow up Norusian Central Control. Although Kirk and Spock had managed to escape from their cell, they were still in the prison area. They ran into Scott's team, then evacuated the facility together just before it exploded.

Characters

 * Karth • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed Eldorians • unnamed Norusians • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (2260s)

Starships and vehicles

 * Eldorian spy ship • USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) ( heavy cruiser) • Lebron • two class F shuttlecraft • tanks

Locations

 * Sigma Draconis sector (Eldor • Norus)

Earth • Jupiter

Races and cultures

 * Eldorian • Human • Norusian • Vulcan

States and organizations

 * Council of the Wise • Eldor Space Service • Norusian Central Control

Science and technology

 * airlock • artificial gravity • bombardier gun • communications • communicator • deflector • destruct charges • environmental suit • flame cannon • force field • gun • missile • Moloth • phaser • rifle • robot • scanner • spacecraft • spacesuit • translator computer • transporter • viewscreen

Ranks and titles

 * armaments officer • captain • chief engineer • commander • councillor • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • first officer • guard • judge • lieutenant • president • senior officer • skipper • Starfleet ranks

Other references

 * action stations • arachnid • army • atmosphere • battle stations • beam • bridge • city • code of law • command centre • commandos • court • devils • execution • government • hull • humanoid • log entry • military • mug • parking orbit • peace • pressure • prison cell • radiation • rat • robot • sector • slavery • space • standby watch • star • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • starship • stratosphere • suicide • trial by combat • viewscreen • war • warship

Chronology

 * The Enterprise also explored the Sigma Draconis sector in the previous story, "Nor Any Drop to Drink", suggesting that this story could have occurred around the same time as the previous one, in 2265.

Production history

 * This story was serialized over six issues of TV21 & Joe 90 magazine in two-page sections.
 * December 1969
 * 13 December, pages 1-2 published in TV21 & Joe 90 #12
 * 20 December, pages 3-4 published in TV21 & Joe 90 #13
 * 27 December, pages 5-6 published in TV21 & Joe 90 #14
 * January 1970
 * 3 January, pages 7-8 published in TV21 & Joe 90 #15
 * 10 January, pages 9-10 published in TV21 & Joe 90 #16
 * 17 January, pages 11-12 published in TV21 & Joe 90 #17

Background

 * The story was not printed with a title, but it was given one ("Menace of the Moloth") for its reprinting in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 1.
 * Artist Alan Willow signed cover paintings for the installments published on December 20, 1969 and January 17, 1970.
 * Scott identified the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) as a United Space Ship, as opposed to the "Universe Star Ship" cited in the first UK comic strips story, "Life Form Nonexistent".
 * Although the Norusians used transporters, the Eldorians and Starfleet crews traveled only by using spacesuits and spacecraft in this story.
 * Hikaru Sulu had one line of dialogue in the fourth segment. Although he manned the helm, he was still referred to as the armaments officer.
 * Leonard McCoy was seen on the bridge in one panel in the third segment, but he had no dialogue.
 * Kirk twice replied to Norusians with the phrase "You treacherous rat!" The first time was when he was clobbered by Norusian guards while denying he was a spy. He repeated it when the council president broke his word regarding the terms of the trial by combat.
 * In 2268, the Enterprise would revisit this sector in.

Related stories

 * , – Other stories in which the Enterprise was caught between forces in an interplanetary war.
 * – Other stories involving trial by combat. See also: Romulan Declaration of Challenge.