US Comic Strips

Star Trek, the US Comics Strips series, was a series of TOS comic strips published in daily newspapers from 1979 to 1983 by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. Twenty complete stories were told. All are reprinted in The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1 and The Newspaper Comics, Volume 2.

Format
When binge-reading, the experience reveals the repetitive storytelling techniques used in newspaper comic strips. An ongoing story had to make sense when read only on Sundays, or only on Mondays through Saturdays. A strip would tell a portion of the story over the course of a week, then recount and expand on it Sunday, then summarize Monday what happened Sunday. People could subscribe to a newspaper for Sundays only, or dailies only, or both. And a newspaper could purchase a strip from a syndicate for Sundays only, or dailies only, or both. [1 ]

Overview
Thomas Warkentin launched the series in 1979 with eight stories set during Captain Kirk's second five-year mission aboard the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). Warkentin’s artwork was rich and highly detailed. His tenure notably depicted alien species created for, in particular Zaranites and Arcturians in three stories, an Andorian in two stories, and a Rhaandarite in one. The newly-updated Klingons and Klingon K't'inga class battle cruisers were showcased with Kirk tangling with Captain Kodrash of IKS Kandar, Captain Tunzos of IKS Rakor, and two Klingon political refugees. Original aliens were encountered, such as the Toltans, Husians and an ancient fungal-based culture on Abaris. We met Captain Morgan Avery and the crew of the USS Venture (Constitution class) and even McCoy’s ex-wife Joann Zauber. Semi-regulars Janice Rand and Christine Chapel had turns to save the day, while Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov went on landing party missions. From gossamer mice to plomeek soup, and deep-cut references such as Uhura’s running prowess and treating Rigellian fever, Warkentin created a TOS flavor in comics not seen up to that time. His 73-week tenure ended with a Harry Mudd adventure.

The team of Sharmin DiVono and Ron Harris produced five stories over 71 weeks, continuing the flavor and style launched by Warkentin, even to cameos by an Arcturian and a Zaranite. The Enterprise crew strived to save the inhabitants of a multi-generational ship from a neutron star, a war-torn planet from falling back to war, a crew of Klingons from losing their unique identities, and a captured colony from slavery. They participated in a six-ship starship race. One story featured the return of the Kzinti from in a 20-week epic co-authored by Larry Niven. Another featured a mechanical intelligence seeking to augment and perfect humanity with cybernetic implants – eight years before the Borg were introduced in.

Following the release of, uniforms and settings were updated. Creative teams shuffled with Padraic Shigetani and Martin Pasko contributing stories set in 2277 amid squabbling merchants and body-snatching aliens. Amazing Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway set five stories circa 2280, creating an arc where Earth-bound Admiral Kirk returned to the Enterprise, having been assigned temporary command over Captain Spock for a few adventures. In the final story, Kirk, Spock and Scotty visited a weird planet where they were recognized as TV characters. Dick Kulpa drew the final three stories.

Characters
James T. Kirk, Spock and Leonard McCoy appear in all 20 stories.

Montgomery Scott appears in 19 stories. He is not in #14, and appears with one line in #3, 7. He’s featured in #16, suspected of murdering a cloned diplomat. He takes command in #1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, is duplicated by aliens in #15, and joins the landing party in #13, 17, 20. As a miracle worker, he gets a refugee ship space-worthy in #4, rigs an ore car for super speed in #6, repairs battle damage in #12, and rushes to restart the engines in #15.

Nyota Uhura appears in 19 stories. She is not in #3, and appears without lines in #10 and #20. She’s most prominent in #6, where she sings while on leave, then aids Captain Avery in a daring escape, taking advantage of her running prowess. She’s in the landing party in #5 and #11.

Hikaru Sulu appears in 17 stories. He does not appear in #3, 7, 20, and has no dialogue in #17. He takes command in #1, 12, 13, 16, 18. He joins the landing party in #2, 5, 11, 12, and plays baseball while on shore leave in #6.

Pavel Chekov appears in 11 stories. He does not appear in #5, 7, 13, 14, or #16-20 (set during his tenure on the Reliant) and has one line in #3 and #9. Chekov is featured in #4, fighting Morg for the honor of Starfleet, and at during the climax of #15. He dresses down an ensign and demonstrates martial arts with Sulu in #6. He leads security teams in #2 and #10, readies them in #1 and #11, and mans the weapon station in #12 during a lengthy battle.

Christine Chapel appears in seven stories. She is prominently featured in #3, 7, 10, and also appears in #1, 4, 15, 18. Chapel proves a villain’s duplicity and assists in surgery in #3. She’s part of the diplomatic party and assists in surgery in #7. She becomes amnesiac and paranoid, levels Kirk & two security men, steals a ship and shoots at a Klingon cruiser in #10. She also examines new aliens in #1 and checks a Klingon’s injuries in #4. She’s duplicated by aliens in #15 and helps rescue McCoy in #18.

Janice Rand appears in seven stories. She displays sufficient transporter technical expertise to impress Scotty in #5, and also appears in #1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10. Marcella DiFalco appears in five stories (#5, 6, 8, 10, 13) at the navigator’s station. Ilia appears inadvertently in two stories (#1, 2) produced before was released in theaters.

DiVono/Harris created four recurring characters. Security Sgt. Umeki appears in four stories (#9, 10, 11, 12), Engineer Thomas Hadley appears in four (#9, 10, 12, cameo in 13), and Security Lt. Marsha Latham appears in two (#11, 12). Captain Kolak and the crew of his Klingon battle cruiser are also featured in two (#10, 11).

Warkentin created two recurring characters. Ensign Greywolf, a Native American, appears in two stories (#5, 6) and Arcturian Ensign Taskul appears in two (#2, 6). An Arcturian also appears in #3 and 12, but it’s unclear if those were Taskul.

Strip competition
Serialized adventure comic strips were once common in newspapers, from Flash Gordon and Superman to Tarzan and Prince Valiant. Prompted by the blockbuster success of Star Wars in 1977, 1979 saw a boom in sci-fi on TV as well as in comic strips, as the long-running Flash Gordon strip [2 ] suddenly competed with three newcomers. Star Wars launched March 12 [3], Buck Rogers on September 9 [4 ], and Star Trek on December 2. Newspaper syndicates sold the various comic strip titles to individual newspapers. A newspaper would purchase one or two of these for their comics section. Many chose Star Wars as a hot property or bought the more familiar Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon, leaving Star Trek for smaller markets. The Los Angeles Times Syndicate ran its Star Wars strip in its flagship paper The Los Angeles Times, and Star Trek in its sister paper The Houston Chronicle. [5 ]

Flash Gordon - King Features Syndicate had been publishing the Flash Gordon newspaper strip since the 1930s. An animated series debuted Sept. 22, 1979 [6 ], based on a movie written by Star Trek author Samuel A. Peeples [7 ] [8 ], and a live action film would be released in 1980. [9 ] When Star Trek debuted, Flash Gordon was in Sunday story arc #151 and daily story arc #115. In 1991-1992, Star Trek comic strip author Thomas Warkentin would work on the Flash Gordon strip. [10 ]

Star Wars - On the day Star Trek debuted, the Star Wars strip was on its fifth story arc. [11] Like Star Trek, Star Wars also had a concurrent monthly comic book being published by Marvel Comics. Artist Alfredo Alcala worked on the tenth Star Wars story arc [12] as well as Star Trek 's 17th arc.

Buck Rogers - The TV series pilot was released theatrically in March 1979, then debuted on TV September 20. [13 ] The newspaper strip had run from 1929-1967 and was relaunched by the New York Times Syndicate on September 9, illustrated by Star Trek artist Gray Morrow. [14 ] Their strip debuted with Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering traveling in spacesuits to investigate the source of a radio signal, a ship which disappeared 50 years earlier. (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Gray Morrow Years, Volume 1 (1979-1981)) Star Trek debuted with Kirk, Spock and McCoy traveling in thruster suits to investigate the source of a radio signal, a 900-year-old ship. When Star Trek debuted, Buck Rogers was in its third arc. [15 ]