In a world gone mad, Scotty and Dr. McCoy fight for their lives — against each other!
"A World Gone Mad" was a Star Trek comic book story published by Gold Key Comics in 1973, the 20th issue of their TOS series. It was the 18th comic drawn by Alberto Giolitti and the fourth written by Arnold Drake.
In this story, the USS Enterprise escorted a young prince to his home world in the year 2267 amid cases of random insanity which threatened to destabilize the planet's government.
Description[]
- One by one the citizens of that once proud and happy world were becoming homicidal maniacs! Brothers against brothers, mothers turning upon their very own children! Captain Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise found themselves in a race against total and annihilating bedlam in ... A World Gone Mad!
Summary[]
- Captain's log, star date 3427.2 – I have dispatched Mr. Spock and Scotty on a strange but vital mission...
Starfleet has sent the USS Enterprise to Nukolee to help a power transition go smoothly between a regent and a returning, democratically-minded prince. Prince Raviki is picked up at a boarding school where he's been since his parents' deaths three years earlier, and James T. Kirk updates him on local politics. Kirk, Spock, Leonard McCoy, Scott and Raviki land in the Galileo at a spaceport on Nukolee, where two attempts are made on the prince's life. En route to the palace, an officer commits suicide, and at the palace Raviki's loving sister tries to kill him. Temporary bouts of insanity have been popping up all over the planet. Spock determines that these incidents began shortly after Sanduy's Comet deposited unusual gases into the planet's atmosphere. The regent, General Vlas, convinces Raviki to sign a martial law edict in the morning, but it isn't soon enough for the general, who leaves to organize a coup.
- Captain's log, star date 3427.5 – We have a solid lead now on what has driven the entire planet of Nukolee to violent madness! But General Vlas and his co-conspirators are already on the march!
Vlas' troops scour the palace looking for Raviki and the Starfleet officers, who have safely hidden within a sculpture. Scott and McCoy leave to investigate the comet. Raviki refuses to leave with them, saying that his place is on his planet. Raviki makes a live broadcast from a nearby television studio, but the transmission gets cut off.
Collecting samples
The Enterprise parallels the comet. Scott and McCoy leave the ship in spacesuits, using vacu-lators to collect samples from the comet's tail. McCoy is exposed to the gas and attacks Scott. Scott knocks out McCoy, and shortly afterwards the doctor creates an antidote.
Raviki's studio is surrounded by a mob peppered with Vlas' snipers. In a bold move, Raviki appeals directly to the rioters and momentarily quiets them. Scott sprays McCoy's antidote overhead from the Galileo. It cures the crowd, dispersing them and preventing the coup. Raviki thanks Scott, offering him the title of baron or duke if he stays.
References[]
Characters[]
- Killay • James T. Kirk • Lulo • Leonard McCoy • Nazino • Raviki • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Subomar • Hikaru Sulu • Vlas
- Referenced only
- Bando • Winston Churchill • Djan • Djurno • W.C. Fields • Hlad • Thomas Paine • Spuzz
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Furanthy School • Nukolee • Sanduy's Comet
- Referenced only
- Gobi Desert
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
- beaker • bomb • brain • brakophone • communications • gas • glare filter • lava • medi-analyser • spacesuit • vacu-lator • vacuum cleaner
Ranks and titles[]
- admiral • baron • captain • chief medical officer • comedian • crown prince • duke • emperor • general • imperial highness • lion tamer • psychologist • royal physician • space commander • sub-captain
Other references[]
- 20th century • banji fruit • captain's log • democracy • fruitcake • gas company • "The Girl from Planet 192-B" • knife • lion • martial law • medal • meteor shower • palace • parliament • police • space ball • spaceport • television studio • terminal • track-and-field
Chronology[]
- 2264
- Prince Raviki's parents died in an accident, and he was sent off-world to Furanthy School.
- 2265 (2 years, 4 months 3 days prior to stardate 3247.2)
- When Sanduy's Comet passed close to Nukolee, it triggered meteor showers which expelled gases into the atmosphere, triggering random occurrences of madness among the population.
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- ENT episode: "Breaking the Ice" – In 2151, the Earth starship Enterprise discovered the largest comet yet encountered by humans.
- TOS comic: "Museum at the End of Time" – A huge comet shattered Krugar III, leaving a remnant containing the Museum of Missing Ships.
- TOS comic: "Day of the Inquisitors" – A meteor shower hit the Galileo, forcing it to crashland on the Inquisitor planet.
- TOS episode: "Balance of Terror" – The USS Enterprise pursued the Romulan bird of prey ChR Gal Gath'thong through the tail of comet Icarus IV.
Background[]
- This story has been released six times in English. It has also been translated into Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Serbian and Spanish.
- The reprint in The Enterprise Logs, Volume 3 is missing pages 4 and 14. On page 4, Kirk gives Raviki a primer on local politics, and then Raviki plays space ball with Kirk and McCoy outside the ship. On page 14, Raviki and the landing party emerge from their hiding place within a sculpture. McCoy is assigned to study comet gases.
- It is not discussed why Raviki is returning home at that particular time. Possibly he had graduated from boarding school or reached an age where he was supposed to become emperor.
- Nukolee's population wears attire similar to that seen on 19th century Earth, particularly the military uniforms, whereas the society has developed spaceflight at least to an interplanetary level.
- Furanthy School seems to be located on a planet in the same system as Nukolee, or a nearby system.
- The television studio technology on Nukolee resembles that of 1970s Earth.
- Hikaru Sulu appears in one panel, reporting on the ship's course to Scott and McCoy.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: #19: The Haunted Asteroid |
TOS comics (Gold Key) | Next comic: #21: The Mummies of Heitius VII |
| Previous story: The Haunted Asteroid |
Stories by: Arnold Drake |
Next story: The Mummies of Heitius VII |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: Eye of the Beholder New Visions |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: The Hijacked Planet |
| Previous comic: Eye of the Beholder New Visions |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Two | Next comic: The Hijacked Planet |
Production history[]
- September 1973
- First published by Gold Key Comics.
- August 1976
- Printed in the omnibus The Enterprise Logs, Volume 3. (Golden Press)
- June 2004
- Printed in the omnibus The Key Collection, Volume 3. (Checker Book Publishing Group)
- September 2008
- Included on The Complete Comic Book Collection DVD. (Graphic Imaging Technologies)
- August 2014
- Remastered in hardcover in the omnibus Gold Key Archives, Volume 4. (IDW)
- 9 November 2017
- Remastered in hardcover in the omnibus Graphic Novel Collection #23. (Eaglemoss)
Translations[]
- 13 March 1974
- Serbian: In TV 3AБABHИK.
- 1974
- Dutch: As "Een Waanzinege wereld" in b/w in Star Trek #2. (De Vrijbuiter)
- 1974
- Finnish: As "Hullu Maailma" in Avaruusmatka Star Trek #8. (Apulehti)
- 1975
- German: As "Teufelsstrahlen aus dem All" in Enterprise #3. (Koralle)
- 1970s
- Spanish: In Aventura #915 Viaje a las Estrellas. (Editorial Novaro)
- 2005
- Italian: In the omnibus The Gold Key Collection, Volume 5. (Free Books)
External links[]
- A World Gone Mad article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- A World Gone Mad article at Curt Danhauser's Guide to the Gold Key Star Trek Comics.