- Kirk is stranded on a savage planet in "One of Our Captains Is Missing!" — "One of Our Captains Is Missing!" was a comic book story published by Gold Key Comics in 1976. It was the debut of Alden McWilliams as artist on the series. In this story, Captain Zarlo assumed temporary command of the USS Enterprise in the year 2266 while James T. Kirk was given an undercover assignment.
Description[]
- A new commander for the starship Enterprise — and a new and deadly job for Captain Kirk! But the crew may not survive the new commander! And Captain Kirk may not — survive!
Summary[]
- Captain's log, stardate 19.29.13.
- I was working out in the ship's gym when the message was received!
James T. Kirk is relieved of duty, bidding farewell to his crew as Captain Zarlo replaces him aboard the USS Enterprise. Kirk reappears a few days later disguised as a Kafrian in a bar on Mobita, where a barfight lands him in jail. However, this is all so that Mobian Prime Minister Aado can meet privately with Kirk, who had worn the disguise to avoid breaking the non-interference directive. Starfleet had assigned him to investigate the Togota, a tribal species that recently began a rebellion with highly advanced weapons — weapons suspected of being provided by the Klingon Empire.
With Aado's help, Kirk is disguised as a Togota, but he can only watch from a distance, as the mute humanoids communicate via telepathic illusions. Kirk takes photos in the jungle of Klingons teaching marksmanship to the Togota, but he is caught by a Klingon commander and brought before chieftain Mwipi. To judge his truthfulness, Kirk is sentenced to a trial by combat with a muscled Togota.
- Captain Zarlo's personal log, stardate 19.29.24.
- Ship's crew still continue to reject me! My complements to the personal charms of Captain Kirk—wherever he may be!
The large Togota fights not only with a sword, but by creating illusions of threatening animals. Kirk gains the upper hand and departs from the tribe with a warning to Mwipi of what the Klingon Empire has done to countless worlds.
After returning to the village, Kirk publicly accuses the commander of lying. To determine who is right, Mwipi makes the two captains fight each other. Eventually Kirk beats the commander, who then sends a signal to his orbiting D7-class battlecruiser to bomb the jungle, erasing all evidence of Klingon involvement. Luckily, the Enterprise receives a message that Kirk is in trouble, diverts to Mobia, and chases away the battlecruiser.
Days later, Mwipi and Aado reconcile, and peace returns to the planet.
References[]
Characters[]
- Aado • Christine Chapel • Pavel Chekov • Eerod • James T. Kirk • Mwipi • Ndarpo • Montgomery Scott • Sirone • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Zarlo • unnamed Starfleet personnel • unnamed Klingons
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Starfleet Command • Federation • Mobian police
Science and technology[]
- airplane • bomb • camera • cudgel • communicator • engine • knife • pistol • ray cannon • rifle • sector • spear • stungun • subspace communication • sword • Szonka knife • mini-transceiver • viewscreen • weapon • zeta-12 (zeta bomb)
Ranks and titles[]
- advisor • artist • captain • chief • commander • copper • doctor • executioner • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • guard • judge • justice of the peace • jury • king • magistrate • mutineer • prime minister • rank • sculptor • spy • Starfleet ranks • tribesman • warrior
Other references[]
- animal • aspirin • assignment patch • bar • blood • bridge • captain's log • captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2266 • captain's personal log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)) • chicken • day • devil • dog • dove • emotion • first contact • gym • honor • hour • illusion • jail • jungle • lizard • minute • Mobian credit • monkey • month • museum • mutiny • plant • Non-Interference Directive • peace • personal log • police • rebellion • sector • shore leave • slang • space • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • statue • Tnoory tobacco • tree • trial by combat • wine • year • Yula wine
Appendices[]
Related stories[]
- TOS episode: "A Private Little War", TOS comics: "The Primate Directive", "All the Infinite Ways" – Other clandestine Klingon missions attempting to thwart the Organian Peace Treaty.
- TNG episode: "Chain of Command" – Captain Edward Jellico temporarily replaced Jean-Luc Picard as commander of the USS Enterprise (Galaxy-class), while Picard was sent on a mission to Celtris III.
- TOS comic: "Where Giants Tread" – Captain Eustace Hensham temporarily assumed command of the Enterprise while Kirk recuperated from an injury in an Earth hospital.
- TOS comic: "And a Child Shall Lead Them" – Miners led by Pete Flamm addicted the indigenous population to the narcotic kurali, then exploited them to mine tri-faxichologenic acid.
Background[]
- This story has been released six times in English, and translated into Dutch, German, and Italian.
- Leonard McCoy quoted, "H.Q. works in mysterious ways, its wonders to perform," which referred to a Christian hymn written by William Cowper in 1773. (God Moves in a Mysterious Way article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
- Pavel Chekov and Christine Chapel appeared in one panel without dialogue, as Kirk gave his final orders before departure.
- Kirk, Spock, Scott and Zarlo were drawn wearing lieutenant stripes.
- Although the planet's name was spelled out as Mobita, Zarlo and Sulu referred to it as "Mobia", perhaps because of its Mobian civilization.
- McCoy referred to Zarlo as "Zorla" in the final panel of the story.
- The art style was that of Alden McWilliams, making this his first of 22 issues as series' artist. His first printed credit appears in issue 47, "This Tree Bears Bitter Fruit".
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| Published Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: #37: The Ghost Planet Reprint |
TOS comics (Gold Key) | Next comic: #39: Prophet of Peace |
| Previous comic: #36: A Bomb in Time |
TOS comics (Gold Key original stories) | Next comic: #39: Prophet of Peace |
| Previous story: A Bomb in Time |
Stories by: Arnold Drake |
Next story: Prophet of Peace |
| Chronological Order | ||
| Previous adventure: World Against Time |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Spore of the Devil |
| Previous comic: World Against Time |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Two | Next comic: Spore of the Devil |
Production history[]
- July 1976
- First published by Gold Key Comics.
- 1976 August
- Printed in the omnibus The Enterprise Logs, Volume 4. (Golden Press)
- 1977
- Printed in hardcover in Star Trek Annual 1978. (World Distributors Limited)
- 2004 June
- Printed in the omnibus The Key Collection, Volume 5. (Checker Book Publishing Group)
- September 2008
- Included on The Complete Comic Book Collection DVD. (Graphic Imaging Technologies)
- 19 July 2018
- Reprinted in Graphic Novel Collection #41. (Eaglemoss)
Translations[]
- 1977
- Dutch: As "Captain vermist" in the omnibus Ruimteschip Enterprise Classics Strip-Paperback #1. (De Vrijbuiter)
- 1978
- German: As "Der Krieg der Klingonier" in the omnibus Raumschiff Enterprise Comic Taschenbuch #1. (Condor)
- 2007
- Italian: As "Uno dei nostri capitani è scomparso" in the omnibus The Gold Key Collection, Volume 9. (Free Books)
External links[]
- One of Our Captains Is Missing! article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- One of Our Captains Is Missing! article at Siskoid's Blog of Geekery.
- One of Our Captains Is Missing! article at Curt Danhauser's Guide to the Gold Key Star Trek Comics.
- Best of Gold Key #21-41 article at The Mugato’s Blog.