IDW Star Trek, Issue 1 was the untitled first issue of IDW Publishing's 2011 ongoing series of Star Trek comics. The issue consists of a 22-page first part of an alternate reality adaptation of Samuel A. Peeples's TOS episode: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", as adapted from his screenplay by writer Mike Johnson. Issue art was by Stephen Molnar, with colors and lettering by John Rauch and Neil Uyetake, respectively. This series premiere was edited by Scott Dunbier, with Robert Orci credited as creative consultant.
Summary[]
- Chief engineer's log, Stardate 2258.2... 5...? .5... 6...?
- Does anyone actually listen to these things?
- It's been ages since we left Earth. Ages since the vintage champagne and the "thanks for saving the galaxy from the Romulan with the pointy ship". Ages since I told Starfleet that ye cannae expect a ship that just escaped the grip of a spontaneous black hole...
- ... ye cannae expect it to embark on a new mission without a thorough inspection and retrofit! This ship is a mess of broken parts and fried circuits. And yet, I've got to admit...
- ... she still looks pretty on the outside.
In the USS Enterprise's engineering section, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott removes a damaged engine component, giving it to Keenser. He leaves the section intending to tell the captain the extent of the damaged technology, telling Keenser to keep busy, but not to touch anything.
Meanwhile, in the recreation lounge, Captain James T. Kirk plays three-dimensional chess against his backup helmsman, Lieutenant Gary Mitchell. Mitchell checkmates Kirk, then jokingly apologizes to his friend, but Kirk orders Mitchell to play a rematch after realizing he should have moved his rook. Asking why Kirk doesn't play Spock, the captain responds that he thinks Spock might still be upset over the incident of Kirk's Kobayashi Maru scenario, where the captain beat Spock's test by cheating. Just then, the bridge calls regarding an unexplained distress call. Spock requests Kirk's presence, and Kirk orders his friend Mitchell and Ensign Lee Kelso to accompany him.
The backup helmsman and navigator joke with their captain about how odd it is to be under the command of someone who was very recently an underclassman a year behind them at Starfleet Academy. Kirk insists that he brought them along on his prerogative because he judged their quality as officers during their time in school together. When Mitchell comments that they are merely backups to the senior staff helm and navigation crew, Kirk only says, with great conviction, that Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov earned their places as well.
Mitchell and Kelso relieve Sulu and Chekov from the forward stations for a much-needed change of shift. Taking the science officer's station, Spock reports the recorder-marker of the SS Valiant is the source of the unexplained communication signal, identifying the ship as being of Earth origination, a Starfleet vessel. Kirk comments that the vessel had been lost around 200 years earlier.
Spock begins to analyze the transmission of the beacon's computer memory banks. They indicate that the Valiant had encountered an unknown force in this region of space. Spock hears urgent requests for information regarding extrasensory perception (ESP), and then, shockingly, what appears to be the Valiant's captain giving the order to destroy his own ship.
Continuing on course to the galaxy's boundary, the Enterprise also encounters an unusual force field, the galactic barrier. Nine crewmembers die in the encounter, and another is injured—Kirk's friend, Lieutenant Mitchell.
- Captain's log, supplemental. Our encounter with the force field at the galaxy's edge has crippled the ship.
- Nine crewmembers lost. All from sudden seizures of unknown origin. Lieutenant Mitchell was almost the tenth. Dr. McCoy has him under observation.
- We've lost warp capability, reduced to impulse power only. Bridge functionality has been restored. Barely.
Under the care of the ship's chief medical officer, Doctor Leonard McCoy, Mitchell begins to exhibit increasing powers. He is able to levitate objects, read thoughts and the ship's instruments with his own mind. When McCoy suggests that Mitchell rest, he shoves the doctor across the room. Kirk orders bed rest and observation for Mitchell.
At a senior staff meeting in the briefing room, Scotty explains that Mitchell was somehow aware of cracks in the impulse engines that existed before the ship hit the galactic barrier. Chekov suggests that they may find repair resources at the lithium-cracking facility on Delta Vega. Nyota Uhura reports that the Valiant crewman who recovered from the incident that damaged the ship showed the same symptoms as Mitchell prior to the captain ordering self-destruct. Kirk orders the ship toward Delta Vega and tells his senior staff not to discuss Mitchell's condition with the rest of the crew. Speaking to Kirk alone after the meeting, Spock tells him that he has surreptitiously mind-melded with Mitchell, and that his body contains "No consciousness. No sentience of any kind." Spock recommends that Kirk either leave Mitchell marooned on Delta Vega or "Kill him while you still can."
References[]
Characters[]
- Pavel Chekov • Keenser • Lee Kelso • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Gary Mitchell • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura
- Referenced only
- Geirrod Agnarsson • Elizabeth Dehner • Nero • Carlos Tarasco
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise • SS Valiant
- Referenced only
- Narada (Romulan mining ship)
Locations[]
- galactic barrier • Milky Way Galaxy
- Referenced only
- Aldebaran • Delta Vega I (Delta Vega system, Delta Vega sector) • Earth (Sol system, Sector 001)
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
- alcohol • black hole • data recorder • deflector shield • distress beacon • Duke-Heidelberg Quotient • energy • force field • galaxy • gravity • humanoid • impulse engine • intercom • lifeform • lithium cracking station • recorder-marker • self-destruct • space • star • star system • starbase • starship • time • turbolift • universe • warp engine • warp factor
Ranks and titles[]
- captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commander • commanding officer • communications officer • doctor • ensign • first officer • helmsman • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • navigator • officer • science officer
Other references[]
- aperception test • bridge • briefing room • champagne • chess • chief engineer's log • corridor • distress call • drink • engineering • esper test • extrasensory perception • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (alternate 2250s) • fire alert • government • Kobayashi Maru scenario • log entry • mind meld • nation-state • planet • races and cultures • rank • recreation lounge • sickbay • stardate • Starfleet uniform (Prime) • Starfleet uniform • technology • three-dimensional chess • title • uniform • weapon • year • yellow alert
Chronology[]
Appendices[]
Related stories[]
- TOS episode: "Where No Man Has Gone Before": This is the first part of an adaptation of the eponymous episode.
- TOS movie: Star Trek: Spock is still getting over the Kobayashi Maru incident.
Background[]
- This story takes place seven years earlier than its prime timeline equivalent (TOS episode: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", set in 2265).
- Among the significant differences between this story and its prime timeline equivalent are the following:
- Kirk's chess game is with Mitchell rather than Spock.
- The characters of Keenser, Uhura, Chekov and McCoy are added to the story, and Alden, Piper and Smith were omitted in translation from the original. Sulu serves as the ship's helmsman rather than as a scientist as in the original episode.
- The absence of Elizabeth Dehner is explained by McCoy telling Kirk and Spock that she withdrew her transfer after joining the ship at Aldeberan because of an earlier relationship with McCoy.
- Dehner's absence results in the omission of the scene in which Mitchell recites "Nightingale Woman" to her; however, the scene is homaged by having McCoy mention that Mitchell is reading a book of poetry.
- Mitchell makes a more elaborate demonstration of his telekinetic abilities, floating multiple objects in Sickbay.
- Spock's mind-meld with Mitchell and his conclusions are an addition to the story. In the original series, the Vulcan mind meld was not introduced until TOS episode: "Dagger of the Mind", later in the first season.
- Roberto Orci's first name is misspelled as "Robert" in his credit as creative consultant.
- The deaths of nine Enterprise crew members in this story are contradicted by TOS movie: Star Trek Into Darkness, in which Kirk states that he has not lost any crew members since taking command of the Enterprise.
Images[]
Cover gallery[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
previous comic: first issue |
The Original Series (IDW series) | next comic: IDW Star Trek, Issue 2 |
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External link[]
- IDW Star Trek, Issue 1 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.