"Spheres of War" was a 34-page TOS comic strip. It was the 35th weekly story arc in the UK comic strips series, published in 17 installments in Valiant and TV21 in 1973. In this story, the crew of the USS Enterprise battled a fleet of D7-class Klingon battlecruisers while trying to rescue the son of a planetary ruler.
Description[]
- Teaser, 24 March 1973
- Morkolians had kidnapped the son of Sektrak, ruler of the planet Thark, hoping to force his surrender in a space war. Because Morkol had the backing of the Klingon Empire, Captain Kirk took the Enterprise into action on Sektrak's side…
Summary[]
While passing through space, the USS Enterprise is snared by the planet Thark's planetary defense system, a huge mass of guidance spheroids that clump onto deflector shields, encase a whole starship and override its propulsion systems. The Enterprise is released after entering orbit, then hailed by the insectoid Sektrak, lord of Thark. Sektrak asks for help in a war against neighboring planet Morkol, which had been taken over by Klingons. Morkolians also held Sektrak's son hostage. Seeking to outmaneuver the Klingons, Kirk agrees to bring Sektrak along and attempt a rescue.
En route, the Enterprise engages and destroys a Klingon guardship, but gets damaged. As repairs begin, Kirk and Spock use thought-implantation equipment to saturate their minds with Klingon language and culture so that they can infiltrate Morkol disguised as Klingons. They steal uniforms from two sentries in the suburbs, then proceed into the city.
Sektrak contacts his son Aarkan via telepathy, then relays the prison cell's location to Kirk and Spock. Knowing that rescue is imminent, Aarkan breaks out of his cell. Unfortunately, when he runs into the disguised Kirk and Spock, Aarkan thinks they are Klingons and eludes them. Kirk and Spock fight some security guards, then join forces with members of a resistance movement who also sneaked into the prison to save Aarkan. In the meantime, Aarkan has been recaptured and is readied for execution. The rescuers knock out the firing squad members, take their place, and manage to free Aarkan, but the effort is caught on live television and alerts more guards. The rescuers escape with the aid of gas grenades, and then their compatriots start broadcasting fake news of Tharkian attacks on nearby cities.
In the resulting confusion, Kirk, Spock and Aarkan retreat to a spaceport and launch a rocketship into space. Meanwhile, Nyota Uhura has intercepted news that a Klingon fleet is heading for Thark. The Enterprise beams Sektrak aboard the rocketship, then intercepts the Klingon fleet. Montgomery Scott fires a salvo of missiles at the D7-class battlecruisers, then releases a trio of shuttlecraft to act as diversionary targets. Scott is able to disable one cruiser, but the rest of the fleet closes in for the kill.
The rocketship lands at the Tharkian capital, where Sektrak and Aarkan hastily deploy Thark's defensive spheres toward the Klingon ships. Klingon sensors go haywire, and the Klingon admiral responds by firing a full spread at the approaching targets. The spheres detonate, producing a massive feedback explosion that destroys the enemy fleet.
Meanwhile, resistance fighters have overrun their puppet government, and Klingon forces begin withdrawing from Morkol. Kirk proposes to a grateful Sektrak that his planet should join the Federation.
References[]
Characters[]
- Aarkan • Christine Chapel • Pavel Chekov • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Oogrash • Partek • Montgomery Scott • Sektrak • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed Klingons • unnamed Morkolians • unnamed USS Enterprise personnel (recreation room officers, helmsman, transporter chief)
- Referenced only
- Damanios
Starships and vehicles[]
- unnamed class F shuttlecraft • USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • groundcar • Klingon guardship • Morkolian rocketship • tank • Tharkian starship • unnamed D7 class starships
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Federation • Federation Control • Klingon Empire • Tharkian space fleet
Science and classification[]
- airlock • communications • communicator • deflector shield • engine • environmental suit • force field • generator • grenade • guidance spheroid • impulse generator • interceptor rocket • Klingon disruptor • library computer • long-range scanner • mind-probe equipment • missile • phaser • probe rocket • pulsator jammer • rifle • sonic scanner • stabilizer • sub-cerebral conditioner • sword • tele-sphere • television • thought-implantation equipment • thruster • transporter • turbolift • universal translator • viewscreen
Ranks and titles[]
- acting captain • admiral • captain • colonel • commander • governor • guard • helmsman • officer • pilot • president • saboteur • sentry • slave
Other references[]
- airbase • armaments control • assignment patch • atmosphere • beam • brain • bridge • capital city • captain's log • captain's log, USS Enterprise, 2267 • city • command dome • constellation • dress uniform • earring • execution • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • film • firing squad • fox • fuel • government • guardship • helm • helmet • hornet • hour • insectoid • Klingon language • Klingon uniform • logic • metal • meteorite • meteorite storm • minute • pig • planet • plant • prison cell • races and cultures • rank • resistance movement • revolution • ring system • second • shuttlebay • spacecraft • spaceport • star • Starfleet ranks • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • static orbit • telepathy • three-dimensional chess • transporter room • tree • Vulcan nerve pinch • war • year
Appendices[]
Related media[]
Kirk became involved in interplanetary wars in:
- TOS episode & Star Trek 2 novelization: A Taste of Armageddon
- TOS comics: "The Third Party", "Menace of the Moloth", "Slaves of the Frogmen", "Destination Annihilation"
Klingon occupations in:
- TOS episode & Star Trek 2 novelization: Errand of Mercy
- TOS novel: The Prisoner of Vega
- TOS comic: "Smoke and Mirrors"
Kirk and Spock vs. firing squads in:
- TOS novel: The Prisoner of Vega
- TOS comics: "Key Witness", "Revolt on Dak-Alpha", "Creeping Death", "To Rule the Universe"
Kirk rescued hostages in:
Background[]
- This story was not printed with a title, but it was given one ("Spheres of War") for its reprinting in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 3.
- This was the longest of artist John Stokes's 14 stories. His next, "Shell Game", was one week shorter.
- Christine Chapel's hair was dyed brown in this story.
- The Klingon occupation of Morkol and combat between the Enterprise and a fleet of Klingon battlecruisers place this story prior to the signing of the Organian Peace Treaty, in TOS episode & Star Trek 2 novelization: Errand of Mercy. Pavel Chekov served as both a navigator and a transporter operator, suggesting he had not yet attained permanent bridge crew status, as seen in TOS - The Modala Imperative comic: "A Little Seasoning".
- Valiant and TV21 cover illustrations during the run of this story: #74 Benny Hill, #75 Lord Nelson, #76 Richard the Lionheart, #77 Brian Trubshaw, #78 Paul Revere, #79 Mark Spitz, #80 Jack Hobbs, #81 Reg Varney, #82 Sam Houston, #83 Ferdinand von Zeppelin, #84 Jimmy Saville, #85 Louis Pasteur, #86 Roger Moore, #87 Daniel Defoe, #88 Jimmy Hill, #89 Christopher Wren, and #90 Robert Redford.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| Published Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: The Void of Storms |
TOS comics (UK comic strips) | Next comic: Shell Game |
| Chronological Order | ||
| Previous adventure: Revolt on Dak-Alpha |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Shell Game |
| Previous comic: Revolt on Dak-Alpha |
Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Year Two | Next comic: Shell Game |
Production history[]
- This story was serialized in two-page sections over 17 consecutive weeks in Valiant and TV21 magazine. Most issues were 36 pages, with the Star Trek segment printed in color on pages 18-19. Issues 76, 79, 81, 83, and 89 were 40 pages with Star Trek appearing on pages 20-21.
- 24 February 1973: Pages 1-2 published in Valiant and TV21 #74.
- 3 March 1973: Pages 3-4 published in Valiant and TV21 #75.
- 10 March 1973: Pages 5-6 published in Valiant and TV21 #76.
- 17 March 1973: Pages 7-8 published in Valiant and TV21 #77.
- 24 March 1973: Pages 9-10 published in Valiant and TV21 #78.
- 31 March 1973: Pages 11-12 published in Valiant and TV21 #79.
- 7 April 1973: Pages 13-14 published in Valiant and TV21 #80.
- 14 April 1973: Pages 15-16 published in Valiant and TV21 #81.
- 21 April 1973: Pages 17-18 published in Valiant and TV21 #82.
- 28 April 1973: Pages 19-20 published in Valiant and TV21 #83.
- 5 May 1973: Pages 21-22 published in Valiant and TV21 #84.
- 12 May 1973: Pages 23-24 published in Valiant and TV21 #85.
- 19 May 1973: Pages 25-26 published in Valiant and TV21 #86.
- 26 May 1973: Pages 27-28 published in Valiant and TV21 #87.
- 2 June 1973: Pages 29-30 published in Valiant and TV21 #88.
- 9 June 1973: Pages 31-32 published in Valiant and TV21 #89
- 16 June 1973: Pages 33-34 published in Valiant and TV21 #90.
- September 2017
- Reprinted in the omnibus The Classic UK Comics, Volume 3. (IDW Publishing)
- 16 July 2020
- Reprinted in the omnibus Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 121. (Eaglemoss Collections)
External link[]
- Spheres of War article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.