Changes: Star Trek Video Communicator

Revision as of 12:40, 26 October 2019

The Star Trek Video Communicator was a toy included with McDonald's Happy Meals in 1979 to promote TOS movie: The Motion Picture. The plastic communicator could scroll five comic strips of eight panels each. Each installment concluded with "Thus ends another chapter in the saga of the USS Enterprise." In each strip, the Enterprise is depicted in its pre-refit configuration, while the crew is depicted in their post-refit uniforms. These strips were reprinted on page 263 of The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1.

Stories

#1 - "Star Trek Stars"

This comic was a brief introduction to the Enterprise, its crew, and its mission.

#2 - "A Pill Swallows the Enterprise"

Captain Kirk is awakened from sleep and informed that the Enterprise has been enveloped in a capsule.

#3 - "Time. And Time. And Time Again."

Kirk and Spock prepare to beam Nyota Uhura down to the planet Turages. The equipment malfunctions, and she materializes in 172 billion BC, confronted by a gigantic beast.

#4 - "Votec's Freedom"

Captain's Log, stardate 10:18:4. We land on Moonsek, and meet the last of the Mrogars.

#5 - "Starlight, Starfright"

On a viewscreen, Kirk shows McCoy subplanet 897-JOJ. McCoy is then abducted by transporter and is informed that a Doctor is needed for experiments.

References

Races and cultures

Argontron • Deltan • Human • Mrogar • Vulcan
Referenced only: Klingon • Nozda

States and organizations

Federation • Klingon Empire • Starfleet

Science and technology

Delphus meteor • phaser • transporter • Ultra laser • viewscreen

Ranks and titles

captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commanding officer • doctor • executive officer • Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s) • first officer • lieutenant • navigator • rank • Starfleet ranks

Other references

172 billion BC • 1940 • 17,000 AD • animal • assignment patch • baseball • baseball bat • brain • bridge • Captain's log • communicator • command ship • life • meteor • moon • planet • quarters • solar system • star • Starfleet uniform (early 2270s) • starship • time • time travel • transporter room • year

Appendices

Related media

Star Trek: The Motion Picture McDonald's Happy Meal Comic Adaptations - Additional comics strips provided on the boxes of the Star Trek Meals themselves.
Larami Comic Strips and Kenner Comic Strips – Other comic strips series which were read through a toy viewer.

Images

External Links

Star Trek Video Communicator article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
Video Communicator Comic Strips at StarTrek.com.
Video Communicator Comic Strips article at the Star Trek Comics Checklist.
Video Communicator Comic Strips reproduced at Walter Stephens' Wriphe blog.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Comic
-[[File:Placeholder|video|right|300px]] [[File:Placeholder|right|300px]]
+| type = comic
-In 1979, a communicator toy was included with McDonald's Happy Meals to promote Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The plastic communicator could scroll five comic strips of eight panels each. Each installment concluded with "''Thus ends another chapter in the saga of the U.S.S. ''Enterprise''.''"  In each strip, the ''Enterprise'' is depicted in it's pre-refit configuration.
-=== #1 - "''Star Trek'' Stars"===
+| title = Star Trek Video Communicator Comic Strips
+| cover image = McD-Video-1.jpg
-This comic was a brief introduction to the ''Enterprise'', its crew, and its mission.  The ''Enterprise'' is described as the "[[flagship|command ship]] of the [[Federation]]".  [[Willard Decker|Decker]] and [[Ilia]] are aboard, and the ship is en route to stop an alien force speeding toward Earth, likely ''[[V'Ger]]''.
+| series = {{ST|The Original Series}} ([[McDonald’s Comic Strips]])
+| omnibus = [[The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1]]
+| published = {{srcdate|1979}}
+| format = [[comic strip]]s
+| date = c. [[2273]]
+| stardate = 10:18.4
+| altcover = Star_Trek_Newspaper_Strip_Vol_1_cover.jpeg
+| }}
+The '''''Star Trek'' Video Communicator''' was a toy included with [[Star Trek: The Motion Picture McDonald's Happy Meal Comic Adaptations|McDonald's Happy Meals]] in {{srcdate|1979}} to promote {{m|TOS|The Motion Picture}}. The plastic [[communicator]] could scroll five [[comic strip]]s of eight panels each. Each installment concluded with "''Thus ends another chapter in the saga of the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}}.''" In each strip, the ''Enterprise'' is depicted in its pre-[[refit]] configuration, while the crew is depicted in their post-refit uniforms. These strips were reprinted on page 263 of ''[[The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1]]''.
+==Stories==
-=== #2 - "A Pill Swallows the ''Enterprise''" ===
-[[File:Mcdonalds pill.jpg|thumb|The ''Enterprise'' is trapped]]
-Captain Kirk is awakened from [[sleep]] and informed that the ''Enterprise'' has been enveloped in a capsule.  Spock is at a loss to explain it, and the construct is impervious to [[Phaser bank|phaser]]s.  Suddenly, the crew see a "heavy Delphus [[meteoroid|meteor]]" approaching.  Concluding that a "retro blast" would be ineffective, the crew braces for impact.  The meteor is stopped by the capsule, which then dematerializes, and [[Spock]] concludes that they have a good friend out there.
-=== #3 - "Time.  And Time.  And Time Again." ===
+===#1 - "[[Star Trek Stars|''Star Trek'' Stars]]"===
+* This comic was a brief introduction to the ''Enterprise'', its crew, and its mission.
+===#2 - "[[A Pill Swallows the Enterprise|A Pill Swallows the ''Enterprise'']]"===
-Kirk and Spock prepare to beam Nyota Uhura down to the planet Turages. The equipment malfunctions, and she materializes in 172 billion BC, confronted by a gigantic beast. She then appears in a rectangular construct drifting near a star in the year 21,000, using her [[communicator]] to send the message that she is "three [[Star system|solar system]]s ahead."  Spock discovers that the [[transporter]] has been sabotaged.  Uhura appears on home plate in [[New York Yankees|Yankee]] Stadium in the year 1940, holding a bat, and surmising that the Klingons must be behind her predicament.  She is then beamed back to the transporter pad of the ''Enterprise'', along with her bat, with Spock quipping that "it was just a matter of time."
+* [[Captain]] [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] is awakened from [[sleep]] and informed that the ''Enterprise'' has been enveloped in a capsule.
+===#3 - "[[Time. And Time. And Time Again.]]"===
-Sixteen years later, {{DS9|Past Tense, Part I}} and {{e|Past Tense, Part II }} dealt with crewmen traveling through time via transporter accident.  Four years after that, {{VOY|Relativity}} showed that [[Starfleet]] had [[timeship]]s equipped with [[temporal transporter]]s by the 29th century.
+* Kirk and [[Spock]] prepare to beam [[Nyota Uhura]] down to the planet [[Turages]]. The equipment malfunctions, and she materializes in [[billions of years ago|172 billion BC]], confronted by a gigantic [[animal|beast]].
-=== #4 - "Votec's Freedom" ===
+===#4 - "[[Votec's Freedom]]"===
-:"''Captain's Log, stardate 10:18:4<!--Scan hard to read, could be wrong number-->.  We land on Moonsek, and meet the last of the Mrogars.''"
+* [[Captain's Log|''Captain's Log'']]'', [[stardate]] 10:18:4<!--Scan hard to read, could be wrong number-->. We land on [[Moonsek]], and meet the last of the [[Mrogar]]s.''
-Kirk and Spock beam down and meet Votec.  He recalls how he fought in a war against the Nozda, and stayed behind to allow his people to escape.  He was captured, and determined never to tell where his people were.  Spock says that he can break Votec's chains with his new "ultra [[laser]]", and Votec plans to rejoin his people.
-=== #5 - "Starlight, Starfright" ===
+===#5 - "[[Starlight, Starfright]]"===
-On a [[viewscreen]], Kirk shows McCoy [[planetoid|subplanet]] 897-JOJ.  McCoy is then abducted by transporter and is informed that a Doctor is need for experiments.  Spock offer that the Argontrons are afraid of darkness, so the ''Enterprise'' arranges for darkness and rescues McCoy with a shuttlecraft.
+* On a [[viewscreen]], Kirk shows [[Leonard McCoy|McCoy]] [[planetoid|subplanet]] [[897-JOJ]]. McCoy is then abducted by [[transporter]] and is informed that a [[Doctor]] is needed for experiments.
+==References==
-The ''Enterprise'' directs a beam of energy toward a celestial body to cast 897-JOJ in darkness.  It may be [[tractor beam|tractoring]] a small celestial body to create an eclipse, or spinning the planetoid to face away from its sun.  The beam emits from the bottom of the [[Primary hull|saucer section]].|This strip implies that [[Class F shuttlecraft]] remain standard-issue in the 2270s.
+===Characters===
+:[[Pavel Chekov]] • [[Willard Decker]] • [[Ilia]] • [[James T. Kirk]] • [[Leonard McCoy]] • [[Montgomery Scott]] • [[Spock]] • [[Hikaru Sulu]] • [[Nyota Uhura]] • [[Votec]]
+{{ref}} [[V'Ger]]
+===Starships and vehicles===
+:[[Class F shuttlecraft]] • {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} ({{class|Constitution}} [[heavy cruiser]])
+===Locations===
+:[[Earth]] ([[Yankee Stadium]]) • [[Moonsek]] • [[planetoid|Subplanet]] [[897-JOJ]]
+{{ref}} [[Turages]]
+===Races and cultures===
+:[[Argontron]] • [[Deltan]] • [[Human]] • [[Mrogar]] • [[Vulcan]]
+{{ref}} [[Klingon]] • [[Nozda]]
+===States and organizations===
+:[[Federation]] • [[Klingon Empire]] • [[Starfleet]]
+===Science and technology===
+:[[Delphus meteor]] • [[phaser bank|phaser]] • [[transporter]] • [[laser|Ultra laser]] • [[viewscreen]]
+===Ranks and titles===
+:[[captain]] • [[chief engineer]] • [[chief medical officer]] • [[commanding officer]] • [[doctor]] • [[executive officer]] • [[Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s)]] • [[first officer]] • [[lieutenant]] • [[navigator]] • [[rank]] • [[Starfleet ranks]]
+===Other references===
+:[[billions of years ago|172 billion BC]] • [[1940]] • [[far future|17,000 AD]] • [[animal]] • [[assignment patch]] • [[baseball]] • [[baseball bat]] • [[brain]] • [[bridge]] • [[Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2273|Captain's log]] • [[communicator]] • [[flagship|command ship]] • [[life]] • [[meteoroid|meteor]] • [[moon]] • [[planet]] • [[quarters]] • [[star system|solar system]] • [[star]] • [[Starfleet uniform (early 2270s)]] • [[starship]] • [[time]] • [[time travel]] • [[transporter room]] • [[year]]
+==Appendices==
+===Related media===
+* [[Star Trek: The Motion Picture McDonald's Happy Meal Comic Adaptations|''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' McDonald's Happy Meal Comic Adaptations]] - Additional comics strips provided on the boxes of the ''Star Trek'' Meals themselves.
+* [[Larami Comic Strips]] and [[Kenner Comic Strips]] – Other [[comic strip]]s series which were read through a toy viewer.
+===Images===
+<gallery>
+McD-Video-1.jpg|The [[starship]] ''[[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|Enterprise]]''.
+McD-Video-2.jpg|Encased in a capsule.
+McD-Video-3.jpg|[[Nyota Uhura]] trapped in [[billions of years ago|172 billion BC]].
+McD-Video-4.jpg|[[Votec]] was found on [[Moonsek]].
+McD-Video-5.jpg|[[planetoid|Subplanet]] [[897-JOJ]].
+Spock Argo.jpg|[[Spock]] discussed [[Argontron]]s.
+</gallery>
+===External Links===
+* {{memoryalpha|McDonald's#Video communicator comics}}
+* [https://www.startrek.com/article/tbt-trek-video-communicator-from-tmp-happy-meal Video Communicator Comic Strips]  at [https://www.startrek.com StarTrek.com].
+* [https://www.startrekcomics.info/ustosstripsmcd.html Video Communicator Comic Strips] article at the [https://www.startrekcomics.info ''Star Trek'' Comics Checklist].
+* [http://www.wriphe.com/work/Communicator_Toy_Strips_1-5.jpg Video Communicator Comic Strips] reproduced at [http://www.wriphe.com/blog/ Walter Stephens' Wriphe] blog.
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Video Communicator}}
+[[category:toys]]
+[[category:tOS comics]]
+[[category: Comic strips]]
+[[category:tOS comic story arcs]]

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