"The Menace of the Mechanitrons" is the first story in the second issue of the Waypoint miniseries, published by IDW Publishing in honor of Star Trek's 50th anniversary. The story is set in 2267 during Captain Kirk's five-year mission aboard the USS Enterprise and was produced in the style of Gold Key Comics.
Description[]
- Teaser page
- First up is an homage to the classic Gold Key Star Trek comics. For those of you not familiar with those 1960s gems, the early Gold Key comics were created by writers and artists who, at times, had never even seen the show, and worked off of whatever publicity materials they could get their hands on. Needless to say, their end results were definitely unusual—and very un-Trek in some cases (Spock kills! The Enterprise belches fire!)!
Summary[]
- Captain's log, stardate 37:05.7
- Top brass has tasked the Enterprise with investigating a distress call from the scout ship Ad Aspera...
James T. Kirk, Spock, Montgomery Scott, and Christine Chapel beam down to Phygma IV. The area is rich with gravitite, an invaluable commodity. They find the lifeless hulk of the ship being disassembled by 20-foot-tall golden robots driven by Klingons. The landing party fires at the Klingon mechanitrons, but Kirk surrenders when Chapel is threatened. A Phygman explains that the Klingons had conquered them under the rules of their culture, which had been devastated by war. To get rid of the Klingons, Kirk has to prove that his people are stronger. Kirk challenges the Klingon commander to a duel. The Klingon accepts, choosing mechanitrons as his choice of weapon.
While Scott hastily repairs a robot for Kirk to use, a Klingon assault ship in orbit launches five mechanitrons toward the Enterprise. Hikaru Sulu reverses the polarity of the hull plating to repel them.
Kirk and the Klingon leader fight, but sabotage makes Kirk's robot overheat. Spock arrives at the last minute with a second mechanitron to wreck the Klingon's robot. Kirk wins despite the sabotage, so the natives pledge their loyalty to Kirk. Kirk gives them their freedom and promises to return to help the natives rebuild their planet.
References[]
Characters[]
- Christine Chapel • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • unnamed Klingons • unnamed Phygmans
Starships and vehicles[]
- Ad Aspera • USS Enterprise (Constitution-class) • Klingon assault ship
Locations[]
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
- artificial gravity • communicator • gravitite • mechanitron • mineral • phaser • polarized hull plating • robot • sensor • technology • tricorder
Ranks and titles[]
Other references[]
- gold • landing party • logic • metal • mining • orbit • planet • slavery • space • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • war
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TOS - Star Trek: The Manga - Uchu comic: "Orphans" – Nearly two dozen Haarkos mechanoids attacked the Enterprise in 2268. The hull's polarity was similarly reversed to repel them.
Background[]
- The story emulated many Gold Key features, from shouted dialogue to the fiery exhaust of the warp engines. Other traits included a hyperbole-filled title page and a backpack-equipped landing party which included Christine Chapel rather than Leonard McCoy. Klingons went unnamed. Previously unheard-of substances became critical. Alien natives looked like bald Humans. Technology was slightly off (in this case, by defending the starship with hull plating instead of raising shields).
- One aspect the comic couldn't mimic was the poor print quality of comic books in that era. An aged look was simulated by colorist Jason Lewis with flat, faded colors and worn-looking areas on the page.
Images[]
Connections[]
| Star Trek: Waypoint Comics |
| #1 ("Puzzles" & "Daylily") • #2 ("The Menace of the Mechanitrons" & "Legacy") • #3 ("The Wildman Maneuver" & "Mother's Walk") • #4 ("The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty" & "Mirror, Mirror, Mirror, Mirror") • #5 ("Frontier Doctor" & "Come Away, Child") • #6 ("The Rebound Effect" & "The Fear") • Special ("Only You Can Save Yourself" & "Consider Eternity" & "My Human is Not" & "Histories") • Special 2019 ("Hearts & Bones" & "Unfathom" & "The Swift Spoke" & "The First Year") |
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: Waypoint #1: Daylily |
TOS comics (Waypoint) | Next comic: Waypoint #2: Legacy |
| Previous story: Purgatory's Key Legacies |
Stories by: Dayton Ward |
Next story: Headlong Flight |
| Previous story: Purgatory's Key Legacies |
Stories by: Kevin Dilmore |
Next story: TBA |
| Previous adventure: Retrospect 2267 Section |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Resistance New Visions |
External Link[]
- The Menace of the Mechanitrons article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.