The first company to produce Star Trek comics was Gold Key. Armed in the beginning with only production art and never having seen the show, these comics give fans a picture of what Star Trek might have been without the philosophy and hope for the future Roddenberry instilled in the franchise.

In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Matthew Rushing and Dan Gunther go back to issues 1 though 3 of the Gold Key comics, collected in IDW’s stunning Volume 1. We discuss the impact of creators who had never seen Star Trek beyond publicity stills and how this impacts the look, feel and interpretation of Star Trek, asking the question; “If this was what Star Trek had been, would it have lasted 50 years?”. We walk through each issue and conclude with our ratings for the first 3 issues.

In our news segment we talk about the upcoming Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover as well as take a look at the last issue of the Trek/Apes series.

News

Star Trek/ Green Lantern Coming Soon (00:02:22)

Trek/Apes Conclusion (00:06:43)

Feature: Gold Key Vol 1: Part 1

Reaching All the Way Back (00:16:01)

Not Much to Go On (00:17:13)

K-G, Planet of Death! (00:25:08)

The Devil’s Isle of Space (00:37:07)

Automated Destroyer! (00:44:56)

Ratings (00:52:31)

Closing (00:58:46)