783. What Fools These Mortals BePUBLICATION: Star Trek #53, Gold Key Comics, July 1978
CREATORS: George Kashdan (writer), Alden McWilliams (artist)
STARDATE: 2901.1 - Follows the last issue (Season 3).
PLOT: After the Enterprise saves the USS Pathfinder from the Klingons, everyone but the command staff becomes lazy, caught in the orbit of an unknown planet. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down and are immediately attacked by cannibals, then a cyclops. Spock finds a parallel with Homer's Odyssey, prompting the Olympian gods to appear. The landing party then goes on to face sirens (Kirk's loins cry out for succor), Scylla and Charybdis and a waiting population of hedonistic ancient Greeks. Unable to accept a happy yet subjugated people, Kirk invokes the Prime Directive and has the Enterprise fire at Zeus. The gods leave, sulking, and the Greeks get to choose their own destiny.
CONTINUITY: Aside from the Klingon cruisers that quickly disappear, the Olympians in the story are quite possibly Apollo's brethren...
DIVERGENCES: ...though McCoy acts like they've never met an Olympian god before. Also, photon torpedoes are shot out of the bridge.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Any way the wind blows.
REVIEW: There's a lot of stuff going on in this one, but hardly any plot at all. Where do Pathfinder and the Klingons go? They're just there to fill up pages. Spock makes his leap of logic way too soon, and while the author tries to fit in as many episodes from the Odyssey as possible, he may show his lack of research in using Zeus rather than Poseidon in the villain's role. And the ending hardly makes sense. But for all that, it's an enjoyable couple of minutes with crazy drawings and action. It's got momentum, even if that may be its only redeeming value.
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