742. The Enterprise MutinyPUBLICATION: Star Trek #14, Gold Key Comics, May 1972
CREATORS: Len Wein (writer), Alberto Giolitti (artist)
STARDATE: 18:41.2 - Follows the last issue (Season 3).
PLOT: On the planet Beta II, Kirk gets a bump on the head fighting a giant monster. Later, he's given the mission to escort an Omegan ambassador who could be the swing vote in his people siding with the Klingons or the Federation. His concussion seems to make him paranoid and violent though, which makes the Enterprise crew mutiny after the ship escapes from a dangerous anomaly. Kirk stuns everyone he sees and escapes in a shuttle... exactly as Spock and McCoy planned. Returning to Beta II, they find the shuttle, the paranoid Kirk and the REAL Kirk who had been captured and replaced by Klingons. The ambassador goes ahhhh and the Federation gains an ally.
CONTINUITY: The Klingons make their first comic book appearance (but see below). The bridge of the ship is starting to resolve itself into a semblance of its true self.
DIVERGENCES: The shuttle is really funky and off-spec, but it's the Klingons that really look nothing like the any of their televised incarnations. In fact, they look just like the Omegan Ambassador! Is Klingon Intelligence just really into cosmetic surgery?
PANEL OF THE DAY - Those are Klingons?
REVIEW: It's nice to see the Klingons (despite the art's mistake) and a mission that's a little more political. However, the incidental dangers are truly dumb - a giant reptilian monster immune to phasers and a whirlpool in space with monster hands in it grabbing at the ship (though I like the art there, it's totally inappropriate). It also ends with the whole chestnut about Spock shooting one of two possible Kirks. Though possibly set earlier than the others, it was still old hat by 1972. So really not one of the strongest efforts by Len Wein and Alberto Giolitti despite its potential. Shame.
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