747. The Hijacked PlanetPUBLICATION: Star Trek #18, Gold Key Comics, May 1973
CREATORS: Unknown (writer), Alberto Giolitti (artist)
STARDATE: 32:48.6 - Follows the last issue.
PLOT: When the planet Styra is threatened by its own star's energies, the Federation unveils Project Atlas - the digitizing of an entire world to be reconverted into matter in a safer system. While the Enterprise carries the data module, it rescues a shuttle in distress. Aboard is Allura, a beautiful young woman in the entertainment industry, who quickly seems to fall for Spock (and he for her). But she steals Styra and delivers it to her crazy brother Anzar who ransoms its 600 million inhabitants for mucho credits, despite Spock's precautions (he was faking it as well). Spock allows himself to be captured by Anzar so that he's asked to work the digitizer which now contains Kirk and his armed goons. In the end, what saves Styra is a large undigitized schnauzer who almost tears Anzar "to ribbons".
CONTINUITY: In a sense, that's the same technology V'ger uses.
DIVERGENCES: There's still somebody out there who thinks Scotty's the ship's ladies' man. Clearly, the writer hasn't seen the Lights of Zetar (not that I would blame anyone for that).
PANEL OF THE DAY - Uhm... what?
REVIEW: They've really got to watch Spock's deceitful nature in the comics. Seems like he has all these plans and counterplans, but never lets anyone in on them. Part of being a walking deus ex machina, I guess, though Scotty does it too in this issue. It's a formula that involves a Silver Agey revelation at the end of every story (or every 6 pages here). Another problem with the story is that it jump-cuts entirely too much from panel to panel. The flow is extremely unnatural as if they had to cram two issues' worth of scenes into the available pages. The art's fine, though Giolitti doesn't get to draw anything too fanciful this issue. Still, two beautiful girls this time, and his euro-style is especially appropriate for that. The story ends on what of the worst "laughing it up" bridge scenes in Star Trek history, surely, as it includes a joke about Kirk cooking and serving the dog.
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