Star Trek 755: Dwarf Planet

755. Dwarf Planet

PUBLICATION: Star Trek #25, Gold Key Comics, July 1974

CREATORS: Unknown (writer), Alberto Giolitti (artist)

STARDATE: 19:24.8 - Follows the last issue.

PLOT: The Enterprise discovers a planet of tiny people who immediately treat Kirk and crew like the Lilliputians did Gulliver. Seems like they're continually shrinking because of the odd solar radiation and need help before they go microscopic, but their tiny general is afraid the giant races will conquer them and use them as dolls. Kirk shows good faith though and offers to get some radiation samples and maybe find a cure for them. But when Scotty spacewalks to the radiation collector, he gets a great big dose of shrink ray and soon finds himself fighting dust avalanches and giant microbes, courtesy of the general's two tiny soldiers who blow a hole in McCoy's sterile aquarium. Thankfully, Spock and McCoy rig a reverse-shrinking ray, turn Scotty back to normal, and give it to the midgets of planet Kujal, where the general is punished by being the last man brought back to normal height. Oooooh, harsh!

CONTINUITY: None.

DIVERGENCES: Uhura is referred to as Uhuru.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Scotty's tiny fashions
REVIEW: I'd be a little more down on this story if One Little Ship wasn't in the canon... Face it, it's silly even on DS9, and here, it's outright stupid. But any more stupid than, say, Wink of an Eye? Once you accept the lame justification for the shrinking, it's still a pretty derivative story, especially the Gulliver bits. It gets better once Mr. Scott shrinks though. Giolitti draws an awesome microbe, Scotty actually gets a couple of good lines, and McCoy takes care of the soldiers easily and humorously. The back end is better than the front, but it's still very silly indeed.