797. Dinosaur PlanetPUBLICATION: Star Trek: Dinosaur Planet, Peter Pan Records, 1979
CREATORS: Unknown (writer), Unknown (artist)
STARDATE: Unknown (2260s despite the uniforms)
PLOT: The Enterprise discovers a primeval planet that, according to sensors, has sentient life on it. Fearing that humans have been stranded on the volcanic world, Kirk beams down with a landing party and finds a planet of dinosaurs. Fighting off pterodactyls, they come across sentient, telepathic tyrannosaurs who accept they've come in peace. One security officer, Wadsworth, goes a little crazy with fear and greed for the cavern's mineral riches and the crew has to ride the dinos to safety as it collapses.
CONTINUITY: None.
DIVERGENCES: Sulu is only an ensign. As Chekov is too (though "helmsman" rather than "navigator"), this must be the 2260s and the Motion Picture-era uniforms are in error. At least Sulu and presumably Uhura are once again their own selves.
PANEL OF THE DAY - I wasn't kidding.
REVIEW: The few stories released under Peter Pan Records' actual label have the same level of story-telling (albeit with a lot more melodramatic narration), but the art is far inferior. Right away, I'm missing the crisp, colorful art, and the Motion Picture's gray uniforms aren't helping any. No one is credited, but the heavy linework is sometimes amateurish, and even creepy. Especially Kirk, who's always making this face:
Brrr. So yes, the story's a little silly, but not overly so. It aims to be educational, dating the cretaceous, etc., but mistakes such as naming pterodactyls as birds or the Earth's sun as a yellow dwarf, drive me crazy. You've either done your research, or you haven't.
Comments
(I goofed, plain and simple.)