Star Trek 798: The Robot Masters

798. The Robot Masters

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Robot Masters, Peter Pan Records, 1979

CREATORS: Unknown (writer), Unknown (artist)

STARDATE: 95.9066

PLOT: Scotty fails to receive his shipment of robots because pirates have been stealing them "all over the system". Kirk and crew lure the pirates, arrest them and take their place to uncover the deadly conspiracy. Seems the Romulans are amassing a robot army to defeat the Federation. Scotty quickly programs a robot to never attack the Federation, and it leads a revolt against the Romulans.

CONTINUITY: None.

DIVERGENCES: Romulans have green skin and hair and wear medieval clothing and triangular hats. Robots seem to be standard complement on a Federation starship.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Quick! Hide that awful ship with word balloons!
REVIEW: Kirk's creepy face (see last issue) is overshadowed by some truly dreadful illustrations of the Enterprise and off-model Romulans, but it's the writing that is the most bizarre. Scotty is particularly out of character, over-dramatizing the mistreatment of machines, while Chekov's attitude towards the Romulans is rather racist. The Romulans themselves aren't much of a threat either, and easily defeated. So on both art and story, The Robot Masters is a failure.