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Star Trek: Gold Key Archives #5
Star Trek: Gold Key Archives Volume 5
Boldly going where it all started! Presenting the first comic book adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew! Fully remastered with new colors, volume 5 collects issues #25 28 and #30 31, (#29 was a reprint of #1) including the stories "Dwarf Planet," "The Perfect Dream," "Ice Journey," "The Mimicking Menace," "Death of a Star," and "The Final Truth.""
160 pages, Hardcover
First published May 25, 2016
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About the author
Arnold Drake
322 books10 followersArnold Drake was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, among others.
Drake was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Drake was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 2, 2022
As far as I know, this one is the final volume in this exact reprint series. And, well, you can easily see why. The sixth issue was announced, but never got released and (again, as far as I know) was eventually cancelled. Why? Well, you may find a lot of hints in this issue.
First of all... They've whitewashed Uhura. I'm not kidding. In the entire volume, there's only one story, in which Nichelle Nichols's legendary character was painted black. For the rest of the time she'll be white and drawn like our usual stereotypical gypsy. Because... Because I don't know. Because Gold Key, I guess?
I mean, it's hard to imagine people responsible for this bull not seeing Nichelle Nichols's photo stills. After all, those were printed on some of the previous issues. So... Gold Key were just a bunch of racist? Well, since I wasn't there, I'm not ready to judge, but it totally looks that way (I really wonder if Mr. Roddenberry ever read this).
I really admire IDW for not changing anything. They've kept whitewashed Uhura intact and they didn't even change Arnold Drake calling here "Lt. Uhuru" in his story (Dwarf Planet). I mean, let's just admit it, the only reason people may be interested in Gold Key's take on Star Trek is history. And you can't just go back and "fix" history. The original show already taught us that. Whitewashed Uhura was a thing and it's a part of history now. And people deserve to know about it.
But at the same exact time, with Nichelle Nichols being an iconic figure, who revolutionized the entire thing on TV (ask Whoopi Goldberg about how did it feel back in the days to see a black lady on TV who wasn't a maid for a change), while racism around us didn't disappear at all and even famous people like Ryan Coogler can get suspended by the police "just because"... Let's just say I can see why people didn't want to see any more of this. Because yes, this is insulting. For oh-so-many people on oh-so-many levels and for oh-so-many reasons.
And it's not like the stories we've got this time are any good either. While previous issue started to show some serious improvements (that topped in Gerry Boudreau's Child Play, which was both interesting and followed Star Trek lore surprisingly fine, especially by Gold Key standards), this one went all the way back down.
It started with a painfully cheap and lazy nod to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (because clearly, we didn't see enough of those during the Golden Age... NOT!), continued with some generic developments and... Well, the two final stories are the only ones that actually deserve some attention.
First, we've got Death of a Star by Allan Moniz. Which started to play with concepts like living planet and the creation of life. Personally, I love reading such stuff in a form of short Sci-Fi stories, but unfortunately, the story didn't really fit in the Star Trek universe, which was already well established at the point the story was published for the first time.
As for the second story, which is John David Warner's The Final Truth, it begins like our usual generic mess. I mean, we all know how it is about Gold Key's Star Trek. All in all, it just follows the Golden Age formula. Same situations, same traps, same developments. The only things that change is the villains and their tools. But. The tools this time was actually good. Really good. It was so good that for the very first time, Star Trek comic began to feel like a proper Bronze Age stuff.
Unfortunately, only a little. Because, like I said, as interesting as it was, it was only that - a tool. While the rest of the story was just our usual targs**t. With whitewashed Uhura. So... yeah. An interesting peace of history, but very insulting, most likely racist and full of terrible copy / pasted stories that smell of Golden Age mold. You don't want history? As unpleasant as it really want? Stay away. You have been warned.
First of all... They've whitewashed Uhura. I'm not kidding. In the entire volume, there's only one story, in which Nichelle Nichols's legendary character was painted black. For the rest of the time she'll be white and drawn like our usual stereotypical gypsy. Because... Because I don't know. Because Gold Key, I guess?
I mean, it's hard to imagine people responsible for this bull not seeing Nichelle Nichols's photo stills. After all, those were printed on some of the previous issues. So... Gold Key were just a bunch of racist? Well, since I wasn't there, I'm not ready to judge, but it totally looks that way (I really wonder if Mr. Roddenberry ever read this).
I really admire IDW for not changing anything. They've kept whitewashed Uhura intact and they didn't even change Arnold Drake calling here "Lt. Uhuru" in his story (Dwarf Planet). I mean, let's just admit it, the only reason people may be interested in Gold Key's take on Star Trek is history. And you can't just go back and "fix" history. The original show already taught us that. Whitewashed Uhura was a thing and it's a part of history now. And people deserve to know about it.
But at the same exact time, with Nichelle Nichols being an iconic figure, who revolutionized the entire thing on TV (ask Whoopi Goldberg about how did it feel back in the days to see a black lady on TV who wasn't a maid for a change), while racism around us didn't disappear at all and even famous people like Ryan Coogler can get suspended by the police "just because"... Let's just say I can see why people didn't want to see any more of this. Because yes, this is insulting. For oh-so-many people on oh-so-many levels and for oh-so-many reasons.
And it's not like the stories we've got this time are any good either. While previous issue started to show some serious improvements (that topped in Gerry Boudreau's Child Play, which was both interesting and followed Star Trek lore surprisingly fine, especially by Gold Key standards), this one went all the way back down.
It started with a painfully cheap and lazy nod to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (because clearly, we didn't see enough of those during the Golden Age... NOT!), continued with some generic developments and... Well, the two final stories are the only ones that actually deserve some attention.
First, we've got Death of a Star by Allan Moniz. Which started to play with concepts like living planet and the creation of life. Personally, I love reading such stuff in a form of short Sci-Fi stories, but unfortunately, the story didn't really fit in the Star Trek universe, which was already well established at the point the story was published for the first time.
As for the second story, which is John David Warner's The Final Truth, it begins like our usual generic mess. I mean, we all know how it is about Gold Key's Star Trek. All in all, it just follows the Golden Age formula. Same situations, same traps, same developments. The only things that change is the villains and their tools. But. The tools this time was actually good. Really good. It was so good that for the very first time, Star Trek comic began to feel like a proper Bronze Age stuff.
Unfortunately, only a little. Because, like I said, as interesting as it was, it was only that - a tool. While the rest of the story was just our usual targs**t. With whitewashed Uhura. So... yeah. An interesting peace of history, but very insulting, most likely racist and full of terrible copy / pasted stories that smell of Golden Age mold. You don't want history? As unpleasant as it really want? Stay away. You have been warned.
July 6, 2020
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5
This fifth volume from publisher IDW, reprinting the Star Trek Gold Key comics, finishes off the collection. As mentioned at the end, a few of the later issues of the comic were reprints themselves and IDW didn't reprint the reprints.
My first reaction is with the art and how it got better and worse at the same time. There is finally some recognition of what things actually look like on the show - the ship doesn't emit jet fuel plumes, the uniforms bear patches and rank braids, etc. And characters a often resembling themselves a little bit more. On the other hand, the art is simpler and not so detailed and fantastic ... and Uhura is Caucasian!
The stories have been ... well ... pretty much like all the stories - mostly a little bizarre. Here we have:
"Dwarf Planet" - in which Kirk is attacked by some mighty small planet inhabitants. Even the art here looks like many of the panels were drawn from Gulliver's travels movie stills! But when the shrinking rays strike the ship, Scotty become the incredible shrinking man.
"The Perfect Dream" - Kirk and his crew are facing a board of inquiry after a planet the recently visited blew up. But there was something strange going on with that planet. The inhabitants were Asian-appearing humanoids - but they all looked alike. Yikes!
"Ice Journey" - The Enterprise crew visit a planet with two warring factions. Kirk needs to get them to work together because their planet is soon going to explode.
"The Mimicking Menace" - Life signs on an asteroid prompt Kirk to take a landing party to investigate. It turns out that a life form that feeds on energy has lured them in. But with their energy draining, how will they get away?
"Death of a Star" - a very old being is discovered on a planet in a system where the star is soon going to explode. She claims to be the god Isis, which Kirk doubts, but when she flings the ship to safety as the star explodes, there is some temptation to believe in the old god.
"The Final Truth" - Kirk and his landing party are taken prisoner by the locals and now wear slave collars around their necks. The man working behind the scenes is none other than Admiral Khan. But would a Starfleet Admiral behave this was unless he was under some other influence?
I had a lot of fun reading this entire series. As a long time Star Trek fan, and one who saw these comics when they first came out, this brought about a sense of nostalgia. We were hungry for more Star Trek stories back then. We couldn't just watch a show any time we wanted, so comics like these - with all the myriad of faults - were enjoyed just because we could continue some form of Star Trek. It may not seem like it now, with so many different things available to the consumer, but we were delighted with what we could get ... even if it wasn't particularly well done.
Looking for a good book? Star Trek: Gold Key Archives: Volume 5 is a graphic novel reprinting the last of the old Gold Key Star Trek comics. They don't hold up to what we can do in regards to new Star Trek stories today, but was enjoyed for what it was some 50 years ago now.
I borrowed this book through the Kindle Unlimited program.
This fifth volume from publisher IDW, reprinting the Star Trek Gold Key comics, finishes off the collection. As mentioned at the end, a few of the later issues of the comic were reprints themselves and IDW didn't reprint the reprints.
My first reaction is with the art and how it got better and worse at the same time. There is finally some recognition of what things actually look like on the show - the ship doesn't emit jet fuel plumes, the uniforms bear patches and rank braids, etc. And characters a often resembling themselves a little bit more. On the other hand, the art is simpler and not so detailed and fantastic ... and Uhura is Caucasian!
The stories have been ... well ... pretty much like all the stories - mostly a little bizarre. Here we have:
"Dwarf Planet" - in which Kirk is attacked by some mighty small planet inhabitants. Even the art here looks like many of the panels were drawn from Gulliver's travels movie stills! But when the shrinking rays strike the ship, Scotty become the incredible shrinking man.
"The Perfect Dream" - Kirk and his crew are facing a board of inquiry after a planet the recently visited blew up. But there was something strange going on with that planet. The inhabitants were Asian-appearing humanoids - but they all looked alike. Yikes!
"Ice Journey" - The Enterprise crew visit a planet with two warring factions. Kirk needs to get them to work together because their planet is soon going to explode.
"The Mimicking Menace" - Life signs on an asteroid prompt Kirk to take a landing party to investigate. It turns out that a life form that feeds on energy has lured them in. But with their energy draining, how will they get away?
"Death of a Star" - a very old being is discovered on a planet in a system where the star is soon going to explode. She claims to be the god Isis, which Kirk doubts, but when she flings the ship to safety as the star explodes, there is some temptation to believe in the old god.
"The Final Truth" - Kirk and his landing party are taken prisoner by the locals and now wear slave collars around their necks. The man working behind the scenes is none other than Admiral Khan. But would a Starfleet Admiral behave this was unless he was under some other influence?
I had a lot of fun reading this entire series. As a long time Star Trek fan, and one who saw these comics when they first came out, this brought about a sense of nostalgia. We were hungry for more Star Trek stories back then. We couldn't just watch a show any time we wanted, so comics like these - with all the myriad of faults - were enjoyed just because we could continue some form of Star Trek. It may not seem like it now, with so many different things available to the consumer, but we were delighted with what we could get ... even if it wasn't particularly well done.
Looking for a good book? Star Trek: Gold Key Archives: Volume 5 is a graphic novel reprinting the last of the old Gold Key Star Trek comics. They don't hold up to what we can do in regards to new Star Trek stories today, but was enjoyed for what it was some 50 years ago now.
I borrowed this book through the Kindle Unlimited program.
September 5, 2019
Pretty much the same as in all the other issues with some minor details. First story has Uhuru with light skin. Kirk goes down to a planet and is captured by a miniature rocketship. (Why don't they ever use drones to avoid such problems?) There's a scene straight out of Gulliver's Travels and it turns out the people are getting smaller due to rays from their sun. Scotty shrinks and gets attacked by microbes.
Another story has Kirk and crew up before a board hearing. Seems a planet they visited blew up. Turns out the planet was populated by Asian-looking people. All the males and all the females look alike, though, so something is up.
Then there's a problem on an ice planet with two groups of beings. Seems their planet is going to die soon. (The series tends to kill off planets a bit too much.)
Then an asteroid is investigated and an alien life-draining creature is there.
Ah, yes. Another story, this one involving a very old person on a planet. They live in a pyramid-like structure and are dying. Guess what? Another planet goes boom.
Really, the series has gone serious downhill, not that it started out as that great anyhow.
Another story has Kirk and crew up before a board hearing. Seems a planet they visited blew up. Turns out the planet was populated by Asian-looking people. All the males and all the females look alike, though, so something is up.
Then there's a problem on an ice planet with two groups of beings. Seems their planet is going to die soon. (The series tends to kill off planets a bit too much.)
Then an asteroid is investigated and an alien life-draining creature is there.
Ah, yes. Another story, this one involving a very old person on a planet. They live in a pyramid-like structure and are dying. Guess what? Another planet goes boom.
Really, the series has gone serious downhill, not that it started out as that great anyhow.
December 19, 2023
This collection of comics was so much fun to read. Even though the art and dialogue don't sound like the characters, the stories are cool sci fi fantasy stories that fire up the imagination, with some social commentary. The comics are filled with mistakes like a white uhuru, instead of Uhura, green shirts, buff scotty, punching Spock, red head chapel, and shutgleships not craft. Overall, they are funny, campy, and filled with action adventures. I recommend them for trekkies.
March 14, 2020
Not bad, if you consider that it's a product of its time. The "Death of a Star" story reminded me a bit of elements of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda with the whole avator of the sun this :)
September 14, 2016
More weird stories in this. One of them, "The Dwarf Planet," is a silly Gulliver's Travels in space. Another story has a character named Admiral Talien Kahn, which is weird considering Khan is the name of another well-known Star Trek character. Issue #29 is excluded from this volume. Normally, I'd have a problem with that, but the thing is that #29 of this run was a reprint of #1. Really weird, right? I guess it wouldn't be so weird at a time when people didn't have the internet to go through a backlog of comics so easily.
September 2, 2016
More fantastic (in the literal sense) comics from the early 70s, where we can see shrinking life, a civilization trying so hard to be perfect, which seems to be a common theme among the series. The art is very good considering the era, and constitutes a perfect snapshot of the times. Very entertaining.
March 24, 2018
Definitely a step up from volume four which I found to be a bit of a slog. The stories in this were definitely more engaging although they continue to make me think they never watched the series before doing the comic as Lt. Uhura is frequently referred to as "Uhuru".
October 31, 2024
Remember Drunk History? Well, this is Drunk Star Trek. Written by people that never saw the TV show, these comics are crazy and (crazy) fun!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews