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A 23rd century odyssey--today!"The Motion Picture" was the first issue of Marvel Comics' 1980 series of Star Trek comics. The issue consisted of a reprint of the first 17 pages of the TOS comic adaptation: "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", as adapted and edited by Marv Wolfman from the screenplay by Harold Livingston, based on a story by Gene Roddenberry and Alan Dean Foster. The art was penciled by Dave Cockrum and inked by Klaus Janson, with Jim Shooter and Richard Marschall credited as consulting editors.

Summary[]

In the beginning... there was darkness. Then, God said "Let there be light!" ... and the light was good!

A squadron of Klingon battle cruisers approach a massive cloud of energetic gas in space. The lead ship's captain, Krase, orders a tactical display and preparation to fire photon torpedoes. The weapons do nothing, and the cloud fires back. Krase orders full force fields and evasive maneuvers, but his starship is quickly engulfed by the cloud's energy bolts.

Across the galaxy, on the planet Vulcan, Spock attends the ceremony of his attainment of kolinahr. Before receiving the symbol of logic, Spock is telepathically distracted by a consciousness from space. He mind melds with T'sai, who finds him too confused to receive the symbol of kolinahr.

In San Francisco, Rear Admiral James T. Kirk arrives at the Starfleet Headquarters air tram station. He meets Commander Sonak there and confirms his recommendation that Sonak be assigned as science officer. He then informs Sonak of the accelerated launch schedule and that he intends to meet him aboard the Enterprise in an hour.

Kirk leaves the orbital office complex in a travel pod piloted by Scotty and docks with the Enterprise. He informs Scotty that he has been given command of the Enterprise, and gets his first glimpse of the newly refit vessel. Meeting Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov on the bridge, he asks for Captain Willard Decker's location so he may inform him of the change.

In engineering, Decker is supervising the final phase of readiness for the new ship. Kirk meets him and informs him that Decker will be his executive officer on the mission. Angered, Decker states that Kirk doesn't know the new ship a fraction as well as he does. Nonplussed, Kirk informs him that the main reason Decker is staying aboard. Their conversation is cut short by an alarm from the transporter room. Sonak and a female crewmember are beaming aboard, but the transporter sensors fail in mid-transport, killing them.

Kirk calls a briefing of all crewmembers on the ship's massive new recreation deck. While he addresses the crew, the ship receives an update from station Epsilon 9. Commander Branch reports that the cloud is passing close to his space station, when suddenly the cloud seems to react to the station's sensors. The facility is destroyed quickly while the horrified Enterprise crew looks on.

The final crewmembers come onboard, including Lieutenant Ilia, the ship's new Deltan navigator. Ilia is surprised to see an old acquaintance, Will Decker, at a lowered rank as executive officer. Kirk confirms with Ilia that her oath of celibacy is in effect. The final crew replacements come onboard, save the chief medical officer, who is wary of the transporter. Kirk orders him beamed aboard, and informs McCoy that he is needed, as an explanation for the doctor's reserve activation.

The Enterprise clears her drydock, even as top officers worry about the efficacy of the ship's new, untested warp drive.

Captain's log, stardate 7412.6
In order to intercept the intruder at the earliest possible time, we must now risk engaging warp drive while still within the solar system.

The Enterprise sets out to attain warp speed, but is quickly caught up in the wormhole effect, caused by a drive imbalance. The vortex in space drags the Enterprise into it, along with a giant asteroid, which threatens to collide with the ship. Kirk quickly orders phasers to be targeted on the asteroid, but Decker countermands the order, and has Chekov prepare a photon torpedo instead. After a tense moment, the torpedo fires and destroys the asteroid, just as the wormhole effect diminishes and releases its hold on the ship.

Furious, Kirk demands to know why Decker countermanded his order. Decker states that, with the warp engines in an imbalance failure, there would be no phaser functions, as the two systems were interconnected power sources. Kirk, unaware of this modification, grudgingly apologizes for the mistake and asks Decker to help him through the design difficulties. Ilia and Decker confer briefly about their separation and hardships of reacquaintance in the crisis situation.

The Enterprise receives a signal from the Shuttlecraft Surak, which separates from a warp sled to deliver a passenger. Spock has arrived to help!

References[]

Characters[]

James T. KirkSpockLeonard McCoyMontgomery ScottHikaru SuluPavel ChekovNyota UhuraBarakWillard DeckerIliaT'saiSonakVaylin ZaandMike ClearyJanice RandLori CianaBranchShantherin th'ClaneR'trikahiChezravaunnamed Klingonsunnamed Vulcansunnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnelunnamed Starfleet personnel
Referenced only
SarekAmanda GraysonHeihachiro Nogura

Starships and vehicles[]

USS Enterprise (refit Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • IKS Amar (K't'inga-class battle cruiser) • unnamed K't'inga-class starshipsair tramS10-class travel podShuttlecraft Surak (SW7-class shuttlecraft) • workbee

Locations[]

Shipboard locations[]

USS Enterprise
bridgeturboliftengineeringrecreation decktransporter roomairlock

Stations and outposts[]

Epsilon IXSan Francisco Fleet Yards Orbital DrydockEarth Orbital Office Complex

Planetary locations[]

Earth
San Francisco (Starfleet Headquarters)
Vulcan
Gol (Plains of Gol)

Planets and planetoids[]

EarthVulcan

Stars and systems[]

Sol systemVulcan system

Stellar locations[]

the galaxyKlingon Neutral ZoneEpsilon sector

Races and cultures[]

HumanVulcanDeltanRhaandariteAndorianSaurianZaranite

States and organizations[]

FederationStarfleetKlingon EmpireKlingon Defense Force

Technology and weapons[]

probe (Voyager 6) • transporterstarshipviewscreenhelmcommand chairphoton torpedodrydockmaneuvering thrusterimpulse enginewarp drivewarp sleddeflector shieldsphaserforce field

Ranks and titles[]

admiralcaptaincommandercommanding officerexecutive officerFederation Starfleet ranksFederation Starfleet ranks (2270s)flag officerhelmsmanlieutenantlieutenant commandernavigatorscience officerchief engineerensigncommunications officersecurity chieftactical officerchief petty officertransporter chiefchief medical officerChief of Starfleet OperationsengineerVulcan master

Other references[]

asteroidBiblecaptain's logemotionenergyevasive maneuvergashumanoidinsignialog entrylogickolinahrmattermind meldoath of celibacyplanetpriority signalrankrank insigniaspacestarsystemstardateStarfleet uniformStarfleet uniform (early 2270s)tactical displaytelepathytimetitleuniformuniverseweaponwormhole

Chronology[]

prior to 2273
Kirk returns from his five-year mission commanding Enterprise. (prior to adaptation)
stardate 7412.6, 2273 (2270s chronology, 2270s Enterprise voyages)
Enterprise travels to V'Ger.

Appendices[]

Background[]

  • The comic presents a fairly straightforward adaptation of the film, with many panels based on stills taken during the production of the film. The story and narrative are cut in places to account for the smaller page space of a comic book.
  • As the scenes are based on actual film images, many of the characters are close matches to the film's appearance, down to the Andorian, Saurian and Zaranite officers seen in the recreation deck scene, who are identified in this article's references section by their names from other licensed sources.
  • The crewpeople on the cover wear Starfleet uniforms that are colored black, except for the collar, although this might be an effect of the artist's shading. It is also possible they represent a 2270s variant of the surface operations blacks uniform style.

Connections[]

Timeline[]

Published Order
Previous comic:
first issue
TOS comics
(Marvel)
Next comic:
#2: V'Ger
Previous story:
first story
Stories by:
Marv Wolfman
Next story:
V'Ger
Previous story:
In Thy Image
Stories by:
Alan Dean Foster
Next story:
V'Ger
Previous story:
Turnabout Intruder
Stories by:
Gene Roddenberry
Next story:
V'Ger
Chronological Order
Previous adventure:
Night Whispers
Enterprise Logs
Memory Beta Chronology Next adventure:
V'Ger

Publication history[]

December 1979
First released in magazine form in Marvel Super Special, Issue 15.
March 1980
Collected in the pocket-sized trade paperback Star Trek: The Motion Picture (adaptation).
April 1980
First published as a solo comic book.
1980
Collected in Star Trek Annual 1981 by Marvel Comics/Grandreams Limited.
10 December - 17 December 1980
Serialized in b/w in Future Tense #6-7 by Marvel UK.
June 2011
Collected in the Movie Omnibus by IDW Publishing.
22 June 2017
Collected in the Graphic Novel Collection's Volume 13 omnibus. (Eaglemoss Collections)
18 December 2019
Included in the facsimile edition of Marvel Super Special, Issue 15. (IDW Publishing)

Translations[]

1979
German: In the omnibus Raumschiff Enterprise Comic - Sonderheft #2 (Condor)
1980
French: As Star Trek: The Motion Picture in the omnibus Star Trek: Le Chemin des Etoiles
1981
Swedish: As Star Trek: The Motion Picture in Star Trek 1981 #1 (Atlantic)
22 November 2017
Italian: Collected in the Italian release of Graphic Novel Collection, Volume 13: L'era Marvel - Prima Parte. (RCS MediaGroup, ISSN 977228074425770013)

External links[]

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