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. Kirk • Spock • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Hikaru Sulu • Pavel Chekov • Nyota Uhura • Barak • Willard Decker • Ilia • T'sai • Sonak • Vaylin Zaand • Mike Cleary • Janice Rand • Lori Ciana • Branch • Shantherin th'Clane • R'trikahi • Chezrava • unnamed Klingons • unnamed Vulcans • unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel • unnamed Starfleet personnel
- Referenced only
- Sarek • Amanda Grayson • Heihachiro Nogura
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (refit Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • IKS Amar (K't'inga-class battle cruiser) • unnamed K't'inga-class starships • air tram • S10-class travel pod • Shuttlecraft Surak (SW7-class shuttlecraft) • workbee
Locations[]
Shipboard locations[]
- USS Enterprise
- bridge • turbolift • engineering • recreation deck • transporter room • airlock
Stations and outposts[]
Planetary locations[]
- Earth
- San Francisco (Starfleet Headquarters)
- Vulcan
- Gol (Plains of Gol)
Planets and planetoids[]
Stars and systems[]
Stellar locations[]
- the galaxy • Klingon Neutral Zone • Epsilon sector
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Technology and weapons[]
- probe (Voyager 6) • transporter • starship • viewscreen • helm • command chair • photon torpedo • drydock • maneuvering thruster • impulse engine • warp drive • warp sled • deflector shields • phaser • force field
Ranks and titles[]
- admiral • captain • commander • commanding officer • executive officer • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s) • flag officer • helmsman • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • navigator • science officer • chief engineer • ensign • communications officer • security chief • tactical officer • chief petty officer • transporter chief • chief medical officer • Chief of Starfleet Operations • engineer • Vulcan master
Other references[]
- asteroid • Bible • captain's log • emotion • energy • evasive maneuver • gas • humanoid • insignia • log entry • logic • kolinahr • matter • mind meld • oath of celibacy • planet • priority signal • rank • rank insignia • space • star • system • stardate • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (early 2270s) • tactical display • telepathy • time • title • uniform • universe • weapon • wormhole
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[]
- The Motion Picture (comic) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Star Trek Vol 1 1 article at the Marvel Database