COMIC
The Planet of No Return
Cover by George Wilson
Attribution
Series:	The Original Series, No. 1 & 29
Artist(s):	Nevio Zaccara
Publication information
Publisher:	Gold Key Comics
Published:	October 1967 March 1975
Omnibus:	The Enterprise Logs, Volume 1 The Key Collection, Volume 1
Chronology
Date:	2266
Stardate:	1809.2
Original 1967 cover.

An expedition team discovers its secret—too late... K-G, planet of death!

K-2, planet of death, where cannibal plants stalk animal prey!

Contents 1 Summary 2 References 2.1 Characters 2.2 Starships and vehicles 2.3 Locations 2.3.1 Shipboard locations 2.3.2 Planets and planetoids 2.3.3 Stellar regions 2.4 Races and cultures 2.5 States and organizations 2.6 Other references 3 Appendices 3.1 Background 3.2 Connections 3.3 External link

SummaryEdit

Captain's log, stardate 18:09.2 : Enterprise carrying out exploration mission through Galaxy Alpha. So far we've seen no indication of life anywhere in the galaxy.

The Enterprise's space scope detects a fertile green planet. Scotty comments that it looks "Kelly Green" and Captain Kirk orders a landing party to be assembled. While approaching the planet, the Enterprise passes through a mist, within which float plant spores which fasten themselves to the hull and quickly penetrate the ship. The spores cause the laboratory guinea pigs to transform into tree-like plants which attack Spock and Dr. McCoy, but are soon destroyed by security guards.

While Spock investigates how the transformation occurred, Kirk leads the landing party to the planet, which has been named K-G. While exploring, Crewman Hunt is exposed to spores and transforms into a giant plant. The rest of the landing party are nearly devoured by a carnivorous plant, but the transformed Hunt sacrifices himself to save them. After a brief funeral, the party discovers that K-G is inhabited by intelligent plants. They escape from attacking trees and take shelter in a nearby cave, but Rand is grabbed by a vine and dragged away. The others chase after the plant, which deposits her inside a large enclosure where animals are grazing.

The landing party uses their phasers on the wall of thorns which surrounds the enclosure, but the thorns regenerate as fast as they are destroyed. Kirk sees the plants herding the animals away, and after gaining a vantage point from a rock pinnacle, they see that the plants consume the animals for food. Kirk calls the Enterprise and has Spock fire a pinpoint phaser beam at the thorn wall, destroying it and allowing them to rescue Rand from being eaten. Kirk orders Spock to beam them back up to the ship just before the plants can infect them with more plant spores.

On the Enterprise, Spock tells Kirk that the spores pose a threat to life on all other planets in the galaxy. They therefore use the ship's weaponry to destroy all life on K-G.

Captain's log, stardate 18:10. 

We are orbiting the planet Kelly Green, performing what will be our last duty here... Total destruction - a mission that must be fulfilled before we can continue our tour of research through the vast reaches of the universe...

ReferencesEdit

CharactersEdit

James T. Kirk • Spock • Leonard McCoy • Hunt • Janice Rand • Dean

Starships and vehiclesEdit

USS Enterprise (Constitution-class)

LocationsEdit

Shipboard locationsEdit

USS Enterprise 

bridge • transporter room • laboratory • briefing room

Planets and planetoidsEdit

K-G

Stellar regionsEdit

Galaxy Alpha

Races and culturesEdit

Human • Vulcan • Plant species

States and organizationsEdit

Federation • Starfleet

Other referencesEdit

animal • captain's log • log entry • stardate • plant • orbit • planet • plant • galaxy • universe • lifeform • space scope • TV scanner • guinea pig • TV radio • animal • security • phaser • teleportation chamber • transporter • crewman • identification bracelet • teleporter • cobra

AppendicesEdit

BackgroundEdit

• This is Janice Rand's sole Gold Key Comics appearance, and the first of her very few appearances in any Star Trek comic.

ConnectionsEdit

published order
Previous comic: First issue	TOS comics (Gold Key)	Next comic: #2: The Devil's Isle of Space
Previous comic: #28: The Mimicking Menace	TOS comics (Gold Key)	Next comic: #30: Death of a Star
chronological order
Previous Adventure: Prophet of Peace	Memory Beta Chronology	Next Adventure: Shadow Lord

External linkEdit

• The Planet of No Return article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.