Star Trek: The Enterprise Logs Vol. 3 by various authors and illustrators

 

(pb; 1973-4, 1977: graphic novel. Collects the Golden Press-published comic book series, issues 18-26. Followed by Star Trek: The Enterprise Logs Vol. 4.)

Overall review

Enterprise Logs Volume 3 is a good, entertaining collection, if the person reading it takes into the account the era it was produced in (yes, Trek was/is not always “woke” and non-sexist, but it is easily one of the most consistently progressive franchises in television and extended-media history). Not only that, its ideal reader would take into account its inherent comic-book limits, which means nuance (dialogue tone, lent warmth and humor in the show, sometimes comes off as tone-deaf and d**kish in comics). Further read-in-2020, faux-outrage issues might include: intriguing characters who might’ve been given longer lifespans and series time; innovative, (again) nuanced storylines and character-depth are sacrificed so that the work can be squeezed into twenty-something-page issues. . . This last problem might’ve been easily solved if they’d committed multiple issues to one story, but it appears that was not the creative recipe for this comic book series.

As wary as I am about presentist leanings, there were a few instances where I was initially put off by the generalized tone of the writing and characters’ dialogue (I note those occurrences in the “Issue/story arcs” section, where I mention them as caveats to those who are sensitive to that sort of thing. . . I am not suggesting that the writers/artists are bad, but that they are merely people of their age working within a then-limited medium. . . in short, doing the best job they can within their chosen work).

Its artwork ranges from reasonably good to ugh, but that is a negligible concern, given Trek’s progressive themes, at least for this reader.

Overall, this─as I wrote earlier─is a worthwhile read, if you can overlook some of the (should be) antiquated elements in the writing and are a deep-dive Trek/comic book fan without presentist pretensions. . . which most of us have, on occasion. The best of us are willing to root out our bigoted assumptions. The rest of us need to look inward and fix ourselves (and act accordingly) before screaming in others’ faces about their supposed flaws.

 

Issues/story arcs

“The Hijacked Planet” [#18]: Anzar, a petty criminal, holds a miniaturized world hostage, not only threatening its inhabitants, but select crew members of the Enterprise as well.

Like a few of the earlier, lesser issues of Logs, this has a weird tone to it. The writers, for the sake of dramatic effect, imbue the characters (this time Kirk and Scotty) with dark-humored, mean-spirited humor that might have worked in a live-action episode but falls flat on the written page.

 

“The Haunted Asteroid” [#19]: On Mila Xu, an asteroid with a paradisal tomb for a long-dead queen, Kirk and company are attacked and imprisoned by “zombies” (who look like regular robots).

 The same tonal problem that mars the previous issue is more prominently displayed in this one. Kirk, more than usual, comes off as thin-skinned, abusive and petty─at a key point in “Haunted” Kirk is aggressively snide to an efficient female scientist (Dr. Krisp) who’s properly doing her job. Later, the writer(s) insert a scene where Krisp becomes a hysterical woman and she is struck in the face by Kirk, which not only belies her earlier attributes and professionalism, but acknowledges Kirk’s just-beneath-the-surface notions.

 

“A World Gone Mad” [#20]: The Enterprise crew returns a young prince to his planet (Nukolee), where a revolution against him is fomented by a corrupt general and a population driven mad by a cosmic event. Good storyline and issue.

 

“The Mummies of Heitus VII” [#21]: Four seemingly indestructible mummies attack the crew of the Enterprise on an archeological-site planet and the Enterprise. Fun, entertaining story to this one.

 

“Siege in Superspace” [#22]: A black hole shoots the Enterprise to a planet where sentient biped vegetation creatures attack the human denizens of an underground city (Caeminon). Like most mystery-structured plots in the Logs comic books, this one sports a Scooby-Doo-simple mystery─that said, it is an effective and practical setup, given its limited page constraints.

 

“Child’s Play” [#23]: Kirk, Sulu and Nurse Chapel beam down to Argylus, a planet where a plague kills anyone above the age of thirteen─and the three Enterprise crew members, trapped on Argylus, have just been infected.

 

“The Trial of Captain Kirk” [#24]: Kirk, victim of a conspiratorial political setup, tries to clear his name and bust the conspirators, with distant help from Spock and McCoy.

 

“Dwarf Planet” [#25]: Gulliver’s Travels meets The Incredible Shrinking Man in “Dwarf,” when Uhuru, Spock and Kirk investigate a planet with a sun and atmosphere that steadily reduces its human population in size─until they’re nothing.

“The Perfect Dream” [#26]: The crew members of the Enterprise encounter a ringed, sunless planet that moves like a ship, with an Asian, harmonious-with-nature society of possible clones on it. Of course, there’s a dark side to this culture─dissent, even the practice of “creating” art, is punishable by execution.

While this largely predictable work is interesting-in-a-good-way, it could’ve been better if the writers had opted to let one or two of the clones survive, become character-expansive members of the Enterprise, instead of being killed off like stock alien characters. This is a minor nit, and I understand improvements were made with later Star Trek works, but this microtale felt like a natural expansion point for the original Trek crew.