In September of 2017, comic book legend Len Wein passed away. Siskoid and Comic Reflections’ Nicholas Prom pay tribute to the man and his work by way of his short but appreciable run on Gold Key’s Star Trek comic book series, his issues perhaps the best that title ever had to offer.
Listen to Episode 18 below!
Relevant images and further credits at: Gimme That Star Trek ep.18 Supplemental
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Great coverage of an oft-overlooked chapter in Trekstory. The Gold Key comics are certainly an interesting product of their time, weren’t they? Just like the UK Trek comics, this is what you get when there’s no oversight!
Fun episode fellas! I remember my Mom bringing me home a Whitman “Dyna-Brite” Star Trek comic in the early to mid 80s. I didn’t know WHAT I was looking at. At first I thought it was a Trek coloring book, of which I already had a few. But this was full of Star Trek comics in full, vibrant color (hence the designation on the cover). It was like a Star Trek comic from a parallel world…nothing like the DC comics I were reading. But even then the art captivated me. It was different than anything DC or Marvel was doing at the time. And those COLORS. WOW!!!
I still have that lone issue. I need to see if any of the stories are by Len Wein.
Nice to see Wein was channeling his Justice League assignment into Trek as well. 😉
Always a treat to hear Nicholas stop by.
Explain your Justice League reference for the slowest among us.
I just meant the guest spots by Kanjar Ro and Felix Faust.
Chris
Right. Like I said. Slow.
I had no idea the late, great Mr Wein ever did Trek comics at all, let alone for Gold Key! Thanks for covering these.
I can’t tell what I like better, the beautiful painted covers or the super-funky photo collages.
The insanity of the Gold Key comics will always have a special place in my heart.
I’m sure I had some Gold Key Star Trek comics as a kid, but most of my Gold Keys were Turok, Magnus, and Disney books, I think. Still, I really miss Len Wein, and this episode was a great look into some of his work that I had no recollection of. Thanks!
I have, like, ONE physical, non-reprint, Gold Key comic (but with a Whitman logo), and it’s an issue of Dr. Solar.
I accept your thanks on behalf of Master Prom, since it was all his idea.
I’m sure a lot of my “Gold Key” books (all purchased at Stone’s Pharmacy in Lake Luzerne, NY) were also/actually Whitmans. I assumed they were the same thing back then, and…weren’t they? I guess I never really figured that out. 🙂
Yes, they were. Just a different distribution scheme. Whitman was the imprint Western Publishing used to send stuff to department stores, etc., including coloring books.
Ah ha! Mystery solved, and from asking a person, even! Thanks!
What am I here for, if not to play the expert?
I have a smattering of the Gold Key issues, but not many. As you guys mentioned, the quality is a bit uneven. I do have one in the Wein run. Yes Siskoid, you guessed it, issue #9 where “Lincoln” appears. 🙂 Glad that you made mention of that little appearance.
You guys also touched a bit on the DC Star Trek series from the 80s. I got a bunch of those off the shelf and overall really enjoyed them. Haven’t gone back to them for a long time but I do remember that I really liked the mirror universe storyline at the time. There was also an “anniversary” issue that I recall liking. Maybe around #33 or so? In fact, I think Wein may have written that one.
I anticipate (hope for?) an episode focused on that series sometime down the road.
Thanks for another fun episode gentlemen!
Yes, #33 was a 20th Anniversary Special, in which the Movie crew meet their TOS selves. I covered it here: http://siskoid.blogspot.ca/2009/04/star-trek-854-vicious-circle.html
Oh my! Gold Key comics certainly bring back some memories. I never saw their Star Trek, so thank you for enlightening me. Downright entertaining episode.