REVIEW: Star Trek: Gold Key Archives Vol. 3

by Len Wein (Author), Alberto Giolitti (Illustrator)
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: 04/01/2015

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.

Sound familiar?

Reading this volume I am reminded of the fun I used to have watching Star Trek, the first time around, back when fans weren’t bothered if the star dates didn’t follow, or that for some reason, going boldly where no man has gone before actually meant going to the places some probe had been or a starbase built.

Looking back can be as much fun as looking forward. This, and the previous volumes, are a fantastic read. Yes, the uniforms are coloured wrong, yes Scotty seems to be piloting and yes there are flames coming from the nacelles! Despite all that, between the covers there are some good Trek stories, the introduction by Joseph F. Berenato, points out that not only did some of the stories predate similar T.V. episodes, but also that the various writers including a certain Len Wein, were right on track.

Art wise, man it’s a mess. But is a good mess; it has a sense of wonder, that almost familiar quality that somehow reinvigorates the tired and well seen and oft repeated episodes. The characters look just enough like their counterparts to work, the fact the book was produced from stills rather than from watching the show just makes it all the more impressive.

After my initial read through, this volume shares its “not quite the same” quality with that other space opera Star Wars, especially the work by Russ Manning, Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson on their newspaper strips. Both are fantastic reads catering to a fan base that didn’t have access to the multi tiered media world we live in. As such, they are a valuable piece of history.

Enjoy reliving the adventures of the five year mission that could have been.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network