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GUIDE TO THE GOLD KEY
STAR TREK
COMICS
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Lifeforms
The Gold Key series of STAR TREK comics was concerned with the
adventures of the crew of the Federation Starship Enterprise under the command
of Captain James Kirk. Rather than featuring space battles or complex
scientific phenomenon, the STAR TREK comics stories largely focused on Kirk and company journeying down
to a strange and interesting planet and then interacting with the planet's inhabitants.
In about half of the issues, the Federation men encountered aliens which looked exactly
like caucasian humans. These humanoids were often fancifully dressed or attired in primative garb
if they were an unsophisticated people.
In four separate issues (#5, #8, #41 and 50) the alien people encountered looked exactly
like bald caucasian humans.
The comics series wasn't constrained by special make-up budgets like the television series.
Thus the comics could easily depict all types of interesting alien life-forms, but for some reason
in only about 30 instances did Kirk's crew encounter aliens that looked anything other than human.
These three dozen or so alien races seen in the 61 issues of the Gold Key series
of STAR TREK comics are described below.
Included for each is a brief description of their kind and the issue that they appeared in.
Some of the aliens listed below were seen in the original STAR TREK television series.
These are marked with an asterisk (*) and their descriptions include any differences between the comic
and television versions.
Vulcans
Technologically advanced, warp-capable humanoid civilization native to the planet Vulcan.
U.S.S. Enterprise first officer Spock was half Vulcan. Vulcan society today is based on a philosophy
of emotional control and adherence to logic, although Vulcans of 5000 years ago were a violent people
driven by passion. Vulcans posses much greater physical strength compared to humans. Their hearts were
located where a human's liver would be, and their blood was copper-based and green in color.
Vulcans had telepathic abilities and their minds were among the most well ordered in the galaxy.
In "The Brain Shockers" (Issue #11), we learned that
thousands of years ago on the planet Vulcan the group of rational men who founded the new Vulcan philosophy based on logic and seeking perfection, developed a
technique by which emotions were removed and sealed inside actual bottles. However, they discovered that removing one's emotions also dimmed that elusive spark called 'soul', and so they destroyed the device, and devoted themselves to teaching the value of logic instead. Those bottled emotions survived through the centuries, and were to have been placed in a shrine erected by the Vulcan people on the planet Beta IV.
(Image of the comic apprearance of Vulcans - 32 KB)
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Klingons
Technologically advanced civilization of humanoid warriors. The Klingon's technological level
was roughly equal to that of the Federation. For several years, the Federation and the Klingon Empire
have existed at the very brink of war. The Klingon people come from planets that were relatively poor
in natural resources and thus they felt they had the right to take what they needed from other planets.
They believed that only the strong should survive.
The Klingons were the chief recurring nemesis in the STAR TREK television series, but they
menaced the Enterprise crew in the comics on only a few occasions. The Klingons were dark
skinned in the television series and had plenty of hair, but in the comic appearances they
were frequently bald and had light skin. The Klingons uniform also was changed when seen in
the Gold Key comics. Instead of being black with a gold diagonal sash, they became green and
sleeveless with a red sash.
(Image of the comic apprearance of Klingons - 32 KB)
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Romulans
Warrior civilization from the planets Romulus and Remus. An offshoot of the Vulcan people who left
Vulcan 2000 years ago to found the Romulan Star Empire, the Romulans were a passionate, aggressive
but highly honorable people.
The Romulans were another recurring enemy of the Federation in the television series, and they too
were seen in the comic incarnation, but very rarely. In one episode of the STAR TREK series,
the Enterprise crew encountered a female Romulan starship commander. In the
Issue #21 story "The Mummies of Heitus VII", another female Romulan commander
was seen. The Romulans were merely incidental to that issue's story, however. The comic series made
rare use of the interesting Romulans, usually focusing instead on one-shot villian characters. The Romulan
cloaking device was mentioned in Issue #12: "The Flight of the Buccaneer", but
no Romulans were shown.
(Image of the comic apprearance of Romulans - 32 KB)
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Targu's People
Inhabitants of a planet within rocket range of
the Nabu star system. The government on the home planet of these green-skinned humanoids had a unique system of punishment for their convicted criminals. Every month, the condemned were sent by one-way rocketship to land on a nearby system of asteroids to live until the unstable asteroids exploded. Targu was among those condemned to die on an asteroid time bomb. (Issue #2 "The Devil's Isle of Space")
(Image of the comic apprearance of Targu - 32 KB)
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Red Floeans
Race of telepathic humanoids from the frigid Federation planet Floe Prime. The red Floens were lead by co-leaders Amara
and Sunaro (pictured) and they dominated the blue-skinned members of their species. Through use of a special serum, the Floens adapted to their cold world and are able to sprout protective turtle-like shells when exposed to subzero temperatures. These shells then crack away when they re-enter a temperature that is right for their metabolism. Both races of Floeans became extinct in late 2267 when Floe Prime froze over after drifting too far from the planet's sun. (Issue #27 "Ice Journey")
(Image of the comic apprearance of Red Floeans - 32 KB)
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Blue Floeans
Race of telepathic humanoids from the frigid Federation planet Floe Prime. Through use of a special serum, the Floens have adapted to their cold world and are able to sprout protective turtle-like shells when exposed to subzero temperatures. These shells then crack away when they re-enter a temperature that is right for their metabolism. The blue Floens were persecuted and enslaved by the dominant red Floens because of their different skin color and the blue Floens were denied the serum that allows their bodies to survive in freezing temperatures. Both races of Floeans became extinct in late 2267 when Floe Prime froze over after drifting too far from the planet's sun. (Issue #27 "Ice Journey")
(Image of the comic apprearance of Blue Floeans - 32 KB)
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Togotas
Primative bronze-age humanoid civilization with special mental powers. Togotas were mutes who communicated by projecting mental pictures and they inhabited the Togo jungle regions on the planet Mobita. The innocent and trusting Togotas were discovered by the Mobians in the mid 2260's and they were soon exploited by the Mobians as laborers. Around 2267, Klingon agents fomented rebellion among the Togotas and supplied them with modern weapons with which to attack their Mobian oppressors. (Issue #38 "One of Our Captains is Missing")
(Image of the comic apprearance of Togotas - 32 KB)
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Unnamed Alien Race
Race of technologically advanced beings with designs on conquering Earth. Sometime between 2053 and 2267, these aliens
tampered with the space-bourne cryostasis capsule containing terminally ill
body of beloved Earth scientist and peace activist Dr. Bleikoff. These aliens
implanted a device in the professor's brain capable of causing mass hypnosis
so that when Bleikoff was eventually returned to Earth he would influence
Earth's inhabitants to dismantle the planet's defense systems to enable an
easy invasion. (Issue #39 "Prophet of Peace")
(Image of the comic apprearance of these people - 32 KB)
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Sanoorans
Technologically advanced humanoid
civilization who originated on the planet Nraka. The Sanoorans undertook a great exodus from Nraka 500,000 years ago when they discovered that a rogue star
would soon pass near the planet destroying all life. Huge colony starships were constructed and all of the inhabitants except for criminals, the incurably sick, and highly disturbed left the presumably doomed world. The Sanoorans chose an orbit that would return them to Nraka in half a million years after the radiation had subsided. Around 2267, the Sanoorans returned to their homeplanet and found the humanoid civilization which had arisen from the castoff population they left behind. The Sanoorans demanded that the planet be evacuated to allow them to recolonize, but the Nrakans successfully repelled the Sanooran fleet with the help of Captain James Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. The Sanoorans later settled on another planet. (Issue #41 "The Evictors" & Issue #50 "The Planet of No Life")
(Image of the comic apprearance of Sanoorans - 32 KB)
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People of Wotam
Race of intelligent diminutive, hairless, pale-yellow skinned humanoids. Once these people were technologically proficient, but they lost their problem solving abilities over the many years of
relying on Wotam their ancient supercomputer to do their thinking for them. In 2267, their sun's supernova was imminent, and so with the help of Captain Kirk and Mister Spock, the People of Wotam constructed several large spaceships with which to leave their world and colonize another planet. (Issue #46 "Mr. Oracle")
(Image of the comic apprearance of the People of Wotam - 32 KB)
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Energy Beings
Sentient beings of pure energy
which usually adopted a roughly humanoid shape and which consumed most forms of matter for energy. These energy beings "hatch" from green pods which grow on an immense tree hundreds of miles high. The beings were created by the immortal human Zhyopha to become the dominant superior form of life in the galaxy. When Zhyopha's plans became known to the Enterprise crew in 2267, Captain Kirk convinced the old man that his "perfect creatures" were fatally flawed because they quickly run out of matter to consume for energy. (Issue #47 "This Tree Bears Bitter Fruit")
(Image of the comic apprearance of these energy beings - 32 KB)
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Andorians*
Technologically sophisticated humanoid civilization that was a member of the
United Federation of Planets. The Andorians had blue skin, white hair and two, long antennae on the back
of their heads. They spoke with a soft lisp and were generally regarded as a violent people. Andorians were one of the five founding members of the United Federation of Planets. The Andorians had once been in conflict with the Vulcans starting in the 21st century, but became allies sometime prior to the founding of the Federation in 2161. (Issue #48 "Sweet Smell of Evil", "Journey to Babel" [TOS], "Yesteryear" [TAS], "The Andorian Incident", "Shadows of P'Jem", "Cease Fire" [ENT])
(Image of the comic apprearance of an Andorian - 32 KB)
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The "Companion" Entity*
Cloudlike sentient life-form that lived on a planetoid in the Gamma
Canaris region. In 2117, the Companion discovered aged scientist Zefram Cochrane drifting in space, near death.
The Companion brought Cochrane to her planetoid and cared for him, rejuvenating his body, giving him
effective immortality, but subjecting him to extreme lonliness. Over time, the Companion grew to love Cochrane.
In 2267, the Companion abducted Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Federation commissioner Nancy Hedford from the
Enterprise shuttlecraft Galileo to live with Cochrane to alleviate his isolation. Hedford,
terminally ill with Sakuro's disease, agreed to merge with the Companion, becoming a single, human individual.
The resulting individual, still in live with Cochrane, remained on the plenetoid for the rest of a normal
human lifetime. (Issue #49 "A Warp in Space", "Metamorphosis" [TOS])
(Image of the comic apprearance of the Companion - 32 KB)
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Stoyaks of Bira III
Technologically sophisticated
race of diminutive, large headed humanoids with pale yellow skin. The Stoyaks
were one of two sentient species that evolved on Bira III, sharing their world with the telekinetic savage Garda people who looked just like humans. The two races have been in a state of conflict ever since Stoyak technology developed sufficiently enough to allow them to fly over the radioactive
barrier which divided their side of the planet from the Garda's. (Issue #55 "A World Against Itself")
(Image of the comic apprearance of the Stoyaks - 32 KB)
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Vrunon's People
Race of space-faring technologically advanced bio-energy beings who could change shape at will. Like the Founders
from the Gamma Quadrant, this culture would launch small ships into deep space containing infant members of its species. The being that would be known as the Great Vrunon on the planet Jodarr, landed on that planet several years earlier as a prenatal spore enclosed in such a space pod. Vrunon usually took the form of a lizard-like humanoid with a green scale-covered body. (Issue #57 "Spore of the Devil")
(Image of the comic apprearance of Vrunon - 32 KB)
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Axanar
The Axanar were a race of technologically advanced bipedal lizard-like people. The Axanar breathe a nitrogen-methane atmosphere, are androgynous and live over 400 years. First
contact with the Axanar was made in 2151 by Captain Jonathan Archer's U.S.S. Enterprise (NX-01), when the starship rendered assistance to an Axanar ship whose crew was murdered for the compounds found in their blood. One hundred
years later, Axanar was the site of a vitally important battle led by Starfleet Captain Garth in the 2250s. While a cadet, James T. Kirk was sent to Axanar on a Peace Mission. (Reprint Volume #1 "Captain James T. Kirk: Psycho-File", "Whom Gods Destroy" [TOS], "Court Martial" [TOS], "Fight or Flight" [ENT])
(Image of the comic apprearance of the Axanar - 32 KB)
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STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of
Paramount Pictures Corporation.
All Rights Reserved. Gold Key is a registered trademark of Western Publishing Corp.
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Email: curtdan@ridgecrest.ca.us
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