Star Trek... Pre-Booted!

The world first encountered the final frontier in the swinging ‘60s – but what if the Enterprise first flew in some very different decades? As Star Trek Into Darkness opens in the UK, SFX peeks into some parallel worlds...

STAR TREK – 1890s

FIRST SEEN: A weekly ripping yarn in the pages of Roddenberry’s Illustrated Penny Marvel .

THE FIVE YEAR MISSION: Flagship of Her Majesty’s Starfleet, the valiant vessel Enterprise seeks out new life, new civilisations and new foreign devils to blast asunder with photon cannons.

SPOCK FACTOR: HMS Enterprise’s science officer is Spock the Infinitely Inexplicable, mystery-shrouded mandarin from the puzzling world of Vulcan.

CLASSIC ADVENTURE: “A Most Vexatious Entanglement With Tribbles”

STAR TREK – 1930s

FIRST SEEN: A 15 chapter serial from Hollywood cliffhanger merchants Federation Pictures.

THE FIVE YEAR MISSION: When space tyrant Khan the Cruel unleashes his fearsome Doomsday Machine, Captain Jimmy “Tiger” Kirk and the two-fisted crew of space-sub Enterprise boldly go to Mars and punch his ugly mush.

SPOCK FACTOR: “Mister” SPOCK-33X is a marvel of the age, a living metal man whose amazing logic ray zaps apart any argument in the universe.

CLASSIC ADVENTURE: “Chapter Twelve – Where No Rocketman Has Gone Before”

STAR TREK – 1950s

FIRST SEEN: Cheapie flicks for the drive-in market. Hey, Roddenberry, quit the social metaphors, we’re neckin’ here!

THE FIVE YEAR MISSION: SHUDDER at the MENACE of SPACE COMMUNISM! SCREAM at the MARIJUANA MADNESS of SPOCK’S BRAIN! THRILL to the LOVE-CRAZED GIRLS of THE NAKED TIME!

SPOCK FACTOR: Planet Vulcan’s coolest cat, this green-blooded groover makes the space chicks flip their lids, dig?

CLASSIC ADVENTURE: “I Was A Teenage Klingon”

STAR TREK – 1970s

FIRST SEEN: Primetime TV. Not-so-primetime TV. Late-night reruns. A desolate convention hall in Milwaukee.

THE FIVE YEAR MISSION: From Andorian pushers to Romulan junkies to Orion hookers turning tricks for interplanetary pimp Harry Mudd, there’s a galaxy of sleaze to take down in Jim Kirk’s precinct…

SPOCK FACTOR: Enter the Vulcan! A blur of fists, an even bigger blur of unfathomable alien wisdom.

CLASSIC ADVENTURE: “Amok Boogie”

Words: Nick Setchfield Art: Mike Collins

Nick Setchfield is the Editor-at-Large for SFX Magazine, writing features, reviews, interviews, and more for the monthly issues. However, he is also a freelance journalist and author with Titan Books. His original novels are called The War in the Dark, and The Spider Dance. He's also written a book on James Bond called Mission Statements.