Taste the rainbow!...ew, it's all coppery.

You aren't gonna believe this, but I actually had to go back to Humble Bundle for this one! But, I did have a good reason. From 1976, Star Trek #37, reprinting 1969's Star Trek #5, "The Ghost Planet" Written by Dick Wood, pencils by Alberto Giolitti.

So, last week I pulled a copy of Star Trek #37 from a random box, for a quick (and lucky!) scan of the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote Hostess ad. (By the way, Coyote vs. Acme was great!) But, looking it up on the GCD, #37 was a reprint: a reprint, that left out three pages! Let's be honest: even a good Gold Key Star Trek story barely holds together; cutting three pages was not going to help it out any. Also, for good measure, the midsection of this issue had come loose, so the pages were out of order in my copy anyway! I was going to go to the DVD-ROM of Star Trek comics, but the only computer I have right now with a disc drive is my janky old laptop; so I guessed Humble Bundle would have this one--at least as issue #5, anyway.

So, on to "The Ghost Planet." The Enterprise investigates a planet surrounded by rainbow-like rings, and finds it civilized but seemingly abandoned. The landing party is led by robots, to communicate with the leaders of "Planet Numero Uno," Justin, and...Justin. Kirk is about out right there, but hears out their story: the rainbow rings emitted a "copper radiation" that was harmful to them, and the populace had to evacuate to two satellites, which were now over-populated. Could the Enterprise help them? 

Before they can try to assist, the landing party finds a room guarded by robots, two of which grab a security guy who gets too close--note I don't say "redshirt," since this was real early on in these comics, and they did not have a wealth of reference materials for the artist or writer! Also, I thought those robots were going to squash that security guy between them, like the poor groundskeeper in the Doctor Who serial "Pyramids of Mars". Spock saves him with an electric shock, which probably should've got the security guy along with the robots. Investigating further, they find a war room: the two Justins had led opposing armies, and thousands had already died before the rings came. 

Taking the Justins onboard the Enterprise, Kirk calls them out, then declines to help them; since even if their planet could be saved, they would just go back to war, and could spread to other planets. Pleading for help, the Justins claim they were out of weapons, and if the planet could be saved, the Enterprise could leave surveillance devices and bombs, to blow them up if they return to war later! This doesn't feel great, but Spock says their work is "to help planets--not watch them die." Which is both against the Prime Directive, and the first Gold Key issue where the Enterprise destroys a planet of dangerous plants! Pick a lane, Spock!

Working with the satellites, the Enterprise magnetically pulls the rainbow bands away from the planet. Kirk and Spock go back down to the planet, to see if the radiation lingered; but instead of the copper radiation they find atomic: the Justins had cached their weapons, before leaving the planet, and had been on the verge of developing atomic weapons. Worse, the Justins then attack the landing party, blocking the transporters: despite having phaser rifles--god, I love the old-school phaser rifle, they probably could've leveled half the planet with those--somehow this looks bad for the crew, until Spock contacts the ship, and brings back the rainbow bands! Spock tells them they could bring the bands back at any time, and the Justins are stifled. Spock later explains, he had Dr. McCoy play films of the bands, creating the illusion that they had returned. 

I don't know how the Ghost Planet's governments worked: the two Justins seem pretty chummy, despite sending thousands of their citizens to their deaths: they work together against the landing party and even had their weapons stored together, with little "property of Justin I" and "property of Justin II" signs! Also, this is hardly my favorite Ghost Planet...now, please rise, for our national anthem:     .