How Many Fake Abraham Lincolns Can One Universe Contain?

 

Gold Key's Star Trek #9 (February 1971) seemed to contain several shout-outs to the original series, though none of these shout-outs are overtly pointed out. The writer was Len Wein, who did occasionally inject some direct continuity to the original series in his comic book stories. Here, though, he was either being subtle or I'm simply imagining things.

The art work, by the way, is by Alberto Giolitti. Giolitti is one of my favorite artists and he (as usual) gives us some great looking images in this story.

It all begins with the Enterprise investigating a planet that had been lifeless a when it was studied a decade earlier, but now contains a thriving civilization. Kirk takes a landing party to the surface, where they soon meet George Washington, who is keeping house with Helen of Troy.

In fact, the entire high-tech city they beam down into is populated by famous historical figures. McCoy briefly wonders if they've found heaven, but the sight of Hitler and Mussolini put the kibosh on that theory.

One of the people they meet is Abraham Lincoln. This is Shout-Out #1, as Kirk has earlier met Lincoln (or, rather, a convincing facsimile of Lincoln) in the third season episode "The Savage Curtain."

There's a spire in the center of the city that is off-limits to the inhabitants, so Kirk naturally wants to investigate it. He sends Sulu and Spock to check it out, but Sulu is slugged unconscious and Spock disappears.

Spock has been taken prisoner by Alexander Lazarus--mad scientist, extraordinaire. Lazarus has invented a computer that can collect the brain patters of long-dead people. So the historical figures populating the city are androids who have been given these brain patterns. The city itself was built by the androids before they were given their new personalities.

This brings us to Shout Out #2. The first season episode "What Are Little Girls Made Off" involved a scientist who could program an android with someone's brain patterns and thus make both a physical and mental duplicate of that person. Lazarus goes one better with this by collecting the brain patterns of the long-dead, but the simularity is still there. Its fun to speculate that the research of the two scientists ran along similar lines to a degree.

Lazarus has discovered a unique problem with his self-created world. After hearing the same stories (such as Napoleon's account of Waterloo) over and over and OVER again, he's bored silly. He wants to add Vulcan historical figures to the mix. But his computer is calibrated to humans, so he needs to drain Spock's brain to reconfigure it for Vulcans.

That's Shout Out #3. This isn't the first time someone has wanted to make use of Spock's brain. But that episode is so infamously bad, I won't speak of it aloud. I don't want to summon up painful memories.

Kirk and the rest of the landing party find a possible way into Lazarus' base, so the scientist sics his androids on them. Spock, in the meantime, has figured out how to unlock his manacles. In the ensuing struggle, the computer is set on fire by a stray phaser blast and poor Dr. Lazarus gets trapped in his own brain drain machine.

Spock orders Scotty to beam up the rest of the landing party while he remains behind to try to salvage the records of the historical brain patterns. But when the crew of the Enterprise wrecks something, they really wreck it. Spock has to beam back up without the records so the ship can escape before THE WHOLE DARN PLANET EXPLODES!!

I love this story. Giolitti's art often pops off the page and the plot, though silly, is well-constructed and follows its own logic from beginning to end. Whether the shout-outs I've mentioned were intentional or a part of my feverish geeky imagination--well, I don't know. But we do know that the galaxy is literally dripping with Abraham Lincolns. And that can only be a good thing. 

Next week, we finish off our look at Animal Comics #4.