Back in the 90s, there’d only been a couple of screen appearances for Captain Christopher Pike; first in the original series Star Trek pilot, The Cage, and then in two parter The Menagerie (along with archive footage from The Cage). So by the time Early Voyages was released in 1997, Pike hadn’t been seen for around 30 years, making the Marvel comic (also featuring the short-lived Paramount Comics logo) a pretty exciting prospect for Star Trek fans.

In Star Trek Early Voyages #1, we get an extended story which acts as a sort of pilot in itself, with Pike and the crew captured by a creature that’s almost Borg-esque in nature, except fully organic, rather than cybernetic. We then flash back to Pike being introduced to the then-crew of the Enterprise, with the familiar face of Spock among them.

It’s all written with great care and an excellent script that does brilliantly in aping the style of the 60s show. On scripting duties are Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton, two British writers who seem to have been around forever at this point. Abnett and Edginton have always been dependable creators who have deep love and affection for sci-fi, and on the basis of Early Voyages, it seems they’re huge fans of classic Trek too.

Patrick Zircher also does a fantastic job with the art, which does well to replicate the retro futuristic look of the Original Series (or TOS, as the fans often abbreviate it to). Marie Javins on colours makes the artwork truly pop, with a beautifully vibrant palette that again recalls the 60s aesthetic wonderfully.

We have, of course, seen much more of the character of Christopher Pike in the years since 1997, as he’s appeared in the Kelvin Timeline movies, in Star Trek Discovery and, more recently, in Strange New Worlds too. We’re spoilt for Pike and the old crew these days (though of course, the crew do differ from the one set up in Early Voyages), but in 1997, if you wanted your fix of classic Trek that went back even further than Kirk, Early Voyages was where it was at; it helps that it’s well worth reading, even for fans who don’t know their Chekov from their Moves-With-Burning-Grace!

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