Star Trek Lives Long and Prospers at the Rubenstein

With the opening of Star Trek Into Darkness this week, it seemed like a good time to check out what our collections have on Star Trek. As it turns out, Star Trek’s long history before becoming a star-powered summer blockbuster is well represented in our collections.

I found a number of Star Trek comic books in the Edwin and Terry Murray Comic Book Collection which are a lot of fun:

“The Hijacked Planet” Star Trek #18 (May 1973), Gold Key Comics

“All Those Years Ago” Star Trek Annual v. 1 #1 (1985), DC Comics

But my favorite piece comes from the Edwin and Terry Murray Fanzine Collection. Fanzines are nonprofessional publications produced by fans of particular pop culture genres or works. Most of the fanzines in the Murray collection are from comic book fans, but there are some from the genres of science fiction and fantasy, including issue 3 of Spockanalia. Spockanalia was the first fanzine devoted exclusively to Star Trek. The first issue was published in 1967 during the first season of the original television series. Spocknalia 3 was published in 1968 and features essays on Star Trek, fiction, drawings, and even a letter from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Here are some highlights:

Cover of Spockanalia 3, drawn by Allan Asherman

Letter from Gene Roddenberry

Vulcan Graffiti, by Sherna Burley

Enterprise Graffiti, by Sherna Burley

Young Vulcan’s Handbook of Emotional Control, by Deborah Langsam

Post contributed by Kate Collins, Research Services Librarian