Comics Through a licensing process similar to those granted to create collectibles , novels , and games , Paramount Pictures has granted the rights to market " Star Trek " merchandise of various sorts through a number of different production and design companies , beginning in with a series based on . With the success of the and , a licensing office associated with the productions took stricter control of the franchise ' s image . Designers of " Star Trek " publications were discouraged from creating depictions that varied from the style and details of the franchise , as seen in filmed productions . Previous comics of the 1960s , ' 70s and early ' 80s tend to vary from canon more than later series . Since the comics are produced by artists and writers not affiliated with franchise production staff , filmed productions disregard events and situations in them as completely apocryphal . The " Star Trek " universe has been displayed in comic book form in many ways throughout its existence . A smaller company called Gold Key Comics first published " Star Trek " stories , starting in 1967 with a story entitled " K - G , Planet of Death . " This company produced 61 " Star Trek " comic books from 1967 to 1979 , which focused on all - original adventures of " The Original Series " crew of the starship . Since then , many other companies have published different series of " Star Trek " comic books , including Marvel and DC at multiple intervals . Many are simply adaptations of episodes and movies , while others are brand - new stories involving existing " Trek " characters , and still others have introduced completely new characters and settings . One of the best examples of the latter is Marvel Comics ' series " " , which featured adventures of Captain Pike ' s crew on the original " Enterprise " before Captain Kirk took command . While many comic book runs of the " Star Trek " universe have provided interesting story arcs and situations that would be difficult to show on television , all stories are considered to be non - canon . In , in an interview with Trekmovie . com , producer and writer Roberto Orci , pressed by the editor Anthony Pascale to declare that all of the recent Star Trek comics which he had overseen ( such as " " ) were canon until contradicted by onscreen sources , indicated that he agreed with that proposal . , although he would later step back from that view , saying " " [ I ] have said a million times that we cant determine what is canon . [ On ] this day , [ I ] said something else . ' consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds . " " Gold Key ( 1967 - 1979 ) . Gold Key Comics published 61 issues from to . The comics focused on the during James T . Kirk ' s first five - year mission . A 62nd issue was written and partially illustrated , but never published . The script to that issue is available online . Those were reprinted several times : British Strips ( 1969 - 1973 ) . Concurrent with the Gold Key strips , a series of weekly comic strips based on " Star Trek " was released in the United Kingdom . Published in the pages of " Joe 90 : Top Secret " , " TV21 " and " Valiant " , these strips appeared as two - and three - page spreads in magazines printing " Star Trek " and other adventure - based titles . 256 issues were published over the course of five years , with additional stories running in one " Joe 90 " annual , three " TV21 " annuals , a " Valiant " Super Special , two " TV Comic " annuals and an issue of " Radio Times " magazine . Peter Pan Records ( 1975 - 1979 ) . From 1975 through 1979 , Peter Pan Records ( and Power Records , a division thereof ) released eleven stories . Six of these stories were accompanied by comic books , and some of the stories do reference the continuity of both " " and " " . Peter Pan Records released the stories on a total of 23 record sets , some featuring one story , others featuring as many as six on one release . Marvel Comics v1 ( 1979 - 1982 ) . Marvel Comics took over the franchise in 1979 and published a series of comics based on the crew of the USS " Enterprise " in the 2270s after the events of . McDonald ' s ( 1979 ) . To celebrate the release of Star Trek : The Motion Picture , McDonald ' s released its first - ever set of Happy Meal Boxes , featuring comic strips adapting scenes from the film , on six separate boxes . Additional strips were included in special Star Trek Communicator toys included with the Happy Meals . Newspaper Comic Strip ( 1979 - 1983 ) . Around the same time as Marvel Comics was publishing its comic books , a newspaper comic strip based on " Star Trek " appeared . Like the Marvel publications it , too , told of the adventures of the USS " Enterprise " after the events of " Star Trek : The Motion Picture " . It lasted four years and consisted of twenty story arcs . DC Comics v1 ( 1984 - 1988 ) . DC Comics published a series of comics based on TOS , the movies and TNG . DC Comics v2 ( 1989 - 1995 ) . After stopping the publication in , DC Comics renewed the license in , publishing comics based on TOS ( 2260s - 2280s ) and TNG . Malibu Comics ( 1993 - 1995 ) . Concurrent with DC ' s license for TOS and TNG comics , Malibu Comics acquired the rights to publish comics . Malibu had also apparently obtained rights to produce " " comics , but stopped comic production ( due to buyout from Marvel ) before any issues were released . Marvel Comics v2 ( 1995 - 1998 ) . Done under the imprint " Marvel Presents Paramount Comics " , Marvel had rights to produce comics based on all the existing " Star Trek " properties at the time . WildStorm Comics ( 1999 - 2001 ) . DC Comics , through their WildStorm Comics imprint , obtained rights to the " Star Trek " comics for the third ( and to date , final ) time . Again published as " Paramount Comics " , WildStorm limited their releases to single issues and limited series . Tokyopop ( 2006 - 2009 ) . Tokyopop published " " and " " . The first volume of this series , titled " Shinsei Shinsei " , was a collection of five " Star Trek " stories published in August and September . The stories are based in the TOS - era . A second TOS - based five - story volume , " Kakan ni Shinkou " , was released in with a third following mid - . The TNG - era series was released in . IDW Publishing ( 2007 - current ) . Comic publishers IDW Publishing – current publishers of comics based on the " CSI " , " Doctor Who " , and " 24 " TV series – have reached a deal with CBS / Paramount to release new " Star Trek " comics . IDW limited their releases to mini - series until the ongoing series based on the 2009 film . The first book – a six - issue mini - series based on " The Next Generation " , was released in . A second , TOS - era Klingon - based five - issue mini followed in , with a " Star Trek : Year Four " miniseries following in and an " Alien Spotlight " miniseries starting in . Wired Magazine ( 2009 ) . The September 2009 issue of Wired magazine , issue 17 . 05 , contained an online minicomic tied in with the first J . J . Abrams Star Trek film . The comic is available online at http : / / www . wired . com / special _ multimedia / 2009 / whenWorldsCollide .