If I had unlimited funds to make a fan film, what I would love to do would be a film, or a series, set in the very peculiar alt-universe of the early Gold Key Star Trek comics from the 1960s. Anyone who has read these comics knows that their grasp of the mechanics and stylistic choices of actual Trek was very tenuous. This is largely because these comics were actually created in Rome, by the great artist Alberto Giolitti and his team at Giolitti studios, who were commissioned by Gold Key, and contributed art to many GK titles. It is painfully obvious that the early issues were created using a fairly small packet of publicity photos, and that no one involved in the creation of the comics had actually seen the show (in later years, the comic came to more closely resemble the series, as Trek became more popular, especially in syndication -- the comic ran until 1978). This is understandable, however -- remember, the comic debuted in 1967, barely a year after the show had debuted in America, and opportunities for the Italian artists to see it were probably very limited. Even so, these comics are great -- they are often profoundly odd, but also vivid and boldly entertaining. True Trek? Maybe not -- but a very fun variation on the theme.
Some of the major departures from the series (see illos below):
* Fire blazing from the Enterprise nacelles, as if they were rocket engines
* Everyone except Spock and Bones wore a green shirt (much later, the colors would be corrected, and gold and red were introduced). Also, the style of illustration made it seem as though the tunics were made from a rougher, more coarse material, almost like burlap.
* The bridge had huge, bulky machinery, with hooded screens and big levers with balls on the ends, as if they were in a Buck Rogers strip.
* Phasers, and most of the hand-equipment, were colored reddish-fuschia. The phasers vaguely resembled those of the series, but had pointy tips. Most of the other equipment was pretty generic, and no tricorders were seen for quite a while.
* White backpacks were often worn on landing parties.
* The Starfleet insignia would randomly disappear from the tunics, presumably because the artists just forgot to draw them. I probably wouldn't end up doing this, as it would just be seen for the continuity glitch it was/would be, but it's still fun.
* And strangest of all, for only the first few issues, Uhura was white. One assumes no photos of Nichelle Nicols were included in that first packet of stills.
I would also base the stories on some of the wonky tales from those early Gold Key comics.
So what would YOUR fan film fantasy be?
Some of the major departures from the series (see illos below):
* Fire blazing from the Enterprise nacelles, as if they were rocket engines
* Everyone except Spock and Bones wore a green shirt (much later, the colors would be corrected, and gold and red were introduced). Also, the style of illustration made it seem as though the tunics were made from a rougher, more coarse material, almost like burlap.
* The bridge had huge, bulky machinery, with hooded screens and big levers with balls on the ends, as if they were in a Buck Rogers strip.
* Phasers, and most of the hand-equipment, were colored reddish-fuschia. The phasers vaguely resembled those of the series, but had pointy tips. Most of the other equipment was pretty generic, and no tricorders were seen for quite a while.
* White backpacks were often worn on landing parties.
* The Starfleet insignia would randomly disappear from the tunics, presumably because the artists just forgot to draw them. I probably wouldn't end up doing this, as it would just be seen for the continuity glitch it was/would be, but it's still fun.
* And strangest of all, for only the first few issues, Uhura was white. One assumes no photos of Nichelle Nicols were included in that first packet of stills.
I would also base the stories on some of the wonky tales from those early Gold Key comics.
So what would YOUR fan film fantasy be?
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