Star Trek: The Original Series story editor Dorothy Fontana and actor DeForest Kelley envisioned in 1967 that Dr. Leonard McCoy had a daughter from his failed marriage. (See my previous post about the history, creation and background of the character.) Although Joanna McCoy never appeared onscreen, Gold Key Comics brought a version of her to life in the 1970s by way of Barbara McCoy. She appeared in two comics, “Furlough to Fury” (#40) and “The World Beneath the Waves” (#43). Both stories have been attributed to author Arnold Drake , who was believed to have written 22 of Gold Key’s Star Trek stories. Star Trek comics at the time did not maintain continuity between stories, and this afforded the author the opportunity to approach the character from different perspectives in her two appearances. Today such differences stand out. In both comics, Leonard loves his daughter without fail, and the only negative comment he made was in #43 that she had a bitter streak. That’s consistent ...

The idea of Leonard McCoy’s daughter came from a talk between actor DeForest Kelley and script editor Dorothy Fontana in January 1967, where she thought McCoy might have a son from his failed marriage. Kelley suggested that it be a daughter. Fontana jotted down a story idea in a memo on January 24, 1967. In the story, the Enterprise took on new medical staff at a starbase, and Kirk and McCoy were in the transporter room as they beamed aboard. As Fontana wrote, “One of the women, a lovely dark-haired girl of twenty, takes one look at McCoy and flings herself into his arms, much to Captain Kirk's surprise. Then McCoy turns to Kirk, grimaces, and introduces Nurse Joanna McCoy — his daughter.” Fontana wrote, “McCoy had been married a long time ago, but it turned sour and ended in divorce despite the birth of the child, Joanna. McCoy, soon after the divorce, entered the space service. He has provided for Joanna, but due to the demands of the service, has seen her very seldom as s...