Leonard McCoy’s daughter Joanna McCoy was introduced to comic book readers in two stories released by Marvel Comics. Both took place around the same year during Captain James T. Kirk’s second five-year mission aboard the refit USS Enterprise , and both had curious similarities. “All the Infinite Ways” Joanna debuted in “All the Infinite Ways” by Martin Pasko, issue 13 of Marvel’s short-lived Star Trek series . Marvel’s license was famously limited to Star Trek: The Motion Picture , and therefore not allowed to reference elements from The Original Series . Pasko slipped in as many TOS references as possible into his eight stories. Introducing Joanna was a sly choice, as she had not technically appeared in TOS , yet was familiar to devoted Trek fans who’d read about the character in Steven E. Whitfield’s best-selling reference book The Making of Star Trek . Pasko envisioned Joanna similar to the way Arnold Drake had adapted her in the form of Barbara McCoy in “The World Beneath t...

Nightmares in “Chekov’s Choice” Back in 1985, Walter Koenig and I spoke briefly about a story he’d written for DC Comics that year. It appeared in issue #19 of DC's Star Trek, Volume 1. He’d said, “I mentioned to Marv Wolfman, who’s the editor, the fact that Chekov wasn’t even getting a decent role in the comic book, never mind in the movies, and he said, ‘Why don’t you write one, and make Chekov the hero?’ “It’s called ‘Chekov’s Choice,’ and he has to make a choice between love—or the woman he considers his love—and the safety of the ship. It’s one of those stories of personal conflict, and I think it’s very much in keeping with the feeling of the series.” During his convention appearance that day, Koenig described talking to Marv Wolfman about perhaps writing a story for the comic. “I said, well, ‘There are conditions: Chekov has got to get the girl, he’s got to be totally in control of the situation, and his decision affects the lives and deaths of 400 people aboa...