There have been great villains throughout villains such as Khan, Nero and the Borg menaced the galaxy, but in March 1970’s Star Trek #7, first published by Gold Key, readers met the evil Count Dressler–whose backstory violated not only established continuity but the very ethos of Star Trek as well.
Star Trek’s history of licensed tie-ins got off to a somewhat rocky start; companies would create science-fiction related toys and slap the Star Trek name on them, regardless if it actually appeared on the show. This approach spilled over into the early days of Star Trek comics as well. Gold Key, at the time known for media tie-ins, was the first company to same cloth as Doctor Doom.
The uncredited story opens with the Enterprise discovering a planet with replicas of Earth landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal. During the course of their investigation, a crew member accidentally tips over the replica of the Tower–and on Earth the actual Eiffel Tower is destroyed! The crew dub the mysterious world the “Voodoo Planet,” likening the replicas to the “voodoo dolls” of Earth’s past. Kirk and Spock then learn the planet is under the control of Count Dressler, a war criminal from Earth. Readers learn that Dressler, from his tiny kingdom on Earth, attempted to conquer it with atomic weapons; knowing his time on Earth was up, Dressler fled, ultimately discovering the mysterious “Voodoo Planet,” which he planned to use to destroy Earth and rule the galaxy.
Gold Key’s early Star Trek comics were notorious for missing the mark, but Count Dressler’s backstory completely breaks the franchise, violating not only continuity, but well with Roddenberry.
Over time, the Gold Key comics would find their footing, and feature stories more in line with the show, but the early issues are fascinating, as the franchise tries to find its comic book footing. One early issue featured a super villain much like Doctor Doom, who nearly broke the Star Trek franchise.
