Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive is a five-issue crossover comic book series produced in partnership by IDW Comics and Boom! Studios and released between December 2014 and April 2015. The series was written by brothers Scott and David Tipton, with artwork by Rachael Stott, her debut work. The Primate Directive combine elements and characters from the original Star Trek series and the original Planet of the Apes film series. It features Captain James T. Kirk seeking to prevent the Klingons from installing a puppet gorilla government on the planet, which requires them working with various Apes characters such as George Taylor, Cornelius and Zira.
The Tipton brothers were approached by IDW to write the series after their work on the crossover miniseries Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2. Stott's artwork included the likeness of Charlton Heston, which was allowed after an agreement between IDW and the Heston estate. The first issue, released on December 31, 2014, saw sales of over 53,000, though sales figures would subsequently drop. However, the series has been received positively by critics, who praised Stott's artwork and the nature of how the two franchises interacted.
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Hikaru Sulu and Uhura discover the Klingons have been seeking to expand into another universe using a gateway built of advanced technology in order to get around an Organian enforced peace treaty. The USS Enterprise approaches and engages two Klingon vessels, before pursuing one of them through a portal to the other universe. They arrive in orbit of Earth, albeit one whose history has diverged. Captain James T. Kirk leads an away team to the surface where they see the Klingon Kor providing the gorillas with rifles. They are detected and flee. Kor promises to deal with the interlopers, while the Starfleet team return to the ship. They discuss the situation and decide to stop the Klingons. Returning to the surface near the Statue of Liberty, they follow human tracks around to a cove.
They find George Taylor, who asks them to help overthrow the apes. Kirk says they cannot, but agrees to meet with Cornelius and Zira and has the group transported to their location. Once they arrive, Kirk instructs the Enterprise to use the phasers set to stun on a large group of gorillas. The two chimpanzees explain ape society to the Starfleet crew before Taylor argues that the apes should be overthrown again. Kirk turns him down, but enlists the help of the chimpanzees. Taylor abducts Pavel Chekov, steals his communicator and has himself beamed to the Enterprise. Kirk, Spock and Chekov follow him to the ship where they find him trying to steal a shuttlecraft. He and Kirk get into a fist fight, before Taylor agrees to follow Kirk's lead back to the surface to work with the apes. Kor gives Marius a disruptor and a uniform, ordering him to deliver the ape society to the Klingon Empire. The Enterprise crew detect the gorilla army movement and beam Zira into Ape City to warn Dr. Zaius and the gorilla General Ursus.
Klingon-backed gorillas attack Kirk's team, who have taken position in the Klingons' store room but the attackers are defeated. However, they discover that in the fracas, a sniper rifle was taken. Taylor, Kirk and the Starfleet crew ride out to stop the Klingons, and prevent Kor from assassinating Ursus who has gone to talk down Marius. They defeat Kor and his colleagues, but the Klingons beam back up to their ship. Ursus and Marius fight, with Ursus victorious. Kirk and his team leave to pursue Kor, leaving the rifles in the hands of the gorillas who are no longer puppets of the Klingons. The Enterprise chase Kor's ship for three days, and find themselves back at the alternative Earth as the atmosphere is destroyed by a cobalt bomb which eradicates all life on the planet. The Enterprise pursues Kor back through the portal to their own universe. Meanwhile, Cornelius, Zira and Milo are in orbit on-board a primitive space vessel having witnessed the destruction below. Not knowing what to do, they consult a tricorder left behind by Kirk's team which instructs them on how to travel through time using a slingshot effect.
Unfortunately for ye old Caretaker, the comics are focused on the film adaptations of Pierre Boulle's original novel and not on the 1970s TV series which starred Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, James Naughton, and Mark Lenard. Not that I would have absorbed the comic book mini-series into the greater Toobworld Dynamic, but had this been about Kirk's Enterprise crew meeting Galen, Virdon and Burke (NOT a law firm!) and not Cornelius, Zira, and Taylor, then I might have at least suggested that it took place in those years immediately following the cancellation of 'Star Trek' in 1969. We just never got the chance to see it.
Oh well. Still it is a fun premise and who knows? Maybe one day my fully Toobworld concept might be attempted......
BCnU!
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