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(written from a Production point of view)

Star Trek Fotonovels were a series of twelve softcover pocket photonovel books, produced by Mandala Productions and published by Bantam Books during the years 1977-1978. These books were essentially re-tellings of the Star Trek: The Original Series episodes in question, with word balloons and text being arranged over the stills from the episode in the style of a comic book or graphic novel. Something of a short-term fad, such books were conceived in the days before the advent of home video, most notably VHS, and quickly fell out of fashion thereafter. No specific order was observed, be it production, or broadcast order-wise. Instead, a random selection, stemming from all three seasons of the Original Series was selected for adaptation, resulting in all three seasons being represented in the twelve-issue run of the publication.

Five of the first six titles have seen a reprint run around 1979/1980 (Metamorphosis being the exception) in order to make the most out of the fervor surrounding the premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and were endowed with new ISBNs. It was in conjunction with the event that these first six titles of the Bantam editions also saw translated international releases in the Netherlands and Germany, as well as two in Japan, these two actually featuring a heavy use of imagery from the film on their covers. For Latin-America, a pan-American produced – involving companies located in the USA, Panama and Venezuela – Spanish-language version was released in 1979 of the first seven issues as monthly outings under the "GeoMundo" imprint, and distributed in, among others, the USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Panama. Each of these editions had a price imprint representing the local currency.

A somewhat out-of-the-ordinary release concerned the 1980 Indonesian versions. These editions had their origins in the efforts Dutch comic publishers had undertaken in the late-1970s/early-1980s to introduce their former colony to the phenomenon of the European comic. It is very hard to ascertain how far the publication effort extended due to the low status of comics in Indonesian society (creating imagery of living creatures, including men, is frowned upon in Muslim culture), but an Indonesian release of the eleventh title is known, implying that the Indonesians went farther than the Dutch, who ceased publication after the first six titles – as did the Germans for that matter. Conceivably unlicensed, [1] the Indonesian releases differed from all the others in this respect, that they were executed in black and white instead of full color.

Releases[]

No. Cover Title Year Publisher ISBN
1 Star Trek Fotonovel 01 City on the Edge of Forever 1977 Bantam Books ISBN 0553113453
ISBN 0553125648 (1979/80 reprint)
Star Trek Fotonovel 01 (UK) 1978 Corgi Books (UK) ISBN 0552106739
Star Trek Fotonovel 01 (Dutch) De Stad aan de Rand van Altijd (Dutch) Tijdschriften Uitgevers Maatschappij (Dutch) n/a
Star Trek Fotonovel 01 (Spanish) La ciudad en el abismo eterno (Spanish) 1979 Editorial América, SA (as GeoMundo – Spanish)
Star Trek Fotonovel 01 (German) Die Stadt am Rande der Ewigkeit (German) Bastei Verlag (Filmromane No. 71001 – German) ISBN 3404013972
Star Trek Fotonovel 01 (Japan) Kiken'na kako e no tabi (Japanese) 1980 Tatsumi Mook (Japanese) n/a
Star Trek Fotonovel 01 (Indonesian) Gerbang ke masa silam (Indonesian) Penerbit Cypress (Indonesian)
2 Star Trek Fotonovel 02 Where No Man Has Gone Before 1977 Bantam Books ISBN 0553113461
ISBN 0553127268 (1979/80 reprint)
no image yet 1978 Corgi Books (UK) ISBN 0552613479
Star Trek Fotonovel 02(dutch) Waar geen Mens is eerder is gegaan (Dutch) Tijdschriften Uitgevers Maatschappij (Dutch) n/a
Star Trek Fotonovel 02 (spanish) ¡Donde nadie ha ido jamás! (Spanish) 1979 Editorial América, SA (as GeoMundo – Spanish)
Star Trek Fotonovel 02(german) Vorstoß zur Unsterblichkeit (German) Bastei Verlag (Filmromane No. 71002 – German) ISBN 340401409X
Star Trek Fotonovel 02 (japanese) Dare mo mae ni ika nakatta basho (Japanese) 1980 Tatsumi Mook (Japanese) n/a
3 Star Trek Fotonovel 03 The Trouble with Tribbles 1977 Bantam Books ISBN 055311347X
ISBN 055312689X (1979/80 reprint)
Star Trek Fotonovel 03(dutch) Problemen met de Dribbels (Dutch) 1978 Tijdschriften Uitgevers Maatschappij (Dutch) n/a
Star Trek Fotonovel 03 (spanish) Problemas Con Criaturas Galacticas (Spanish) 1979 Editorial América, SA (as GeoMundo – Spanish)
Star Trek Fotonovel 03(german) Invasion der Tribbles (German) Bastei Verlag (Filmromane No. 71005 – German) ISBN 3404014219
4 Star Trek Fotonovel 04 A Taste of Armageddon 1978 Bantam Books ISBN 0553113488
ISBN 0553127446 (1979/80 reprint)
Star Trek Fotonovel 04(dutch) Een Voorproefje van Armageddon (Dutch) 1979 Tijdschriften Uitgevers Maatschappij (Dutch) n/a
Star Trek Fotonovel 04 (spanish) Un destello de Armageddon (Spanish) Editorial América, SA (as GeoMundo – Spanish)
Star Trek Fotonovel 04(german) Duell der Planeten (German) Bastei Verlag (Filmromane No. 71006 – German) ISBN 3404014227
Star Trek Fotonovel 04 (indonesian) Perang antar komputer (Indonesian) 1980 Penerbit Cypress (Indonesian) n/a
5 Star Trek Fotonovel 05 Metamorphosis 1978 Bantam Books ISBN 0553113496
Star Trek Fotonovel 05 (Dutch) Metamorfose (Dutch) 1979 Tijdschriften Uitgevers Maatschappij (Dutch) n/a
Star Trek Fotonovel 05b (Spanish) Metamorfosis (Spanish) Editorial América, SA (as GeoMundo – Spanish)
Star Trek Fotonovel 05 (German) Das Geschenk der Götter (German) Bastei Verlag (Filmromane No. 71007 – German) ISBN 3404014375
6 Star Trek Fotonovel 06 All Our Yesterdays 1978 Bantam Books ISBN 055311350X
ISBN 0553135090 (1979/80 reprint)
Star Trek Fotonovel 06(dutch) Al onze dagen van Weleer (Dutch) 1979 Tijdschriften Uitgevers Maatschappij (Dutch) n/a
Star Trek Fotonovel 06 (spanish) Todo nuestro ayer (Spanish) Editorial América, SA (as GeoMundo – Spanish)
Star Trek Fotonovel 06(german) Flucht aus der Vergangenheit (German) 1980 Bastei Verlag (Filmromane No. 71008 – German) ISBN 3404014383
7 Star Trek Fotonovel 07 The Galileo 7 1978 Bantam Books ISBN 0553120417
Star Trek Fotonovel 07 (Spanish) El Galileo 7 (Spanish) 1979 Editorial América, SA (as GeoMundo – Spanish) n/a
8 Star Trek Fotonovel 08 A Piece of the Action 1978 Bantam Books ISBN 0553120220
9 Star Trek Fotonovel 09 The Devil in the Dark ISBN 0553120212
10 Star Trek Fotonovel 10 Day of the Dove ISBN 0553120174
11 Star Trek Fotonovel 11 The Deadly Years ISBN 055312028X
Star Trek Fotonovel 11 (indonesian) Tahun-Tahun maut (Indonesian) 1980 Penerbit Cypress (Indonesian) n/a
12 Star Trek Fotonovel 12 Amok Time 1978 Bantam Books ISBN 0553120123
Boxed set
1 Star Trek Fotonovel 1978 front boxed set Cardboard slipcase containing the individual titles,
  • City on the Edge of Forever
  • Where No Man Has Gone Before
  • The Trouble with Tribbles
  • A Taste of Armageddon
1978 Bantam Books n/a

See also[]

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