1984 Mike Minor Interview

Mike Minor made some significant artistic and production design contributions to the original series third season, the aborted Phase 2 series, ST: The Motion Picture and ST II: The Wrath of Khan.  In this extensive interview from issue #14 of Enterprise Incidents, published February of 1984, we find out the extent of his involvement. (See his Star Trek wiki page here.) As you may recall, I posted another article on Mike earlier from Starlog, but this one goes much more in-depth. He worked on many other genre productions, not the least of which was Star Wars. It's tragic that he passed away so young in 1987 and we never got to see what he might have done since then.

(Click on images to enlarge. Once open, you may have to click again to view full-size.)

Bonus: from the same issue of EI, comes this fan drawing of the Mutara Nebula battle.

Bonus #2: Publicity photo of Kirk once again baffling Spock with his propensity for somehow inexplicably winning against the Vulcan.

"How does he DO that?"

"The Wrath Of Khan" Behind The Scenes Article

From issue #16 of Enterprise Incidents (published April of 1984), edited by superfan James Van Hise, comes this behind-the-scenes article on the first sequel. The photos are great, but the really interesting part is the text with the information from the director Nick Meyers!

 (Click on images to enlarge; once open, you may have to click again to magnify.)

The woman in the top photo of the page above seems to be thinking the herself "Wow, what awesome pecs!" Meyer confirms they are real in the article.

Below, two pages of technical drawings of the Enterprise from the same issue, focusing more on the detailing of the model than the parts of the ship.

 

Bonus #1: Below, the best color photo I've seen of Khan's child that was cut from the film. There is another photo of him in this article I posted earlier about TWOK and Nick Meyer.

Bonus #2: Shatner raiding the fridge while shooting the series!

"Welcome to my Dressing Trailer! Care for some sherry before I show you the 'Captain's Log?'"

Happy "Khan" Day!

June 4th, 1982 was the release date of what many feel to be the best of the Trek movies, "The Wrath Of Khan." Here is a link to view all the articles, clippings and photos on this site related to this exciting and moving film: Click here!

1993 Article on Star Trek Collector Cards

The Skybox Masterpiece Series: Star Trek edition is a collection of cards with painted artwork depicting scenes from all of the incarnations of Star Trek up to that point, and much of the art was amazing. I have most of the cards, I only wish someone would release a book of the paintings in larger format, like the Star Trek "Ships of the Line" books did the calendar art. I also wouldn't mind owning a print or two from the series to frame! Today's post is from the Non-Sport Update cards magazine, published in the summer of 1993. I will be scanning and posting more of the cards in the near future.

First, the cover, a reproduction of one of the Wrath of Khan paintings, and a fine one it is...

 (Click on images to enlarge; once open, you may have to click it again to view full size.)

Below is the write-up about the cards, framed as a fictional encounter between the TOS crew and a rep of the Skybox company. Someone should have told the writer how to use stardates to indicate real-time dates. I figure that out in the early 70's when labeling my cassette tapes, as "Recorded Stardate 7405.15."

Bonus: Director Nick Meyer confers with Shatner on the set of "The Wrath of Khan," from the book "Charting the Undiscovered Country: The Making of Trek VI."

"Tell me to 'dial it back' again, Nick, and I will punch you!"

Bonus: Shatner enjoys a clinch with shapely Sherry Jackson (who played the android Andrea) in a publicity still taken during the filming of "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"

"Are you... fully functional?"

"Wrath Of Khan" Cable TV Premiere

This local Telecable cable guide comes from the WV/PA area, and came out in April of 1983 when "The Wrath Of Khan" (notwithstanding the TMP photo used on the cover) was premiering on pay TV for the first time. The nice interview with Shatner is the highlight of the issue, but there were a number of other items scattered throughout the digest-sized magazine that I also included.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"Spock..." "Yes, Jim?" "You're... standing in my way."

Don't forget to visit my new blog devoted to the other Star Trek shows that came after TOS: www.MyStarTrekScrapbook2.blogspot.com!

Kelly Freas McCoy Portrait

Today we continue posting the set of paintings by Kelly Freas, which I acquired from Lincoln Enterprises in 1976. So far, we've seen the somewhat familiar Kirk and Spock, and today we see the portrait of everyone's favorite grumpy but lovable country doctor, Leonard McCoy.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"Three guesses where this probe is going?"

Below, we take a closer look at the good doctor's face, and in this case I have no criticism; Freas perfectly captured DeForest Kelly's features. If the artist was working from recent photos of the cast rather than production pictures, as some commenters on previous posts mentioned, then DeForest had changed the least of the three main stars. Here we see only a few more creases, but the expression is pure McCoy, which shows that Freas certainly could depict accurate faces with no trouble. Using a sickbay wall panel as a background, and giving him a (fairly generic) medical instrument, adds some visual interest as well. All around, an excellent part of the set, and a beautiful painting on its own.

"I only peek in the line of duty. Now, get undressed, Nyota."

Bonus: (retroactively added on 1-14-10) Here is the DeForest Kelly salute from Starlog issue #112 (October 1986) which was the Trek 20th Anniversary edition.

By coincidence, this photo of McCoy perfectly matches the position of his head in the painting.

Bonus: Below, the cover of the "Wrath of Khan" paperback adaptation, published in July of 1982. After the "leisurely" pace of the previous movie, I (and many fans) were ready for some action, and by George, we knew from the moment we heard the title that we were likely to get it. The return of Khan! I was super excited, and picked up the novelization a few days before the movie came out. As I usually did in such cases, I read about 75 percent of it before stopping, in order to preserve any surprises that the ending of the movies brought. I was glad I did, when I saw the movie. Although the cover art is uncredited, it shows all the earmarks of a Bob Larkin painting, so that's my best guess. Anyone know for sure? Update: Two commenters think it's by Boris Vallejo, so it probably is. He did some great covers also. When I find out for sure, I'll post it!

"Spock, don't look now, but I think we're being followed."

Next: Another painting in the set; and if you say one word about what he's wearing, you could get kilt by this manly bearded swordsman.

"Wrath of Khan" article from FM #186

From issue #186 of Famous Monsters, published August 1982, comes this article on "The Wrath of Khan," with exciting full-color photos (something new for the mag). The inclusion of a color section didn't help the magazine much, as it folded shortly thereafter.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

The photos in this article really served to get me even more excited about the movie than I already was, action and drama-packed as they seemed to be. Ready for something really good after the snooze-inducing pace of ST:TMP, this issue fanned the flames of expectation, and I was not let down.

Below, from the same issue, is the merchandise page featuring the Trek material. How much of this stuff did you have, and how much do you still have? I still have the books, and had the three ship models, but none of my old models survived the years and many moves. I do still have some unbuilt ones in their boxes, but I'll never put them together.

The sleeping bag allowed one to really "get into" Star Trek more literally.

Bonus: below, Kirk is on the receiving end for a change, in this funny promotional pic shot during the filming of "I, Mudd."

"Fully functional, you say? I've been called a love machine myself, sometimes."