Star Trek: Infestation, Issue 1

Summary
Stardate 7493.5. Admiral James T. Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy depart the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) for the colony world of Calibus VII, where McCoy is to be honored for his recent work with the Frontier Medics Program. Receiving no communications from the planet, the Enterprise officers, along with three security guards - Emigh, Padilla, and Barnes - land in the largest settlement with caution. The colony appears to be deserted. Encountering a body, McCoy declares the unfortunate colonist dead, only to have him rise up and attack the landing party. Phasers set to stun have no effect, and the commotion attracts further attention - the rest of the colonists in their undead state.

Fending off the initial attack, Kirk refuses to allow the guards to set their weapons to lethal settings, and the landing party heads for the administrative center. However, Padilla, who was injured by the originally-encountered colonist, falls to his knees, then attacks Barnes. He has been infected and, as the Enterprise officers barricade themselves inside a small outbuilding, they find that the outbreak is also transforming Barnes. Leaving him behind, Kirk, Spock and McCoy narrowly avoid a lone colonist, McCoy being pushed out of the way by Emigh, who is bitten.

Padilla and Barnes are seen heading for the shuttle, where they are able to remotely access the launch controls. Attempts to lock out the shuttle computer are unsuccessful. Sending a subspace distress signal to Montgomery Scott, commanding the Enterprise in Kirk's absence, Kirk orders the Enterprise to come to their rescue - but if they cannot be contacted by the time of the starship's arrival, to quarantine the planet and alert Starfleet Command. The three officers then destroy the shuttle with full phasers, and head for the administrative center, where they find that most of the colony has been powered down, with the exception of a facility some distance away. Risking the trip across open countryside, Kirk, Spock and McCoy arrive at the facility, pursued by a large number of the colonists.

With the perimeter fencing not holding the horde back, and Spock having to manually disengage the facility's door locks, Kirk has no choice but to fire on the transformed colonists with phasers at maximum...

Background Information

 * Four covers were produced for this issue: two standard covers - Cover A, by John K. Snyder III and Jason Wright; Cover B by Casey Maloney, Gary Erskine and Luis Antonio Delgado; and two retailer incentive covers - RI Cover A by Gabriel Rodriguez; RI Cover B also by Rodriguez with hand sketches by Gordon Purcell. Purcell stated "I did 400 covers for Trek: Infestation 1--about 200 Kirks, 100 Spocks and 100 McCoys. Some of the Kirks were from the waist up--others were head shots. I think there were more orders than IDW expected because I only had about 10 days to turn these around, so I had a lot of long days. I think they turned out well, so it was worth it. I also inked the second Trek:Infestation cover and drew 4 of the Godzilla incentive covers along the way."
 * Cover A uses the version of the Star Trek logo originally used by Gold Key Comics.

Creators

 * Writer:
 * Scott and David Tipton
 * Artists:
 * Gary Erskine (pencil finishes, inks, cover art)
 * Casey Maloney (pencil layouts, cover art)
 * Luis Antonio Delgado (color art, cover color art)
 * Chris Mowry (letter art)
 * John K. Snyder III (cover art)
 * Jason Wright (cover color art)
 * Gabriel Rodriguez (cover art)
 * Gordon Purcell (cover pencil sketch art)
 * Editors:
 * Tom Waltz
 * Bobby Curnow (assistant editor)
 * Special Thanks:
 * John Van Citters
 * Risa Kessler