From October 1967 to February 1979 Gold Key Comics (Western Publishing) published 61 issues of Star Trek. Released on an irregular schedule, the stories bore little resemblance to the original TV show, but the series does have the distinction of being the very first comic book adaptation of Star Trek. Star Trek #1 can be seen here.

Another comic book imprint from Western Publishing was Whitman. While Gold Key was available for newsstand distribution, Whitman variants were sold in retail shops or in 3-Packs from 1971 to 1980. Both Gold Key and the Whitman variants are identical, although Whitman variants only account for about 5% - 10% of existing copies.

After Gold Key, Marvel Comics got the Star Trek license between December 1979 to February 1982. DC Comics followed up as the next publisher to get the Star Trek license and began producing comics in February 1984 through November 1988. After almost a year, in the Fall of 1989, DC renegotiated the Star Trek license and resumed publishing until December 1995.

Since then, through the years, some form of Star Trek comic has been in publication with the likes of Malibu Comics (1993), Marvel Comics (again in 1994), Wildstorm Comics (1999), Tokyopop (manga - 2006), and finally IDW Publishing (2007) where it continues to this day.