Star Trek: The Original Series the 23rd century bearing a crew dedicated to exploring the Milky Way Galaxy. Roddenberry noted a number of influences on his idea, some of which includes A. E. van Vogt's tales of the spaceship "Space Beagle", Eric Frank Russell's "Marathon" series of stories, and the film "Forbidden Planet" (1956). Some have also drawn parallels with the television series "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" (1954), a space opera which included many of the elements that were integral to "Star Trek"—the organization, crew relationships, missions, part of the bridge layout, and some technology. Roddenberry also drew heavily from C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower
Star Trek: The Original Series and the subsequent series "" ("TNG"). Marvel Comics again obtained the "Star Trek" license in 1996. Marvel (under the "Marvel/Paramount comics" imprint) published various one-shots and the quarterly "Star Trek Unlimited" series, which covered "TOS" as well as "TNG". They also introduced the new series "", which dealt with Christopher Pike's adventures as captain of the "Enterprise" (as depicted in the rejected "TOS" pilot ""). Fan acceptance of these comics got off to a shaky start when Marvel's inaugural publication of its new "Star Trek" line turned out to be a crossover between "TOS" and Marvel's popular superhero team, the