Spock Smiles
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As a Vulcan, Spock is not supposed to smile. On the rare occasions when he does smile in canon, he is usually under alien influence. Occasionally he does give a small smile if the situation warrants it.
Naturally, some fans can not resist the temptation of portraying this human emotion on his face. Others dislike it. A fan from The K/S Press #89 writes: "There is something extremely disconcerting about watching Spock laughing out loud; doesn't seem quite decent, somehow, like catching him in his underwear."
A Brief Canon History
In the unaired pilot, "The Cage," Spock discovers chiming flowers on the planet and gives other landing party members a big grin. In fact, his smiling is one of the most remarked upon aspects of the pilot.
He also smiles and laughs in "This Side of Paradise", when he is affected by the alien spores on Omicron Ceti III. The song "Once I Smiled" on Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy describes his experience.
The one time in the regular series that he smiles totally of his own accord and without being influenced by alien spores, time travel, etc., is at the end of "Amok Time", when he thinks he has killed Jim Kirk and then finds him alive. Fans go wild with speculation through slash-colored glasses about this.
When Henoch inhabits Spock's body in "Return to Tomorrow", he does much smiling and laughing. Kollos smiles a lot and quotes poetry when he mind-melds with Spock in "Is There In Truth No Beauty".
Spock is forced to laugh as well as cry by the Platonians in "Plato's Stepchildren". Dr. McCoy warns them that this could actually kill him.
In "All Our Yesterdays", Spock travels back many thousands of years to the ice age of the planet Sarpeidon. Apparently telepathically affected by the barbaric Vulcans of that day, Spock began reacting emotionally to the woman, Zarabeth, whom he found trapped in that time period. He smiled once or twice.
Some Fic Featuring a Smiling Spock
The zine 500 Year Diary promises no smiling Spocks.
Vids with a Smiling Spock
Gallery of Spock Smiles
by Virginia Varnuska from The Leonard Nimoy Fan Club Yearbook (1990): "The half-Vulcan is beginning to understand the emotion of joy!!"
art by Kyla Weston from Alien Brothers
inside art by Laura Virgil from Epilogue #1
back cover of Eel-Bird Banders' Bulletin #1, Spock grins, art by Pat O'Neill
cover of Counterpoint #4, subtle but sweet, art by Deeb
inside art from Stardate: Unknown #5, artist: Bill Peterson
back cover of Grup #2, art by M.L. "Steve" Barnes
inside art from Contact #5/6, Alice Jones
front cover of The Trekkie Book of Fun
from Spock's Scribes, by Karen Flanery
art from Interphase #3 by Connie Faddis
front cover of Kan't/Stop Laughing, with good humor all around
possible inside art from En Garde, by Kathy Bushman
cover of First Time #28, DEW
back cover of T-Negative #27, set out-takes
art from Berengaria #4, Larry Greiber
from Mind Meld #1, Christine Myers
from Quadrant #1, Pam Tacoma
from Enter-comm #4, E. Winder
back cover of the second yearbook for LNSTFCCF Bulletin, Claire Mason
