Kirk was a character created by Benny Russell for the Incredible Tales of Scientific Wonder magazine. In Russell's stories, Kirk was a bold character who would fight alongside his crew on their missions to distant alien planets. The readers of the magazine complained that a real captain would not put himself in constant danger and Russell created the new character of Picard. As much as he enjoyed writing stories featuring Kirk, Russell preferred writing about Benjamin Sisko as he could relate to the character much easier. (DS9 novelization: Far Beyond the Stars)