Battlestar Galactica #0

I figured this issue needed some special attention. I am a big fan of the current series, eagerly awaiting season 3, and find the original a fun distraction. When I found out about this comic several months ago from a random news post I became a little excited about it, but I didn't give it much thought. I figured it was too big of a title to really pull off considering how tight and complicated the show is.

Last week I read that issue 0 was coming out this week, and once again I became excited. Then I read the publisher was Dynamite Entertainment. I haven't bought comics from them before, but I've heard things. I flipped through Red Sonja early on hoping for a female version of Conan given the history, but what I saw wasn't pretty. I don't know about the writing, but the art seemed solely on showing her body off. Maybe that's what the series is about, but it turned me off of the title.

Behold, a highly critical review.

First off, check the cover out. I mean the drawn one, not the photo. Photo covers I don't mind, as it automatically catches a new reader's eye. The drawn cover sums up basically the show, especially the second season. Can you identify everyone? Baltar is drawn and colored pretty well, capturing his madness as it should. Adama is the old guy with glasses in the center, also easy to identify but not quite looking like him. Starbuck essentially looks like herself, but her face looks like a formula drawn face with the 'Starbuck' pieces tagged on.

Now ask yourself, who is that woman in the red dress holding the arrow? Someone walking up to the shelf will hopefully connect her with the photo cover, but if not you have to rely on show knowledge to know who she is. She's the Cylon that Baltar is obsessed with, Six. Well, at least one of her model. At least that's what I think, because if you think about it that woman looks almost nothing like her aside from her hair color. Again, the face looks like a standard woman face in comics, and a lot like Starbuck if you ignore the different coloring (also, eyebrows are thinner but that could simply be simplifying for distance). Her hair is the wrong style, and the pose just doesn't look 'Sixish' enough. But hey, you know she's sexy because her red dress is transparent, and that's what Six is all about, right?

Ok, enough complaining about the cover. Covers are there to sell the comic, and are often by a different artist. The inside of the comic is what really matters. I have to admit I've put off reading this issue since I picked it up. Reason? The art, again.

I knew who Roslin was solely by the situations she was in. She looks nothing like her, aside from her clothes and hair. She looks much younger and her mannerisms seem unlike her. Adama is still the old guy with glasses, and still looking kind of like him.

Later when they show Starbuck, she looks like she does on cover and seems a bit more endowed than the actress in the show. She doesn't really do a whole lot till the end of the issue, but she looks very much like a standard 'leading lady' drawing (like Roslin) with various distinguishing attributes. Dualla is the same way as well, and she looks very little like her actress aside from pulled back hair.

I don't know if Apollo was in the issue or not, or Tigh for that matter, though Apollo is spoken to over communications. I actually had to really force myself to sit down and read the issue, since I couldn't casually get past the art.

The writing was actually decent in my opinion, and captured the character's speaking habits pretty well. The plot is basically the standard "people we knew that are dead are actually alive!" and bring back Dualla's brother (whom I never knew about prior) and most predictably Zak (Apollo's brother, Adama's dead son, and Starbuck's former love). However, they do put a spin on the idea by having the crew of the Galactica knowing the people are dead and doing the datamining to uncover the death records.

Another slightly positive aspect of the issue is that as bad as the art may register in my mind, they nail the ship designs and space shots. My only complaint with the art in that area is that, well, flames do not vent into space when a ship is on fire. Simple physics of fire requiring fuel, and space not being kind to that fuel - something about it being a vaccuum.

My overall feelings about this particular issue? I'd give it a 3/10 for now, and another shot to see how they go with this type of story. However, I am not going to get all excited over the multiple covers (unless they are really well done).

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One interesting thing that I noticed in the issue is that Dynamite is also rebooting Xena as a comic. I'll check that out as well when it comes out. I'm a little disappointed that she is completely out of proportion in the preview art. Her chest is not that big, in fact I remember it being rather 'normal' size (her armor just stands out from decoratons). However, it does bring up the returned possibility of the Wonder Woman vs Xena comic that Kalinara mentioned.