By Laramie Martinez

I must be feeling nostalgic this month, because I’ve got another review of a comic series based on an old T.V. show. Battlestar Galatica: Gods and Monsters is a pleasant, albeit somewhat jarring trip down memory lane. I haven’t watched the series for a few years now so when I was dropped back into the fleet it took me awhile to get my bearings. So much happens in the show that it can be confusing to try to remember what events happened or have yet to happen in the timeline. This issue shows promise, but it lacks a fundamental characteristic of the Battlestar Galactica franchise, which make it a little less interesting than it could be.

If I had to pick one thing that made the show stand out it would have to be the high stakes that were the center of each episode. The show was always exploring these huge ideas. Philosophy, Religion, Government, and Free Will were all up for grabs. This issue, by comparison, feels smaller. With a plot line that is almost wacky, the comic fails to live up to the expectations placed upon the franchise. Not to say that there is nothing in this comic that’s redeemable, as #1 issues go, it wasn’t too bad. It did everything it was supposed to, gave us some hints at conflict and provided a compelling twist at the end. But it doesn’t really live up to the levels of conflict seen by the franchise.

For me, the art was where this issue truly stood out. A little more cartoonish than most T.V. adaptations, I enjoyed the looseness of the style. In a lot of these adaptations we see artists going for a more realistic approach and oftentimes coming up short. This issue skips that sense of awkwardness with art that knows what it is. This is a comic first and foremost, not a comic trying to be a T.V. show. Ironic, that I commend the art for branching out from the show and condemn the plot for doing the same, but what can I say? I am a man of complex tastes.

This issue falls into the realm of average. It doesn’t make any mistakes, but I think it misses the opportunity to be something more. If you’re a fan this issue could be hit or miss, but both the art and the narrative are consistent. They are both focused on telling a smaller story.

Score: 3/5

Battlestar Galactica: Gods and Monsters #1
Writer: Karl Kesel
Artist: Alec Morgan & Dan Schkade
Colorist: Chris O'Halloran
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment