2015 Reading Challenge Book 043 Battlestar Galactica TPB from Maximum Press

TITLE -Battlestar Galactica

AUTHOR-Rob Liefeld & Robert Napton

FORMAT-Trade paperback

FIRST TIME READING-No

COST-$2

Being a young child when the first Star Wars film hit theaters I became a huge space opera fan. So when Battlestar Galactica started airing I had to see it each week.Even going as far as getting my parents to set the vcr to record the show.I managed to convince them to let me keep 3 tapes of BSG. Which was huge back then cause blank tapes were like $10 bucks each.So once we got a new vcr, a VHS model. That's right I was recording BSG on a Betamax vcr.But once we got the VHS my parents let me move the Betamax to my room. And for years I would watch those BSG tapes over and over. Even now that I got the entire series on DVD,I would love to still have those worn out old Betamax tapes.Just getting to see those old ass commercials again would be a time trip to my childhood.

In 98 I had found  a great comic shop. Was talking to the owner about BSG and he jokingly mentioned that Rob Liefeld had published a BSG comic. This sent me diving into his back issue bins to find the dozen of so BSG comics published by Maximum Press in the mid 90s. I found a couple of issues of the anthology title Asylum. Which had a 5 to 8 page black and white BSG story in each issue that I found. But what I really wanted was the first four issues from Maximum Press. I had seen a online review of those 4 issues.They seemed to provide a good resolution to the first season. And a good start to more stories. Sure I could have ordered them years ago from Mile High,Mycomicshop or one of the many other online shops. I am sure I could have gotten all the issues off Ebay fairly cheap. But I wanted to find the issues in a shop or at a con. I do enjoy the "hunt" for back issues. And keeping fairly cheap but not that common stuff on my want list makes sure that at almost any comic shop or con I can find 10 to 20 bucks worth of comics I don't own and want.

After close to a decades worth of searching all I had was an almost complete set of the Asylum comic. And 1 issue of a later series from Maximum Press.I was looking for the dvds of Galactica 1980,yeah I have finally seen this horrible series,and below it I saw a BSG trade published by Maximum Press.I clicked the thumbnail and found out it reprinted the first 4 issues that I had been searching for all these years.And it was $2. But I was conflicted. I really wanted to find this at a shop or a con.I thought about it for a bit.And decided that the price was better than I would more than likely ever get at a con or shop. Plus I had "hunted" for them for right at 10 years.

So after waiting all this time how  is the comic? Well the art is your normal mid 90s Liefeld hacked out clone art. I do not hate Liefeld art. Sure isn't amazing and more often than not has horrible layouts and anatomy. But it has a weird funky energy to it that reminds me of the energy Creeper era Steve Ditko artwork has.The art isn't good enough to add to the story. But also isn't bad enough to subtract from it either. Then there is the writing.I wonder how much of it is from Rob's mind and how much is Mr Napton. I have never heard of Napton before. Sadly like the art,the story isn't good or bad. It is just there. Was I entertained? Yeah,I was. But I am a huge original BSG fan and will read and be at least slightly entertained by any media that continues the story from that one single season.Well not any media, FUCK GALACTICA 1980!

Battlestar Galactica trade paperback from Maximum Press gets a 2.50 outta 5.