Christmas 2016: "Battlestar Galactica" by McKenzie and Colon

Merry Christmas, Groove-ophiles! Hoping your holidays (or at least your December) at finding you happy, healthy, warm, and ready to dig into some far-out comics! Today we're gonna peek in on the phenomenon that was Glen Larson's Battlestar Galactica. Conceived as a series of TV movies, but quickly morphing into a standard, hour-long weekly series beginning in September of 1978, BG set out to fill the quality sci-fi void felt between Star Wars movies. Expensive, spectacular, and ultimately cursed (the much-anticipated movie-length debut episode was interrupted by an 30-or-so minute special news broadcast--okay, it was important news, the signing of the historic Camp David Accords, but still, it signaled the tough road that lay ahead of this visionary series (it would end in April 1979). Things went a bit better for the comicbook series which also debuted in more upscale formats. It hit the ground running in Marvel Super Special #8 was published both in full-color magazine format and tabloid sized in October 1978. The standard comicbook series made its debut in December 1978 and ran for 23 issues, ending in October 1981. Soooo, that means the comic actually outlasted the TV series by a couple'a years. The first three issues of Battlestar Galactica actually reprinted the MSS #8 movie adaptation (which was also reprinted in paperback format by Ace Books) before plunging into new stories. McKenzie wrote most of the series and Walt Simonson drew the majority of the issues (and even wrote the last few), often inked by Klaus Janson. The fill-ins were by Marvel luminaries like Bill Mantlo, Steven Grant, Rich Buckler, Sal Buscema, and Jim Mooney, so it's no wonder the comicbook series outlasted the show, huh? Okay, enough rapping, let's read! Here's the first chapter of "Battlestar Galactica" from BG #1!

Sci Fi Week! Making a Splash: Walt Simonson's Battlestar Galactica

Yeah, we're talking the original Marvel comic based on the original ABC-TV show...the stupendous art of Walter Simonson...and, oh, yeah, the incredible inks of Klaus Janson (on most of these splashes, at least). Feast your peepers on these samples of splash page superiority from Battlestar Galactica #'s 4-5 (March-April 1979), 11-13 (October-December 1979), and 15-17 (February-April, 1980).

Random Reads: "Derelict!" by McKenzie, Simonson, and Janson

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Y'know, most every time I read a Groovy Age mag written by fellow Kentuckian Roger McKenzie I have to scratch my head and wonder. The dude was a great writer, penning a variety of Marvel mags as disparate as Captain America, Battlestar Galactica, Daredevil, and Tomb of Dracula with real flair...yet all that great work seems to be forgotten. Maybe it was timing. His stints on Cap and DD, for instance, were followed by legendary runs by Roger Stern and John Byrne (on Cap) and Frank Miller (on DD). Conversely, McKenzie followed Marv Wolfman on Wolfman's signature Marvel series, ToD. Still, any time Ol' Groove can plant a reminder in the collective cranium of comicbookdom (or at least the fraction of comicbookdom that digs DotGK), you can bet your sweet bippy I'll do it! Just check out "Derelict!" from Battlestar Galactica #15 (February 1980). I know you'll swoon to the truly far-out art by Walt Simonson and Klaus Janson (who can blame ya?), but pay attention to McKenzie's script, too, okay (and yeah, he and Simonson plotted the tale together)? It's a cool outing spotlighting one of Galactica's better second-tier characters, Lt. Boomer, putting him situations both frightening and touching. Enjoy!

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Golden Treasures

What it is, Groove-ophiles! It's a fact that Michael Golden was a genuine super-star artist during the last days of the Groovy Age (and continued to be one throughout the 80s and beyond). His blend of cartooniness and realism, eye for detail, slick line, and superb design sense is so awe-inspiring that his work is still influencing artists to this very day. In the 70s he was most associated with the Batman Family of mags over at DC and at Marvel, where he really rose to super-stardom, on the Micronauts. Now, Ol' Groove could not find one single Groovy Age Michael Golden cover on the DC end, and I have plans for a future post on Golden's Micronauts covers, so I thought I'd share some forgotten Golden genius applied to a handful of other Marvel comics. Some, like the ROM covers are the stuff of legend, the others might surprise you...

And of course, a special thanks to the folks at Grand Comics Database for the dyn-o-mite cover scans!