This week Wonder Girl and Battlestar Galactica: Origins
By Miles Baker and Owen K. Craig
Each week we use random.org’s random integer generator to create two random numbers. They then count down on the release list until they find out their RANDOM COMIC OF THE WEEK! No matter what the publisher, what the issue, what the arc, we will be there reviewing things with little or no context.
Miles’ Book
Wonder Girl #4 (of 6)
Written by J. Torres
Art by Sanford Greene
DC Comics, 2007
I didn’t know that in the DC Universe Gilligan and the Skipper were Greek. But on page two of this comic, I found that out. Other than that, I didn’t feel very strongly about this issue one way or another. It just sort of happened to me. At the end of it, I was not filled with rage, which happens often, nor joy, which also happens. I did not shrug in apathy, but instead looked in the mirror terrified in the knowledge I didn’t know what the hell I was going to say (except that opening joke about Gilligan).
You will like this book if you like Wonder Girl. I don’t know who she really is, but she seems well presented. She’s a tough teenager (in ways beyond kicking a demigod through three Roman pillars (oh god, all that destroyed history — who’s the real villain?)) but without the attitude. It helps give this book its light tone.
The art could be described as a nice blend of Darwyn Cooke and other American attempts at manga. It’s energetic, gets the job done, the flow is good and what is happening is clear. But, that said, it’s not very deep art. There’s not a lot of different emotional beats in this book — but there is a lot of punching. You’ll also like this book if you like punching.
And there’s this guy, Stompa — guess what he does: he stomps! He actually comes in handy. Well, if you’re with the villains he does
Owen’s Book of the Week
Battlestar Galactica: Origins #1
Writer: Kevin Fahey
Pencils: Jonathan Lau
Dynamite Entertainment, 2007
Ah, the licensed comic. Last refuge of the fan desperate for more, when no more is to be found on TV or on the silver screen. Certainly it seems like a logical time for a Battlestar Galactica comic, with the end of the beloved show nowhere in sight (if there’s a better reason for the producers to settle than season four of Battlestar then I’m not aware of it). Unfortunately this comic does little to sate the appetite of this fan.
The problem with telling Gaius Baltar’s origin story is that there is no real reason to tell it. Do we need to know what Gaius was like as a kid? Do we even want to know? Part of the fun in watching his extraordinarily bizarre interactions with the other characters is marvelling at how messed-up he is and wondering how that came about. Plus, to have that origin told to us by someone other than the creators of the show just seems … cheap, somehow. All that would be excused, I suppose, if the comic were a revelation. Unfortunately it’s not.
This leads to the main problem with licensed comics. The fans (such as myself) are going to want a level of quality beyond what is possible from the writer and artist. It’s unfair, I know, but if we’re going to read a comic based on our favourite TV shows (or what-have-you) they’re going to have to be every bit as wonderful as the source material we fell in love with. It has to feel just like what we love, the lines have to sound just like what we love to hear and the characters have to look just like our beloved characters. That’s just not possible, unless you bring in the a-listers to helm the comic like they did with Buffy: Season 8 . And seriously, licensed comics like Buffy Season 8 are a rare, rare thing.
So no, Battlestar Galactica: Origins is not my cup of tea, like most licensed comics. It feels superfluous and sheds light on things I didn’t particularily want light shed on. But hey, if you’re even more desperate for a BSG fix than me, give it a shot. Maybe it’s for you.
