Battlestar Galactica #4 - Marvel Comics

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA No. 4, June 1979

Containing a distinctly energetic comic book adaptation of the “Battlestar Galactica” television episode "Lost Planet of the Gods – Part One", there’s arguably a strong sense of pace to Roger McKenzie’s “Into The Void!”. For whilst much of this seventeen-page periodical focuses upon Captain Apollo’s wedding plans with Serina and a mysterious alien virus which swiftly causes the vast majority of the fleet’s viper pilots to slip into a coma, there’s still plenty of action on show in the shape of a somewhat deadly magnetic abyss and a pulse-pounding attack upon a Cylon asteroid base.

In addition, the sheer suddenness of Boomer and Jolly’s potentially lethal sickness and the disease’s rapid infectiousness really seems to catch the Galactica’s medical staff completely off-guard, and shockingly leaves the humans virtually defenceless with two-thirds of the publication left to read. Coupled with the almost obsessive curiosity both Commander Adama and Count Baltar have with the aforementioned void and its link to reaching the fabled planet Earth, and the American author’s penmanship genuinely projects an enthralling sense of intensity; “Do I dare risk the safety of the Galactica and the ships she has sworn to protect on what may be no more than a myth..?”

Likewise, the fact that Blue Squadron’s attack upon their robotic enemies is spearheaded by simple shuttle pilots, as opposed to experienced Colonial warriors, adds an extra element of excitement to its proceedings - especially when an understandably concerned Apollo is forced to team-up with his untested future wife during the heat of the battle. It is repeatedly made clear that this hastily cobbled together mission is absolutely crucial to the existence of the Galactica, so those bibliophiles unfamiliar with Glen Larson and Don Bellisario’s broadcast storyline may very well have been worried as to whether any of the new pilots were actually going to survive the decisive assault or not.

Perhaps this comic’s greatest asset however, are the layouts of Walt Simonson, which go an incredibly long way to helping move the drama unfurl at a sense-shattering speed. The Knoxville-born artist does a tremendous job of imbuing all the fighter craft with a palpable sense of flight and firepower courtesy of some rapid, tightly-pencilled panels. But also makes it easy to discern one pilot from another by taking up series editor Louise Jones’ suggestion to have the names of “the newly trained cadets” stencilled upon the brow of their helmets.

Script: Roger McKenzie, Art: Walt Simonson & Klaus Janson