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otherwyrld's review
2.0
Adaptations of films and TV series need to do several things to be considered successful. They need to stay true to the plots and characterisations of the parent material, they need to stick within agreed canon and continuity as it appears at the time the book is written, or at least not stray too far, and they need to feel as if they could be part of the same universe. In addition, comic book/graphic novel adaptations need to provide recognisable images of the main characters to hang the story on, as well as following general guidelines for good comic book storytelling.
This graphic novel fails on nearly all of these points.
Lets take the continuity issue first - as this is a prequel to the TV series, of necessity it removes the main focus of that series, namely the battle against the Cylons (they do appear briefly, but they should not have). Bereft of a recognisable foe, the series has to fall back on much less interesting antagonists - in this case the hackneyed old story of a military coup by an old friend of Commander Adama, ostensibly as a reaction to perceived corruption in the Twelve Colonies leadership. Needless to say, none of this is ever mentioned in the series itself, though the destruction of the Colonies might have had something to do with pushing this to one side. It makes no difference though because the story is old, tired and boring.
Going on to the artwork - well, to say it is terrible would not be an exaggeration. The first chapter has Adama and Tigh in conversation, but I would not have recognised either of them without them calling each other by name. Subsequent chapters are slightly better in that the main characters are just about recognisable (blond haired woman, must be Starbuck, right?), but the artwork fails in so many other ways. Somebody needs to get this guy a copy of [b:Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art|102920|Understanding Comics The Invisible Art|Scott McCloud|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328408101s/102920.jpg|2415847] to show him how sequential art is supposed to be displayed, so that you can actually understand what is going on on the page. It doesn't help that there are several flashbacks and time jumps in the story that are not highlighted in any way in the art work or the text. Sometimes it feels as if the book has been assembled with the pages out of sequence. Finally, the artist seems to have some kind of obsession with purple, which is everywhere - don't get me wrong, purple is one of my favourite colours but not when it is used on people's faces instead of actual shadows.
Dynamite Comics are one of the relatively new comics producers over the last few years, and they have apparently got the rights to a number of TV series and film series that I like. If this book is an indication of the quality I should expect, then I won't be looking out for them.
1 1/2 stars and that is being generous.
This graphic novel fails on nearly all of these points.
Lets take the continuity issue first - as this is a prequel to the TV series, of necessity it removes the main focus of that series, namely the battle against the Cylons (they do appear briefly, but they should not have). Bereft of a recognisable foe, the series has to fall back on much less interesting antagonists - in this case the hackneyed old story of a military coup by an old friend of Commander Adama, ostensibly as a reaction to perceived corruption in the Twelve Colonies leadership. Needless to say, none of this is ever mentioned in the series itself, though the destruction of the Colonies might have had something to do with pushing this to one side. It makes no difference though because the story is old, tired and boring.
Going on to the artwork - well, to say it is terrible would not be an exaggeration. The first chapter has Adama and Tigh in conversation, but I would not have recognised either of them without them calling each other by name. Subsequent chapters are slightly better in that the main characters are just about recognisable (blond haired woman, must be Starbuck, right?), but the artwork fails in so many other ways. Somebody needs to get this guy a copy of [b:Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art|102920|Understanding Comics The Invisible Art|Scott McCloud|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328408101s/102920.jpg|2415847] to show him how sequential art is supposed to be displayed, so that you can actually understand what is going on on the page. It doesn't help that there are several flashbacks and time jumps in the story that are not highlighted in any way in the art work or the text. Sometimes it feels as if the book has been assembled with the pages out of sequence. Finally, the artist seems to have some kind of obsession with purple, which is everywhere - don't get me wrong, purple is one of my favourite colours but not when it is used on people's faces instead of actual shadows.
Dynamite Comics are one of the relatively new comics producers over the last few years, and they have apparently got the rights to a number of TV series and film series that I like. If this book is an indication of the quality I should expect, then I won't be looking out for them.
1 1/2 stars and that is being generous.
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