ONCE UPON A COMIC BOOK ADAPTATION - BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!
Paul Spataro and The Irredeemable Shag find their joy discussing comic book adaptations of movies, specifically the comic magazine adaptation of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica theatrical film! Plus, we spend time chatting about the 2000s reimagined BSG series. Finally, we wrap up with YOUR listener feedback!
- 00:13:20 - Battlestar Galactica 2000s reimagining
- 00:24:10 - Other comic book adaptations of movies
- 00:32:40 - Marvel Comics 1978 adaptation of the Battlestar Galactica theatrical film
- 01:19:55 - Your Listener Feedback from the past five episodes
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- Listen to Paul and Shag on IS IT JAWS discussing the 1978 theatrical release of Battlestar Galactica:
https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/wp-content-uploads-2023-04-is-it-jaws-battlestar-galactica-pilot-mp3/ - See Shag's Tweets featuring images from this BSG comic adapation:
https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3Aonceuponageek%20%23BSGcomic&src=typed_query&f=live - Follow Paul Spataro
- Is it Jaws Podcast: https://twotruefreaks.com/podcast/qt-series/is-it-jaws-movie-reviews/
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Another great episode and guest.
I had never realized this started out as a movie meant for theaters, and that they had killed off one important character (who I won’t name) who played such an important role in the series.
Muffit the daggit might have been added as their version of R2-D2. The character always fascinated me because it was a chimpanzee inside the costume. I don’t know if BJ and the Bear came out before or after, but chimpanzees were popular with this 8-year-old kid. (And I’ll definitely be listening to all the “Is It Jaws” episodes involving the Planet of the Apes.)
The theme song is queued up on my Spotify playlist and will be set on infinite loop to listen to while doing some spring cleaning.
Thanks for listening! The pilot was originally meant for television, but they spent so much money that they released it to theaters in other parts of the world to recoup their expenses. But yes, the pilot had some significant differences!
I had no idea Muffit was a chimpanzee in a costume!?!?! That’s wild.
Yes, and it was apparently a real PAIN IN THE ASS to work with.
Enjoyed the episode listened to both parts .
Great guest on both shows .
Thank you!
If don’t mind I’ll give some of my doctor who fandom . One of my favorite stories is destiny of the Daleks . Why because it’s the first classic doctor who serial my whole family watched together. The first story that made a fan was asylum of the Daleks . Favorite companion Jamie . Also my favorite classic doctor is a tie between two and three . My bro is big first doctor guy .
Favorite other villain the master of the land of fiction and the master .
Favorite stories :
Alsyam of the Daleks.
Tomb of the cyber men
Web of fear ( I’ve watched this the most favorite .)
The sea devils .
Sorry if this was late but Doctor who how could I resist .
Has there ever been a “this is directed at the kids” gimmick that worked? Boxey & Muffet, Gremlin the Dragon on FLash Gordon, Wesley, Lucas on SeaQuest, etc, I got more annoyed with them being there than identifying with them.
What about Scrappy Doo? How can you forget Scrappy, Gene? It was a beloved kid’s cartoon full of meddling kids and a dog in a cool van. Then, they brought in an obnoxious younger dog to chase us all away. What TV exec genius was behind this decision? Has THAT story ever been told?
Oh, wait. There is one that worked: Robin.
I wouldn’t say that Robin necessarily worked, just that he stuck around. How many kids have you ever heard say “I don’t want to be Batman, I want to be Robin!”?
As for Scooby-Doo and all the Scooby-Clones (my favorite being Clue Club), that would be different in my mind, because they were all “kids” already. It wasn’t like they had a group of adults and one genius/comic relief kid that go thrown in to make the group “relatable”.
While I agree Scooby gang(s) were already kids, I do think Scrappy Doo was a cash-grab attempt to grab the even younger audience. By that point, the Scooby cartoons were already 20 years old. For most kids, it was their parents cartoon. So Scrappy was an attempt to grab the new kids. Just my two cents.
Agreed, but that’s more of a “Cousin Oliver” situation than a “Boxey” situation, IMHO.
Great show! Really enjoyed the conversation, esp. the detailed breakdown of the adaptation comics. I should say right off that I am inordinately fond of the Marvel BSG comics. I have the entire series, albeit in an odd fashion: I have the two tpbs published by Titan Books, Saga of a Star World (collecting issues 1-5, 15-16) and the one you mentioned in the show, The Memory Machine (collecting issues 6-13) and then issues 14 and 17-23 as singles – which I had bound into a single volume. I even wrote a lengthy review of the entire series for a now-defunct blog almost 8 (!) years ago: here’s the link.
As for other adaptations, I have to agree with Paul about Logan’s Run. I think the first five issues of the Marvel series that cover the story from the movie are arguably the best movie adaptation comics ever. In fact, no disrespect to the lovely Jenny Agutter, but I’d say they even surpasses the movie. Needless to say, I also have the entire Marvel series, which – you guessed it – I had bound.
The only other adaptation that gives the latter a run for its money in my book is the excellent Alien: The Illustrated Story, scripted by Archie Goodwin and drawn by none other than Walt Simonson – who did so much to make the BSG comics so wonderful.
Anyway, thanks again for a great show.
Well shag you did it . I’m watching the original battle star movie right now . And my thoughts Star buck is now the screen saver on my phone . I like it .
Impressive podcast. Most impressive. Hopefully this is readable. I’m dyslexic and normally I use type and talk tech. But, I’m on my phone and not my computer. So it’s not connected to this. Any way, I liked this tv show. And the reboot. In shock the guy hanging with the robot woman whom voiced Edie in ME 2 & 3. Well the guy was Balthazar. Sadly I never read this comic or the Image relaunch of it.
But it sounds cool. I had the robot action figure and I think Starbuck. Liked on this but not the A team. Was more of a Mr. T fan. The actor seems cool from the interviews I’ve seen of him. Moving on. The show was fun. And I remember watching it when I visited on Grand Parents. And here and there at home as well as reruns.
So I definitely watched the relaunch when it hit on the Sci Fi Channel. Not calling it Scy Fy. Oy. Any way it was a good show. Didn’t recognize Balthazar from Star Trek , but did recognize Green from Bonanza . But yep it was a cool show. Sorry to hear that Dr. Quine was not a nice person. Any way can’t wait to hear the next episode.
There was a fourth way to buy this comic! I know, because, having missed the first three, we found a paperback-sized version in the bookstore next to the novelizations! (I say “we” because my sister bought it. I will say this about geekiness in the family, despite low-key teasing about fandoms we don’t share, for the fandoms we do share there was a sense of communal property.) I think all the articles and pin-ups were collected in the center, between two panels of the ragtag, fugitive fleet gathering. Great podcast, I could see it again through your descriptions!
PS- Reminded there was a sequel paperback reprinting “Lost Planet of the Gods”.
Since that was only two issues, they included the beginning of the next story.
Excellent show, once again. I was aware of Battlestar Galactica back when I was a kid in the late 1970s and started collecting comics from 1979 onwards but never watched during that period, from what I recall, nor did I have any of the comics. I did, however, collect entire runs of DC’s Star Trek and “V” comics books back then, and Marvel’s “Star Wars” and “Further Adventures of Indiana Jones” comics (and their separate film comics adaptations).
I didn’t get around to watching the original Battlestar Galactica until long after I’d watched the entire reboot Galactica series, so I never had any problems with the changes they made on the reboot rubbing me the wrong way.
I finally got around to watching the original Galactica in 2017 and Galactica 1980 in 2018 and really enjoyed them (even the yes very cooky Galactica 1980!)
I look forward to reading the Marvel Battlestar Galactica comics at some point in my older issues reading (although at this rate that might not be until after I retire in 2034). (Hey, that has a nice sounding ring to it: “Galactica 2034”!)
As for the best ever comic book adaptations of movies, I have to say that it has to be, hands down l, Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson’s “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”, with Jerry Ordway’s gorgeous adaptation of the 1989 “Batman” movie a close second (or third if you count “Empire” and “Jedi” separately).
Here’s a suggestion: If no one else has already done it on the Fire & Water Network, you should consider doing episodes on selected issues of “Marvel Super Special” magazine, which did a new single issue film adaptation *every month* (or however often it came out). Now, granted, they weren’t all great. And the most popular films were also released in other formats simultaneously like in regular sized single issues, treasury editions, and paperback novel sized books. But they did a whole bunch of film adaptations in the “Marvel Super Special” magazine series that only appeared there, and others, like “Sheena” and “Tarzan: The Legend of Greystoke”, that had several releases but didn’t end up being hit movies. You could pepper them in here and there like you are planning to with “What If?”.