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Lately there seem to be more and more television shows and movies jumping into the comic book medium. Some I've been glad have made the jump such as the current Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel titles. Yes, they were shows that I liked but the comics seem to have taken that tone of the show and pulled it over to the new medium. Other titles, like the first Buckaroo Banzai, were very easily forgettable. Needless to say I didn't pick up the following series. I don't think I've read an actual "bad" title that has made the jump so far, but I was worried about the Galaxy Quest series making the move to the comic format with Galaxy Quest: Global Warning.
As I do my best to avoid comic news sites in order to avoid spoilers I had no idea what the story was going to be. Would it be about the actors portraying the characters? Would it be a story that was from the Galaxy Quest "show"? Would it be more satire poking fun at the bottomless pit that is geeky fandom (the actors surviving another convention)? Well, it was none of those. The funny thing is, it's not really even a sequel to the movie as it would technically take place before the end of the first movie.
The first two issues of the series are out and I must say that if you were someone who enjoyed the movie, then you really need to look at picking this title up now or when it hopefully comes out in trade. Of course, it's being published by IDW so you might actually end up saving money in the long run by buying the issues now as IDW's trades are never guaranteed to be cheaper than the individual issues. Regardless, my first point still stands.
So, how does the series take place before the end of the movie? Simple, the events appear to happen between the time the Galaxy Quest crew crash lands back on Earth and the new series 'Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues' hits the airwaves at the very end of the film.
As per usual, the series starts off on a bit of a misleading tone. Are they back in space? Are they just shooting the show? Well, check it out and you'll know. The best part of the series so far actually starts in the second issue. In the issue we get to see what happened right after the actors returned to Earth and what became of the NSEA Protector (well, the part of it that crashed on Earth). As I'm sure you can guess, the government and military are involved and not all of the actors are happy to lose the ship. Still, the show must go on, right?
In what I think is a nice touch writer Scott Lobdell also gives us some insight as to what is happening to the actors in their "real" lives. Most of this is done over the course of just a few pages, but it's interesting to see how some characters go back to old habits, some characters enjoy new found fame and love, and others get back to some original goals.
Scott Lobdell's take on the characters seems to be on par with how they were used in the movie, especially Fred Kwan's almost bizarre calm demeanor. Of course, much of Mr. Kwan's demeanor comes through in the art of Ilias Kyriazis. Kyriazis doesn't try to create an exact take on the actors from the movie. In fact, I'd say his take on the characters only looks like the movie actors on the most basic levels (hair color, head shape, etc.). For me, that works really well for this series. That lets me focus on things like Jason Nesmith being Jason Nesmith and not Tim Allen.
Again, as the series is only on its second issue I really don't want to give anything away because I think those who haven't read it will really enjoy the first two issues that are out. So again I say, if you enjoyed the movie then you should go out and pick up this series. If you haven't seen the movie then you're probably not really going to get too much out of the series. What else can I say but . . . By Grabthar's Hammer, what a comic!
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