Galaxy Quest #1 (IDW Publishing)
Written by: Eric Burnham
Art by: Nacho Arranz
I am a huge fan of the 1999 film Galaxy Quest, although I can’t exactly explain why. Maybe it’s because I love Star Trek and this is its best parody or the fact I spent countless hours watching Home Improvement but in my mind Galaxy Quest is a perfect film. So you imagine my enthusiasm when I heard IDW would be releasing a sorta sequel in comic form.
Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues stars all of your favorites from the now cult classic except its years later and they are mega stars. Even Brandon (Justin Long), the over obsessive geek has come a long way sense their “real life” space adventure. Writer Erin Burnham nails the difficult task of continuing the Galaxy Quest tale in a way that makes sense and retains the spirit and tone of the film. Burnham sets up this sequel masterfully. Burnham engagingly ties directly into the ending of the movie and sets up an awesome premise for continuing the story of NESA Protector Crew. I really don’t want to say too much hear as if you love the movie as much as I do you will want to read it for yourself. While Burnham does a great setup job setting up our premise it appears he is hindered by the page count as Brandon (Justin Long) and Commander Taggart (Tim Allen) get most of the panel time and we get little input from the other characters.
I can’t believe I am saying this but my biggest disappoint with this book was Nacho Arranz’s character design as they had zero resemblance to their movie counterparts and seem to have gotten 20 years younger. I am going to assume though this was do a likeness licensing issue and probably not Arranz’s fault. Overall I wasn’t a huge fan of Arranz’s this first time out as it serviced the book but didn’t stand out from the crowd. I’m really hoping as we leave earth and dig deeper into this adventure the art will really start to shine.
Burnham’s hook is definitely what sells this first issue setting a very high bar for future installments. Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues #1 sets up what can be a great continuation to a fan favorite film. Its biggest problem will be maintaining this great start as the series continues and the premise builds. I can say this book invigorated my need for more from the NESA Protector crew especially my personal favorite Guy Fleegman AKA Security Chief Roc Ingersoll (Sam Rockwell). Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues offers a fantastic first issue geared directly to fans of the film. If you haven’t seen the movie this comic probably isn’t for you but in that case you really need to see Galaxy Quest (like right now) and then read this book.