THE LOST BATTLESTAR PROJECT: Battlestar Galactica (1st Miniseries 1995) Issue 04 pg 16 & 17 RECREATION

ISSUE 4 PG 16-17 DOUBLE SPREAD

Last year, I was fortunate enough to welcome into my collection a massive influx of vintage Battlestar Galactica artwork, courtesy of original artist Hector Gomez. Amidst the excitement of the new acquisitions, there lurked a slight twinge of disappointment. Of the seven issues purchased, two issues were incomplete, missing interior pages. (Three of the issues were also missing their covers, but Hector didn't provide the published art for them)

Yes, there are 4 pages of art missing, comprising three pieces: one page from issue two, with a page and double-spread from issue four. After 20 years, no-one remembers what may have happened to them - destroyed, lost, sold, or pulled as gifts or souvenirs by the production crew of the time.

While flipping through the newly-arrived piles of art, an old friend of mine noted the missing pages, and wryly commented "What a relief you have a personality that won't be at all bothered by such omissions."

Har-de-har har. But, he was right.

I resolved to plug the gaps in the books, for storytelling continuity and (not least) for my own satisfaction. But, how to go about it? I knew I wasn't particularly interested in having straight re-creations done; why pay an artist to do a lightbox job I could just as easily do myself? (And risk confusion should the originals ever, against all odds, actually turn up) Why not do something different?!

I contacted three Battlestar-lovin' artist friends of mine, and gave them the same instruction: select one of the missing pages, retain the same storytelling beats, but otherwise reinterpret the page as they saw fit. Chris Batista went first, preferring the challenging double-spread, with Warren Martineck and Steve Kurth each picking a Cylon page. Barb Schulz was chosen in advance as inker for the project, to provide some visual continuity between the three artists. I was responsible for restored word balloons and any required digital cleanup. Lastly, original series writer Robert Napton provided cheerleading support from afar.

This double-spread was the most problematic of the three.

Writer Robert Napton has since told me that the original plan for the Galactica miniseries called for FIVE issues, not four, with the cliffhanger of issue four being the assassination of Apollo. The planned fifth issue would have then comprised an extended version of the Final Battle for Earth, punctuated by interludes on the Seraph's ship, as Apollo pleaded with John for a return to the fight. The fifth issue was mooted late in the process, which necessitated compressing the two issues into one. In my opinion, this two-page spread shows the most storytelling strain from that decision.

With greatest respect to the original creators, I consider the original version of this spread to be quite awkward from a storytelling perspective. A great mass of exposition is crammed into one page, with comparatively little on the other. It wasn't until I had the pencils in-hand that I realized the editorial fix: digitally flip-flopping a chunk of the art between the two pages, giving room for the dialogue to visually flow. Once the pages were inked, I made the final changes in Photoshop, before adding the redistributed dialogue balloons. So this is what it feels like to be a Comic Book Editor!