VERY FINE/NEAR MINT
by Joshua Ortega, Eric Nylund & Nigel Raynor
Before the time of mankind's exodus from the twelve colonies (as told in the current award winning Battlestar Galactica series on SCI FI) and the returned menace of the Cylons, a war was fought between man and machine. A story that has never before been told, until now.... Now, Dynamite Entertainment are proud to present the CYLON WAR mini-series event, from writers Joshua (Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer) Ortega and Eric (Halo) Nylund, Galactica veteran artist Nigel Raynor and cover artists Stephen (Wolverine) Segovia (75%) and Nigel Raynor (25%). Fully authorized by Sci Fi and the show producers, the world of Galactica and the first "apocalypse" with the Cylons is explored here as only Dynamite can
Date Available: 02/18/2009
BONUS REVIEW by GARY OWENS
A disclaimer: I haven’t seen any of the new Battlestar Galactica series on the Sci-Fi Network, though I watched most of the original series decades ago, where I found the Cylons, with the running, back-and-forth visor light, terrifying. This story takes place decades before the original (and current) show, giving the first indications on how the Cylons once helped humans, but ultimately betrayed them. The art is fair, with a well-told story that builds patiently upon itself. At the end, it worried less on the “Cylon” war (which was more a war between colonies), but more on how the Cyclons turned on humans. For myself, I saw shades of other Sci-Fi classics in this tale: a robot’s uprising, like in Terminator (though the original series predates Terminator); fighting in the ship’s corridors, a la Star Wars; but, far more importantly, the case where the Cylon’s appear to follow a modified version of Asimov’s three rules of robotics, and how those rules don’t seem to hold water in the long run. This last point is graphically shown on the cover (which I don’t care for; leave that type of imagery for the comic itself, thank you). Overall well done, ominous in its tones, as it shows that good intentions aren’t good enough, but also where, it seems, that it’s difficult in popular Sci-Fi to avoid Asimov’s laws (remember Data from Star Trek?), and the weaknesses in those laws, in explaining a cyborg/robot uprising. That, for me, was what needed the most work.
