But does there really need to be a new “reimagined” comic series based on Galactica 1980? I didn’t even know this series — which begins next month — existed until a few minutes ago when I read a post at io9 about the current popularity of remakes and rehashes and reinterpretations and continuations on television, at the movie theater and in print. I’ll admit that I’m excited about the upcoming miniseries based on Jericho. And I’d pay any price for a comic book continuation of Earth 2.

But Galactica 1980?

The debut of the comic book series – Jericho: Season 3: Civil War — will pick up where the television program left off, answering many questions for its passionate fans. The first issue of the comic book is scheduled for an October release and will be a six issue miniseries from DDP and the show’s original creators and producers.

There will be 500 copies of a special black and white mini-comic for sale at $5 a pop. If anyone at Comic-Con drops by this panel and has any news to pass along, please hit the comments.

Dynamite will kick things off with a special $1 introductory comic but no release date has been announced yet. Apparently, comics based on Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis were published in the past by Avatar, with the last issue(s) coming out in July of 2007. I had no idea.

Considering that it appears to be quite a difficult order for most comic book shops to carry a wide selection of companies (oh, and hey, the economy is so great!), I was incredibly lucky to be living in the proximity of one that carried ‘Wasteland’ when it debuted in 2006. It was a famous case of my catching the second issue rather than the first (ironically, years later, I would find the first issue in a shop that had decided to stop carrying the series some time ago, to the point where at least one clerk there thought ‘Wasteland’ had been cancelled, even as I was buying the only trade collection of it that I would find there), but I was hooked right away. Set one-hundred years after an event known as The Big Wet, it’s the seemingly typical story of a post-apocalyptic society that remains foreboding for survivors. The most recognizable character, Michael, is described as a ruin runner, who routinely travels the long distances across America most people only hear of as rumor, and he’s at the center of #25, a flashback ten years earlier that features the first colored pages of the series.

Around him initially are survivors of a different kind, of the harsh conditions that persist and make refugees to a city believed to be a refuge, but instead turns out to be a nightmare of religious tyranny and political maneuvering that even those in favor find difficult to navigate. Michael is more than just a scrappy fighter; along with Abbi, who came with him to the city, and the iron fist ruler of the city, are a bit more than human, blessed with considerable healing abilities. That would be the tip of things still to be revealed, as with the Big Wet, and how exactly our world became theirs (there is a scrap of an identity card from ours that survives and keeps showing up that hints at a greater connection than would seem evident). But if that were the only thing appealing about ‘Wasteland,’ then it would be difficult to recommend it with a straight face to the unassuming.

In many ways, it’s a lot more like ‘Walking Dead’ than it is different, because writer Antony Johnston navigates an expansive cast quite remarkably. If you can get a handle on the black & white art of Christopher Mitten, which is really quite exquisite but difficult to work into because of the lack of color, you’ll find yourself quite familiar with all the characters who truly matter. The real trick is, when they have to, they all do, and that’s the fun of following them, and ‘Wasteland.’

There’s a long-term quest, much like Ron Moore’s ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ which Michael and Abbi are once again on the path of, finding a city that might hold the key between the past and present that’s always being teased, which holds an interesting twist, because on numerous occasions, Michael has stated he’s been there and failed to find it, but there’s the suggestion that he may be wrong after all, that the hope this city represents, that the previous one failed so miserably to hold, will be the great fulfillment of an endlessly fascinating series.

Johnston has worked to create a unique world in his vision of the future, which represents the first truly independent America there has ever been, totally on its own, with new cultures, familiar yet different, which to explore is half the fun of the book. I have never really followed a story like this as a first-run fan before (some reviewers have described it as the other side of the Mad Max dystopia), but I find it hard to resist. Having been cut off for much of it run from reading new issues as they were released, I’ve been missing out on one of my favorite aspects of ‘Wasteland,’ being the accompanying text essays that follow each graphic section (something that Marvel’s Dark Tower comics have been doing, and which are being included for the first time in collected form for the deluxe edition I mentioned earlier), which further explore Michael’s world. Now having finally come back to the new issue releases and finding the series to be thriving as always, I think it’s time that ‘Wasteland’ gets an audience the size it deserves. Hey, there’s no real risk here, right? An independent release sticking around for this long has to be doing something right.

What’s This About Supergirl’s Underwear?

I found this wonderful article at The Beat that links to this NPR article that discusses this article at Newsarama focusing on the recent change in the way Supergirl’s costume is depicted in comics. Apparently, DC editor Matt Idleson was fed up with seeing Kara Zor-El’s (Supergirl) panties in the pages of Supergirl and decreed that from here on out she’ll be shown wearing red shorts under her blue skirt.

A cover from 2007 with two Supergirls. One's modestly clad, one's showing plenty of skin. (Courtesy of The Grand Comics Database)

As someone who doesn’t read the current incarnation of Supergirl, hasn’t read any of the previous volumes or even a single issue with Supergirl, I found this entire thing hilarious. Apparently, Supergirl’s costume — and its emphasis on certain assets — has been something of a controversy for years. Here‘s a lengthy thread at the Comic Book Resources Forums regarding the skirt/panties/shorts debacle.

Still Trying to Migrate to Trades

Sometime last year I made the decision to start buying most of my comics in trade paperback form. Or at least miniseries and limited series. Sure, it would mean waiting several months for the trade to come out but it would be cheaper and easier to store. Since then I’ve purchased very, very few trades and at least a hundred comics. I just can’t bring myself to stop buying individual books.

On the other hand, I have four miniseries (Unknown and Ignition City, among others) in varying states of completion sitting in piles waiting to be read. Maybe I have the first two or three issues but haven’t read a single one, not wanting to start a miniseries and then have to wait a month or two for the final issues to be released. So why not wait for the trades?

I suppose in part I’m concerned that these miniseries won’t be released in trade paperback form. In that case, I’d have to track down the individual issues anyway and that would take even longer (although it probably would be even cheaper). But it seems like just about everything is getting a trade paperback release these days. So what’s my excuse?

Dark Reign: Elektra / Fantastic Four

Although not an “event” along the lines of Civil War or Secret Invasion, Marvel’s current Dark Reign storyline seems to have impacted plenty of titles while producing a lot of limited series. I’m only read two: Dark Reign: Elektra and Dark Reign: Fantastic Four. I’m enjoying both but of the two, Dark Reign: Fantastic Four is much more fun.

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #3 (Courtesy of The Grand Comics Database)

Given the subject matter I suppose the term fun isn’t quite right. I’m still not sure when the events in the limited series take place in relation to the regular Fantastic Four title. Before? After? At the same time? Who knows. Maybe, as I’ve theorized, Dark Reign: Fantastic Four takes place in an alternate universe very close to the core Marvel universe. It would make a lot of sense, actually. I can’t wait to see if I’m right.