Review: Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues by Erik Burnham

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Once upon a time, a troupe of has-been actors that starred on an old sci-fi show were enlisted by an alien race to save them from an intergalactic tyrant. Despite being way out of their depth, the cast somehow managed to save the aliens and stay alive... but their actions in outer space may have had dire consequences for another world. The cast of Galaxy Quest have enjoyed a career resurgence since returning from their intergalactic adventure, but all that is about to be interrupted by Qint, an alien with a very surprising ax to grind against Jason Nesmith and the crew of the NSEA Protector!

MY TAKE:
Galaxy Quest is one of my favorite movies, so of course I just had to read this one as soon as possible.

In Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues, a new group of aliens has come to seek the NSEA Protector crew's help. This quest may be more dangerous than their first mission, but this time, the crew has more help from an old, reliable Questian.

The story itself was enjoyable for me, and the action here matched the level of the movie. The main story takes place years after the movie, but the actual start of the plot takes place in relation to a pivotal moment in the film: the activation of the Omega 13. I thought that was brilliant, and I loved how it was able to connect with the movie.

The Thermians don't get much screen time here, but they are there and they do provide much needed help to Jason and his crew. It's too bad that my favorite characters Alexander and Tommy didn't get as much focus as I would have liked, but Alexander did get some funny lines, at least. One thing that did bother me, though, was that Guy is a bit of a self-centered jerk here. It seems that success has gotten to his head. That's too bad because I kind of liked him in the movie.

Anyway, as far as humor goes, the film is a hard one to top since it had a lot of funny lines, plus this graphic novel is less than 100 pages long. The first half of the story didn't really make me laugh, but the second half was funnier and felt closer to the spirit of the film.

Another little quibble I have, that I guess can't be helped since this is done in the style of comics like DC and Marvel, is that the characters here don't really look a lot like their movie counterparts. There were a few times wherein I wondered who the character speaking was. This applied to the times wherein Guy, Fred, Jason and Alexander sans costume were talking in close proximity to each other. Once the action shifted outside Earth, though, I didn't have any trouble anymore.

Thanks to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the e-ARC.

THE GOOD:

1. There's a possible next book/story after this one.
2. You get to see what happens after the film to Jason and the others.
3. The story fits in well with the Galaxy Quest canon. 

THE BAD:

1. Guy is kind of a jerk here. 

READ IT IF:

1. You liked the film.
2. You want to find out what happens next in the Galaxy Quest story.
3. You wished that the Questians had a more prominent role in the movie. 

RATING:


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