1978: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA in FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND (Warren)

More FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND this morning.... although you might be duped into thinking the mag's called GALACTICA, thanks to some cover layout shenanigans.

This is issue 150, published late in 1978 and coinciding with the TV premiere of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

It's interesting that the designer opted to feature the pilot-only Ovions (I've always wondered why the producers never brought them back for a rematch... blowing up the planet isn't reason enough when you've paid-out for all those expensive costumes) rather than the more iconic Cylons.  Presumably the Ovions better suited the Famous Monsters crowd.

My favourite image in the whole article is the Imperious Leader.  He's barely seen in the finished edit (any version) of the opener and then takes a backseat to Baltar throughout the weekly series.  Some reports have claimed this was because he we too scary and others because it looked a bit crap.  I have to say, the design looks pretty good in that still.

My own theory is that the Leader, a holdover from the original plan to make the Cylons lizards in armour, no-longer fitted the revised premise so was quietly dropped.  The decision to go to a weekly series also led to some shuffling of the cast and its obvious Larson needed a more articulate and entertaining line-up of villains so the Leader and Vulpa, the golden Cylon Commander (he appears in Gun On Ice Planet Zero and, according to early drafts of the series bible, would have been a recurring fixture in subsequent outings).

And, is it just me or does the "which one is best?" article completely dodge the question?