Look-In Magazine: Storyline 1

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Look-In Magazine separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

[[File:{{{image}}}|250px|Storyline #1]]
Storyline #1 An issue of the Look-In Magazine Press series.
Issue No.	#43 (1979) to #3 (1980)
Writer(s)	Angus P. Allan
Illustrator(s)	{{{illustrator}}}
Penciller(s)	Martin Asbury
Inker(s)	Martin Asbury
Colorist(s)
Letterer(s)
Editor(s)
Collection Design	{{{designer}}}
Cover Artist(s)
Adaptation of
Published	20 October 1979 - 19 January 1980
Collects
Collected in
Reprints
Reprinted as
Pages	{{{pages}}}
ISBN	[[Special:Booksources/|]]
Population	0 Survivors
Special	{{{special}}}
Chronology
Previous		Next
None	Storyline #1	Storyline 2
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Plot

After Freighter Eighteen suffers engine problems and is forced to make repairs, the Imperious Leader makes his move to implement a daring plan against the rag-tag, fugitive fleet of human survivors.

Summary

Strip #1

• Athena informs Commander Adama about a garbled distress call being transmitted by Freighter Eighteen—an old Valnic-class freighter with 5 crew members and 400 passengers.
• Boomer pulls Starbuck from a card game, as they have been called to investigate. Using visual signals, the crew of Eighteen inform the members of Blue Squadron that they are experiencing engine failure. 
• Boomer volunteers to stay behind as guardian to Eighteen as her crew repair the engines; the Fleet has no choice but to continue to move on, leaving Eighteen and Boomer behind. 
• A Cylon Raider detects Eighteen and reports this development back to Black Flight.

Strip #2

• Eighteen's crew is unable to effect repair of the ship's engines, forcing evacuation of the ship. After informing Captain Heffren, they communicate this to Boomer, who in turn reports this back to Commander Adama.
• Adama orders the use of Scarabs to evacuate; Tigh uses the computer to determine how to distribute the refugees amongst the Fleet's ships. 
• Three Raiders attack, drawing Boomer away from Eighteen; he destroys one in the dogfight.
• Drawn away from the freighter, a Cylon assault ship docks with Eighteen—its approach is undetected by the freighter's crew due to system failure, and the Centurions' target is Heffren.

Strip #3

• Centurions board the ship, bypassing the hold that houses the passengers and storm Eighteen's bridge. They shoot the crew, incapacitate Heffren, and implant within him an impulse microvator. After this, they depart.
• Apollo and Starbuck aid Boomer in cleaning up the remaining attack squadron. Boomer performs a fly-by and notes that the Cylons boarded. 
• Aboard Galactica, Adama orders the Scarabs held and a doctor sent to the freighter instead. Tigh questions why the Cylons didn't just wipe the freighter out. 

Strip #4

• Apollo inquires about the Scarabs; Adama notes that they are en route, noting that the leading Scarab has a doctor and a medic outfit. They do not know the situation aboard Eighteen as its communications are down. 
• The passengers are found unharmed and they discover Heffren alive. He is the only survivor from the ship's crew. 
• Eighteen is completely evacuated and its passengers distributed through the Fleet. Heffren is brought to Galactica, where he is questioned by Adama and Tigh. 
• The Cylon assault force that boarded Eighteen reports to the Imperious Leader, who is pleased that they now have the means to destroy Galactica at any time.
• After Apollo shows Heffren to his quarters on Galactica, the Imperious Leader offers his "lackey" a wish for "pleasant dreams." Heffren is still unaware of the implant.

Strip #5

• Green Squadron is launched on convoy patrol while Apollo scours Galactica looking for Boxey, unaware that Boxey and his daggit, Muffit, are with Captain Heffren. Heffren is building a sail ship in a bottle, and regaling Boxey with tales of a boat he used to work over Lake Karkk on the Ninth Colony. 
• Athena reports of activity on the starboard periphery. Apollo, Boomer, and Starbuck investigate and discover a large Cylon task force. Adama orders them to adopt a parallel course, but not to engage.
• Aboard his basestar, the Imperious Leader orders that Heffren's impulse microvator be activated, as it is time for him to do their bidding.

Strip #6

• As the Cylon task force continues to remain outside of outer periphery, Adama and Tigh attempt to determine the Cylons's motivations. 
• Heffren's microvator is activated. He experiences a headache, and Boxey and Muffit leave. After leaving, Heffren receives his orders from the Imperious Leader. He is to head to Galactica's fuel room. Boxey, who is concerned for the captain's health and now finding Heffren well enough to walk, follows.
• Cylon fighters engage the Colonial fighters. A battle ensues, costing the lives of at least two pilots: Skinly and MacKay. 
• Heffren makes it to the fuel room, and asks the Imperious Leader for instructions on how to destroy Galactica.

Strip #7

• Boomer, Apollo, and Starbuck deal with the Cylon fighter attack. The Imperious Leader calls off the fighter attack, as the distraction has served its purpose.
• Heffren incapacitates the fuel room's guards, and is instructed by the Imperious Leader to move all switches to "full on" at the master injection control console. 
• Boxey and Muffit, having followed Heffren to the fuel room, demand to know why Heffren threw those switches. The Imperious Leader orders the boy killed. 
• An auto cut-in monitors a routine situation report from the fuel room, and Athena hears Boxey's scream.

Strip #8

• Boxey fails to reason with Heffren, who begins to strangle Boxey. Adama and Tigh make it to the room; Tigh's laser pistol is drawn. 
• They find Boxey unconscious and he is rushed to the hospital section. 
• Upon re-boarding, Apollo is ordered to report to the hospital section where his son is. Boomer and Starbuck stick with Apollo, although Starbuck is itching to get back to his card game.
• Hidden nearby, Heffren tells the Imperious Leader that he failed and asks for another method to destroy Galactica.

Strip #9

• At the hospital section, Boxey tells Apollo, Adama, Starbuck, and the rest about Heffren. Starbuck deduces that Heffren is a plant and, since it would take weeks to search for Heffren on the battlestar, Muffit is reprogrammed to track down Heffren.
• Adama plots to use the Cylons' game against them. The first part of this retaliatory plan is to launch Blue and Red Squadrons on an attack mission.
• As they track Heffren, a guard asks Adama whether he should shoot Heffren upon finding him. Adama tells the guard to play it as it comes. 
• The Imperious Leader tells Heffren to remain calm and that an attack has been launched against them. The Leader promises that he'll receive orders later for Galactica's doom.

Strip #10

• On the search for Heffren, Adama assures Boxey that they'll try to take Heffren alive. 
• With the Colonial's attack against the Cylon attack force underway, the Imperious Leader orders an assault vessel—to be personally commanded by him—to be launched. 
• The leader of this Colonial assault force, Apollo, sees the new Cylon ship and notes that it appears formidable. Even with this being the case, they move to attack the new Cylon ship.
• The search team comes across Heffren; Adama punches Heffren, knocking him out. 

Strip #11

• After Boxey notes Adama's punching ability, they rush Heffren to sickbay where they discover the microvator at the base of Heffren's brain. The doctor informs Adama that it'll take an hour to remove the device. Adama offers his hope that the Vipers can keep the Cylons busy for that long.
• The six Vipers from Blue and Red Squadrons are having a difficult time dealing with the Cylon assault vessel, and decide to attack from the rear in the hopes of destroying the ship's power units.
• After consulting the Imperious Leader, the Cylons unleash three-quarters of liquid tylium upon the attack force, which is subsequently ignited. 

Strip #12

• Hartley's Viper is on fire from the Cylon's tylium release; Hartley attempts to bail, but he is killed when the Viper explodes.
• Apollo radios Galactica, informing them that he's lost two ships and cannot continue fighting the assault vessel.
• Adama orders them to continue fighting, even against Athena's objections. The doctor reports that the device has been removed from Heffren, and Adama orders it to be taken for analysis—he wants to alter it for reversal feedback. 
• With the Vipers quickly retreating, the Imperious Leader summons Heffren to act. 

Strip #13

• In sickbay, Boxey tells Heffren—who is recovering from surgery and no longer under the Imperious Leader's control—about Adama's plan. Heffren tells Boxey to inform Adama about his pledge to make up for his regrettable actions. 
• After Apollo lands, Adama sends him back out to deal with the Cylon assault vessel single-handedly. He is to deliver a missile that must not miss.
• Apollo launches the missile that contains the modified microvator. The Imperious Leader, believing he still has control over Heffren, orchestrates the destruction of not Galactica but his own nearly-invincible assault craft.
• Centurions report to the Leader that they've been tricked, and the Fleet safely leaves the area as they head into hyper-drive.

Notes

• The story establishes that Muffit II can be reprogrammed to act as a tracker, reacting to a specific person's scent.
• The Cylons utilize a novel tactic of ejecting raw liquid tylium from their assault ship, which then ignites on the hot metal of the ship's exterior, creating a massive fireball weapon.
• Adama demonstrates surprising physical force when he knocks Heffren unconscious with a single punch.
• This storyline features the deaths of at least three named Colonial pilots: Skinly, MacKay, and Hartley.
• The Ninth Colony is mentioned as the location of Lake Karkk, where Heffren used to sail.

Analysis

This initial storyline establishes a complex and cunning Cylon threat that goes beyond simple military assaults. The use of an unwitting human as a "time bomb" is a sophisticated psychological and tactical approach. The plot hinges on the Cylons underestimating human ingenuity and compassion—first, by not anticipating that Boxey's friendship with Heffren would lead to the discovery of the plan, and second, by not foreseeing that the Colonials could reverse-engineer their own technology against them.

The story elevates Boxey to a central heroic role. His actions directly lead to the plot being uncovered and foiled. This contrasts with his typical role in the television series, giving him significant agency. Adama is portrayed as a shrewd and decisive commander, willing to make hard choices (risking his pilots to buy time) and capable of turning an enemy's plan back on them.

The pacing, stretched across thirteen weekly strips, allows for a gradual build-up of suspense. It begins with a standard ship-in-distress scenario, escalates with the Cylon boarding, introduces the mystery of Heffren's survival, and culminates in a multi-pronged conflict involving space combat, an internal manhunt, and a race-against-time surgical procedure.

Questions

• What became of the abandoned Freighter Eighteen?
• How was Muffit reprogrammed so quickly to act as a tracker? What are the limitations of his programming?
• Why did the Cylons choose to implant a device in Heffren rather than simply destroying the freighter? Was there a specific reason he was chosen over any other crew member?
• How did the Imperious Leader intend to "personally" command the assault vessel? Does this imply he can or would leave his basestar?
• Could the "reversal feedback" modification be applied to other Cylon technologies, and if so, why isn't this tactic used again?
• Was there any significance to Heffren's hobby of building ships in bottles, or was it merely a character detail to facilitate his bonding with Boxey?