Battlestar Galactica "First Date" Asylum #8 (Maximum Press) Writer: Robert Napton Penciler: Ching Lau September 1996

While searching for food supplies on Naraka IV, Boomer and Dietra discover an old, wrecked Colonial ship.

Story Summary

Boomer finally asks Dietra for a date, but before they can go on it, the two are assigned a landram to explore through the forests of the planet Naraka IV for food supplies for the fleet. They discover the wreckage of an old Colonial carrier from long ago. Boomer enters the ship's cargo bay while Dietra remains outside, monitoring from the landram. He finds the ship is loaded with potentially useful equipment and at least a dozen intact Vipers.

But an auto sentry weapon senses his movement and begins firing on him, pinning him down. Dietra uses the landram to crash through the damaged hull into the cargo bay, ordering Boomer to jump on and man the roof-mounted gun. He does, and promptly destroys the auto sentry.

The two agree they make a good team and Boomer remarks, "So let me tell you what I had in mind for our second date..."

THE END

Didja Notice?  

Page 1 of the story describes it as taking place in the Colonial yahren 7345. This suggests it is 2-3 years after the events of the final episode of the TV series, "The Hand of God". 

The story's title is in reference to Boomer's first date with Dietra. Yahrens later, in The Enemy Within mini-series, it is revealed that the two were eventually sealed and had a daughter named Cleo. The Dietra portrayed here does not look much like the actress (Sheila DeWindt) seen in the TV episodes.

The planet on which the fleet is currently exploring for food supplies is called Naraka IV, indicating it is the fourth planet from the star Naraka. Presumably the star was visible and named from the Twelve Colonies and not by the fleet itself.

On page 3, we get a glimpse of a previously unseen type of ship which Boomer identifies as a Colonial class-theta carrier, which crashed on Naraka IV long ago.

"Time and Punishment" seems to suggest that Colonial ships placed unmanned resupply and ammo dumps on planetoids across the explored cosmos in the past; it might be argued that carriers such as this are the ships that left behind these supply caches.

The Vipers found inside the wreckage of the carrier on page 5 are unusual-looking in that they appear to have no cockpits! Notice also they have missile or gun heads sticking out of the hollow on the nose of the fighters (there is a similar nose missile on a Viper on the cover of Battlestar Galactica: Apollo's Journey #3). These fighters look kind of like a cross between a Colonial Viper and a SHADO Interceptor from the 1970-71 TV series UFO. Since this is an old carrier, these are presumably an old model Viper (although that doesn't explain the lack of cockpits; perhaps they were robotic or remote-controlled drones?).
Antebellum Vipers	SHADO Interceptor

Boomer's pistol on pages 6 and 7 does not look like the standard issue seen in the past. Since this story takes place a couple years after the TV series, maybe it's a new model?

Unanswered Questions

What was the Colonial carrier doing so far out from the Colonies (seemingly 3 yahrens distance)? What caused its crash? Are any members of the crew (or their descendants) still alive on the planet?