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"Gods & Monsters" Part 1
Battlestar Galactica: Gods &
Monsters #1
(Dynamite)
Written by Karl Kesel
Art by Alec Morgan & Dan Schkade
Color by Chris O'Halloran
Letters by Tom Napolitano
Cover A by Alec Morgan &
Chris O'Halloran
2016
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Baltar rebuilds a Cylon centurion from
captured parts.
Story Summary
After the reveal of the new stealth Viper, Tyrol is hailed as a
hero in the fleet and on the fleet newscast, driving Baltar to
jealousy. He decides to build a new Cylon centurion under human
control from the parts salvaged from the destroyed centurions of
the failed Cylon boarding attempt of the Galactica
weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, the fleet is mining valuable agro minerals from a
geologically unstable planetoid. And, on Cylon-occupied Caprica,
a Number Four model Cylon has been found out as a doctor among
the Buccaneers and Cavil helps Anders decide how to interrogate
him.
Commander Adama brings
Caprica-Valerii into Baltar's centurion-reprogramming project,
hoping that Baltar can also eventually purge Valerii herself of
any residual Cylon commands. When Baltar and Valerii reveal and
activate the new centurion to the fleet, the centurion seems to
pledge its allegiance to Valerii instead of Baltar.
CONTINUED IN BSG: GODS & MONSTERS #2
Notes from the BSG
chronology
This issue takes place over about 15 days, shortly after the
events of
"Flight of the Phoenix".
Didja Know?
Battlestar Galactica: Gods & Monsters was a
5-issue mini-series published by Dynamite Entertainment in
2016-2017.
Throughout the mini-series, a brunette, female Cylon is seen in
the screening room for the D'Anna Biers Fleet News Service
broadcasts. She is not identified, and does not appear to be a
Number Eight/Valerii model. It seems she must be a Number Six
with dyed hair. Possibly she is the Six seen in The Plan
and referred to as Tough Six in the script of that telefilm.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this story
Leoben (seen in fleet news file footage only)
Doral
(seen in fleet news file footage only)
Boomer (deceased, seen in flashback only)
Caprica-Valerii
D'Anna Biers
Starbuck
Commander Adama
President Roslin
Apollo
Baltar
Chief Tyrol
Head Six
Helo
John Cavil (Number One model Cylon)
Samuel Anders
Simon O'Neill (Number Four model Cylon)
Jean Barolay (mentioned only)
Verheiden (deceased,
in flashback only)
Colonel Tigh
Lt. Gaeta
Tallos
Didja Notice?
Page 1 has the story opening with fleet newscaster
D'Anna Biers speaking the "...and they have a plan" preamble
that appeared in text at the beginning of most episodes of
BSG2000.
Starbuck's hair is drawn much too short throughout this
mini-series...almost a buzz cut!
On pages 2-3, D'Anna's newscast recounts the most recent events
in the fleet that occurred in "Home" Parts
1 and 2
and "Flight of the Phoenix".
Of course, in the PopApostle chronology, the events of the
"Returners" storyline
from the comic books published by Dynamite Entertainment also
took place in this recent time period.
Page 3, panel 1 seems to indicate that
Caprica-Valerii's pregnancy has become a public rumor throughout
the fleet.
On page 3, Apollo remarks that he's glad Chief Tyrol is "on our
side and not a Cylon." Ironically, much later on, in
"Crossroads" Part 2, Tyrol is revealed to be one of the
Final Five Cylons.
Page 4 reveals that Commander Adama has ordered soil mining of a
minerally-rich planetoid the fleet has come across.
On page 4, Baltar wonders why the fleet is practically
worshipping Tyrol for his construction of the new stealth Viper
when Baltar himself invented a Cylon detector. He finally
perfected the detector in
"Six Degrees of Separation".
In response, Head Six reminds him that his invention of the
Cylon detector was done largely in secret and "most people pay
attention to the shiny show in the front of a curtain, not the
man in shadows behind it." This sounds like a play, by the
writer, on the Wizard of Oz, a normal man working behind a
curtain, in the Oz books and popular 1939 film The
Wizard of Oz.
Page 5 reveals that Baltar was given the surviving parts of the
Cylon centurions after their failed boarding attempt in
"Valley of Darkness".
The Cylon Number One model called John Cavil makes his first
fleet appearance in this issue. In the TV series, he does not
appear until Season Three, "Lay Down Your Burdens" Part 1.
A Number Four model Cylon called Dr. Simon O'Neill is revealed
as the team doctor of the Caprica Buccaneers. He is also seen in
this role in The Plan.
In the flashback to occupied Caprica on page 8, Anders asks
the revealed-as-a-Cylon Simon if Verheiden's death from infection was caused by him,
Simon, acting as the resistance doctor. In
"A Higher Purpose" (Preludes),
one of the farm workers is named Verheiden. Both cases are probably
references by the writers to Mark Verheiden, a fellow comic book
writer and writer on several episodes of BSG2000. It's unknown
whether Anders is referring to the same Verheiden here as the
one who appeared, years earlier on
Aerilon, in that earlier story.
In the flashback to occupied Caprica on page 8, Cavil tells
Anders that Simon "may have more in common with you than you
suspect." Anders is also revealed as one of the Final Five
Cylons in "Crossroads" Part 2.
Page 11 appears to depict Helo climbing into a single-seat
Raptor cockpit via an open canopy, Viper-style. But Raptors in
the TV series were always depicted with two-seat cockpits and
entered through a side door in the passenger area of the craft.
On page 13, Gaeta's name is misspelled "Geata".
On page 15, Apollo remarks to Baltar that the centurions he's
attempting to rebuild killed 12 good men.
"Fragged" does, indeed, imply that 12
Galactica crewmembers were killed during the Cylon
boarding attempt in "Valley of Darkness".
Baltar names his rebuilt centurion Tallos. President Roslin
remarks that it is named after Talos, an automaton protector
that Zeus created, which killed the wandering Argoneers. Talos
is an automaton from Greek mythology, largely conforming to the
brief history Roslin gives here.
On page 19, Head Six remarks that only God and Daniel Greystone
have created life before this.
Greystone, of course, was the inventor of the Cylons, as seen in
episodes of Caprica.
Baltar and
Caprica-Valerii's throwing of the switches to bring Tallos to
life is reminiscent of Dr. Frankenstein bringing his creature of
assembled human body parts to life in Frankenstein,
with a bit of the revelation of King Kong thrown in.