As a fan of Battlestar Galactica I really enjoyed this, it expanded on the characters and storylines in a wonderfully engaging way. The artwork was well done and I look forward to reding more.

'Battlestar Galactica: Gods & Monsters' by Karl Kesel with contribution by Alec Morgan is a story of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series.

Gaius Baltar, with 6 talking in his ear, believes that he can construct a living Cylon Centurion. There is complete skepticism from everyone else because the Centurions are complete killing machines. When the Centurion comes to life and seems to prefer and only speak to other Cylons, it seems that the fears may be right. When a mining operation has a great need, then trust needs to be given to this strange creature.

I liked the story, but the art was not that great. I liked the decision to not try to make the characters look like the actors on the show, but the result was a loose cartoony style that made it hard at times to tell the characters apart.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Interesting story line in this volume. A glory-seeking scientist rebuilds a Cylon Centurion that he then has to prove is not a human killing monster. With that and Cylon infiltrators on the planet and among the fleet leads almost to disaster except for the selfless act of several Cylons. So nice story, but the artwork drops it a star.

There were a lot of characters to juggle in the book and none of them look much like their TV counterparts to keep them straight. Basic plot was that Baltar makes a new Cylon and there is a bunch of sleeper agent Cylons. The series was pretty slow.

I love Ronald D. Moore’s reimagining of “Battlestar Galactica” and thought this comic would provide a nice BSG fix. Unfortunately, despite some interesting ideas, it disappoints on a few levels.

The basic premise of the story is that Baltar builds a Cylon Centurion. At first, I thought this would become a ridiculous tale of how a former enemy like a Cylon came to love humanity, and vice versa. That type of humanistic morality tale worked on Star Trek, but doesn’t fit BSG. Fortunately, the story is never so black and white. The author leaves just enough moral ambiguity to keep the story interesting. We see the Centurion’s actions, but never fully understand them. There’s always some distance between us and it.

There’s also a subplot with Anders’ resistance force back on Caprica featuring the Simon Cylon. This was a nice opportunity to see more of Simon, who was criminally underused in the show, but otherwise forgettable.

Tie-in stories to a popular TV show are always tricky. On the one hand, the story has to be interesting in its own right. On the other hand, if the story seems too important, readers will wonder why it was never referenced in the TV show. I can’t help but feel like that here. What happens to the characters in this story should have had an impact, but given what we see in the show it doesn’t. Again, the basic premise for the story isn’t bad, but I don’t think it quite fits with what we see in the show.

The art for this comic doesn’t fit the BSG universe. BSG is a show grounded in gritty realism, so the stylized art clashes with the tone of the story. Many of the characters were unrecognizable and looked nothing like the actors (although I imagine there might be legal reasons for this). Some characters even looked like they had pointed teeth, which really took me out of the story (Baltar often looks like a demon).

Also, I found a pretty glaring typo, with one character saying “devine” instead of “divine.” Hopefully that gets fixed before publication.

Overall, I do like the core story in this comic, but otherwise found it disappointing.

[Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review]

This was new to me - a graphic novel set in the second BSG incarnation, and not the world of the classic series. I guess I missed out on knowing a lot about the characters and the situation as a result, but I didn't much mind, and the story is easy enough to follow once you get a grasp on which character is Cylon, which human, and which either unknown, debatable or just a hybrid. Certainly the creation of a new Centurion with the aim of it being good is a nice Frankensteinian spin on things that other stories haven't quite matched. If the artwork was better the book would be really something, but as it is characters are drawn very inconsistently, what with more than one artist being behind things, and the mediocre style looks too much like the comics in the first series world. But recommended for fans.

Having been in love with BSG since the reboot started airing, I jumped at the chance to read this graphic novel return to the world. Being among all the characters again, and seeing people talk about Caprica and Kobol, eased a little bit of my heart. However, I did think that this graphic novel trod familiar ground and not necessarily just in the heart-warming way. Setting the story in the mid-season two plotlines felt a little alienating for potential brand new readers, despite careful exposition, and also a little reductive for long-term viewers - if this is starting off new content, why not show something totally new rather than something pieced into the existing canon? It felt like a deleted scene, or missing episode - not a bad one, or a boring one, just something unexpected. I also found some of the character art a little confusing - especially some of the main male cast. I liked that the art is stylistic, and hasn't tried to preserve the exact features of the actors to the detriment of anything else, but spotting the difference between some of the main cast (Helo and Lee especially) took me a while on several occasions due to their drawn similarities, which was confusing.

That all said, this felt like a missing episode, which I think speaks to its success. It slipped easily into BSG canon, rattling you along with the characters and the ship like you'd never been away. I would definitely pick this up for fans of the show, and I will look forward to whatever comes next in the BSG graphic novel line.

A good mix of action as well as being true to the original Battlestar Galactica but I wasn't completely enthralled by it.

Set within the television series, this comic tells of a centurion that Baltar builds from scrap pieces he finds. Will he overcome his original cylon programing and protect the humans or will hit ultimately lead to their deaths? Meanwhile, Anders and Brother Cavil must deal with a trusted companion who turns out to be a cyclone.
The comic captured Baltar's spirit: his motivations are scientific mixed with hubris with manipulations from his cylon visions. Like I often did with the show, I wanted him to succeed: I wanted them to have a centurion that worked for them.
While the story was compelling the art was not. On the own the art is attractive but it does not pair where with the world in which it is set. Comics have to walk the line with media based art including licensing issues, ability to capture the likeliness of the actors but this failed completely. For the most part, I couldn't identify the characters to their show counterparts until someone said their names. Especially problematic were Lee Adams and Anders who looked like generic soldiers instead of recognizable characters.
I was torn on my review. The story is great but the art was not. I overall give it a three and a half stars.

For fans of "Battlestar Galactica" the television series and graphic novel enthusiasts.

Humanity has just finished the "Battle of the Cylons", a war against machines that can also disguise themselves as human. Gaius Baltar is seeking to make a Cylon that will follow human orders and succeeds in his goal and calls his creation "Tallos".

Meanwhile, President Laura Roslin and Galactica Captain Lee Adama and crew Starbuck and Apollo are unsure if you can make a Cylon follow human orders and Tallos is put to the test.

As more and more human-appearing Cylons are exposed, however, the line of who's working for who blurs and sides have to be taken. Not all Cylons are bad, not all of them are good - just like the humans. Tallos is a wild card, under control to a point to seek out other Cylons and infiltrate their ranks, but his loyalty is always questioned.

Throw in another Cylon who's about to give birth to a Cylon-Human hybrid, and it's anyone's guess as to how either side will respond. The war is just getting started.

A great graphic novel that may not have the total spirit of the television show, but fans of science fiction and action/adventure will love this new series that can be read by those unfamiliar with the television series. Muted panel drawing and color gives this new series a sort of retro comic book feel and should keep the reader entertained.

As a big Battlestar Galactica fan, which still remains my favorite science fiction tv show ever, I liked this but I wasn't awed by it. The thing is that it's been some years since I've last had contact with anything Battlestar Galactica related so reading this was extremely pleasant, it reminded me of just how much I love this universe and characters, and of how promising it is when it comes to stories. The problem is that it was hard for me to pin point what exactly was good about this graphic novel and what was just nostalgia.

Objectively speaking I don't think I could recommend this to anyone that isn't a big Battlestar Galactica fan. The story is good, exploring what seems to be a self-aware Centurion (it gave me some Westworld vibes), and the artwork while doing its job of immersing me into the story wasn't something to talk about, though the space battles were done extremely well.

If you miss Battlestar Galactica and really need a fix, this should help satiate that need, while it won't be as satisfying and exciting as the TV show was, it won't disappoint you either.