In the 2014 Battlestar Galactica annual, Robert Napton tells the story of one of television’s most diabolical villains, Baltar the traitor of mankind, revealing something of how Baltar became the man who betrayed the colonies, starting back with his childhood.
Napton keeps the balance between making Baltar’s choices comprehensible without robbing him of his villainy. He spends a loveless childhood as is, one has to admit, a bit too traditional for villains, but then again, Baltar, from first cackle to last, was always a fairly traditional villain. He also has reason to hate the Colonies for a perceived betrayal and, step by step moves to the point where he turns to the Cylons. Baltar recounts his story while stranded alone on a planet, giving him time to meditate on his past life.
Kewber Baal’s art varies. Many of his choices work very well with the story. For example, he places an arrow-headed, clearly venomous, snake on the fruit Baltar picks just after musing on temptation. It isn’t subtle, but neither is the story, and this does not detract from its enjoyment. Baal’s close-ups of Baltar as he considers his past are also strong. At other points, though, the anatomy is odd; Baltar as a child is a bit too simian in some of those panels, occasionally making me think more of Hobbits than humans. Meanwhile, Mark Roberts keeps the coloring subdued, as is fitting for a tale of a dark and troubled past.
Overall, the annual is an interesting but not earthshaking entry into the Battlestar Galactica mythos.
