BotTalk Reviews

eBook by Tim Waggoner Cover by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books, Heroic Signatures & Conan Properties International LLC Spoilers! Spoilers!  The eastern desert of Shem. Conan and some sellswords are guarding a Turanian trading caravan, a decoy to lure Zuagir raiders into a trap. Almost all of the mercenaries perish at the hands of the Zuagirs.  Conan, Solfrid (a female Vanir from Vanaheim), Endrigo (a Kothian) and Danor (a Shemite-Stygian) are the only four who survive the raid.  Conan wants to go back to Ashaka (caravan city of the Turanians) to claim the rest of his remuneration for guarding the bogus caravan. Conan's camel detects the scent of an oasis with doum palm trees. Near the water hole, Conan and Co. find a possible hidden treasure cache... marked by a vulture's head (the sigil of the demon: "The Lord of Silence"). Later, vulture headed eyeless mist creatures attack. Conan, Solfrid and Endrigo get scratched, but Danor swallows one of scavenger things and d...

Last time in the continuing saga of Laapoonia!  Cerritos was docked for repairs, the away team shuttle blew up, Freeman and crew stole the Illinois and mariner stole a shuttle and made her way to the unknown ship. And now the saga of Laapoonia is far from over. Turns out Mariner stealing a shuttle was all part of the plan to get Mariner on the ship to find and rescue the missing and presumed dead away team. Mariner does what Mariner does, rescuing kidnapped Laaperians and Laapoonians, but finding no away team she and her rescued group storm the bridge only to find out that... something is revealed in next month's issue. Meanwhile on the Illinois, Freeman and crew calmly wait for Mariner's signal, and once that happens they go on the attack and are about to beam over a security team when they suddenly hit an invisible force in space that makes a complete left turn into spoilers I’m not revealing. This has been a pretty fun story so far. It still carries that lighter tone the iss...

There can be only ONE Prime! Unlike Magni, I guess! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, he now takes the writing reins of the flagship Transformers comic series as well, with Dan Mora now on pencils and Sarah Stern on colors. In this thirtieth issue, Optimus Prime must contend with Elita-1 as she challenges his leadership of the Autobots! So they fight? A little bit. Optimus really has no quarrel with Elita, but she’s been fighting the war on Cybertron for so long that she can’t really see anything else. The entire issue is built around their conflict with no cutting away from this momentous occasion and in the end, Optimus must compromise in order to do what is best for Earth. Basically, Optimus is put in a difficult position by Elita, who is practically immovable in her views and his ultimate decision leaves the Autobots on Earth in a tighter corner than they were already. It’s a very Optimus thing to do and Kirkman doesn’t play him as indec...

Godzilla Vs. Sasquatch Story, Art and Letters by Colleen Coover Dog Day Afternoon Story and Art by Cat Farris Letters by Sandy Tanaka High Score Story and Art by Caitlin Yarsky Colors by Heather Breckel Letters by Sandy Tanaka Under Siege In The 503 Story by Mark Russell Art by Eryk Donovan Letters by Sandy Tanaka

Dr. Emily Sorensen is brought in to consult on a meteorite that is emitting strange sound waves.  Once they arrive the men venture into the ocean depths to investigate.  Sorensen stays behind on the sub and detects an unusual sound.  The nearby fish begin to attack and the men return to the sub.  The decision is made to destroy the meteorite despite Sorensen's objections.  She begins to hear the strange sound again, seemingly talking to the meteorite.  She leaves the men to die as the fish attack them.  The meteorite attaches to the sub and it returns to base.  The military service members open it only to find a mutated Dr. Sorensen at the controls.   The art by Francesco Francavilla is great as always.  The story... at first it unfolds as a typical Twilight Zone episode.  Abbreviated of course, but it feels normal.  Sorensen is not taken seriously by the military or even her fellow scientist.  The sound that only she can ...

Jim Zub's Ghosts & Echoes part 1: The Sharpened Tooth (of The Woeful Eye) Conan the Barbarian is not showing up in his own comic book this month! Let's find out why that is. This is the origin story of SON OF THE TOOTH (a loyal assassin serving The Woeful Eye).  The Hyrkanian Steppes. SON OF THE TOOTH is born, the 11th child of a tribe leader, weak, small and plagued by nightmares and throbbing toothaches caused by The Woeful Eye.  SON OF THE TOOTH kills one of his older brothers. SON OF THE TOOTH removes a canine tooth (canines are also called EYE teeth) from his brother's jaw for The Woeful EYE and hides his brother's body. Like Michael Myers (from Halloween (1978 film)), SON OF THE TOOTH kills one of his older sisters and like Michael Myers, the more he kills, the stronger he becomes. SON OF THE TOOTH kills the rest of his siblings. SON OF THE TOOTH goes on a hunting trip with his father, he tells his dad that he is the one who murdered his brothers and sisters. ...

War continues, next on Void Rivals! The Quintesson War continues in issue # 27 of Void Rivals! Void Rivals is Robert Kirkman’s sci-fi comic that tells the tale of two crumbling planets linked by a “Sacred Ring” (it’s not Halo), their peoples at war for generations. When a member of each culture are stranded together, the two find they must put aside their differences if they want to survive. This story takes place in the so-called “Energon Universe”, Skybound Entertainment’s initiative to relaunch properties like Transformers and G.I. Joe within a shared universe that also happens to include the original characters and setting of Void Rivals. New artist Andrei Bressan steps in along with regular colorist Patricio Delpeche to join Robert Kirkman for the third part of “Quintesson War”. In this instalment, the Quint invasion continues on both planets while Darak and Solila reunite to find a solution. Also, Cobra-La's Pythona reenters the scene and Proximus comes to an important realiz...

Uhura falls through the Guardian of Forever and ends up in 1963 America’s south to quickly learn about the injustices black Americans suffered in that time (and beyond, but yeah) meanwhile Kirk and Spock also go back in time to retrieve her in the most middling story about racism and how things eventually get better because of the foundations laid by men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the people who followed him. Okay first thing, this was something I could’ve lived without but Discovery demanded we needed it: Carl. It made sense in a galaxy post time wars, but does not in a time when they met the Guardian of Forever and it was a giant stone portal not Carl. Next, there are better ways to tackle prejudice and racism than this comic based off of a TV show that tackled racism and prejudice far better.  One store employee gets mad at Uhura for being there and there’s a sign? And that’s all the injustice they show. She meets Dr. King, neat. And in the middle of a protest (that loo...

A diva is murdered mid performance.  The Police investigate and Christine, the understudy, struggles with her performance.  A mysterious voice begins to coach her, greatly improving on her abilities.  From the darkness, the Phantom observes her. There is little original here.  This is a story told and retold many times.  In movies, on the stage.  What sets this telling apart from the others is the art.  Beautifully painted by Martin Simmonds.  Full of emotion.  Sadness, frustration, rage, longing.  It remains to be seen how closely this version will follow others.  At this point, I am here for the art.   seven out of ten. 

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Andrea Milana (penciler), Lee Loughridge (colorist) Story : Zartan now believes he has all the information he needs to start finding more energon for his own purposes.  Recovering from the events of the Dreadnok War, the Joes take Autobot Hound captive as Duke is quite upset and wants answers.  Meanwhile, Matt Trakker gets a notice to meet someone.  Back at the Pitt, the Joes, thinking they'd get a little bit of time off, are quickly reassigned more missions by Hawk, including meeting up with Snow Job.  Duke gets filled in by Hound on some of the basics and that it was Decepticon Starscream who killed his friend.  Matt Trakker meets with an agent at a race track but they are interrupted by Scrap Iron. Writing : I really like how Williamson is taking Duke down this emotional path we're seeing.  As Clutch says, that's not normally him.  But Duke is in a changing world, saw his buddy die, lost Cobra Commander, almost...

48 restored and fully colored pages of barbaric savagery! Inside this magnificent full-color magazine you will find the following: Classic remastered art pin-ups in stunning color: Conan the Barbarian by Frank Brunner & Steve Leialoha from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #14 Conan ad by Gary Groth & Bob Kline from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #7 SHADOWS IN ZAMBOULA by Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, Neal Adams and the Tribe. (New Colors by GFB Group/GFB.it) In the desert city of Zamboula, Aram Baksh offers a sleeping Conan to his business partners... a group of starving cannibals from Darfar. Conan kills four cannibals and saves Zabibi/Nafertari whose lover Alafdhal/Jungir Khan (who is wearing the ring with the jewel called the Star of Khorala) has been drugged by Totrasmek. Conan strangles Baal-Pteor the Strangler. We learn that Nafertari wants the ring for herself. Conan kills Totrasmek. Jungir Khan gets cured. After rearranging Aram Baksh's face and voice, Conan offers Aram B...