BotTalk Reviews

Novel by Tim Lebbon Cover by Jeffrey Alan Love  Illustrations by Juan Alberto Hernández From Titan Books and Conan Properties International Also available unabridged on audiobook from Blackstone Publishing, read by Bradford Hastings  Spoilers! Spoilers!  Conan in now the bored, inactive, pampered, sexagenarian King of Aquilonia. A barely alive and desperate Baht Tann arrives at the royal palace to call in a favour. 40 years ago, Baht Tann saved the life of a 20 year old Conan. They both escaped the Zamoran run salt mines of Tangara, together. Today, Baht Tann is no longer a mercenary, he has a family, they are heartgem prospectors/hunters/sellers.  Grake, a barbarian 6 inches taller than King Conan, and his brigands kill half of Baht Tann's companions, they force the rest and Baht Tann's family to slave for them. Conan picks up his dusty broadsword and Zelata's knife (from The Hour of the Dragon), leaves his wife (Queen Zenobia) and young son (Conn) and departs for t...

It’s OVER, finished! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on the linchpin of this initiative, the flagship Transformers comic series, with Jorge Corona on pencils and Mike Spicer on colors! At least for now, because this is this creative team’s final issue! Yes, Optimus Prime and Megatron face off for a climactic battle the likes of which has... been seen before countless times. However, this time something new will be thrown into the mix, won’t it? Yes, surely so as Daniel Warren Johnson wraps his Eisner award-winning run up once and for all! So how climactic IS it? Uh. Well, remember how I said last review that it felt a little like some punches were being pulled? That continues here, as DWJ needs to put the toys back in the box for Robert Kirkman to take over. There’s actually a shocking lack of consequence to the events that play out in this issue. The one thing that ...

Jim Zub's A Nest of Serpents part 4: The Nest Beneath Athyr-Bast (sorceress of the Outer Circle) is infuriated, she's been betrayed by a barbarian who was born on a battlefield!   Conan the Cimmerian and Zula the Darfarian are now wanted men looking for Set's subterranean brood. Zula surmises that Thoth-Amon must be breeding giant snakes somewhere and that he will be sending them out in bowls as "gifts" to his enemies (as seen in The God in the Bowl). Zula explains that the exorcised evil snake spirit twin of Conan (Conan the Barbarian #20) now lives in his magical amulet, masking his true aura from Set sorcerers. Conan and Zula kill three guards. Zula uses the power of his amulet to open a gigantic sealed H.R. Giger themed door. What could be lurking within? Conan and Zula find dozens and dozens of snake eggs. Man-Serpent younglings attack our heroes. Conan at last recalls the traumatizing events of The God in the Bowl. Zula's amulet is making the younglings ...

The USS Cerritos has to travel back in time to 1985 to rescue more humpback whales to bring them forward in time because the whales from the last time didn’t repopulate as well as everyone hoped. So instead of a new, original idea they... are doing Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. I mean they could have done some kind of story where they track down that probe thing if they really wanted to do Star Trek IV. Otherwise this is HEY REMEMBER STAR TREK IV THE ONE WITH WHALES? REMEMBER KIRK AND SPOCK IN 1986? REMEMBER WHALES! REMEMBER THE WEIRD TIME TRAVEL SEQUENCE? Remember? They even have Shaxs dressed like Spock from that movie and Brad Boimler dressed like Marty McFly. Also I get Jack Ransom is supposed to be a meathead or something, but you don’t get into Starfleet and work your way to first officer by being an idiot. Anyways the story in itself isn’t terrible, and while it absolutely wastes time trying to be a sequel to a much better movie, at least it takes the time to exposition dump wi...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (penciller), Tony Kordos (inker), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer). Plot :  This is a parallel plot, with both teams of Joes (in Springfield and on Cobra Island) attempting to escape and get back to headquarters while being pursued.  The Springfield team is attempting to get to the airfield while the Cobra Island team is trying to get to the docks to flee.  Thankfully, Duke and the command crew at the Pit are aware of the situations and send in air support.   Writing : Hama is bringing the action in this issue. The on-going chases while being attacked and trying to get away and both teams having to improvise against more heavily armed and armoured foes.  I did enjoy that he acknowledges sometimes toys and reality don't mix (as it's pointed out they can't fire the Stinger missiles with people riding on the back).  The only downside of such an action-filled issue ...

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, your local spinner rack is once again showcasing another new issue of SSOC!  64 pulsating pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint! Inside this magazine you will find the following: THE COILS TIGHTEN an intro by Jim Zub Awe-inspiring art pin-ups: Conan the Barbarian by Max Von Fafner Spear & Fang by Ivan Gil Sailor Steve Costigan and Mike the bulldog by Gerardo Zaffino CONAN: TWICE PAID DEBTS part 1: The Traitor Returns by Jim Zub and Doug Braithwaite Shem. Conan is drinking with the Kozaki (mercenaries known as the "Free Companions").  10 years have passed since the events of Conan the Barbarian #18. Conan sees the traitorous thief, Tarnasha traversing the tavern. Conan follows Tarnasha outside, she stabs him in the back, they fight. Another Tarnasha sedates Conan with a tranq arrow. CONAN: TWICE PAID DEBTS part 2: Sacrifices by Jim Zub and Doug Braithwaite Conan awakens from a nightmare (featuring the slithery dei...

Voyager returns to Earth after its long journey.  A group of four Admirals arrive but strange things are already about.  Tuvok begins having headaches and one of the Admirals locks the computer controls.  Eventually The Doctor determines Admiral Kittum and his team are members of Species 8472.  As they confront Kittum, Admiral Paris is also exposed as a fake.  8472 open a doorway to fluidic space. The story of Voyager's return home has been told a couple times.  Once as a fake out episode on the series and in a series of novels that continued the story of the Voyager crew past the series finale.  The great majority of that continuity was rendered non-canon with the Picard series.  I always felt it was a mistake removing the threat of Species 8472.  They spent so much time establishing them as the next big bad, able to easily defeat the Borg... only to make friends with em and move on.  I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out h...

The team wait for someone to show up and spring their trap.  They anxiously await someone to take the bait... and to fill the time we get some character backstories and characterization.  Eventually one of the officers is killed by the Romulan spies and a jungle monster attacks several of the others.  The monster manages to kill two of the squad but they are able to jam transmissions so the Romulan spies can't beam away.  The Romulan Bird of Prey fires from low orbit as the remaining security team members try to survive.   This feels very jumbled.  We get a little time with the team as they wait for the Romulans to show up, but it all feels very surface level.  Like trying to care for a victim in a Friday the 13th movie.  The more interesting characters have mostly been killed off.  The jungle monster attack feels almost random and the Romulan threat feels far away, even when they show up and kill one of the security officers.  Other tha...

You know the sword-and-sorcery heist story by heart: From 1933, The Tower of the Elephant by Robert E. Howard. A strange, blood-freezing story of an idol that wept on its throne, and a valiant barbarian from the fringes of an elder civilization. What I did like: 25 impassioned paintings by French comic book artist and illustrator Valentin Sécher starring David Boistault as Conan. 1) The Maul neighbourhood, the City of Thieves, Zamora, street level. 2) In a tavern, a Kothian, a professional kidnapper schools a young Conan about the Elephant Tower that houses the great jewel called the Elephant's Heart (the secret of Yara's magic). 3) The lacerated corpse of the kidnapper. 4) Conan the Cimmerian hits the streets. 5) The temples of the City of Thieves (Arenjun) and Yara's impenetrable tower. 6) Yara, the high priest. 7) Yara's mysterious gardens. A Zamorian royal guard lies strangled. Conan encounters Taurus.  8) Conan converses with Taurus of Nemedia aka the Prince of all...

Nurse Chapel is bored by the current slate of missions Enterprise has been on.  She makes arrangements to meet an old friend.  When Enterprise arrives they find no life signs and the base completely empty. Eventually they encounter a robot who shows them to a submersible craft.  The landing party descends into the awaiting arms of an octopus like creature. The set up feels like an episode of the series.  Some of the characters feel like they should, others... a bit off.  These Strange New Worlds minis are very hit or miss with me.  This one, so far, is intriguing.  Star Trek comics should add a little something and not be bound by constraints of budget.  Doing something on an ice planet or underwater, or with robots is a nice change of pace.  I'm curious to see where this is going.   six out of ten.

Christine Chapel is bored. Una Chin-Riley is bored, Erica Ortegas is not bored, and Spock is fascinated by a microbe they discovered from a previous planet. The starship Enterprise has been on a planet survey mission for weeks, having found nothing but microbes. Chapel calls a friend who’s doing an expedition on an ice planet that happens to also be a far off star base that Pike is sending the ship to. When they arrive they find the science team have disappeared, so off into the abyss they go! See now this is the kind of story that could fit in with the current season of Strange New Worlds. The story has what we want: planets being explored, a mystery to solve, and a reason to come back next issue.  The art, I’d say is at least up there with the now ended Star Trek/Star Trek defiant run. And it does leave with a reason to come back and see what happens. I’m not sure why Chapel suddenly is a thrill seeker, but then original Chapel was a glorified background character. And for some r...