BotTalk Reviews

A Black Stone Novel by James Lovegrove Dedicated to the memory of Robert Ervin Howard who dreamed up whole worlds and peopled them with heroes Cover by Jeffrey Alan Love  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  500 years ago. The earth quakes, ruptures and destroys the city of Ghuht, most citizens perish in the cataclysm. Lovecraftian lilac/pink light bleeds out of the earth fissure and transforms the survivors's second generation into flying monsters. The flora and fauna surrounding the city also gets warped and rechristened The Rotlands. The Rotlands are constantly expanding, taking over the planet.  After centuries of inbreeding, the monsters become infertile, they decide to kidnap women from adjacent regions, it doesn't work. Their Leader Khotan-Kha gets a brilliant idea: to further his dying race he'll send emissaries to capture "mutant" children and let the light mutate the youngsters into a new generation of immunized winged creatures. H...

Void Rivals has The Touch! It does and it continues here with issue # 14! Void Rivals is Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’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. In this fourteenth issue, Darak and Solila continue their separate journeys and come closer to learning the secrets behind the conspiracy that keeps their peoples apart. Also, the Skuxxoid continues being depressed and Hot Rod shows up on the trail of his buddy Springer! Depressed Skuxxoid, eh? Yeah, what’s the deal with that? What is Kirkman doi...

The infamous scene of the monster throwing little Maria into the lake plays out.  As the villagers search for the monster Henry discovers it.  They briefly struggle, with the monster victorious.  Taking refuge at an old windmill the monster tosses Henry to the ground.  The enraged villagers set fire to it and the monster seemingly dies in the inferno.   Maria's death is beautifully illustrated this issue.  The Monster smiling and flowers fluttering as she falls.  Great sequence.  The final ending that plays out here is lifted from the 1931 James Whale film, not the novel.  In the novel Henry searches for the monster after the death of his fiancé.  Their final encounter is in an arctic wasteland.  I have no problem with the movie ending being played out here.  Overall this is a fine adaption of Frankenstein that honours both the novel and the most famous incarnation of it put to film.   eight out of ten.

Sela breaks her shackles and attacks her father.  She eventually gets a knife in the back as Spock simply observes.  With Sela seemingly down, her father turns his attention to Spock, only for Sela to deliver the killing blow to her own father.  Spock is allowed to leave in peace and later Sela sends a message to all Romulan forces naming a new Praetor.  Later, Worf turns command of the Defiant over to B'Elanna Torres, saying he has been called away.  Some time later Spock and Worf have a discussion and Alexander appears saying that he is ready to reclaim his honor. A lot going on this issue.  We see Spock placed in a position that will lead him to the opening moments of the first Abrams film.  Sela, instead of proclaiming herself Praetor, simply gives that power to another.  Her evolution over this series has been very interesting.  I will say that the inclusion of O'Brien and Julian still feels like an afterthought.  While it was fun t...

Creators : Larry Hama (Writer), Chris Mooneyham (Artist), Francesco Segala (Colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (Flatter), Pat Brosseau (Letterer) Story : The battle for Springfield rages on with Cobra forces leading  Serpentor-Khan's forces into a trap.  The Dreadnoks and the Joe Ninja Force bring the Baroness to the hospital so he can be healed, with Zartan pretending to be Cobra Commander.  Meanwhile, Serpentor-Khan arrives, changing the tide of the battle and the Cobra forces retreat.  Just as Serpentor-Khan believes he has the upper hand, Destro's forces arrive. Writing : This is a fast-paced battle issue. All the action takes place in Springfield and it's a back and forth between a ground battle, air battle, and the commanding forces figuring out what to do. I felt that it flowed really well and even though the perspective changed to different areas, the pace never let up.  I also enjoyed that the story didn't switch to the Joe's command team at the Pit, as I fe...

The Kelvin Universe Enterprise crew and the Defiant crew get to know each other. Spock... the Prime Spock, warned Kirk about certain future events, hence why the Enterprise was waiting for Sisko and crew.  Eventually, Kirk and Sisko approach Starfleet about working together to stop the reality shockwave unleashed by Lore.  Starfleet agrees and a large fleet of ships is gathered.  The assembled fleet is useless though, as the shockwave hits and annihilates everything.  The Enterprise and Defiant manage to survive, though the Enterprise is eventually overtaken by the shockwave as Defiant escapes. The Defiant has returned to its own time/space continuum but everything is gone.  No stars, no life signs, only the black void of space. Lots of nice moments in this issue.  The Enterprise and Defiant crews geek out over each other and compare notes.  0718, a very underutilized character from the Kelvin films, takes it upon himself to build Data a new body. ...

SOLOMON KANE RETURNS! Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring From creator Patrick Zircher Cover by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola Issue #1 On Sale March 2025 #SolomonKaneReturns

Creators : Joshua Williamson, Tom Reilly, Jordie Bellaire Story :  Duke is leading the G.I. Joe team on some training exercises - Clutch, Stalker, Cover Girl, Rock 'n Roll and the Baroness, while giving a bit of background on each.  The Baroness does struggle working with the crew and Duke feels they are not ready yet. In Springfield, Destro shows off his newest gun to Cobra Commander who is very impressed with it.  In Abu Dhabi, G.I. Joe agent Risk (the one missing a part of his left pinkie) beats up some people and tells them not to sell to M.A.R.S. Industries.  Back at the Pit, Hawk and Duke talk it over on what it means to be a leader and what the team needs. They then get their first mission; to retrieve a piece of Cybertronian tech while at the same time Cobra is going after it.  While the Joes are retrieving the tech, they come under attack by Cobra forces, who seem to have them outgunned and out-technologized with their new laser rifles.   Writing ...

Is it More Than Meets The Eye Time? You bet! 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! Well, he maintains the reins on the writing of this series at least, as does Mike Spicer on colors. Jorge Corona has taken over regular penciling duties with a style all his own. However, this fourteenth issue sees Jason Howard step in to pencil the second part of a Starscream-centric tale. More Starscream origin stuff? Yes! We see how Megatron molded Starscream into the cruel murderer he is today! And in the present, we see how the Starscream of today has been molded by his injuries and some nosy humans into… half the ‘bot he used to be! The M.A.R.S. salvage squad from last issue has fused Starscream’s upper half with a H.I.S.S. tank, resulting in a true Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover! Much of the issue is spent es...