Bottalk Reviews

Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane the dour English Puritan Swashbuckler gets a complete collection of his classic Marvel adventures. Sadly no Dark Horse Comics Guy Davis monster creations inside at all. You get All the pin-ups, adverts, text pieces + All the Kane stories from The Sword of Solomon Kane limited series, Savage Sword of Conan, Conan Saga, Kull and the Barbarians, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Preview, Monsters Unleashed and Dracula Lives. My favourite stories are: A Marvel Team-Up featuring the ectomorph: Kane in his twilight years and the mesomorph: Conan the Barbarian in his prime (The Moon of Skulls II: Death's Dark Riders by Roy Thomas and Colin MacNeil). Kane versus a ghost that kills (Skulls in the Stars by Ralph Reese). Kane versus a Lovecraftian cloud of blood (The Footfalls Within by Don Glut, Will Meugniot and Steve Gan). Kane versus the bat-people (Wings in the Night by Don Glut and David Wenzel). Kane versus vampires/zombies/the walking dead men (The Hills of t

Thrice Marked for Death!... it sounds like a must see Steven Seagal movie to me, but it's not, sword-brothers, sword-sisters... it's only a Queen of the Black Coast sequel by Jim Zub. With his buccaneer days over for the moment and with the Amra, the Lion persona still further along in his future, Conan the Cimmerian corsair is trying to get a certain she-devil of the sea out of his system. Back on terra firma our woebegone barbarian brigand has joined a guild of thieves called the GloryHounds. Will this brand-new arc finally quench my thirst for a good heroic fantasy story? We shall see. What I did like: The Patch Zircher tetraptych! Combine covers #5-8 to form a cool Conan quadriptych.  Doug Braithwaite is hitting it out of the London stadium. Bravo! Colours by Diego Rodriguez are fine. The chat? You mean the cat burglar? A little taste of French Canada from Zub is always good to see. Shadizar is full of shady characters. Erlik mentioned. The Living Tarim mentioned. Bel, god

Are we still doing this? YES, now shut up. Void Rivals continues here with issue # 6. It’s Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici, and Matheus Lopes’ new 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 new 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. Last issue, Darak was broken out of Zertonian jail and found himself in the company of a resistance group opposed to the government. Solila was also imprisoned for showing knowledge of the apparent conspiracy behind the war between her and Darak’s planets. This issue, Darak has Solila broken out and the two go on the lam

Through a crowd of people Dracula watches Mina and Lucy. Lucy appears quite taken with Dracula and once Mina leaves, he makes his presence known. Much later, Mina finds a bloody Lucy laying in bed, a smile on her lips. Once again, the art is the selling point of this comic. The story of Dracula has been told again and again, but I find the artwork really helps sell it. The madness of Renfield and even the softer moments of Lucy crushing on Dracula are wonderful. eight out of ten.

After a brief struggle with the Tzenkethi, they agree to allow the away team access to their leader. On the way, Tom yells at Harry for bringing his daughter on such a dangerous mission. Upon meeting the Tzenkethi leader a Romulan Tal Shiar agent makes her presence known. She implies knowing the truth as to how the Romulans entered the Dominion War. Later, a group of Remans show up and it is revealed the Tzenkethi strong hold will soon be under siege. The infamous Nemesis dune buggy makes a brief appearance here. I never imagined the Tzenkethi as dinosaurs, I guess I always imagined them more along the lines of the Gorn. still, this is a race that has never been seen on screen (aside from Star Trek Online I believe), so getting to know them here is... fascinating. seven out of ten.

Creators : Larry Hama (Writer), Chris Mooneyham (Artist), Francesco Segala (Colourist), Pat Brosseau (Letterer) Plot : The G.I. Joe team is engaging in a two-pronged attack against Cobra Island – one group in the C-130 Hercules and another in the WHALE. Wild Bill and Duke are attempting to keep the C-130 from crashing as a missile had hit and damage some of the hydraulics. Within Cobra Island, Serpentor unleashes a Mutant Virus Bomb to turn everyone within the blast radius into cannibalistic monsters, against the suggestion of Dr. Mindbender. But Serpentor would rather do that than be captured by G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe is able to discover what’s going on and turn around to escape. The C-130 encounters the Cobra Cruise Ship with Revanche’s BAT’s on it, which attack the C-130 but they are able to escape. The WHALE also turns around and Laura and Wade Collins are guarding Cobra Commander but he’s able to overpower them and escape on the Jet Sled. The C-130 (after ditching the vehicle

Spoilers! Spoilers!  The merciless Starscream ices soldier Frosting, this pisses off Channing Tatum... oops, I mean Hauser so much so that he will start his own secret military science fiction unit: G.I. Joe. Conrad is calling his Ninja croupier friend in Vegas: Snake Eyes, right now. Starscream squished his best friend, now a sober, somber Sparkplug Witwicky wants retribution. Could Starscream be correct? Are the Autobots actually pure evil? Yes! They want to dominate the human race? Yes! The malevolent Optimus Prime kills a fawn, oh dear, and does not bury it! The hypocrite leader of the Autobots clearly cries bogus tears for the baby deer and the fallen Bumblebee. Crocodile tears from the one also called Alligaticon! Never forget that Prime murdered Teletraan One (see last issue), to stop it from reviving more upstanding and decent Decepticons, but also to keep it quiet, naturally, loose spaceship lips sink ships you know. The foul Cliffjumper fakes that he's afraid and unaware

As the Defiant bridge crew review the past and current whereabouts of Hugh, the ship comes under attack... by Hugh and his forces. He demands they turn Lore over. Worf lowers the shields and invites Hugh to search for Lore. Worf and an away team beam on to Hugh's ship with the intent of capturing him. They are stopped by Nomad. Later, Worf and Hugh discuss the situation. Hugh sends Nomad to attack a Borg cube and cuts the drones off from the collective. Later, Worf offers Hugh a place on the Defiant, that they might track down Lore together. Hugh accepts and the Defiant warps off to locate the next target. This was a really fun issue. The inclusion of Nomad was unexpected, though I think the Borg connection unnecessary. Adding Hugh to the Defiant certainly fills the gap left by the departing Lore. A somewhat loose cannon with goals that could possibly conflict with those of Worf and the Federation. seven out of ten.

In a flashback we see Picard's life growing up in France. The disapproval of his father and jealousy of his brother. After sharing, Spock orders Picard to attend the party. At the party Picard watches a classmate get bullied... only then for the bully to get his comeuppance. The flashback of Picard's farm life is, while nothing we haven't seen before, charming. the rest of the book feels like all ages fluff. And I'm sorry, but the art doesn't do it any favours. this is inoffensive, but rather bland. six out of ten.

We’re back in business, huh? Yep, a brand-new Transformers comic series after nearly ten months of no new Transformers comics! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s new Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on what will likely be the linchpin of this new initiative. In this second issue, Optimus Prime and his functioning Autobots must quickly adjust to the new world they’ve awakened into, while Starscream and the active Decepticons cause even more havoc! The larger world takes notice of the giant robots running amok and musters a response, but can anything prepare anyone for a threat on this level? So thrill me, now that the Big Ark Nap is over, it’s balls-to-the-wall action, right? Well, yes and no… this issue mostly focuses on the Autobots and Optimus in particular getting more acquainted with their new settings and human friends Spike and Carly. Meanwhile, the Decepticons continue their rampage as they try

aka Conan Le Cimmérien - Le Maraudeur noir Clearly inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and never published during his lifetime, The Black Stranger by Robert E. Howard gets poorly adapted in France. Robert just can't get a break. The amateurish art of Jean-Luc Masbou is not ready for prime time. The human form is not mastered at all. Enthusiasts of anatomy will be severely upset. Faces look all too often like boiled potatoes or rotting pumpkins. Nonetheless lots of work is put in the vegetation of the Pictish wilderness, rock formations, the fort, masted sailing ships, weapons and clothes. The strange black Stygian mage/demon also disappoints by not being consistent or creepy enough. The terrible lettering makes the tale almost illegible. The pin-ups for The Treasure of Tranicos are all embarrassing except for the one by master Philippe Druillet, but it's cropped. Cropped? What the heck? Yes, and this is extremely disrespectful. Shame on you Glénat, Jean-Dav