Savage Sword of Conan: REFORGED #3 review

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 Baksh to the Darfari man-eaters. Conan the Cimmerian departs with Jungir Khan's ring (which he swiped the minute he saw it).

THE GODS OF THE HYBORIAN AGE part One: The Homes of the Gods an essay by Robert L. Yaple, illustrated by Alex Nino and Mike Vosburg from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #6

What I did like:

Page 28. Fans of Tetsuo Hara (Fist of the North Star) will understand why the Japanese manga artist is an admirer of Neal Adams.

A NEW "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula" cover by Alex Horley! Hanuman the accursed Ape-God never looked more terrifying.

A vintage "Shadow-God of Zamboula" cover by Earl Norem from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #14.

Page 34 will remind you of the Margaret Brundage cover for Weird Tales (November 1935).

Zabibi appears on both covers!

A fabled Robert E. Howard adaptation from the 1970s!

What I did not like:

I prefer my sword-and-sorcery comics magazines in black-and-white.

No essay by Roy Thomas!

Only reprints. I wanted at least one new exclusive story in color.

I give it a 9/10. Alex Horley completists, you absolutely need to get this!

Void Rivals #17 review

Void Rivals Has Secrets To Reveal! It does and it continues here with issue # 17! 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 seventeenth issue, the secret of Zerta Trion is revealed, Darak has a “friendly” chat with his father, and Proximus is on the rampage! Proximus? He was cool. He was! And that continues here as him and his new kid sidekick go on a quest together. It’s unclear exactly what Proximus wishes to get out of it, but he’s clearly no longer...

Transformers #18 (2023) review

Is Shredhead totally in my face? Yup! 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. In this eighteenth issue, Shredhead kills some guys you may have liked, Ultra Magnus boxes a helicopter, and the Decepticon civil war comes to an end with the return of… well, c’mon, you know. Does Shredhead arrive at the fireworks factory? There’s actually relatively little to do with Shredhead here, aside from an opening fight scene where he showcases how badazz he is by killing some name characters. One of the victims in particular I was kind of annoyed by, considering he just got his first new toy in decades and has always been a fan favorite f...

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