BotTalk Reviews

Story : Sean Collins/Throwdown continues his rampage, destroying a Terror Drome and a couple of Cobra H.I.S.S.: High Speed Sentries before stealing a Cobra Stinger: Night Attack 4-WD to move onto the next Terror Drome. Helix and Beachhead provide commentary while informing Duke of the situation. A Joe team, with Snake-Eyes and Scarlett are en route. Snake-Eyes is finally able to confront Sean. Writing : Hama keeps the pressure and action going in this issue. Sean, with Dr. Venom's programming just doesn’t stop. The beginning is a bit odd with the commentary from Helix and Beachhead. While all are cured of Dr. Venom's programming, there might still be more to the story. Art : Pelletier keeps the art nice and crisp with a lot of good colors. When Sean and Snake-Eyes do their mental battle, the color changes up a bit and is a bit reminiscent of the style from the 80’s.   Overall : Sean gets his issue in this deprogramming arc and it has a strong finish. Excellent art and a straigh...

Story : Shipwreck meets up with Lara Croft, “the Tomb Raider” as she needs help getting to the Arbco Star shipping freighter on Cobra Island to hunt for a missing artifact. Destro’s forces are already there so the Joes send a team in to try to find the artifact, which has the potential to be really powerful.   The team encounters the Iron Grenadiers on the island and neither team uses weapons for fear of alerting the Blue Ninjas that are still in the casino.  Writing : The themes of this issue feel more like a classic Sunbow cartoon than the ongoing ARAH issues but not too bad. Lara Croft has been set up as an established character in the series with Shipwreck knowing her and both Destro and the Baroness having met her before. I did like that as it feels a bit more believable than her suddenly appearing in the series. Her franchise (Tomb Raider) is mentioned a few times ("oh, it’s the Tomb Raider") more as a nickname than what she goes by. I also enjoy the call back to the fr...

Story : Miles Mayhem (leader of V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem)) is talking with Scott Trakker as they stroll through the woods and tells a bit about himself (worked with his father and the military). When they get to the Bladejet/Switchblade, Scott reveals he knows everything already and T-Bob (Thingamabob, Scott Trakker's robot) shows up and fights off VENOM. Matt Trakker and company finish off with Buddie Hawks when he gets notified that T-Bob is protecting Scott so Matt has Gloria Baker go first (still at Boulder Hill, which is near the school). Scott an T-Bob end up following VENOM as they look for him and he ambushes Sly Rax as the MASK team heads out.  Writing : At first I was wondering why a kid would go off with someone into the woods but once the story gets going we realize Scott knows exactly what he’s doing and has planned it out. T-Bob as been incorporated nicely into the series without being the annoying robot friend. And Scott is smart. He seems to be ab...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Duke's G.I. Joe team fights off against Flint's Night Force team in trying to capture the Baroness.  Duke vs. G.I. B.A.T., Beachhead vs. Stalker, Roadblock vs. Risk and Flint, Shooter and Lady Jaye vs. Clutch, Autobot Hound, and the Baroness.  We get more details on what Zartan is after, and Snowjob has brought Scarlett back for debriefing.  Meanwhile, Cobra Commander uses the Energon Sword to train/fight Major Medusa, using Crystal Ball's D.I.R.E. Tech - which leads Destro to finding out something about Cobra Commander.  Eventually, most of the Joes and Night Force realize things are getting too far gone once G.I. B.A.T. tries to kill Duke, against the current orders to capture the team.   Writing : Lots of action and a lot going on. The Baroness and Clutch have a good conversation in which the Baroness accuses him of never trusting her.  We...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Pat Olliffe (artist), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : Cutter, Shipwreck, and Wetsuit are on the Killer W.H.A.L.E. Hovercraft assisting Deep Six as he investigates a sunken Russian submarine.  Ghostrider in The Phantom X-19 Stealth Fighter is providing air support when three Rattlers and a ASPID helicopter arrive with two Cobra Eels and a Hydro-Viper who head down to the sub as well.  Writing : Sometimes this is just what you need, a nice stand-alone issue with some good action and fight scenes.  The Russian sub may come up later down the road but for now, it's just a MacGuffin for our characters.  And we get nautical guys doing nautical stuff and a flier...flying!  Everyone is doing their role nicely and it all fits together in a nice, tight story.   Art : Art and colors are sublime in this issue. Olliffe does a good job with the action scenes and, between him and Ham...

Creators : Dan Watters (writer), Marco Ferrari (artist), Pierluigi Casolino (colorist), Rus Wooton (letteter) Story :  Matt Trakker meets up with Dusty Hayes in New Orleans to stop someone with a mask on from hurting people.  Matt and Dusty talk a lot about the past and more details emerge on how everything is connected.  Miles Mayhem (leader of V.E.N.O.M.) ended up putting a dangerous mask on a random individual to distract Matt while Mayhem goes and does something else.  Writing :  The beginning jumps right into the story with very little carry over from the previous issue.  We get another classic mask character (Dusty Hayes) introduced along with his jeep, Gator, (though it doesn't change to a boat this time).  The end of the issue also brings in Buddie Hawks too.  And Miles traveling to Boulder Hill, NY was a nice inclusion as well.  Overall, while most of the issue is Matt and Dusty trying to help Buddie, there is a lot of talking about ...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer),Tom Reilly, Andrea Milana (artists), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Flint, Beachhead, Lady Jaye, and Shooter are fighting some Cobra S.N.A.K.E (System: Neutralizer—Armed Kloaking Equipment) Battle Suits as training and officially reveal their name as Night Force.  Hawk/Zartan fights the Baroness after the events of last issue and he issues an order to capture her but she gets away.  Baroness was able to see something was wrong with Hawk.  He orders the Joe team to take her out.  Cobra Commander reveals his upgrades to Crystal Ball's D.I.R.E. (Dread-Inducing Responsive Energy) Tech and his new "left hand" Major Medusa.  On her yacht, the Baroness is confronted by Night Force but tries to explain and that anyone who talks to her will probably be killed.  The rest of the Joes show up to help the Baroness with Flint surprised to see Autobot Hound but then he releases Night Force's own surprise - G....

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (penciler), Tony Kordos (inker), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : Lift-Ticket and Wild Bill fly the Tomahawk helicopter through bad weather to deliver Shockwave and Rock 'n Roll to Snake-Eye's cabin to help Scarlett but are relived to discover he has been able to deactivate his implant on his own and they all head back to the Pit.  At the Pit, Dawn is trapped but begins to take out the cameras so the team has no clue where she is.  The Pit crew (Mainframe, Dial-Tone, Stalker, Duke) are able to contact Helix and Beachhead to get an update on Sean, who is attacking the Terror Drome.  Sean is driven off but Helix and Beachhead take out most of the remaining Cobras and create a truce with the remaining ones to stop Sean.  Snake-Eyes arrives at the Pit and confronts Dawn, using Arashikage abilities to help destroy her implant as well.  Meanwhile, in Darklonia, Sea...

Creators : Dan Watters (writer), Pye Parr (artist), Pierluigi Casolino (colorlist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Alex Sector helps Gloria Baker get to shore due to the events of last issue while Matt Trakker takes on Miles Mayhem.  Sector helps Baker understand what her mask can do while she swims for shore.  Mayhem gets away while Baker finally reaches shore only to be saved by Bruce Sato as Vanessa Warfield tries to take down Baker.  On Venom's ship headquarters, we discover Mayhem has a lot more secrets as he consults with a high-powered Baron. Writing : This issue is full of action.  Baker is trying to get away from Mayhem then Warfield, Trakker versus Mayhem and Sector trying to get everyone out alive from behind the scenes.  I enjoyed Sector's introduction, as in the cartoon, you really got the sense he was more of a planner and here we get that, he does well in the "command center", helping the operatives out.  And the reveal of Miles Mayhem talking...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Andrea Milana (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Risk and Crystal Ball continue their fight and we discover Crystal Ball's background and a bit more on Risk.  Destro and Baroness work together to free Stalker and Chameleon, which allows Risk to win the fight.  Both Joes and Cobra are able to return with some valuable prizes.  Cobra Commander plans to use the D.I.R.E. (Dread-Inducing Responsive Energy) tech while the Baroness witnesses something she shouldn't have. Writing : Williamson keeps the action flowing in the first half of this issue.  Crystal Ball gets a pretty decent background while keeping some of his original ("7th son of the 7th son).  The last half wraps up a few other plot points (Scarlett's return, Duke's mission with Clutch) and sets us up nicely for the next issue.  I do wonder if Williamson will "rewind the clock" a bit so we get some more details of what happened el...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (penciler), Tony Kordos (inker), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatterer), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : The Joe teams have to deal with three of its members (Snake-Eyes, Dawn, and Sean) having an "easter egg" leftover by Dr. Venom in the original Snake-Eyes' memory as they attack any Joes near them.  The crew at the Pitt (Duke, Stalker, Dial-Tone and Mainframe) are able to contain Dawn in the Pitt and inform Helix and Beach Head what's going on but can't reach Scarlett as Snake-Eyes attacks her.  Scarlett is able to hold him off and head outside but encounters a bear.  In Darklonia, Beach Head and Helix are able to trick Sean in taking out the blue ninjas and finally Snake-Eyes is able to overcome the programming.  Meanwhile, at Destro's castle, a certain raider of tombs discovers something. Writing : Again, I think it's pretty cool that Hama is pulling the Dr. Venom card after decades of...

Creators : Dan Watters (writer), Pye Parr (artist), Pierluigi Casolino (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Miles Mayhem tries to retrieve an alien object but it turns on and he loses it.  Matt Trakker reaches out to Bruce Sato and Gloria Baker to help him out.  They discover the artifact opened a wormhole and try to stop it while fending off attacks from V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem).   Writing : Second issue in and we're looking at potential world-ending threats and MASK is on the case.  Watters wastes no time in introducing two classic MASK characters into the mix.  When or how Trakker recruited them is unknown but maybe we'll get into that in future issues.  Watters keeps the action and story moving and it never feels like there is any downtime.  We have a threat, we get a team together and they tackle the threat.  While we're not told how long they have been agents, Sato seems a bit surprised that the Shark can transform so...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Andrea Milana (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Picking up where last issue left off, Risk is fighting the ghosts of his pasts as Crystal Ball (the Cobra hypnotist and paranormal scientist) tries to torture him but he fights them off.  Crystal Ball then ups the ante.  Meanwhile, after a brief skirmish, Destro and Baroness decided to a temporary alliance in order to get out.  Risk encounters more ghosts of his past and ends up in a fist fight with Mercer.  The two come to terms and also decide to work together.  Destro and Baroness find more energon and Stalker and Chameleon hooked up to some machines.  Mercer is then taken out and Crystal Ball decides to face Risk himself.  Writing : Williamson keeps this story moving, rarely with any downtime. The Baroness and Risk get a bit more of their backgrounds explained and we start to see a classic Baroness/Destro relationship emerge (thou...