BotTalk Reviews

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....

Aerialbots VS Yodelling! The bold new era for the Autobots and this book continues! Robert Kirkman, chief architect of the Energon Universe, writes the flagship Transformers title and Jason Howard takes over as regular penciler for this new story arc with Mike Spicer on colors. Howard had previously drawn issues # 13 and # 14 of this book, along with many covers. In this thirty-fifth issue, the Autobots must rely on their new human allies to save the dying Shredhead’s life! Also, Thundercracker leads the Aerialbots to track down the forces of Cobra-LUH-LUH-LUH-LUH-LA! So Shredhead ain’t dead? Nah, they’re fine. Although who knows after Doctor Arkeville gets done with them. It does seem like Onslaught is dead for now, which is a shame and kind of weird considering he’s got a new toy out currently, but I guess Kirkman isn’t constrained to Hasbro’s whims as much as other writers were. Wheeljack and Doctor Arkeville have a bit of back-and-forth about fixing Shredhead, which is kind of amus...

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...

Is there ROMance in the air?? Maybe, or maybe we’ve met a new ally in issue # 32 of Void Rivals! Void Rivals is Robert Kirkman’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 thirty-second issue, Kirkman and Conor Hughes catch us up with Darak, Solila and their Cobra-La companions as they recover from the events of the Quintesson War! Oh right, they went on the run in that giant space bug. Yeah, it kind of reminded me of the ACANTI from X-Men comics. Except… a giant space bug instead of a giant space whale. B...

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...

How do you propose I get to the comic store this week? On My ROLLER SKATES??? The bold new era for the Autobots and this book continues! Robert Kirkman, chief architect of the Energon Universe, writes the flagship Transformers title and Jason Howard takes over as regular penciler for this new story arc with Mike Spicer on colors. Howard had previously drawn issues #13 and #14 of this book, along with many covers. In this thirty-fourth issue, we meet Doctor Henri Arkeville, Thundercracker and the Aerialbots set out on a quest, and Shredhead and Cliffjumper bite off more than they can chew! Doctor Arkeville? Really? Yep! Kirkman’s appreciation for the Sunbow cartoon continues as he formally introduces Doctor Arkeville into the story, and much like Miles Mayhem, he just has to take a swing at General Flagg! Flagg’s in an ornery mood after learning that Optimus gave up the Matrix and is a less powerful ally now, so he doesn’t take kindly to being attacked. He still offers Arkeville Mayhem’...

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...

Changes! The bold new era for the Autobots and this book continues! Robert Kirkman, chief architect of the Energon Universe, writes the flagship Transformers title and Jason Howard takes over as regular penciler for this new story arc with Mike Spicer on colors. Howard had previously drawn issues # 13 and # 14 of this book, along with many covers. In this thirty-third issue, Elita Prime and the Autobots on Cybertron regroup, while the Autobots on Earth adjust to their new status quo. Optimus in particular must get used to not being as powerful as he used to be when he had the Matrix. And aboard the Nemesis, something stirs… Stirs? Sure! The Nemesis is underwater, after all! This is mostly a setup issue establishing the current workings of the Autobots on both planets and the Decepticons on Earth. The Earthbound Autobots are furthering their relationship with the humans, the Earthbound Decepticons are still wondering what the hell is going on with Megatron inside his “cocoon”, and the A...