BotTalk Reviews

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...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Tony Kordos (inker), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatterer), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : Doctor Mindbender and Alpha-001 start exploring the digital memories Dr. Venom downloaded from Snake-Eyes.  Dawn has returned to the Pit and suspects there is something hidden in the memories of Snake-Eyes (that were implanted in her mind by Dr. Venom) and Duke, Stalker and Mainframe all worry what might happen as Sean and the original Snake-Eyes also have those memories.  In Darklonia, Helix, Sean and Beachhead infiltrate the countryside to take down a Terror Drome.  In Colorado, Scarlett and Snake-Eyes are enjoying time away.  Then, Mindbender activates something and all three start attacking whoever is nearest.   Writing : I enjoyed the 4 separate but interconnected stories.  I also enjoy that a minor character from the original G.I. Joe run from 40 years ago still has an impact on the...

Creators :  Dan Watters, Pye Parr, Pierluigi Casolino Story :  Matt Trakker, trying to escape from the US military, is captured and brought in to see General Flagg.  Meanwhile, Vanessa Warfield and Sly Rax both interrogate individuals in their own way.  Trakker lets loose on Flagg what Miles Mayhem is up to and how unstable he is and how Mayhem framed Trakker and stole his Mobile Armored Strike Kommand technology. In Alaska, Mayhem finds the third person who had interacted with an alien device he wants.  Trakker says he wanted to be captured because he knows Mayhem has an agent nearby, who is the Private in the room.  Both he and Trakker activate their masks and duke it out, with General Flagg and Trakker taking down the Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem (V.E.N.O.M.) agent.  While Flagg offers Trakker a position within G.I. Joe, he declines and escapes with his flying car, the Thunderhawk.  Mayem, Rax, and Warfield do find an alien device. Writing : ...

War ends? Next on Void Rivals! The Quintesson War comes to an end for now in issue # 30 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. Penciler Andrei Bressan and colorist Patricio Delpeche join Robert Kirkman for the sixth and final part of “Quintesson War”. In this instalment, Darak and Solila are finally reunited as the Quintesson War grinds to a halt. An even greater threat is on the horizon, so perhaps it is time to seek out new allies… So uh, who won? Oh, the Quint...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Andrea Milana (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Cobra Commander admires his latest achievement and sends Destro on a mission (despite his arguing otherwise).  We get a bit more background on Risk as he, Baroness and Stalker land in Badhikistan for a mission.  The reports say it is abandoned and that the people left it because it is haunted.  They start to see strange signs but eventually run into Destro, Astoria, and Mercer, who claim to have seen things also (both sides blame each other).  After a brief tussle, all but Risk are captured by various things.  Meanwhile. Crystal Ball looks on, having captured everyone with his tech.  Writing : An interesting story and right away Williamson has made Crystal Ball a bit more interesting.  Crystal Ball was never a fan-favourite character (or toy) so it will be fun to see what he ends up doing here.  We get some classic Cobra Commande...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Andrew Krahnke (artist), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : In Sierra Gordo, the Joe team of Jinx, Dawn, Cover Girl, and Sherlock finish taking down a Terror Drome.  However, an explosion knocks Dawn around, revealing more memories from Snake-Eyes and Dr. Venom using his Brainwave Scanner on Snake-Eyes way back in issue 10.  On Cobra Island. Dr. Mindbender gets notified about these memories as well.   Writing : Hama easily wraps up the Terror Drome story while introducing a new problem for Snake-Eyes.  Hama introduced the world to Dr. Venom, Cobra's original mad scientist back in the early days of the comic's run in the 1980's and has continued to use the dead character and his brainwave scanner again and again.  He's a favorite villain that, while dead, just keeps coming back!   Art : It's nice to see Dawn without her mask on all the time in this issue.  Sometimes ...