Bottalk Reviews

Creators : Larry Hama (Writer), Paul Pelletier (Pencils), Tony Kordos (Inks), Francesco Segala (Colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (Flatter), Pat Brosseau (Letterer) Story : On Cobra Island, Revanche delivers a stealth bomber to Serpentor-Khan and he is quite impressed with it and wants more delivered. The G.I. Joe Infiltration team (Helix, Multo, Muskrat, and Wet-Suit) sees it and reports back to the Pit.  Duke, Stalker and Mainframe realize the bomber is probably intended for Springfield.  Mainframe then also shows them satellite footage of Dawn's parents being killed (from last issue).  Back on Cobra Island, Serpentor-Khan gets a report of a transmission leaving and has his forces track down the G.I. Joe team, which results in a running battle through the jungle.  At the Pit, Duke and Psyche-Out inform Dawn of her parent's death and console her, as Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and Storm Shadow remind her she has family in the Arashikage clan.  In Springfield, Cobra Commander is upset ab

Creators : Dan Watters (Writer), Andrei Bressan (Artist), Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : In the Republic of Darklonia, the Prime Minister's palace is under siege by insurgents and when his troops try to fight them, they encounter a Battle Android Trooper (B.A.T.).  The troops then realize more are being dropped into the city and the BATs defeat the troops.  The Prime Minister calls Destro and surrenders; Destro arrives and says his cousin, Artyom Darklon, will take over and the Prime Minister shoots himself to avoid what the mob might do to him.  Destro is then in call with Cobra Commander, who is upset about his actions in Darklonia and they get into an argument over how M.A.R.S. Industries is working with Cobra, not subordinate to Cobra.  Destro then visits an ancestral shrine and seeks guidance from his ancestors about what to do with the Energon.  Weeks later, at Darklonia's arms convention we're introduced to other arms manufacturers - Boston,

Prepare for battle! That’s right! 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 the linchpin of this new initiative, a brand-new Transformers comic series! Well, he maintains the reins on the writing of this series at least, as does Mike Spicer on colors. Jorge Corona takes over regular penciling duties with a style that barely misses a step from DWJ’s previous efforts. In this ninth issue, the Autobots take the fight to the Decepticons and drive them off Earth and everyone lives happily ever after! ...Right? No, of course not. Things go horribly, horribly awry. Wry, huh? Sounds funny. I said “A-wry”! Optimus and crew venture forth in Bizarro Action Master Jetfire to take down the Decepticons, but the Decepticons now have an operational space bridge and access to Cybertron. New characters enter the battle for Earth, and the Autobots find themselves on the back foot again! I

Creators : Kelly Thompson (Writer), Marco Ferrari (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colourist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : In Monaco, Scarlett/Shana M. O'Hara infiltrate a mansion that is having some sort of auction and sees Jinx/Kimi Arashikage there as well.  Despite orders not to, Scarlett engages and frees hostages that were going to be sold to bad people (and it seems Jinx freed one as well).  Scarlett is let go from her special contract for breaking orders but discovers Stalker/Lonzo R. Wilkinson has broken into her house and has a job for her.  We find out that Scarlett and Jinx were roommates (and in special forces too) and developed their own set of code signals which Jinx had used.  We also discover that Jinx has been missing for 2 years and has infiltrated the Arashikage Clan in Japan.  Scarlett's job is to go and do the same.  She gets dropped off by Snow Job/Harlan W. Moore and fights some of the clan's ninjas before presenting herself to the Hard Master (whom Jinx

Journalist Kate Marsden wakes up to an autopsy being performed.  She questions the medical examiner if he really believes a creature is responsible or not.  Later, the cartel comes face to face with the Creature and opens fire but he cuts through them with ease.  That night a blood soaked Creature observes Kate from afar before returning to the water. I enjoyed this issue far more than the first.  The creature looks great but some of the people look a little too cartoony.  It doesn't quite mesh well with the tone of the story.  However, the final pages with the Creature standing in a tree under moonlight look great.  This is kind of a mixed bag but I am curious to see how it plays out.  I suspect the Creature will end up taking Kate to his lair much like the original film.   six out of ten.

Creators : Joshua Williamson (Writer), Andrea Milana (Artist), Annalisa Leoni (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : Across the world, Destro is seeing reports of various M.A.R.S. facilities being attacked and overrun.  His men finally bring in Dreadnok Ripper as a captive, who says the man responsible wants to meet him.  So Destro, Mercer, Ripper and some troops fly out to a small town, only for the troops and helicopter to be destroyed by lasers (impressing Destro) and Cobra Commander comes out to greet them, wanting to get into a deal with Destro in exchange for providing Destro with some of the new energy he's discovered.  As they explore the facility, they see more scientists (who seem to be working against their will) and Cobra Commander mentions that there are other forces but they need a common leader to unite them all. He then shows Destro what a Battle Android Trooper can do when upgraded with the energy.  They agree to the deal and, as he changes into his uniform, Co

Who is Rivalling the Void this month?? Void Rivals continues here with issue # 9! It’s Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici 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. In this ninth issue, our protagonist duo Darak and Solila are still on the run from the deadly hunter Proximus, when they stumble upon a new ally who has better things to do this night than die! Also, we look in on our pal, the Skuxxoid! Forget all the rest then, how’s Skuxxy doing?? Sad. Sad and alone. Oh. What about the rest then? Proximus

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Tony Kordos (inks), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : In the Bayou, Zartan is being hounded by a heat seeking missile, able to personally avoid it while sacrificing his Chameleon [Swamp Skier] and realizing, from the debris, it was from M.A.R.S. Industries but suspects Destro was not behind it.  On Cobra Island, Serpentor-Khan and Dr. Mindbender watch the footage from the missile but are unsure if Zartan survived or not.  Elsewhere on the island, they inspect how the new Cobra cyborg troops are coming and then check-in with their Zartan imposter meeting with Destro.  At the meeting, Destro and the Baroness get word that the Zartan they are talking to is an imposter but Destro decides to play along.  We then cut and see Snake Eyes go through an urban training simulation and, afterwards, Scarlett commends him on it and talks about his different weapons.  In Springfield, Dawn