Bottalk Reviews

eBook by John C. Hocking Dedicated to Roy Thomas (Conan comic book writer and editor) Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A sequel to CONAN AND THE EMERALD LOTUS! Yes, the fan favourite Conan pastiche from 1995. With their Little Shop of Horrors adventure with the wizard, Ethram-Fal now in the rear view mirror, the emerald lotus addicted long legged sorceress Lady Zelandra of Akkharia desires to return home, to do so Conan and friends have to cross the River Styx from Stygia to Shem. Seeking a boat, our heroes arrive at the village of Quenah, but it's a ghost town. They sleep in an abandoned tavern, thinking of searching the docks the next day. Two living corpses appear! One steals the sorceress's last stash of eldritch drug (the crushed seeds of a deadly, addictive lotus plant that enhances her magical powers and that she is tapering off over time to be free of it) while the other zombie is just a distraction brandishing

The all-new PREQUEL to the original simian sci-fi classic from 1968 is finally over. Cornelius frees the Gibbon slaves from their gigantic prison. Our favourite hippie chimpanzee Lucius saves his aunt Zira from being trampled by horses. The Hominidae empire is actually planning an invasion of Ape City. Nova kills Sergeant Audhild. Mutant leader Ivana makes Colonel Jarl see insects, he runs away.  The Gibbons do not want to fight the Gorillas, Cornelius tries to motivate them with a stirring "Caesar" speech. Surrounded by Gorillas, Sniper Kennard wants to retreat, Ivana says no. Nova wants to fight some more. Cornelius attacks with his Gibbon allies. Ivana avenges Lyla. Cornelius runs away with Lucius and Zira. The Gibbons win the day, Ivana wants Colonel Jarl to order his troops to surrender, he refuses. Ivana takes control of Jarl and the Colonel orders his soldiers to stand down. Ivana sends the gorillas to the gigantic Gibbon prison.   Back at Hope's Point (the ruins

eBook by Stephen Graham Jones Cover by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  Herdsman Jen Ro's French kissing cow rouses our blood caked Cimmerian from his slumber. Conan remembers being part of Shen-ga's raiding party, something must have turned sour on the battlefield because he realizes that he is now lost in the mountains. Conan collapses back to sleep in cowpats.  Conan finally awakens surrounded by cattle, and with Jen Ro's water, he washes the blood of battle from his body and loincloth. Jen Ro, a black lotus addict, cuts a steak from his narcotized cow's flank and miraculously heals the new wound with a mixture of glowing purple moss and black lotus. Jen Ro starts cooking the meat, but the starving Cimmerian can't wait and consumes it rare. Conan asks for more, Jen Ro goes to another drugged cow and brings more meat and wine.  Jen Ro mentions Trinnecerl, a village where he usually sells his purple glowing horned bovines. But

eBook by Steven L. Shrewsbury Cover by Gary Gianni (that Raven helmet is pretty fly! Brân means Raven) Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  The past... We are witnessing the last great battle of Bran Mak Morn. Picts and Romans are fighting. Bran Mak Morn, of the blood of Brule the Spear-slayer (the friend of King Kull of Valusia who reigned thousands of years ago before Atlantis sank) kills a Decurion (a Roman cavalry officer). Alaric and Bran's son Gallam are also there. Old Scottish priest Father Rogan stirs Dr. Elijah Blackthorn from his vision/reading. Dr. B, a psychometric archaeologist with the Miskatonic Institute of Technology awakens in an ancient Scottish Episcopal church, the Rosslyn Chapel. Dr. B spots Purple sashes of Advent (violet is the colour of royalty) anticipating the arrival of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Dr. B has a special talent, artifacts talk to him, he only has to touch them and their secrets

Jim Zub's The Age Unconquered part 1: Suffer Not the King of Wonders, starts here. Conan stabbed himself in the chest and died on the way back to his home planet? The End? Nope! Not the end. Conan gets The Terminator treatment and gets sent back in time by unknown mystical forces to the Thurian Age (The Age of Atlantis), the epoch of Atlantean King Kull of Valusia and his buddy Brule, the Spear-Slayer, a Pict of the Borni tribe. We see Brule once again piercing the loathsome Black Stone statue with his blessed spear from way back in issue #4. Lighting from heaven's grasp strikes the spear and the obelisk shatters. Time traveler Conan still alive with his clothes, horned helmet and Brule's sword, emerges from the destroyed Black Stone sculpture, you know, like in Ghostbusters with the charred Terror Dogs. Brule's Pictish warriors suggest killing the slime covered barbarian from the future. The Spear-Slayer stops them. A confused Conan does not remember Brule (from previo

The all-new PREQUEL to the original simian sci-fi classic from 1968 is almost over. Zira spies on the Hominidae empire, a city of gorilla soldiers. Cornelius (now with a completely healed shoulder) spots our favourite hippie chimpanzee Lucius. Zira wants to go to this new city to save her nephew, Nova doesn't want her to go.  Back to Hope's Point (the ruins of Yankee Stadium). Mutant leader Ivana tells Zira that they have been at peace with the Hominidae empire FOR GENERATIONS. Zira thinks that the Gorillas could be planning an invasion of her city (Ape City). Zira selfishly suggests to the mutants that they should attack the Hominidae empire first, before they too are raided. Sniper Kennard and Lyla like the idea of invading the empire. Clairvoyant Ivana reaches again telepathically into Nova's mind, this time using "The Wizard of Oz" as a template. Ivana mentions once more Mendez, the mutant leader living beneath the radioactive ruins of New York City from Benea

eBook by Violet Castro Cover by Jenny Frison Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A storm is battering Bêlit's ship the Tigress, crewmates are flying overboard. First mate Seneka, an expert tracker, is trying to protect Bêlit from the storm, They've been together for five years. The Tigress stops moving suddenly, they have hit land, an island. Hassan starts assessing the damage. Bêlit hits the beach, removes her boots and devours a fallen blood fruit from a nearby tree.  Hassan needs to work on the mast and to cut down trees to repair the Tigress's belly. Seneka, Mithras and Zeke will gather fruit, coconuts and make a fire. Nora will fish. They eat under the clouds that are obscuring the stars and preventing them from knowing their position. They start exploring the island in teams. Zeke and Mithras into the jungle. Nora and Homer to the left. Horus and Ajani to the right. The teen Mithras returns to tell Bêlit that N

This is not a black lotus induced dream. What you're seeing on the spinner rack is real! It's a brand new bimonthly Conan black-and-white magazine!  Yup! 80 spectacular pages of barbaric savagery printed on newsprint!  Inside this anthology you'll find plenty of treasures: A Personal Introduction by Roy Thomas Map of the Hyborian Age by Francesca Baerald A fresh new Pin-Up of Conan by Rob De La Torre A fresh new Pin-Up of Bêlit by Rebeca SubversiveGirl Puebla A fresh new Pin-Up of Solomon Kane by Howard Chaykin Pin-Up of the variant cover by Gerardo Zaffino with Robert E. Howard's poem: The Road of Kings  Pin-Up of the cover by Joe Jusko Solomon Kane, an essay by archaeologist Jeffrey Shanks Conan & The Dragon Horde by John Arcudi & Max Von Fafner Max is killing it on the art! Departing the Wahuan desert, now setting foot into the steppes of Hyrkania, General Conan is leading the 200 men - 1 woman army of exiled Prince Zaahid of Ul-Dalkhana, mostly gold lusting

Thrice Marked for Death! part four: Sacrifice!... Jim Zub's blood-soaked sequel to Queen of the Black Coast ends here. We get more "amazing" memories of Conan's time with his girlfriend aboard the Tigress.  Conan is sword fighting for fun with Lanre. Bêlit wants to spar with an ancient weapon (Brule/Brissa's Pictish blade) that she just stumbled upon, Conan refuses to indulge her because of his feelings for it. In a jealous fit of rage Bêlit tries to toss the half-sword overboard. Conan stops her. Back to the present, Conan, now a thrice possessed tool for Thulsa Doom is walking around the city of Shadizar. We get more flashbacks: Conan breaking the vessel from issue 4, the jungles of Kush, his fight with a shapechanger in the grasslands, the selling of the Pictish blade to Jaali the trader.  The nefarious spectres inside our Cimmerian want that blade... to corrupt it. Jason Voorhees...  I mean, Conan goes back to the pawnshop, kills Jaali's nephew and Thulsa

The all-new PREQUEL to the original simian sci-fi classic from 1968 continues. We start with more than 3 pages of badly reprinted and horribly coloured vintage pages by Doug Moench, Alfredo Alcala and George Roussos. Clairvoyant mutant Ivana wakes up from this Alcala dream, which is the future of Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). Ivana and Lyla telepathically feel that sniper Kennard is about to kill our heroes. Ivana stops him and recognizes Nova from her dream. Cornelius approaches the ruins of the Yankee Stadium, last seen in 1975 in the UK exclusive ApeSlayer comic (a redrawn Killraven comic: Amazing Adventures #21 in Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes #30) and gets shot in the shoulder. Ivana puts Zira to sleep. The mutants bring our three heroes to their colony, Hope's Point. Ivana and Nova converse telepathically. We get even more vintage art by the late, great, Filipino artist Alfredo Alcala. Ivana asks about Mendez, the mutant leader living beneath the radioactive rui

Thrice Marked for Death! part three: HAUNTED!... Jim Zub's vulgar sequel to Queen of the Black Coast continues. Conan is remembering "the good old times" with his bipolar girlfriend Bêlit. Back to the present, a bewitched Chaundra "The Chat" (It's somehow very important to constantly remind the reader that she's nicknamed "The Chat" but apparently Zub means a chatterbox not a songbird or a cat.) tries to assassinate our Cimmerian. "The Chat", now with deadite-like looks and enhanced strength, stabs Conan in the trapezius and slits a poor random dude's tongue. Conan kills her. Bleeding, haunted by the past, lost in his fevered mind, Conan garrottes Bêlit. Conan stumbles upon Kamal's secret gathering point. The barbarian finds his allies from the guild of thieves butchered by Kamal and locksmith Greff, both also possessed, just like "The Chat". Conan kills his two bandit buddies, dead Chaundra shows up, all 3 spectres

Thanks to Titan Books for giving us this opportunity to interview Simon! 1) How did the current trade paperback re-publications of your TF work come about? 1A) I'd always harboured the idea of getting my US TF run back in print in collected editions, but it wasn't really until 1997/1998 (when I attended two Botcons) that I realized that there may still be a market out there. Even so, it was another couple of years until the time seemed to be right. There was a lot of retro interest in all things 80s, TF included, and a new Gen 1 style toy line in the offing, so armed with enough potential sales information I felt confident enough to pitch the idea to Titan (without getting laughed out of the room). 2) I help run a chain of four comic book stores in America, and I just wanted to tell you that there is a great market here for collections of your U.K. stories. If these are on the horizon for the Titan collections, I think they would sell as many, if not more, than the recent Ameri