BotTalk Reviews

Battle of the Black Stone part 4: The Future yet Unwritten, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics reaches its conclusion. St. Elmo's fire surrounds Brissa, Solomon Kane, John Kirowan and murdered author James Allison... they are fading away. Conan's soul was the anchor holding our HEROES OF MAN in the Hyborian Age.  James Allison confirms that Brissa died many years ago. Like Odin, Kirowan gives one of his eyes in return for wisdom. With this new knowledge he is able to access hidden paths of energy/power to resurrect Conan. Phantom Picts of the past appear only to Kirowan, the phantasms will guide him towards the source of the BLACK STONE curse. They reach the source of corruption! A cracked onyx BLACK STONE altar (clearly the empty BLACK STONE coffin of Thulsa Doom) is protected by crazed living Picts, spectres and the BLACK STONE BEAST. James Allison's ghost becomes whole again, Kane dies, James imagines a world where the BLACK STONE BEAST can ...

A Black Stone Novel by James Lovegrove Dedicated to the memory of Robert Ervin Howard who dreamed up whole worlds and peopled them with heroes Cover by Jeffrey Alan Love  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  500 years ago. The earth quakes, ruptures and destroys the city of Ghuht, most citizens perish in the cataclysm. Lovecraftian lilac/pink light bleeds out of the earth fissure and transforms the survivors's second generation into flying monsters. The flora and fauna surrounding the city also gets warped and rechristened The Rotlands. The Rotlands are constantly expanding, taking over the planet.  After centuries of inbreeding, the monsters become infertile, they decide to kidnap women from adjacent regions, it doesn't work. Their Leader Khotan-Kha gets a brilliant idea: to further his dying race he'll send emissaries to capture "mutant" children and let the light mutate the youngsters into a new generation of immunized winged creatures. H...

SOLOMON KANE RETURNS! Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring From creator Patrick Zircher Cover by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola Issue #1 On Sale March 2025 #SolomonKaneReturns

Battle of the Black Stone part 3: Quest into Darkness, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics is almost over. Only six Heroes remain, the Pict gate is behind them, the HEROES OF MAN are now deep into the Pictland jungles west of Conajohara. Brissa tells her tale from Savage Sword of Conan #4.  Our heroes are looking for the BLACK STONE BEAST's "source of corruption". Conan talks about his grandfather and past adventures. Brissa compliments multiple times the Cimmerian with the minuscule ego. Brissa reveals a tiny piece of the cursed BLACK STONE.  Slain scribe James Allison appears once again as an apparition, he's not only drawn to mighty, courageous souls, his spirit also can guide our heroes towards the source of corruption Solomon Kane is sure that he is on a mission from God, Dark Agnès de Chastillon is not so sure. Kane and Agnès converse in French, he mentions that he traveled along the Isère river in southeastern France... in 1574. Agn...

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, the venerable spinner rack is sporting another brand new issue of SSOC!  61 mind-altering pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!  Inside this succulent magazine you will find the following treasures: Pin-Ups: Conan by Tim Sale (from Tim Sale: Black and White - Revised and Expanded. RIP, Tim.) Conan by Sedat Oezgen Conan by Marco Rudy KING CONAN: THE ENSORCELLED, PART I: The Beast in Brythunia by Jason Aaron and Geof Isherwood The Graaskal Mountains splitting Hyperborea and Brythunia. The Brythunian border. Conan II aka Prince Conn, Conan's firstborn son, sits on the throne of Aquilonia while his father is away. The King of Aquilonia, Conan, is fifty-eight years old, he's on a diplomatic mission and a hunt. He enters the cave of the Witch of Graaskal. The Witch and King Fabiano (of Brythunia)'s freshly hypnotized mercenaries (from Nemedia) attack! The Witch burns Conan's chest with her hand. The now marked barba...

Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part IV: The Hidden World. Horsa and Niord bring Conan (still clutching his gossamer garment clearly never fashioned by human hands) to their Aesir War Camp. Conan eats and reflects on his past. He's a boy again helping his metalsmith father. An earthquake hits, his dad thinks it is Crom sliding his feet. We learn that Lihamm "The Tree" (beheaded by Brissa way back in Conan: The Barbarian #2) thinks that earthquakes are actually Devils moving around underground. Hence the saying Crom's devils. Back to reality. Gorm (the one that saw Atali on the bloody field of Wolraven) comments on the stew, Conan thinks he's talking about his mental state. Did Conan really encounter a Goddess? Conan questions his senses and reality. While daydreaming about the daughter of Ymir, Conan gets hit behind the head by a jealous Osmin (the friend of Bergen from issue #14). We get another flashback of Conan's youth. Alfred E. Neuman hits Conan over the hea...

Battle of the Black Stone part 2: Bond of the Black, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics continues. The tortured writer James Allison appears as an apparition. He mentions that he's deceased, a former story maker, drawn to mighty, courageous spirits.  Solomon Kane is sure that Allison is suffering eternal punishment in hell. The old gunslinger El Borak wants answers. Allison confirms that not only is El Borak marked by the BLACK STONE, he's also HUNTED. A portal that looks exactly like the mysterious BLACK STONE eye symbol pops up to disgorge The Dark One aka the Master of the Monolith into our plane of existence! The Dark One starts massacring the members of the Wanderer's Club. El Borak decides to attack The Dark One with a sword and John Conrad tries to gun it down. They both fail miserably. Out of nowhere, Brissa, the time displaced Pict scout of the Gurian tribe, stabs The Dark One. She encourages El Borak, Kirowan and Conrad to fight on. ...

The adaptation of The Frost-Giant's Daughter aka The Gods of the North is finally here. Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part III: Gods of the North. In the plains, on the red-stained snow, Wulfhere lies dead with all of his weapon-men. Only one Vanir still stands, and it's not Bragi. Now only two players remain on the ice. It's Conan vs Heimdul. Conan murders Heimdul. Atali, the Frost Giant's Daughter, appears, the luster of her golden locks blind Conan. Conan thinks that Niord might have been ambushed. Atali compels Conan to follow her into the wastes of the north.  Atali's father, Ymir, calls upon his giant sons, the brothers of Atali, to annihilate an exhausted Conan. Conan rises to the challenge and slays both brothers.  Conan, still consumed by lust madness, finally catches the daughter of Ymir. The golden haired witch cries out to her unseen father to be saved from Conan's nympholepsy. Enveloped in a cold blue flame the Frost King's daughter vanishes. Hors...

Battle of the Black Stone part 1: Eyes Upon Us, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics continues. Chicago, 1936. Professor Kirowan and John Conrad arrive late for their meeting at the Wanderer's Club. Clemants (from The Children of the Night) has organized a secret soirée and it's populated by scholars of the uncanny who are showcasing their rare relics. Francis Xavier Gordon (El Borak, now a shadow of his former self, close to madness, grizzled and drunk) is waiting for Kirowan and Conrad, they want to know more about the mysterious BLACK STONE eye SIGIL that Gordon witnessed in Savage Sword of Conan #4. Gordon nervously denies seeing the sigil in the Arabian Desert...but finally confesses that he is subconsciously marked by the BLACK STONE eye glyph... that something is watching him. Grenoble, France, 1522. Since encountering the BLACK STONE sigil, random spouts of rage have been drowning the mind of Agnès de Chastillon. The breeches wearing Sword W...

eBook by Laird Barron Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  In Stygia, Conan, now a former place guard, puts the head of his previous employer, a southern Prince on a pike. Conan flees North. He enjoys the loneliness of the desert and survives on water and lizards. Conan dreams of Valeria, gets bitten by an Egyptian cobra and slowly starts dying. At the point of death, unable to speak, an old tall hooded woman (the Lady of the Desert) and her gigantic pet tarantula with a humanoid skull appear. The tarantula starts sucking the venom out of Conan, Conan stabs it with his bone dagger. Conan wakes cured in the care of merchant Khal. Khal is going to Corinthia, Conan leaves his new friend when they arrive in Koth. Conan wants to spend his Stygian coins in Korveka. Conan gets harassed by a Hyrkanian. Conan spends his money in a hostel. After a week of partying the money is gone. Conan saves from muggers the khopesh swinging whi...

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, it is time to pay the venerable spinner rack another visit!  76 spectacular pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!  Inside this magnificent magazine you'll find the following treasures: Jim Zub's introduction to his inescapable Battle of the Black Stone saga.  New Pin-Ups: Conan by Nick Marinkovich Conan by Fernando Dagnino Guerra Solomon Kane by Patrick Zircher Brissa by Dean Kotz  Conrad & Kirowan by Eryk Donovan Dark Agnes by “The Animal” Bob Anger El Borak by Mike Perkins  The Heroes of Man by Rob De La Torre CONAN THE BARBARIAN: BIRTHRIGHT IN BLACK by Jim Zub and Fernando Dagnino An homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). We are Beyond the Black River. The new Aquilonian province of Conajohara, Fort Tuscelan on the edge of the Pictish wilderness. Conan and friends are done fighting incredibly crazed, almost suicidal Picts. Conan decapitates their giant, he notices that the man mountain is weari...

The disappointing prequel to The Frost-Giant's Daughter aka The Gods of the North continues. Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part II: The Daughter's Gaze. Conan beats up the three Aesirmen. Hiding in the trees above, Atali (the gossamer G-string wearing, golden-locked daughter of Ymir, the frost-giant) remembers her father's words, that the affairs of men are unworthy of her attention. Niord, the leader of the 3 surly Æsir warriors, appears and offers Conan a deal, the bear's carcass and a week of work to get safe passage to Asgard's border. Conan mentions Venarium where he became a warrior in Conan the Barbarian FCBD 2023. Niord is dispirited that Ymir does not listen to prayers, Conan replies that it's the same for Crom, their mighty mountain god. An Æsir war-horn is heard. It is a cry for help! The Aesirmen and Conan rush to the rescue. Conan saves one Æsir from a raided and burning fort. The Aesirmen and Conan douse the flames. Niord, fearing for the young Cimmer...

Who is this Benjamin Marra? What is he known for? His great illustrations for MLB.com and NYTimes.com The GRAMMY nominated Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares album from The Numero Group His contribution to Cryptozoo (2021) He is Jake Rhodes aka Space Cowboy (Channel Frederator) His cameo in The Education of Fredrick Fitzell (2020) The Indie Rock Universe special foldout in Rolling Stone magazine #1039 The title sequence for Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018) When the King Held Court (30 for 30 Shorts) Masters of the Powerskull Sword in Adventure Time Comics #21 Robot Overlord Land in Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream Hellcloud Awaits in Bloodshot Reborn Annual 2016 U.S. Agent vs. the Terror-Saur!! in Strange Tales II #3 Space-Werewolf Biker Gang Zealots Gone Wild!! in Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies Beachhead in Heavy Metal Magazine #280-281 Teen Swamp Monster Love in I Feel Love   Casino Squat in Lethal Comics Presents: Psycho Goreman Album cover art for Peter Peter (Bien...