Bottalk Reviews

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

Don't cover my six, Iceman! So much nudity in issue 6, so much nakedness. Maybe the most "au naturel" Conan comic ever printed? Bêlit in the buff. Chaundra in the buff. Conan in the buff. Even the winged monster is in the buff. Everybody get naked! Should I follow suit and review this "Not suggested for immature readers" issue in my birthday suit? My Mezco Toyz Solomon Kane action figure (with its inaccurate red sash. It should be green!) next to me is shaking its Puritan head "NO". Thrice Marked for Death! part deux: The CURSED!... the adaptation of the Steven Seagal movie that never was continues or maybe it is still just the continuation of a gory Queen of the Black Coast sequel by Jim Zub. Seeing his she-devil of the sea as a Force ghost made Conan a believer in the afterlife. Preferring to partake in violent heists instead of trying to seek psychiatric assistance in Shadizar the Wicked our tormented Cimmerian from the Hyborian age is still hanging

eBook by Jonathan Maberry Cover by Guillem H. Pongiluppi Illustrations by Patrick Zircher From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers! Very loosely based on the real life of Thiess of Kaltenbrun aka the Livonian werewolf. Swedish Livonia, near the Baltic Sea, 1598 AD, about a couple of years after the events of "The Return of Sir Richard Grenville". Solomon stumbles upon a strange massacre: a farming community decimated by Kurt Grieg, a Nachzehrer from Austria and his gang of brigands. Will Kane file a grievance with the state of New York or will he unleash a world of hurt on the demonic Kurt? Will the villagers be avenged? Will our heroes get to the chopper on time? You'll have to download the ebook to find out. It's a well-researched narrative that lifts the veil on the secrets of the benandanti werewolves of Italy. We discover that these "Good Walkers" are actually benevolent Catholic lycanthropes that serve God. Each born with a caul, a mas

Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane the dour English Puritan Swashbuckler gets a complete collection of his classic Marvel adventures. Sadly no Dark Horse Comics Guy Davis monster creations inside at all. You get All the pin-ups, adverts, text pieces + All the Kane stories from The Sword of Solomon Kane limited series, Savage Sword of Conan, Conan Saga, Kull and the Barbarians, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Preview, Monsters Unleashed and Dracula Lives. My favourite stories are: A Marvel Team-Up featuring the ectomorph: Kane in his twilight years and the mesomorph: Conan the Barbarian in his prime (The Moon of Skulls II: Death's Dark Riders by Roy Thomas and Colin MacNeil). Kane versus a ghost that kills (Skulls in the Stars by Ralph Reese). Kane versus a Lovecraftian cloud of blood (The Footfalls Within by Don Glut, Will Meugniot and Steve Gan). Kane versus the bat-people (Wings in the Night by Don Glut and David Wenzel). Kane versus vampires/zombies/the walking dead men (The Hills of t

Thrice Marked for Death!... it sounds like a must see Steven Seagal movie to me, but it's not, sword-brothers, sword-sisters... it's only a Queen of the Black Coast sequel by Jim Zub. With his buccaneer days over for the moment and with the Amra, the Lion persona still further along in his future, Conan the Cimmerian corsair is trying to get a certain she-devil of the sea out of his system. Back on terra firma our woebegone barbarian brigand has joined a guild of thieves called the GloryHounds. Will this brand-new arc finally quench my thirst for a good heroic fantasy story? We shall see. What I did like: The Patch Zircher tetraptych! Combine covers #5-8 to form a cool Conan quadriptych.  Doug Braithwaite is hitting it out of the London stadium. Bravo! Colours by Diego Rodriguez are fine. The chat? You mean the cat burglar? A little taste of French Canada from Zub is always good to see. Shadizar is full of shady characters. Erlik mentioned. The Living Tarim mentioned. Bel, god

Jim Zub's miserable and interminable zombie tale of ennui ends, at last. Conan transcends the abyss soup, chills with Brule, kills a Lovecraftian creature and escapes this poorly written story arc. What I did like: A cover that features A WOMAN of the Hyborian age by Giada Marchisio!! Bound in Black Stone is done, finished. My boy, Brule, the Spear-Slayer finally appears. Collapsing structures is a very Howardian way of finishing a sword and sorcery tale. Conan Father’s Sword from the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger film appears. The Frost-Giant's Daughter cover by Cary Nord is bitter sweet because Titan Comics are presently not adapting the stories of Robert E. Howard. It's only pastiches for now. Let's hope they change their minds and give us adaptations in the future! Nice cover by Nick Percival. What I did not like: Still no cover by British comics artist Colin MacNeil!!! No Kull of Atlantis. No Thulsa Doom. No Set Berserkers from the John Milius film! Not very clear wha

Jim Zub's Conan tale of the undead shows some signs of life, at last. But is it too late? Conan frees a sliver of surviving Barbarians from the icy grip of the possessed picts, is able to get a minuscule amount of payback... but ends up in the soup, literally. What I did not like: Conan not solicitous about the fate of his family members or childhood friends. All the unsightly covers except for the snake one by Roberto (and only from afar).  The old and infirm are still alive? Please! They survived the trip to the citadel? Stop insulting the reader. Only men fight alongside Conan. No vengeful Cimmerian women? That's disappointing and also sexist.  I was getting a Conan the Barbarian (1982 John Milius film) vibe from the very first page. Trying to appeal more to the casual movie fan than the Robert E. Howard scholar. Still no Big Bad for Conan. The letters page was too small and only featured sycophants. Competent creators and editors should crave constructive criticism. Please