BotTalk Reviews

Creators : Dan Watters (writer), Marco Ferrari (artist), Pierluigi Casolino (colorist), Rus Wooton (letteter) Story :  Matt Trakker meets up with Dusty Hayes in New Orleans to stop someone with a mask on from hurting people.  Matt and Dusty talk a lot about the past and more details emerge on how everything is connected.  Miles Mayhem (leader of V.E.N.O.M.) ended up putting a dangerous mask on a random individual to distract Matt while Mayhem goes and does something else.  Writing :  The beginning jumps right into the story with very little carry over from the previous issue.  We get another classic mask character (Dusty Hayes) introduced along with his jeep, Gator, (though it doesn't change to a boat this time).  The end of the issue also brings in Buddie Hawks too.  And Miles traveling to Boulder Hill, NY was a nice inclusion as well.  Overall, while most of the issue is Matt and Dusty trying to help Buddie, there is a lot of talking about ...

It’s a ROMlution! Or a Romvolution? Rom the Space Knight is here in issue # 33 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. In this thirty-third issue, Darak and Solila make formal acquaintance with Rom the Space Knight and his partner, the organic blob known as Carpet! Also, Cobra-La is still there and we catch up with Skuxxoid as he arrives on a new, very-familiar planet! Who’s this Rom guy? You know! Rom! The Space Knight! Yet another Hasbro property folded into the...

And now the conclusion to the first arc that begins Academy’s life as a comic even as paramount foolishly has cancelled the show on streaming! And having learned that the team works better when they communicate clearly with each other, they make contact with the aliens and all work together to help bring the shield generators back online.  And our cadets learn the importance of first contact and interpersonal working relationships.  And Starfleet of the 31st century takes important steps towards a positive restoration for the future. So the art is the weakest part of the story, but it’s a kind of classic comic style as well which I think fits the tone of this arc’s conclusion, where the beginning was a darker more chaotic style and here in 5 it’s more lighter and orderly while we see the cadets get it together and help these aliens. But I’m probably just nitpicking at this point, reading all five together would absolutely make this whole story make better visual sense. But it’...

Jim Zub's Cursed Shores Beyond part 2: An Isle of DREAD The Briney Wren (Captain Quinn Corvaxis' ship) has been utterly destroyed by an unnatural storm. Conan the Buccaneer, Valeria, Morley and the rest of The Red Brotherhood disembark on a strange isle and find cadavers trapped in crystal obelisks (like mosquitoes in amber).  Conan and co. enter the adjacent jungle, Valeria encounters a baby herbivorous dinosaur, it rejoins its herd. Three large theropods attack! Rodriguez (an homage to the colorist) is bitten in half, the herbivores start a stampede. Conan kills one of the theropods, Valeria does the same, the third one opens Conan's back with its claws. The rest of the pirates kill the third theropod. Conan and co. drink coconut water and eat the theropods. Captain Quinn talks of his experiences on Captain Gunnet O'Bryan's Glory-Bae and the DawnyHawk. Morley spins a tale about an invisible man with glowing red eyes. While on guard duty, Morley robs Valeria of her...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer),Tom Reilly, Andrea Milana (artists), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Flint, Beachhead, Lady Jaye, and Shooter are fighting some Cobra S.N.A.K.E (System: Neutralizer—Armed Kloaking Equipment) Battle Suits as training and officially reveal their name as Night Force.  Hawk/Zartan fights the Baroness after the events of last issue and he issues an order to capture her but she gets away.  Baroness was able to see something was wrong with Hawk.  He orders the Joe team to take her out.  Cobra Commander reveals his upgrades to Crystal Ball's D.I.R.E. (Dread-Inducing Responsive Energy) Tech and his new "left hand" Major Medusa.  On her yacht, the Baroness is confronted by Night Force but tries to explain and that anyone who talks to her will probably be killed.  The rest of the Joes show up to help the Baroness with Flint surprised to see Autobot Hound but then he releases Night Force's own surprise - G....

Having commandeered the Omega, Kirk receives a message from the Tellarite ambassador, asking him to liberate their planet from The Emerald Chain.  The Omega arrives and destroys the orbiting base.  Suddenly the Challenger, under command of Admiral Sato arrives and attacks the Omega.  Zed manages to disable the Challenger's systems and makes a proposal to Kirk and Sato.  Work together.  Kirk and Sato meet face to face. A lot happening here, and at the same time, little.  Decades have passed since Kirk took the Omega.  We see bits of Borg technology in his body.  Sato is now old and grey.  But their confrontation feels lacking.  Sato spent all this time tracking down Kirk, cleaning up his mess and trying to work through the repercussions only for Zed to steal the moment.  I hope next issue we see Sato and Kirk put their long conflict to bed with a satisfying conclusion.   six out of ten.

SOLOMON KANE: THE LION ERRANT part 2: Love and Hate  The Chauragarh Fort in the Satpura Range. Chandra Shah ((????-????), Prince Vir's uncle, Dalpat Shah's younger brother and the master of the horse archers) informs his sister-in-law (the dowager queen Rani Durgavati) that Ramih Khan (Mughal general, regent of Sidhi) will be invading Garha. The Narmada River Valley. A mysterious black-maned Asiatic lion has been Solomon Kane's companion for six consecutive days. Qara Bahadur Khan (the occupying governor who serves the third Mughal emperor, NOT Baz Bahadur the last Sultan of the Malwa Sultanate) invites Kane to the palace of Jahaz Mahal in Mandu (now in Madhya Pradesh). The Chauragarh Fort. Kalyan Shah (Prince Vir's future father-in-law and the Master of the musketeers) will be arriving soon. Vir Narayan ((1545-????), son of Durgavati) tells his betrothed (Kamla Devi, daughter of Kalyan Shah) that he will not be fleeing from the army of the two Khans (Asaf & Ramih)....

Aerialbots VS Yodelling! 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-fifth issue, the Autobots must rely on their new human allies to save the dying Shredhead’s life! Also, Thundercracker leads the Aerialbots to track down the forces of Cobra-LUH-LUH-LUH-LUH-LA! So Shredhead ain’t dead? Nah, they’re fine. Although who knows after Doctor Arkeville gets done with them. It does seem like Onslaught is dead for now, which is a shame and kind of weird considering he’s got a new toy out currently, but I guess Kirkman isn’t constrained to Hasbro’s whims as much as other writers were. Wheeljack and Doctor Arkeville have a bit of back-and-forth about fixing Shredhead, which is kind of amus...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (penciler), Tony Kordos (inker), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : Lift-Ticket and Wild Bill fly the Tomahawk helicopter through bad weather to deliver Shockwave and Rock 'n Roll to Snake-Eye's cabin to help Scarlett but are relived to discover he has been able to deactivate his implant on his own and they all head back to the Pit.  At the Pit, Dawn is trapped but begins to take out the cameras so the team has no clue where she is.  The Pit crew (Mainframe, Dial-Tone, Stalker, Duke) are able to contact Helix and Beachhead to get an update on Sean, who is attacking the Terror Drome.  Sean is driven off but Helix and Beachhead take out most of the remaining Cobras and create a truce with the remaining ones to stop Sean.  Snake-Eyes arrives at the Pit and confronts Dawn, using Arashikage abilities to help destroy her implant as well.  Meanwhile, in Darklonia, Sea...

80 restored and fully colored pages of barbaric savagery! Inside this magnificent full-color magazine you will find the following: Classic revitalized art pin-ups in stunning color: Conan the Barbarian by Tim Conrad from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #18 Conan ad by Tim Conrad from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #4 Conan the Barbarian by Tim Conrad from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #12 Original Cover Painting by Dan Adkins for Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #18 THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE Chapters 3 & 4 by Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala. (New Colors by GFB Group/GFB.it) Khemsa (a wizard who works for the Master of Yimsha) gives Conan his Stygian girdle (of great magic powers) and dies. Conan teams up with Kerim Shah (a spy of King Yezdigerd of Turan) to rescue Queen Yasmina of Vendhya (who wants the see the Black Seers of Yimsha dead). Conan uses the girdle to kill The Black Seers (the Four rakshasas of the Black Circle).  The Master of Yimsha kills...

A special forces team and an American National Space Administration astronaut (Arch) are shadowing John Christopher Brent (James Franciscus)'s spaceship (the rescue mission from Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)). Fired upon by a Yautja ship, the spaceship of Arch and the soldiers crash-lands on the Planet of the Apes. Searching for George Taylor (Charlton Heston)'s ship (The Icarus/Liberty 1), Cornelius and Zira encounter the two soldiers that survived their ship's emergency landing. The soldiers threaten the chimpanzee couple, a wounded Predator (an alien Yautja warrior) slays the soldiers. Freshly ejected from her spaceship, astronaut Arch encounters primitive, mute humans, she overhears General Ursus proclaiming that "The only good human is a dead human!", that Taylor has ventured into the Forbidden Zone (the ruins of New York City) and that they should follow and invade the Zone. Gorilla soldiers mounted on horseback assail the wild humans and Arch, the w...