BotTalk Reviews

SOLOMON KANE: THE LION ERRANT part 3: Beauty and the Beast  The reanimated Lopesh (now a vetala, an ancient spirit borrowing Lopesh's corpse) hears his murderer (Ramih Khan) tossing and turning in his sleep. Ramih dreams of a giant buffalo (the asura Mahishasura?), the buffalo demon questions Ramih's beliefs, Ramih realizes that he is turning into a large bovine. The Satpura Range. Baghela (Master of the mahouts) will escort Kalyan Shah (Master of the musketmen) and his musketeers to Rani Durgavati and Kamla Devi (daughter of Kalyan Shah). The palace of Jahaz Mahal in Mandu. Diamanta Bensaid gives Solomon a Palmyra fruit to eat. Kane explains that he thinks that he is a Knight Errant, Diamanta thinks that Solomon is infatuated with the idea of being a Knight. The mysterious black-maned Asiatic lion returns, it is time for Kane to follow it once again. The Chauragarh Fort in the Satpura Range. Rani Durgavati's plan is to go to the Narrai valley and drive the army of the two ...

Add an "R" for less brand confusion! Enter Predaco- er...PREDACRON in issue # 34 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-fourth issue, Darak and Solila, along with their acquaintances in Cobra-La and their new ally ROM the Spaceknight are attacked by alien bounty hunter Predacron! Also on the way to the main plot; SKUXXOID! Preda...cron? Y'see, late in G.I. Joe's run, there was a sub-line called ...

Tides of the Tyrant-King part 1 (of 4): Emerald Waters The Thurian Age of Kull of Atlantis (from Robert E. Howard's The Shadow Kingdom). Gonar the Seeker (the shaman from "Kings of the Night") sees the Woeful Eye coming towards Earth. Pict hunters and spearmen are awaiting orders. The Hyborian Age of Conan.  CONAN OF CIMMERIA is enjoying a brewski in a busy bar. Conan follows Zuleika (the mysterious Circassian girl) into an alley. Zuleika is approached by a zombie, Conan kills the undead creature. Zuleika needs more of a rare life-saving elixir to save her lover, Conan notices that the liquid mixture looks exactly like the Emerald Water of Thulsa Doom (last seen in the soul stealing lake in Conan the Barbarian (2023) #3). Hydal aka Hydallan, now a retconned servant of Thulsa Doom, is seeking Conan... his mission: to slay the Cimmerian who terminated his master (way back in Conan the Barbarian (2023) #12). Chinatown, London (Limehouse in the East End), 1924. (from Robert E...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Duke's G.I. Joe team fights off against Flint's Night Force team in trying to capture the Baroness.  Duke vs. G.I. B.A.T., Beachhead vs. Stalker, Roadblock vs. Risk and Flint, Shooter and Lady Jaye vs. Clutch, Autobot Hound, and the Baroness.  We get more details on what Zartan is after, and Snowjob has brought Scarlett back for debriefing.  Meanwhile, Cobra Commander uses the Energon Sword to train/fight Major Medusa, using Crystal Ball's D.I.R.E. Tech - which leads Destro to finding out something about Cobra Commander.  Eventually, most of the Joes and Night Force realize things are getting too far gone once G.I. B.A.T. tries to kill Duke, against the current orders to capture the team.   Writing : Lots of action and a lot going on. The Baroness and Clutch have a good conversation in which the Baroness accuses him of never trusting her.  We...

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, your local spinner rack is once again showcasing another brand new issue of SSOC!  Sixty-four startling pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint paper! Inside this magazine you will find the following: Art pin-ups: The Nemedian Chronicles by Gerardo Zaffino Conan the Barbarian by Jesus Merino (Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King) Conan the Barbarian by Luke Eidenschink Conan the Barbarian by Leonardo Manco (Slaine: Dragontamer) CONAN: MASSACRED MEMORIES by Jim Zub and Nicola Scott Hydal aka Hydallan (Conan's childhood friend from Conan the Barbarian (2023) #3) gets an origin story.  Flaskback! A young Conan kills a wild boar with a small pocket knife. Conan  mentions Padrac (from Conan the Barbarian (2023) #2).   Lyolf (from Conan the Barbarian (2023) #13) trains Hydallan. Conan disrespects Lyolf by mentioning that his teacher's best days are behind him. Battle of Venarium. The Aquilonian fort is now in the hands o...

Collects the complete Slaine heroic fantasy saga of prehistoric Britain and Eire (before the flood) scripted by Pat Mills, in order, in multiple large-format volumes!  The 2000 AD Definitive Editions are available in two versions: in paperback (available everywhere) or in gorgeous WEBSHOP EXCLUSIVE limited-edition embossed HARDBACK (only available from shop.2000ad.com). Inside this magnificent tome you will find the following stories: THE TIME MONSTER (art: Angela Kincaid. In the realm of the Drune Lords (evil Priest-Kings of the Southern tribes), Slaine mac Roth (a Celtic berserker, a warped warrior of the Sessair tribe, named after Slaine mac Dela, an homage to Cu Chulainn and the fire axe wielded actor Jack Nicholson) and Ukko (a Karelian dwarf, named after the thunder god in Finnish mythology) commit a sacrilege by killing a time-displaced Tyrannosaur (a reference to Flesh by Pat Mills & Boix), they take its heart to Fand in Gabala (inspired by Bluegate Fields in 1872 by G...

Admiral Sato and James Kirk meet to discuss a course of action.  They will evacuate all remaining Starfleet ships and personnel through a singularity.  The Emerald Chain intercepts information about this plan.  After some preparation Kirk and Sato gather the remaining ships only to be met by the Emerald Chain.  Sato orders all ships to open fire. A lot going on here.  Kirk and Sato manage to exist together without getting into a fight, physical or verbal.  There is some mending of old wounds as members of the crew get a moment before the mass evacuation.  The scenes between Kirk and Agnes still feel a bit off.  I wish they had devoted a bit more time to developing them.   seven out of ten.

This is the MANGA adaptation of the best-selling Franco-British dark fantasy comic book maxiseries: Requiem Chevalier Vampire (aka Réquiem Cavaleiro Vampiro, Requiem Der Vampirritter, Requiem De Vampierridder) by Valencian writer Victor Santos Montesinos and Bolivian artist Seban. The infernal planet of Resurrection, a dimension where time runs backwards (you do not age, you get younger), a reversed Earth populated by reincarnated earthlings. Resurrected evildoers have become Vampires, evil hypocrites: Ghouls, evil scientists: Archaeologists, fanatics: Werewolves, evil normal people: Zombies, and the victims of evildoers: Lamias. The Killing Fields (the port of entry for the newly resurrected on Resurrection). Grave robbing Zombies make the Resurrectionist patrol aircraft of Captain Otto von Todt (a Vampire Knight who fights for the Masters of Infinity) crash. Shot in the forehead in his previous life on Earth, suffering from partial amnesia, infatuated with his missing girlfriend Rebe...

Lyna Taval and Harry Deubert make their escape off planet, meanwhile Captain Miller makes his own plans to stop them! This issue keeps up the pace of the previous issue, where after checking in with Lyna’s handler and learning there’s a second witness to Captain Miller’s... villainy, they then fight their way out of an ambush. All in all the 2090s redshirts is off to a good start, leaving enough here to make the reader come back for more next month. 8/10

In a slight variant from the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode where a nebula has the enterprise play out a fantasy story for Joseph M'Benga's daughter in that show’s season one, this is what if the fantasy was tales by Edgar Allan Poe. Wherein the doctor now has to work through the fantasy and still ends up letting his daughter go to become a nebula entity. If you love Poe, you may like this issue. I think the story has a target audience and Edgar Allan Poe fans are it. This is a 19th century gothic story instead of the fantasy knights and princesses and monsters story of the streaming episode, but they both essentially end the same way. And the art work tries to play along as a visual representation of a Poe work and in that it does its job, if a bit too clean. But in the end it’s a 5/10

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Pat Olliffe (artist), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : Cutter, Shipwreck, and Wetsuit are on the Killer W.H.A.L.E. Hovercraft assisting Deep Six as he investigates a sunken Russian submarine.  Ghostrider in The Phantom X-19 Stealth Fighter is providing air support when three Rattlers and a ASPID helicopter arrive with two Cobra Eels and a Hydro-Viper who head down to the sub as well.  Writing : Sometimes this is just what you need, a nice stand-alone issue with some good action and fight scenes.  The Russian sub may come up later down the road but for now, it's just a MacGuffin for our characters.  And we get nautical guys doing nautical stuff and a flier...flying!  Everyone is doing their role nicely and it all fits together in a nice, tight story.   Art : Art and colors are sublime in this issue. Olliffe does a good job with the action scenes and, between him and Ham...

1. Escape from the planet of Mudd (Story by David Gerrold, Art by JP Buzio, Colors by Christine Franzen) For the first story we are treated to a sequel of classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode I, Mudd, wherein we pick up after the enterprise had left Harry on a planet of about 500 Stellas constantly nagging. Harry Mudd devises a way to distract the Stellas and get off planet.  This wasn’t too bad of a story in its own right. You almost feel bad for Harry, and they got his character down well enough you can hear Roger C. Carmel’s (Cyclonus from Transformers season 3!) voice as Harry whines and plans his way out. It’s not that it’s a necessary sequel, but it’s still a welcome short story if you’re a fan of Harry Mudd episodes. 2. The Engineer's Dilemma (Story by Dana Gould, Art by Megan Levens, Colors by Charlie Kirchoff) After the events of TOS episode The Lights of Zetar Scotty stands in his quarters going over the decision to let Mira go as she moved on to her new post at...

More thrills! More shocks! More new arms! 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-sixth issue, a new Superion is born! Doctor Arkeville proves his worth! Starscream prepares a plot! And Beachcomber searches for a new purpose! What is it with Skybound and giving people new arms? Optimus, Rom, and now Superion… I dunno. Anyhow, as practically EVERYONE expected, Thundercracker becomes part of Superion in this issue! And uh… well, there’s not a lot of fanfare to it, actually. It’s just treated as something Thundercracker could already do. Off-panel upgrades from Wheeljack, I guess? I dunno what I expected, maybe Cobra-La to have the Enigma of Combination or something, but it just...

CONAN & DRAGONERO part 5 (of 7): Ice & Flames (chapter two) The gems within the deceased dragon have teleported Conan of Cimmeria, Ian Aranill... and the dragon's remains to the Hyborian Age of Conan in THE DESERT OF SHEM. The dragon's carcass lies near the Mountains of Fire (where the magic gems were originally mined/extracted). Conan and Ian fight lizards to get to the dragon's corpse, they discover that the gems were taken. Conan finds a bone pendant. Near the City of Shushan, Conan asks a merchant if he knows the owner of the necklace. After brawling with the locals, Conan gets his answer: nameless savage Cannibals (the Zugite cult?) who are living in the mysterious ruins of Kuthchemes (from Black Colossus). Conan mentions Zug (the ancient god) and Thugra Khotan (the dark sorcerer who had reigned in Kuthchemes three thousand years ago). Conan and Ian reach the towering ivory dome of Thugra Khotan. Inside the dome, the stolen mystical jewels turn the leader of th...