BotTalk Reviews

Creators : Dan Watters (writer), Pye Parr (artist), Pierluigi Casolino (colorlist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Alex Sector helps Gloria Baker get to shore due to the events of last issue while Matt Trakker takes on Miles Mayhem.  Sector helps Baker understand what her mask can do while she swims for shore.  Mayhem gets away while Baker finally reaches shore only to be saved by Bruce Sato as Vanessa Warfield tries to take down Baker.  On Venom's ship headquarters, we discover Mayhem has a lot more secrets as he consults with a high-powered Baron. Writing : This issue is full of action.  Baker is trying to get away from Mayhem then Warfield, Trakker versus Mayhem and Sector trying to get everyone out alive from behind the scenes.  I enjoyed Sector's introduction, as in the cartoon, you really got the sense he was more of a planner and here we get that, he does well in the "command center", helping the operatives out.  And the reveal of Miles Mayhem talking...

CONAN & DRAGONERO part 4 (of 7): Ice & Flames (chapter one) The lair of the Undine. Conan's dragon tries to incinerate the Cimmerian and Dragonero, Dragonero's bastard sword (Saevasectha/Cruel-Cutter) shields our heroes. The dragon gets Conan (who is looking for payback) off of its back. Dragonero can feel the power of the gems hidden within the scales of Conan's dragon, Dragonero uses his powers to see what the dragon is planning... it wants to amass the power of the stolen magical gemstones to conquer Dragonero's world with its brethren... the renegade dragons who wanted to rule over everything and everyone.  Dragonero hurts the left wing of Conan's dragon, Conan closes its right eye forever, Dragonero opens its neck, it crashes in a mountain. The dragon is much too dangerous, Dragonero cannot show mercy, he plunges his blade into the dragon's breast. The gems within the dragon begin to glow, the magical energy is teleporting Conan of Cimmeria and Ian ...

Jim Zub's Cursed Shores Beyond part 1: Perilous Waters (with a snippet from the poem: The Sea (1923) by Robert Ervin Howard) The Western Sea. We are aboard Captain Quinn (an homage to Harley Quinn) Corvaxis' ship: The Briney Wren (a very salty songbird). Conan the Buccaneer, Valeria, Morley and the rest of The Red Brotherhood raid a Zingaran military ship (a ship that sinks other ships), the Zingaran captain yields and Conan and co. steal their cargo. Morley mentions that Valeria met Conan in Robert E. Howard's Red Nails novella. Morley wants to duel Valeria for a kiss, she wants his share of the Zingaran booty if she wins. A violent storm assails the ship. Conan's barbarian-sense starts tingling, he knows that a threat is approaching.  Conan sees an invisible man with glowing eyes (a Predator (1987) homage) murdering the first mate. The phantom kicks Conan's derriere. The ghost spares the Cimmerian... for the UPCOMING RITUAL. The glistening spectre knocks Conan out...

SOLOMON KANE: THE LION ERRANT part 1: War Mongers  Flashback! Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh. 30 years in the past. A 9-year-old Durgavati ((1524-1564), a Chandela princess of Mahoba of the Chandel clan of the Rajputs, a future maharani and regent) proves to her skeptical father that she was in a fight with a lion. 1564. Agra (capital of the Mughal Sultanate) in Uttar Pradesh, Jahangiri Mahal palace within the Agra Fort. Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar ((1542-1605), the third Mughal emperor) informs Diwan Beohar Kayastha ((????-????), the minister of the Gond queen/Rani Durgavati of the Garha Kingdom of Gondwana) that since the Warrior queen of Gondwana refuses to marry Asaf Khan I ((1549-1612), Mughal general, regent of Kara in Uttar Pradesh) or Ramih Khan (Mughal general, regent of Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh, the butcher of Obra in Uttar Pradesh)... she must surrender her lands to the Mughal Empire. The Portuguese Chapel in Malindi, Kenya. Solomon Kane (a mzungu/wanderer) slays some slavers an...

The Romulans open the story by plotting and right at the outset we learn Captain Chip Miller (last seen in Star Trek: Red Shirts #5) is an asset. A group of redshirts walk into a bar, one says he's gonna ask out this Andorian science officer, another laughs at him. He's run off after her but the other redshirts are called off to do a mission. That same mission goes sideways nightmarishly, our lone redshirt, Harry Deubert, survived but ends up having to clean the shuttle. And he's sick of how redshirts are treated so he tries to contact Starfleet but Miller intercepts him! Dun dun dun! but hey at least redshirt got his date. Too bad she's Andorian security. To be continued! First of all I like that it takes place during the latter decades of the 23rd century, I don't think Star Trek really touches on that era outside the novels and even then... anyways the comic... So sounds like Captain Miller is our big bad for how ever many issues... and it's a good set up, ab...

"The power transfer beam! I can travel on it" And so Cadet Reymi sends the photonic Sam to the planet to save the day. He successfully sends her to the planet but is immediately busted by Chancellor Ake. Meanwhile on the planet! With the shield down the cadets can talk to each other again, which immediately makes the aliens hostile so Sam comes up with a distraction to buy the others time to escape. And while Genesis is feeling sorry for herself Sam figures out a way to communicate with the aliens. To be concluded next issue when they Starfleet a solution! It's a decent story that would've made a decent episode in the short and soon to be lamented Academy series on streaming. We finally have the whole cast working on a solution that honestly was the whole point of the exercise.  And Genesis Lythe learns a lesson. She needs to chill. 7.5/10

In therapy Adam relives a memory of being chased by wolves.  He gets angry and leaves the session.  Adam and his father argue but end up going to a supernatural bookstore.  There Adam learns about werewolves and sees a pentagram-wolf necklace.  He rushes home and finds one among his mother's things.  The police show up to talk to Adam.  His father tells them he's not home but Adam confesses and they take him away.   This all feels simple.  It is things we've seen in other movies or tv shows.  Repressed memories.  A rich family running out of money.  Troubled family.  Police investigation.  It is all... fine.  But I want more.  Maybe we'll get more next issue.  But I find it hard to be invested in any of these characters as they feel so cliché.   six out of ten.

Is there ROMance in the air?? Maybe, or maybe we’ve met a new ally in issue # 32 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-second issue, Kirkman and Conor Hughes catch us up with Darak, Solila and their Cobra-La companions as they recover from the events of the Quintesson War! Oh right, they went on the run in that giant space bug. Yeah, it kind of reminded me of the ACANTI from X-Men comics. Except… a giant space bug instead of a giant space whale. B...

CHAOS AT COMIC CON Story & Art by Stan Sakai  Colors by Emi Fujii  Letters by Simon Bowland GODZILLA GOES TO COMIC CON Story, Art, & Letters by Greg & Fake TOY TIME Story by Dan Jurgens  Art by Margeaux Pepoy  Colors By Jason Millet  Letters by Steve Wands ARTISTS’ ALLEY PINUPS Nicole Goux Carla Wyzgala Dave Baker  Jared Cullum  Gavin Smith & Milena Deneno  Sean Galloway  Patrick Horvath  Travis Mercer  Gabby Ramirez  Alfredo Cardona

Kirk attempts to take command from Sato.  Zed takes his patient to Main Engineering and lets the bomb explode.  The story skips ahead, we see Kirk in command.  Sato and Zed have been left on a Class M Planet.  But Sato is determined to find Kirk and stop him. Most of this issue is taken up by the conflict between Kirk and Sato.  It is one long speech as Kirk tries to talk Sato into giving up, into doing something, into standing down and letting him take command.  If this were a TV show it would work much better.  As a comic it feels wordy.  The confrontation has been building for some time now, but in the end it feels like a long and wordy speech.  T'Galatheon gives her life to destroy the station and seemingly cripple the Borg.  We saw this coming last issue.   six out of ten.

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, your local spinner rack is once again displaying 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: Conan the Barbarian by Liam Sharp (Conan: Tattered Wings) The Nemedian Chronicles by Simon Jacob (Armoured Gideon) Conan the Barbarian by Chris Campana (The Vultures of Whapeton II) Breckinridge Elkins by Roberto de la Torre CONAN: THE EXCHANGE by Jimmy Palmiotti (Conan and the Daughters of Midora), Amanda Conner (Conan the Barbarian (2023) #13 Cover B), Andy Belanger (Dark Agnes: Matrimony) and Juliette Uliana Sea Captain Brock orders Rodak to check up on the prisoners (Conan, Tadia Brazoria, Anker and others), then Graigg to check on Rodak. Conan frees himself, kills Rodak, beheads Graigg, and with the help of the other prisoners, he takes over Brock's vessel.  Captain Brock explains that King Cyrus (of the ...