BotTalk Reviews

eBook by Gavin G. Smith Cover by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books, Heroic Signatures & Conan Properties International LLC Spoilers! Spoilers!  Ileetha (not Ilyth'la) and Conan flee Shadizar (city in Zamora), Ileetha leaves Conan. The Haft (in Zamora, an homage to Sonia Haft Greene Lovecraft Davis and "The Colour Out of Space" by H. P. Lovecraft). Conan who is wanted in Zamora wakes up kidnapped, shackled and caged in a wagon. We meet the abductors: Xaxix (an alchemist/sorcerer who wears a yellow silken mask aka the High-Priest Not To Be Described from "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" and "Celephaïs" by H. P. Lovecraft) Nassas (a moneyed Zamoran with a quarterstaff, vizier to King Hadranor of Zamora) Vulf (a Vanir with a war hammer, Nassas' bodyguard, a Thorgrim/Sven-Ole Thorsen homage) Danai of Shem (an archer from Kush, Nassas' girlfriend) Conan steals the key to his prison from a sleeping Vulf, escapes and grabs Nassas, Nassas explains tha...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Andrea Milana (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Picking up where last issue left off, Risk is fighting the ghosts of his pasts as Crystal Ball (the Cobra hypnotist and paranormal scientist) tries to torture him but he fights them off.  Crystal Ball then ups the ante.  Meanwhile, after a brief skirmish, Destro and Baroness decided to a temporary alliance in order to get out.  Risk encounters more ghosts of his past and ends up in a fist fight with Mercer.  The two come to terms and also decide to work together.  Destro and Baroness find more energon and Stalker and Chameleon hooked up to some machines.  Mercer is then taken out and Crystal Ball decides to face Risk himself.  Writing : Williamson keeps this story moving, rarely with any downtime. The Baroness and Risk get a bit more of their backgrounds explained and we start to see a classic Baroness/Destro relationship emerge (thou...

This volume collects the Nancy daily newspaper comic strips from 1951-1952.  We actually get 616 timeless, charming and very clever black-and-white Nancy strips by American cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller (1905-1982) in one collection! Don't worry Sluggo aficionados, Nancy's pal is once again very much present in this tome. What is on the agenda for Sluggo this time around? Let's see: Fixing a fence, dealing with snowballs, protecting Nancy's piggybank, refusing to shovel snow, begging for treats, sweeping, refusing a homemade valentine, flirting with girls, appeasing a bully, using a palindrome, tap dancing, enjoying gum, ice cream, watermelon, pop corn & spaghetti, getting hypnotized, riding bicycles and pogo sticks, branching out, getting a cold, pining for winter, walking on air, settling a grudge, encountering "one-punch" Duffy, getting dimples and stung by a bee, dealing with spring fever, not receiving first aid, having a picnic with Nancy, keeping a co...

Marvel Preview Presents: Merlin the Magician, a saga of epic beauty by John Buscema (Conan the Barbarian, Mephisto vs., Weirdworld: Warriors of the Shadow Realm...), Doug Moench (Batman, Weirdworld: The Dragonmaster of Klarn, Master of Kung Fu, Planet of the Apes...), Tom Palmer (The Avengers, Tomb Of Dracula, Star Wars...) and John Tartaglione (The Life of Pope John Paul II). Arturus Rex (King Arthur) Pendragon of Camelot finds a seriously wounded Knight. Arthur tells his traitorous nephew Mordred to notify the castle. King Arthur asks for Merlin's help to heal the youthful Knight (Beliar (not Belial))... who is too handsome to die. Merlin the Sorcerer is suspicious, Beliar is just too good-looking to be good.  Beliar (son of Asmodiar (not Asmodeus), a baron of the "Nether"lands) tells his tall tale: Beliar kills his brother (Asmodiar's eldest son) by mistake. To atone for his blunder, Beliar tries to right wrongs across the land. Beliar kills an enormous fire-breath...

The Worst Bot Ever Returns?? Yep! Writer Brian Smith and artist Marz Jr. continue the story of Ballpoint, a tiny Decepticon that turns into a pen! Except now he’s joined the Autobots and thanks to an accident involving Wheeljack’s new invention, he’s swapped bodies with the REAL Worst Bot EVER… MEGATRON! Oh right. Yeah, “Bot Swap” is another extra-sized, lighthearted tale in the vein of the first Worst Bot Ever release. The art and story are a little more cartoon-y and not to be taken that seriously, but there’s some entertaining stuff and fun to be had. This instalment kind of reminded me of the episode of Justice League Unlimited where Flash swapped brains with Lex Luthor. Both Ballpoint and Megatron have to deal with being in each other’s bodies and bases… with amusing results on both ends! Writer Brian Smith gets to continue his jokes about Rumble and Frenzy and their own identity crisis, as well as some other funny references that longtime Transformers fans will notice. Otherwise,...

Nearly 300 pages of classic horror stories with twist endings! What you'll actually find inside this Eisner-nominated collection: Super rare BERNIE WRIGHTSON stuff: Self-portrait from Squa Tront (1968) #2 Frankenstein cover for Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC) #86 Back cover for Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC) #72 w/ a cameo by Professor Simon Wright (The Living Brain from Captain Future) by Steve Hickman! An unpublished splash page for "Mother Toad" The revised letter page logo for Web of Horror #4 Preliminary sketch and final "Out on a Limb" cover for Web of Horror #4 Cover for I'll Be Damned (1970) #3 Frankenstein cover for Scream Door (1971) #1 Conan the Barbarian from Madstar Science Fiction Quarterly (1971) #1 Stake-Out, a 4-page homage to EC Comics from I'll Be Damned (1970) #2  Frankenstein inside front cover for I'll Be Damned (1970) #3  Inside front cover for Scream Door (1971) #1 "Curse of the Yeti" cover for Web ...

64 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 Mike Zeck from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #16 Conan ad by Pat Broderick from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #10 THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE Chapters 1 & 2 only (Chapters 3 & 4 are next issue) 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) puts a curse on Bhunda Chand (Yasmina's brother... the King of Vendhya) for Yezdigerd (the King of Turan). Yasmina is forced to euthanize her bother. Queen Yasmina of Vendhya wants the see the Black Seers of Yimsha dead. Conan (now a chief of the Afghulis of Ghulistan) kidnaps Yasmina to regain his seven Afghuli headmen who were captured by the Vendhyans. Gitara (Yasmina's treacherous maid) tells her boyfriend wizard Khemsa abou...

With parts from The Icarus/Liberty 1 spacecraft, Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) has concocted an intricate Power Glove that can transfer cosmic energy. Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Sue Storm (The Invisible Woman), Ben Grimm (The Thing) regain their powers from Cornelius, Dr. Zira and Dr. Zaius respectively. Puppet President Ursus has quelled the farmer uprising/rebellion, he invites the farmers to join him on his new crusade... the eradication of the human threat. The Red Ghost (Russian scientist Ivan Kragoff) orders his Super-Apes Peotor (orangutan) and Igor (baboon) to kill Cornelius, Dr. Zira and Dr. Zaius; the Super-Apes (Miklho, Peotor and Igor) who have become pro-ape (thanks to Dr. Zaius) refuse to obey Kragoff. Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) regains his powers by using the Power Glove on Ursus. Doctor Doom explains to Dr. Zaius that Kragoff used a Neural disruptor on President Gaius (supreme leader of Ape City). Doom wants Zaius to kill President Gaius, Zaius smashes a b...

Changes! 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-third issue, Elita Prime and the Autobots on Cybertron regroup, while the Autobots on Earth adjust to their new status quo. Optimus in particular must get used to not being as powerful as he used to be when he had the Matrix. And aboard the Nemesis, something stirs… Stirs? Sure! The Nemesis is underwater, after all! This is mostly a setup issue establishing the current workings of the Autobots on both planets and the Decepticons on Earth. The Earthbound Autobots are furthering their relationship with the humans, the Earthbound Decepticons are still wondering what the hell is going on with Megatron inside his “cocoon”, and the A...

A taxidermist meets a woman looking for an iguana.  They seemingly connect and share a perfect moment together.  Only for it to quickly unravel.  Slowly at first then bigger, more intense, building to an insane nightmare that doesn't make sense.  At the end we see this man is the lone survivor of an apocalypse, and the woman was just a figment of his imagination.  A perfect moment he conjured up as a distraction.   This starts out simple.  Man meets woman.  Has an unusual job and his mom is pressuring him to find someone.  But then it turns into a nightmare and you think you know where it is going... except it was only in his mind.  But then the final sting mentions Willoughby...  but there is no connection to the Twilight Zone episode 'A Stop at Willoughby'.  So... it is just an easter egg.  A reference.  No connection?  Either way the way things begin to unravel is interesting but then as it becomes surreal yo...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Tony Kordos (inker), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatterer), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : Doctor Mindbender and Alpha-001 start exploring the digital memories Dr. Venom downloaded from Snake-Eyes.  Dawn has returned to the Pit and suspects there is something hidden in the memories of Snake-Eyes (that were implanted in her mind by Dr. Venom) and Duke, Stalker and Mainframe all worry what might happen as Sean and the original Snake-Eyes also have those memories.  In Darklonia, Helix, Sean and Beachhead infiltrate the countryside to take down a Terror Drome.  In Colorado, Scarlett and Snake-Eyes are enjoying time away.  Then, Mindbender activates something and all three start attacking whoever is nearest.   Writing : I enjoyed the 4 separate but interconnected stories.  I also enjoy that a minor character from the original G.I. Joe run from 40 years ago still has an impact on the...

A one-shot that celebrates characters and their respective relationships during pride month. So first up, Mariner and Jennifer in Lower Decks! Mariner takes Jennifer to a bar not long after Jennifer dragged Mariner to her friend’s salon, at the bar Jennifer says ‘we need to talk’, Mariner freaks out so she enlists Boimler to help her keep Jennifer, with hilarious result. Okay, this doesn’t work. Especially if you’ve seen the last season and we know Mariner bows out from Jennifer without actually dumping her and then spends a whole episode avoiding her, so what was the point of this story? I mean it’s a quick kind of fun, I guess, but it’s pointless and doesn’t reveal anything about either character that we don’t already know. 4/10 Next! T'Lir and Lily Sato go after a Vulcan extremist! Hey remember the Theseus? Remember Star Trek Omega? Well post omega T'Lir is helping Lily who’s left the fleet and is now helping the Fenris Rangers……the story wraps up with them capturing the Vul...