BotTalk Reviews

In a new reality created by Lore, Benjamin Sisko works a menial job and is plagued by dreams of the reality we all know.  He is attacked by Kahless.  As they struggle his memories fully return.  Meanwhile Worf and Alexander track down and battle rogue elements opposed to Lore.  Elsewhere, Lore directs Data on the creation and continued maintenance of his new universe.  As Borg forces gather in the Delta Quadrant, Sisko and Kahless approach the Phoenix Warp Ship in Bozeman Montana.   This is the big crossover event story the two Star Trek ongoing books have been driving towards for months.  And... honestly it is a mess.  You have the familiar faces of both books scattered across the galaxy.  Some in familiar places, others completely out of place and seemingly out of character.  I have to assume at some point the two crews will come together, realize Lore is the enemy, and defeat him.  But this reality under Lore holds no interest fo...

Creators : Phil Hester (Writer/Penciler), Travis Hymel (Inker), Lee Loughridge (Colorist) Story : In a war-torn city, a mother and her son see figures fall out of a crashing helicopter.  Beach Head is fighting off Cobra troops that tried to capture him.  He gets seriously injured when one trooper tries to use the mother as a shield but is able to defeat him.  The mother and son drag Beach Head to their home and try their best to fix him up.  The son goes out and retrieves some of the Cobra gear and the mom trades it for a GPS system.  The vendor sells her out to some Cobra troops and Alley Vipers come looking for Beach Head, as he's trying to use the GPS to send a signal out.  Beach Head engages in a cat and mouse game, trying to take out the Alley Vipers.  The mother and son provide assistance but when it seems like the Alley Vipers have them, a Joe Tomahawk arrives and Beach Head and the mom and son are saved. Writing :  So this is an interestin...

Creators : Larry Hama writer/breakdowns), George Roussos (colorist), Steven Leialohla (finishes). Story : Storm Shadow arrives at a Cobra castle with a captured Scarlett, much to the surprise of Cobra Commander. High above, Snake Eyes makes a parachute jump out of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules towards the castle.  Storm Shadow imprisons a defiant Scarlett while Destro sees that the computers have picked up an intruder.  Snake Eyes lands and begins to take out some Cobra troopers while Scarlett begins her escape and Destro looks over his "chess board" with custom chess pieces of various Joe and Cobra characters, pondering the Baroness' piece.  Scarlett is able to escape and quickly overpowers a surprised Storm Shadow while Destro leads some troopers to the roof to deal with Snake Eyes, who fools them into going in the wrong direction.  Storm Shadow gathers red ninjas while Scarlett steals a COBRA C.L.A.W. and makes her escape.  Snake Eyes finds Scarlett's oubliette p...

SOLOMON KANE: THE SERPENT RING part 1: Dead Man's Promise.  Abramo Bensaid is writing to his wayfaring brother Paolo Laurenti, whom he has not heard from in 1.5 years. Abramo mentions Paolo's employer, Rolando Zarza (thorny shrub in Spanish), a Knight of Malta. Kingdom of Ndongo, Africa. Paolo is attacked by the owners of the artifact that he has stolen. Eight of Paolo's helpers and one marinheiro (Portuguese sailor) are murdered. Paolo shoots at his aggressors with his flintlock and flees to the safety of a Portuguese caravel sailing ship. The Barbary Coast. Solomon Kane (aka The Sword of Vengeance), the wandering Puritan from Devonshire is now a "Sea Dog", a privateer on an English galleon (Captain Wheeler's ship: The Reprisal) in the service of Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth I). Wheeler, who has a license to attack and capture vessels belonging to "enemies" of England, decides to attack the Gaviota (seagull in Portuguese)... a Portuguese caravel. Alwa...

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Chris Mooneyham (artist), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letter) Story : At Castle Destro, Cobra Commander is being held prisoner by Destro who warns him of the consequences if the Baroness doesn't survive the surgery, with Destro flying the best out to his castle to save her.  In Springfield, the Iron Grenadiers are in control, rounding up Cobra Troops and the mutant cyborgs, though they are worried what the cyborgs might do.  On Cobra Island, Revanche and Alpha-001 land and are able to restore the mutated people to normal but the cyborg mutants they kill by detonating an explosive in their head, including the ones in Springfield.  In Pensacola, Muskrat and his team, along with the Serpentor coffin and Dr. Mindbender, arrive on shore and are arrested while Dr. Mindbender is taken away in an ambulance.  The Joes are eventually set free and Dr. Mindbender escapes and steals the ambulance.  ...

Over the course of several years we witness the life of Helen Grosvenor.  The British digging up Egyptian artifacts and how her former childhood friends view her privileged status.  Bringing a boy she has a crush on to the dig site, Helen falls unconscious and finds a man standing before her on the dunes, covered in wrappings.  Later, in a mirror, Hellen sees what may be different aspects of herself.  Possible past lives.   This is... disappointing.  We spend so much time with Helen but she comes across as a modern, privileged teenager.   It is so pedestrian and cliche.  There is so little of the actual Mummy and the mythos of the various Universal Monsters versions of the Mummy here.  It is just the first issue so hopefully this will improve.   six out of ten.

Berlinghoff Rasmussen and Nymira Vondect run a snake oil scam.  With the grift completed they move on to the next and we see how the two came together.  Rasmussen saved her during the parasite space station debacle.  They are out in space having an argument when Lore begins breaking down reality.  The planet they were just on vanishes due to a space/time rift.  They fly through the rift and emerge near the Defiant.  As they try to explain the situation the shockwave entangles both ships. I have to say I never really cared for Nymira much.  I get that Defiant was/is a ship of rogues and renegades on a secret mission.  And what we've seen of her past fits that.  But I just never formed any attachment to the character.  To be honest when I saw her on the first page it was only then that I realized that she had been gone for multiple issues.  Also happening as a little vignette is the ongoing mine standoff which concerns Miles O'Brien. ...

Jim Zub's Twisting Loyalties part 3: Hunted The waters of Zarkheba. Bêlit, the Queen of the Black Coast has been murdered and avenged. Conan of Cimmeria is leaning on his great sword upon the white beach, watching the Tigress swinging out on her last voyage. A grieving Conan decides to immediately plunge into the mysterious jungles of the Southern/Black Kingdoms.  Conan kills a lizard and devours it raw. The barbarian is maltreated by a swamp, rain, pollen and hornets. Conan falls into a body of water (just like in Predator (1987)), he kills a crocodile, but he does not eat it. Exhausted, Conan collapses. A sound interrupts the Cimmerian's slumber, he spots a hunter using the trees, spying on him (just like in Predator (1987)). The next day, Conan finds no trace of the hunter (just like in Predator (1987)). Conan finds a village (just like in Predator (1987)). Not fond of his foul smell, the Kushites ask Conan to leave. Remember now: Conan was infected with vile Set magic by N...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : The Joe team is now captured and suffering under the hands of Destro and Cobra.  However, some quick thinking and their inside man helps them escape.  Meanwhile, the Brainwave Scanner is completed as Destro gives chase to the escaping Joe team. Writing :  A fairly straightforward issue, with the bulk of it being the Joe's fight with Cobra and Destro.  However, Williamson is able to lay down hints at what's going to happen to finish off this first arc of the series as well as leaving us on a cliffhanger.  The only downside is that Cover Girl and Stalker don't really get a lot of time to shine and no dialogue as well.  Mercer continues to be a favorite character as he's explored more and we realize he's more than just a hired gun for Destro.   Artwork : Reilly continues to do a great job with the art.  He does some fine details when ...

Is Shredhead totally in my face? Yup! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on the linchpin of this initiative, the flagship Transformers comic series! Well, he maintains the reins on the writing of this series at least, as does Mike Spicer on colors. Jorge Corona has taken over regular penciling duties with a style all his own. In this eighteenth issue, Shredhead kills some guys you may have liked, Ultra Magnus boxes a helicopter, and the Decepticon civil war comes to an end with the return of… well, c’mon, you know. Does Shredhead arrive at the fireworks factory? There’s actually relatively little to do with Shredhead here, aside from an opening fight scene where he showcases how badazz he is by killing some name characters. One of the victims in particular I was kind of annoyed by, considering he just got his first new toy in decades and has always been a fan favorite f...

Void Rivals Has Secrets To Reveal! It does and it continues here with issue # 17! Void Rivals is Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’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 seventeenth issue, the secret of Zerta Trion is revealed, Darak has a “friendly” chat with his father, and Proximus is on the rampage! Proximus? He was cool. He was! And that continues here as him and his new kid sidekick go on a quest together. It’s unclear exactly what Proximus wishes to get out of it, but he’s clearly no longer...