BotTalk Reviews

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, the venerable spinner rack is sporting another brand new issue of SSOC!  61 mind-altering pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!  Inside this succulent magazine you will find the following treasures: Pin-Ups: Conan by Tim Sale (from Tim Sale: Black and White - Revised and Expanded. RIP, Tim.) Conan by Sedat Oezgen Conan by Marco Rudy KING CONAN: THE ENSORCELLED, PART I: The Beast in Brythunia by Jason Aaron and Geof Isherwood The Graaskal Mountains splitting Hyperborea and Brythunia. The Brythunian border. Conan II aka Prince Conn, Conan's firstborn son, sits on the throne of Aquilonia while his father is away. The King of Aquilonia, Conan, is fifty-eight years old, he's on a diplomatic mission and a hunt. He enters the cave of the Witch of Graaskal. The Witch and King Fabiano (of Brythunia)'s freshly hypnotized mercenaries (from Nemedia) attack! The Witch burns Conan's chest with her hand. The now marked barba...

Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part IV: The Hidden World. Horsa and Niord bring Conan (still clutching his gossamer garment clearly never fashioned by human hands) to their Aesir War Camp. Conan eats and reflects on his past. He's a boy again helping his metalsmith father. An earthquake hits, his dad thinks it is Crom sliding his feet. We learn that Lihamm "The Tree" (beheaded by Brissa way back in Conan: The Barbarian #2) thinks that earthquakes are actually Devils moving around underground. Hence the saying Crom's devils. Back to reality. Gorm (the one that saw Atali on the bloody field of Wolraven) comments on the stew, Conan thinks he's talking about his mental state. Did Conan really encounter a Goddess? Conan questions his senses and reality. While daydreaming about the daughter of Ymir, Conan gets hit behind the head by a jealous Osmin (the friend of Bergen from issue #14). We get another flashback of Conan's youth. Alfred E. Neuman hits Conan over the hea...

Void Rivals has better things to do tonight than die! It does and it continues here with issue # 13! 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. It’s the start of a new arc in this thirteenth issue, as our titular characters take separate paths again. Solila ventures deeper into the depths of Zertonia while Darak returns home to Agorria with Springer. Oh and Pythona and the Skuxxoid poke their heads into the plot. Pythona? So Cobra-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!!! is invol...

Julian tries to talk Chief O'Brien out of helping Worf and his crew.  Meanwhile, the Romulan ground forces beam down and eventually surround Worf.  In space, B'Elanna Torres is about to sacrifice herself when the Defiant shows up.  Worf continues his battle with the Romulan ground forces commander until he is shot and killed by B'Elanna.  The Romulan Praetor Neral is killed by one of the Antarans Worf trained.  In Romulan Space, Spock is confronted by Sela's father.  He executes the scientist who knew of the instability in the Romulan sun and then aims his disruptor at his daughter.   This is, I think, the first time Miles O'Brien goes into detail about his experiences during Setlik III.  It has been brought up multiple times in TNG and DS9 and is a key piece of his backstory.  This issue feels very messy though.  A lot of jumping around to different POVs.  Which, is to be expected I suppose.  This is the culmination of several...

The young boy, Paul, hitches a ride to the Frankenstein home and is eventually welcomed inside by Elizabeth once he is discovered.  She is ordered by Henry's father to bring Henry home.  Back at the castle the group is determined to destroy the creature once they discover it killed Fritz.  They manage to knock out the creature with drugs and later, Waldman is killed by the creature once it awakes.  Later, Henry and Elizabeth are about to be married when Professor Waldman's body is found.  Henry rushes off, unaware that the creature was in the very room.  The creature comes face to face with Elizabeth and kills her. A lot going on in this issue, and I feel it is very haphazardly put together.  The scenes between Elizabeth and Paul, the young boy, are much needed and very touching.  Especially since, if you are familiar with the material, you know Elizabeth does not have much time left.  Her frustrations are on display with Henry and his father...

Creators : Dan Watters (Writer), Andrei Bressan (Artist), Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer). Story : Tomax and Xamot are showing Cobra Commander around their newly acquired M.A.R.S. Corporation and what they can do with it when they come across Destro and a fight breaks out.  Outside, Scrap-Iron, Chameleon and Mercer take on the Crimson Guard.  During their fight, Destro and the Twins talk about the future, all the while Cobra Commander looks on.  Finally, the Overkill system is activated but Destro keeps it from killing the Twins.  He proposes they work together, under Cobra, because of the changes the world is going to see.  They agree.  Later, Destro and Astoria Carlton-Ritz are eating dinner while Destro launches a missile to take out the Overkill system. Later, Destro and distant cousin Darklon are at their ancestral tomb and Darklon apologizes for selling M.A.R.S. but Destro says the Evader Driver needs to wear a family mask, like the f...

Tom Paris warns Sisko of Species 8472, even providing the Captain with a log entry from Kathryn Janeway where she doubts the peace she once made with said species.  later, T'Lir mentally hears the screams of 8472 as they approach.  They invade the ship with intentions of taking it out of their realm.  Fluidic Space is boiling, thanks to the destructive shockwave Lore unleashed.  Using the Mycelial Network they manage to escape, though as a result they are displaced 120 years in time.  They are then confronted by the Enterprise A... of the Kelvin Universe. I've always been interested in Species 8472 since their debut.  I have to say seeing them here is kind of a letdown.  I thought it was a mistake for Voyager to make peace with them, and somewhat expected this issue to be an all out battle.  Not so much.  Having the issue focus on Tom, for the most part, was nice.  Sometimes characters get lost in the mix of this comic.  It happens ...

Creators : Kelly Thomas (Writer), Marco Ferrari (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : Scarlett, Jinx, and Storm Shadow have possession of the sword and Storm Shadow uses it to defeat a foe but then they see Cobra arrive and take cover. They ponder how to escape (with only two parachutes)  but Cobra Commander can detect the Energon the sword gives off and they get fired upon.  Scarlett gets injured and pushes Jinx out of the building (with the parachute) and jumps after her. The three split up to rendezvous later and Scarlett is able to touch base with Snow Job.  She decides to stay in to help Jinx.  Back at the Arashikage stronghold, Storm Shadow presents the sword to the Hard Master who gives it back and Storm Shadow raises it while the clan cheers on, surprising both Jinx and Scarlett.  Writing : Another good solid issue.  We start out with some good action and getting the trio to engage Cobra a bit was fun.  It was also ...

Is it More Than Meets The Eye Time? You bet! 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. However, this thirteenth issue sees Jason Howard step in to pencil a sort of one-off story. We last saw Starscream gravely wounded and thrown to his death by Soundwave. As he lies in disarray, here we get an origin tale for the treacherous Seeker that plays out in his memories. Starscream’s origin? That’s what I said. The being known as “Starscream” is born here, as we flashback to his more idealistic and youthful days on Cybertron. Then known as “Ulchtar” (a nice deep-cut reference to a pre-production name for the character), he pals around...

Battle of the Black Stone part 2: Bond of the Black, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics continues. The tortured writer James Allison appears as an apparition. He mentions that he's deceased, a former story maker, drawn to mighty, courageous spirits.  Solomon Kane is sure that Allison is suffering eternal punishment in hell. The old gunslinger El Borak wants answers. Allison confirms that not only is El Borak marked by the BLACK STONE, he's also HUNTED. A portal that looks exactly like the mysterious BLACK STONE eye symbol pops up to disgorge The Dark One aka the Master of the Monolith into our plane of existence! The Dark One starts massacring the members of the Wanderer's Club. El Borak decides to attack The Dark One with a sword and John Conrad tries to gun it down. They both fail miserably. Out of nowhere, Brissa, the time displaced Pict scout of the Gurian tribe, stabs The Dark One. She encourages El Borak, Kirowan and Conrad to fight on. ...