BotTalk Reviews

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...

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...

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...

Novel by Cody Walker Cover by Ben Marra Spoilers! Spoilers!  Since 1962, Atlas Industries (a multi-billion dollar corporation) has been the leading name in Rebirth Engineering. Atlas manufactures new reanimated sentient beings (second-class citizens known as Patchwork people/Patchworks/Patchies) made up of body parts of different corpses stitched together. This is the first election where Patchies are able to vote and Senator Edgar Bates is up for reelection, the Senator hires a Patchie journalist... Ms. Brynn Drew (a Patchwork person made from four different women), he wants to know what goes on behind the scenes in the creation of Patchies at Atlas Industries (one of his big money donors to his campaign) and the struggles that Patchwork voters (who live in slums) experience. During her investigation Brynn will encounter a grave-robbing duo, an in-house Atlas Industries motherly figure that helps new Patchies upon Rebirth (since the process eliminates previous memories), two pleas...

The Gorilla soldiers of General Ursus sniff out the cloaked Predator (an alien Yautja warrior) and shoot at it. The injured Predator kills even more soldiers and disappears. Ursus decides to team up with Arch (the American National Space Administration astronaut) to find George Taylor. Arch gives one of her fuel cells to Ursus. Cornelius and Zira discover the Predator out like a light and patch him up. Ursus and Arch reach the Statue of Liberty (a gift from France, Planet of the Apes (the original novel) was written by a French author). Mutant controlled Gorilla soldiers (a platoon previously sent by Ursus into the Forbidden Zone (the ruins of New York City)) attack Ursus and Arch! Cornelius, Zira and their new Predator compadre arrive to save Ursus and Arch from the crazed soldiers.  What I did like: Dr. Zaius appears on one page! Fantastic covers by Stonehouse, Christopher Campana/Cam Smith/Rachelle Rosenberg, Dave Wachter and Mike Henderson/Nolan Woodard! What I did not like: St...

Jim Zub's Cursed Shores Beyond part 2: An Isle of DREAD The Briney Wren (Captain Quinn Corvaxis' ship) has been utterly destroyed by an unnatural storm. Conan the Buccaneer, Valeria, Morley and the rest of The Red Brotherhood disembark on a strange isle and find cadavers trapped in crystal obelisks (like mosquitoes in amber).  Conan and co. enter the adjacent jungle, Valeria encounters a baby herbivorous dinosaur, it rejoins its herd. Three large theropods attack! Rodriguez (an homage to the colorist) is bitten in half, the herbivores start a stampede. Conan kills one of the theropods, Valeria does the same, the third one opens Conan's back with its claws. The rest of the pirates kill the third theropod. Conan and co. drink coconut water and eat the theropods. Captain Quinn talks of his experiences on Captain Gunnet O'Bryan's Glory-Bae and the DawnyHawk. Morley spins a tale about an invisible man with glowing red eyes. While on guard duty, Morley robs Valeria of her...

SOLOMON KANE: THE LION ERRANT part 2: Love and Hate  The Chauragarh Fort in the Satpura Range. Chandra Shah ((????-????), Prince Vir's uncle, Dalpat Shah's younger brother and the master of the horse archers) informs his sister-in-law (the dowager queen Rani Durgavati) that Ramih Khan (Mughal general, regent of Sidhi) will be invading Garha. The Narmada River Valley. A mysterious black-maned Asiatic lion has been Solomon Kane's companion for six consecutive days. Qara Bahadur Khan (the occupying governor who serves the third Mughal emperor, NOT Baz Bahadur the last Sultan of the Malwa Sultanate) invites Kane to the palace of Jahaz Mahal in Mandu (now in Madhya Pradesh). The Chauragarh Fort. Kalyan Shah (Prince Vir's future father-in-law and the Master of the musketeers) will be arriving soon. Vir Narayan ((1545-????), son of Durgavati) tells his betrothed (Kamla Devi, daughter of Kalyan Shah) that he will not be fleeing from the army of the two Khans (Asaf & Ramih)....

80 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 Tim Conrad from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #18 Conan ad by Tim Conrad from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #4 Conan the Barbarian by Tim Conrad from Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #12 Original Cover Painting by Dan Adkins for Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #18 THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE Chapters 3 & 4 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) gives Conan his Stygian girdle (of great magic powers) and dies. Conan teams up with Kerim Shah (a spy of King Yezdigerd of Turan) to rescue Queen Yasmina of Vendhya (who wants the see the Black Seers of Yimsha dead). Conan uses the girdle to kill The Black Seers (the Four rakshasas of the Black Circle).  The Master of Yimsha kills...

A special forces team and an American National Space Administration astronaut (Arch) are shadowing John Christopher Brent (James Franciscus)'s spaceship (the rescue mission from Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)). Fired upon by a Yautja ship, the spaceship of Arch and the soldiers crash-lands on the Planet of the Apes. Searching for George Taylor (Charlton Heston)'s ship (The Icarus/Liberty 1), Cornelius and Zira encounter the two soldiers that survived their ship's emergency landing. The soldiers threaten the chimpanzee couple, a wounded Predator (an alien Yautja warrior) slays the soldiers. Freshly ejected from her spaceship, astronaut Arch encounters primitive, mute humans, she overhears General Ursus proclaiming that "The only good human is a dead human!", that Taylor has ventured into the Forbidden Zone (the ruins of New York City) and that they should follow and invade the Zone. Gorilla soldiers mounted on horseback assail the wild humans and Arch, the w...

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...

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 Ghosts of Wahpeton) 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 Isle ...

CONAN & DRAGONERO part 3 (of 7): The Gems of Aquilonia (chapter two) The Margondàr mountains. Conan's dragon sends a flock of wild wyverns to attack the dirigible of Dragonero's sister! Conan of Cimmeria, Ian Aranill Génhu Varliedarto Romevarlo (Dragonero the Erondarian imperial officer) and Myrva Aranille engage the wyverns.  A wyvern tears the balloon of the Technocrat airship, the skyship goes down and crashes into a village. Conan's dragon has found an Undine (a water elemental) to heal its lacerated wing. Conan's dragon mentions Ian Aranill, Herion Eukenill (Ian and Myrva's grandfather, of the Order of the Varliedarto/Dragon Conquerors, who slew the renegade dragons who wanted to rule over everything and everyone) and the bastard sword called Saevasectha/Cruel-Cutter. Since it was elsewhere in another dimension (stealing gems in Tarantia (capital of Aquilonia)), Conan's dragon lived on. The Undine (who is linked to the dragon spiritual network known as ...

Kulgith the Devourer (a Thri-kreen homage?) has kidnaped some kids from an Obrall settlement. ROM the Space Knight decides to rescue the children. ROM leaves his handgun (The Neutralizer) with Grakum and Jorvud (the distressed parents of the tykes). Thinking that ROM is a robot, Kulgith throws the SpaceKnight in his cell for inorganic prisoners, ROM meets his cellmate... "Transformers Studio Series Deluxe Class" Kranix (the scientist from planet Lithone, the Lithonian who was captured by the Quintessons in The Transformers: The Movie (1986)). Carpet (a sentient alien jellyfish and ROM's "Man with No Name" poncho/companion) opens the pen for them. Kranix points ROM in the direction of the cell for organic prisoners. Kulgith fights with ROM, ROM points out that he is a cyborg, ROM beheads Kulgith. ROM borrows one of Kulgith's arms and attaches it to his body. ROM takes the kids back to their kin.  ROM, the wandering guardian of the spaceways, continues his une...