Bottalk Reviews

Creators : Kelly Thompson (Writer), Marco Ferrari (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colourist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : In Monaco, Scarlett/Shana M. O'Hara infiltrate a mansion that is having some sort of auction and sees Jinx/Kimi Arashikage there as well.  Despite orders not to, Scarlett engages and frees hostages that were going to be sold to bad people (and it seems Jinx freed one as well).  Scarlett is let go from her special contract for breaking orders but discovers Stalker/Lonzo R. Wilkinson has broken into her house and has a job for her.  We find out that Scarlett and Jinx were roommates (and in special forces too) and developed their own set of code signals which Jinx had used.  We also discover that Jinx has been missing for 2 years and has infiltrated the Arashikage Clan in Japan.  Scarlett's job is to go and do the same.  She gets dropped off by Snow Job/Harlan W. Moore and fights some of the clan's ninjas before presenting herself to the Hard Master (whom Jinx

The Half-Century Bore  Written, Drawn and Lettered by James Stokoe Contagion  Written by Dan Didio  Drawn by Joëlle Jones  Coloured by Marco Lesko Of Gods and Con Artists  Written by Danny Lore Art by Sebastián Píriz In The Shadow of a God  Written and Drawn by Matt Frank  Poetry by Donny Winter Japanese Calligraphy by Maki Takarada In The Darkness  Written and Drawn by E.J. Su The Big One  Written and Drawn by Adam Gorham  Colored by Adam Guzowski Ain’t No Place For An Angel  Written by Casey Gilly Drawn by Liana Kangas Colored by Brittany Peer In Summation  Written by Michael W. Conrad  Art by Gegê Schall Aftermath Written and Drawn by Natasha Alterici

With Dukat dead Mariner assumes command.  Alexander is ordered to Sickbay but refuses and runs off.  Jake and Nog go after him and the three end up in the Holodeck where Jake begins a Klingon program.  Jake engages Alexander in combat and attempts to reason with him.  It works and Alexander goes to Sickbay while, on the Bridge, QJ apologizes to Jake and Nog for putting them in their current situation.  The Breen attack the ship.  Again.  Slowly, QJ's powers return and he solves the Breen problem.  The scene shifts and judge Q applauds his son.  In a brief epilogue Jake, Nog and Alexander are reunited with their families.   It feels like this comic needed another issue to wrap things up.  The end comes at almost a breakneck speed.  QJ's powers start to return, he gets rid of the Breen and we shift to Q congratulating his son.  After that, a very brief epilogue with our three other characters.  They were all to have learned a lesson... but did they?  It all feels very Saturday mo

Nog and Shaw inspect the engine and come under attack by Breen.  Later, during a meeting, Captain Dukat becomes furious with Jake after he suggests they use what little remaining resources to restore QJ's powers.  Nog, Shaw and Alexander battle Breen, chasing them to the bridge where Alexander saves Dukat's life.  However, the relief is short lived as Dukat takes the full blast of a Breen energy weapon. There is some good stuff here with Nog.  About feeling out of place, which is supposed to be the purpose of this series to begin with.  The notion that Nog, Alexander and Jake are at a critical crossroads in their lives.  We've only had some lip service towards that.  Until now.  Having the ship crewed by various familiar faces continues to feel... weird.  I do wish there were more interaction.  It's a chance for Mariner to interact with Ogawa.  or Shaw.  or Dukat.  or Tuvix... and other than a staff meeting there is little interaction among the crew.  It ends up feelin

Journalist Kate Marsden wakes up to an autopsy being performed.  She questions the medical examiner if he really believes a creature is responsible or not.  Later, the cartel comes face to face with the Creature and opens fire but he cuts through them with ease.  That night a blood soaked Creature observes Kate from afar before returning to the water. I enjoyed this issue far more than the first.  The creature looks great but some of the people look a little too cartoony.  It doesn't quite mesh well with the tone of the story.  However, the final pages with the Creature standing in a tree under moonlight look great.  This is kind of a mixed bag but I am curious to see how it plays out.  I suspect the Creature will end up taking Kate to his lair much like the original film.   six out of ten.

Novel by Stephen Michael Stirling with very considerable help by Steve Saffel Dedicated to Stephen's late wife Janet Illustrations by Rob De La Torre From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Also available unabridged on audiobook, but WITHOUT the Red Nails novella, read by Bradford Hastings  Trivia: Stephen also wrote the introduction to Eons of the Night (The Robert E. Howard Library Vol. 5) way back in 1996. The All-New Chronicles of the Worlds Greatest Barbarian Hero start here! Spoilers! Spoilers!  A prequel to Robert E. Howard's Red Nails. A cat infested (cats are sacred to Stygians) Sukhmet tavern south of the River Styx in Stygia. Sword for hire/mercenary Conan, now a scout in Zingaran commander Zarallo’s Free Companions (Zingarans sunk Conan's previous ship), is playing dice with friend Anjallo. Conan notices that two Zamorans are trying to trick Brocas, a young Corinthian, into an unfair duel. Conan destroys the arm of one Zamoran while Brocas kills the other. Conan

"The Knight Errand” by Steve Orlando, Lauren Knight and JP Jordan “Lady Luck” by Vita Ayala and Liana Kangas “Facemaker” by Mags Visaggio, Tench and JP Jordan “Innovation Interruption” by Stephanie Williams and Denny Minonne “Risian Rendezvous” by Hannah Rose May, Jack Lawrence and Rebecca Nalty Our first story is set in the Kelvin Timeline as Sulu tells Demora a story where the Enterprise crew are knights.  Sulu engages in a duel to the death and wins, completing his bedtime story for young Demora.  The second story features Seven and Raffi and involves poker and some less than friendly members of Starfleet.  The next story is Christine Chapel working with Doctor Phlox very briefly.  Next we get Jett Reno and Paul Stamets as they solve a problem.  The final story sees Beckett Mariner on Risa for the Festival of the Moon.   I wish there were more to the Chapel story as it feels very short, though Phlox showing up was a nice treat.  The Seven of Nine story, unfortunately, feels the

Creators : Joshua Williamson (Writer), Andrea Milana (Artist), Annalisa Leoni (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : Across the world, Destro is seeing reports of various M.A.R.S. facilities being attacked and overrun.  His men finally bring in Dreadnok Ripper as a captive, who says the man responsible wants to meet him.  So Destro, Mercer, Ripper and some troops fly out to a small town, only for the troops and helicopter to be destroyed by lasers (impressing Destro) and Cobra Commander comes out to greet them, wanting to get into a deal with Destro in exchange for providing Destro with some of the new energy he's discovered.  As they explore the facility, they see more scientists (who seem to be working against their will) and Cobra Commander mentions that there are other forces but they need a common leader to unite them all. He then shows Destro what a Battle Android Trooper can do when upgraded with the energy.  They agree to the deal and, as he changes into his uniform, Co

Jim Zub's The Age Unconquered part 3: Call from the Depths continues. We are still knee-deep in the Thurian Age aka the Pre-Cataclysmic Age.  Brule has been burning to know, since issue 9, what was said during the secret meeting between Yag-Kosha and Conan. Conan spills the beans via a flashback: The elephant man made the barbarian aware that he is indeed in the past, that spirits can roam free, but mortals are stuck in specific times, impeded by their own memories. Yag-Kosha knows that Conan has been strategically sent back in time by unknown divine forces. Conan thinks that perhaps he's being used by these godlike forces. Yag-Kosha, limited by his current physical form, cannot foretell Conan's future beyond his own death (at the hands of Conan in The Tower of the Elephant).  Yag-Kosha can see Conan only because they previously encountered each other in the future. He actually sees the Cimmerian as a floating chest hole, a phantasm without physical limitations. The friendl

Who is Rivalling the Void this month?? Void Rivals continues here with issue # 9! It’s Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici new 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 new 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 ninth issue, our protagonist duo Darak and Solila are still on the run from the deadly hunter Proximus, when they stumble upon a new ally who has better things to do this night than die! Also, we look in on our pal, the Skuxxoid! Forget all the rest then, how’s Skuxxy doing?? Sad. Sad and alone. Oh. What about the rest then? Proximus