Bottalk Reviews

Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, it is time once again to pay the venerable spinner rack a visit!  60 spectacular pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!  Inside this magnificent magazine you'll find the following treasures: John C. Hocking, an autobiographical essay Conan: City of the Dead, Omnibus Preview A fresh new Pin-Up of Kull the Conqueror and Thulsa Doom by Alex Horley CONAN: WOLVES OF THE TUNDRA by Frank Tieri and Cary Nord  A Werewolf grabs a snack in the snow. It spies on a family. The family members are revealed to be Werewolves too! A fight ensues. The only lycanthrope that survives the scuffle is... Conan the Werewolf. Flashback: A famished Cimmerian enters "the Hungry Claw" inn, taxidermy wolves adorn the place, Werewolves in human form start harassing Conan, the lights go out, Conan gets bitten during the bar brawl. Conan wakes in a barn where he's decimated every single animal inside. The owner of the animals recommends elim

The Conan the Barbarian screenplay adaptation from 1982 is back in print! What!? Crom listened? Yes! By L. Sprague de Camp, his wife Catherine Crook de Camp and Lin Carter  Foreword by L. Sprague de Camp A movie novelisation based on a screenplay by John Milius and Oliver Stone Also available Unabridged on audiobook read by Bradford Hastings  Also available in Portuguese: ISBN-13: 9786554481540  Conan o Bárbaro – Novelização Oficial do Filme Spoilers! Spoilers!  King Conan is know as Conan the Great. Kallias of Shamar is our narrator from southern Aquilonia, instead of Akiro, the Wizard of the Mounds. Corin the smith, Conan's father, masters the secret of steel from the Atlanteans. The father sword's pommel resembles the hooves of an elk, its grip is wrapped with string made from the intestines of forest tigers. Mystic rites are performed to make the Cimmerian sword INVINCIBLE. Conan's father beheads a Vanir raider from Vanaheim and kills a horse. Maeve, Conan's mother,

Creators : Kelly Thompson (Writer), Marco Ferrari (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : Scarlett is now a prisoner of the Arashikage clan, reviewing her objectives (gain access to the stronghold, establish contact with Jinx, secure a possible weapon) and is planning her escape, having fully prepped (including keeping a razor in her abdomen).  She is caught and fights off more ninjas before Storm Shadow stops it and takes her to a room (including a flashback scene of Scarlett training with Jinx) and inquires about what she is trying to do.  She says she wants to find meaning again, feeling her skills aren't being used fully.  The Hard Master arrives and says Scarlett can't join because while she has skills, she lacks loyalty, honour and sacrifice.  They give Scarlett a mission to infiltrate a Yakuza controlled tower to steal back an Arashikage weapon of "unusual" origins to prove herself. Scarlett parachutes on top of the tower, sneaks in a

Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone wins this year's Robert E. Howard Foundation "The Costigan Literary Achievement" and "The Rankin Artistic Achievement" awards at Howard Days! Brule's life was just about to be extinguished by a freshly revived Thulsa Doom... it is finally time for: Jim Zub's The Age Unconquered part 4: Terror Undreamed Of! Thulsa announces a "New Age of Doom" and that the Spear-Slayer is out of time. We get a flashback: A meteorite strikes the earth. Only Kathulos (the sorcerer, magician and scientist from the novella Skull-Face) is brave enough to touch the Black Stone from outer space. The Black Stone uploads DARK knowledge and DARK magic into Kathulos's brain. Kathulos is now able to control the deceased. He builds himself an army of the undead and renames himself Thulsa Doom. Thulsa enjoys being a successful tyrant for some time, we even get another Renato Casaro Conan the Barbarian 1982 movie poster homage from

eBook by Steven Savile Cover by Guillem H. Pongiluppi  Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A storm approaches, since there is no way around it, the captain of the ship decides to go right through it. Solomon Kane is sporting his slouch hat, rapier, and heavy pistols, he starts praying. Solomon tells the Captain that this is a mistake. Young Weasel goes overboard. Kane binds himself to the mainmast with his belt. The ship is torn apart by the raging sea. Kane wakes on a beach, his belt broken, a Japanese girl picks his pockets, Kane grabs her and asks where he's landed. Her brother tells Kane that he is in Odawara (on the island of Honshū. South of Tokyo), the Hotu clan's lands, next to Hideyoshi territory. Kane is brought to the Hotu settlement and fortress. He eats, sleeps and cleans himself. Kane walks through the town around the fort, he spies a marketplace, workshops, people practicing Karate and Kenjutsu. Kane spots

Who is Rivalling the Void this month?? Void Rivals continues here with issue # 10! 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 tenth issue, Springer’s battle with Proximus comes to an end, and Darak and Solila learn more about how their planets and Cybertron are connected. So we learn more about what makes the Energon Universe, the Energon Universe? Yup! The nature of Energon itself and how it interacts with Darak and Solila’s people is explored. Springer ha

Kate works with local law enforcement.  They want the Creature and Kate wants the serial killer.  In the Black Lagoon they spot something, which turns out to be a body strapped with explosives.  Kate is knocked in the water and after briefly coming face to face with the Creature, is taken to a cave.  She confronts the serial killer, but is not prepared for his appearance.  He has modified himself to resemble the Creature.   It feels like little happens this issue.  Kate struggles to work with anyone and even after seeing the Creature is seemingly unconcerned with it.  She is solely focused.  The final pages are interesting.  The twist of the killer modifying himself to look like the Creature is unexpected.  I thought perhaps we were looking at the modified Creature from the final film (The Creature Walks Among Us).  But no.  I'm not sure this comic knows what it wants to be.  Does it want to be somewhat gritty crime noir?  Or does it want to venture into a modern take on the Creat

While Worf and Ro battle the mother creature Sela attempts to shake Spock out of his mental flux, brought on by the hive mind.  Spock manages to bring the infected Starbase crew back to normal and the parasites begin to explode.  Nymira beams the crew back to the Defiant as she confronts the mother creature and sacrifices herself to defeat it and close the portal.  Two days later the crew is seemingly back to normal.  Hugh leaves the ship and Sela's father shows up.  He congratulates her on capturing the Defiant, Spock and Worf. I'm not sure I like Spock's mind being overwhelmed by the mother parasite.  We've seen this sort of thing before, V'Ger for instance.  I suppose it is one way to get across the threat the parasites pose.  Having Sela be the one to bring Spock out of his mental flux was great though.  Hugh leaving feels very abrupt.  I don't mind the somewhat rotating cast of characters this title has, I just wish it felt more organic at times.   seven ou

Creators : Larry Hama (Writer), Paul Pelletier (Pencils), Tony Kordos (Inks), Francesco Segala (Colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (Flatter), Pat Brosseau (Letterer) Story : On Cobra Island, Revanche delivers a stealth bomber to Serpentor-Khan and he is quite impressed with it and wants more delivered. The G.I. Joe Infiltration team (Helix, Multo, Muskrat, and Wet-Suit) sees it and reports back to the Pit.  Duke, Stalker and Mainframe realize the bomber is probably intended for Springfield.  Mainframe then also shows them satellite footage of Dawn's parents being killed (from last issue).  Back on Cobra Island, Serpentor-Khan gets a report of a transmission leaving and has his forces track down the G.I. Joe team, which results in a running battle through the jungle.  At the Pit, Duke and Psyche-Out inform Dawn of her parent's death and console her, as Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and Storm Shadow remind her she has family in the Arashikage clan.  In Springfield, Cobra Commander is upset ab

Creators : Dan Watters (Writer), Andrei Bressan (Artist), Adriano Lucas (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : In the Republic of Darklonia, the Prime Minister's palace is under siege by insurgents and when his troops try to fight them, they encounter a Battle Android Trooper (B.A.T.).  The troops then realize more are being dropped into the city and the BATs defeat the troops.  The Prime Minister calls Destro and surrenders; Destro arrives and says his cousin, Artyom Darklon, will take over and the Prime Minister shoots himself to avoid what the mob might do to him.  Destro is then in call with Cobra Commander, who is upset about his actions in Darklonia and they get into an argument over how M.A.R.S. Industries is working with Cobra, not subordinate to Cobra.  Destro then visits an ancestral shrine and seeks guidance from his ancestors about what to do with the Energon.  Weeks later, at Darklonia's arms convention we're introduced to other arms manufacturers - Boston,

Omnibus by John C. Hocking Dedicated to lovers of sword-and-sorcery and especially fans who waited for the Living Plague for so long Cover by Jeffrey Alan Love  Illustrations by Richard Pace From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Also available unabridged on audiobook read by Bradford Hastings Spoilers! Spoilers!  CONAN AND THE EMERALD LOTUS (1995) Stygian mage Ethram-Fal aka the Shemite Eldred the Trader, resurrects the dormant immortal resident of the abandoned Palace of Cetriss (one of the world's mightiest sorcerers), a hybrid of plant and predatory fungus with an insatiable appetite for blood with the blood of his insolent apprentice (freshly executed by Captain Ath, also a Stygian who is given an addictive reddish leaf as a reward). The carnivorous plant's seeds are the sole source of the Emerald Lotus, an addictive green powder that enhances the abilities of sorcerers. The only side effects are growing cravings, madness and death.  Akkharia in Shem, ruled by King Sumuab