Bottalk Reviews

A brief flashback gives us the final moments of the man who would soon 'donate' his brain to the Doctor's experiments and become the monster.  In the present, Fritz is threatened by Henry's old Professor and takes his frustrations out on the monster, beating it savagely.  Later, after teasing the monster with a torch, it lunges forward and snaps Fritz's neck.   A lot going on this issue.  The flashback to the last moments of the man who would 'give' his brain to the monster were interesting.  The rest of the issue is largely centered on Fritz, as he is killed off at the end by the monster.  The drama surrounding Henry, his old Professor, best friend Victor and fiancé showing up is largely playing in the background.  But, if you are familiar with the events of Frankenstein either through the novel or one of the many film adaptations, you know what is going on here. seven out of ten.

The Pleroma explodes with the USS Theseus barely managing to stay ahead of the shockwave.  Dr. Beverly Crusher, still in command, directs Tom to fly through the Guardian of Forever.  As the ship begins to break apart from the strain T'Lir uses his powers to restore shields.  Meanwhile, Benjamin Sisko speaks to his mother.  He attempts to use his 'Prophet' abilities to lead the ship to safety.  The Theseus emerges... in fluidic space.   A lot going on in this issue, what with the universe seeming to crumble around our crew.  This is the second time (that I'm aware of at least) we've seen a ship fly through the Guardian of Forever, the first was a TOS shuttle in a fan film.  Again, I'll say I wish Scotty had more to do.  At times it feels like TOS characters like Scotty and Spock in Defiant have little to do but serve a specific function.  After all this back and forth I do wonder where exactly Sisko will end up.  Will he return with his mother?  Will he see his

On the edge of the Neutral Zone the Defiant is pulled out of warp by a small shuttle.  The pilot is Dr. Julian Bashir.  He asks that Miles O'Brien not get involved in the Romulan matter... a request that comes directly from Section 31.  In prison Spock learns how the Romulans destabilized their star in a failed cloaking experiment.  Spock is saved from the Romulan guards by Sela, they attempt to escape together but are caught by her father's forces.    After all these years we finally know what caused the supernova that destroyed Romulus.  The Romulans, in an attempt to cloak their entire solar system during the Dominion War, accidentally destabilized it.  A secret which has been kept secret.  It is nice to see Ro Laren and B'Elanna Torres working together.  After so many issues of their bickering they work well together.  The interaction between O'Brien and Julian was very brief this issue, brief and somewhat tense.  I hope we have not traded the bickering Ro and B'

The adaptation of The Frost-Giant's Daughter aka The Gods of the North is finally here. Jim Zub's Frozen Faith part III: Gods of the North. In the plains, on the red-stained snow, Wulfhere lies dead with all of his weapon-men. Only one Vanir still stands, and it's not Bragi. Now only two players remain on the ice. It's Conan vs Heimdul. Conan murders Heimdul. Atali, the Frost Giant's Daughter, appears, the luster of her golden locks blind Conan. Conan thinks that Niord might have been ambushed. Atali compels Conan to follow her into the wastes of the north.  Atali's father, Ymir, calls upon his giant sons, the brothers of Atali, to annihilate an exhausted Conan. Conan rises to the challenge and slays both brothers.  Conan, still consumed by lust madness, finally catches the daughter of Ymir. The golden haired witch cries out to her unseen father to be saved from Conan's nympholepsy. Enveloped in a cold blue flame the Frost King's daughter vanishes. Hors

Creators : Larry Hama (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Tony Kordos (inks), Francesco Segala (colorist), Sabrina Del Grosso (flatter), Pat Brosseau (letterer) Story : The Battle for Springfield continues, and we realize Cobra is leading Serpentor Khan's forces into a trap.  Cobra Commander realizes that the Dreadnoks and the Baroness are there and sends his stand-in in the battle armor to get them.  Dawn decides to save the police officer that helped kill her family.  On Cobra Island, Serpentor Khan decides to lead the next wave against Cobra as the Joe recon team escapes but is gunned down in the ocean (though they survive and float on the unit containing a clone of the original Serpentor).  In Springfield, the Crimson Guard in Cobra Commander's battle armor engages the Dreadnoks and is able to seriously wound the Baroness.  The Joe Ninja Team is taking heavy fire as well (with the police officer almost killing Dawn but dying by enemy fire) when they meet up with the Dreadn

Creators : Dan Watters (writer), Andrei Bressan (artist), Adriano Lucas (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Tomax and Xamot are meeting with Artyom Darklon, willing to buy MARS since Destro hasn't been seen in 8 days.  However, they are disappointed to discover that the Battle Android Troopers aren't able to live up to their expectations.  Meanwhile, Destro has been reading over many confidential U.S. government files and is making his next move.  Destro makes an appearance at a party hosted by Astoria Carlton-Ritz (The Girl Who Loved Powerglide), who tries to run from Destro but he and Scrap-Iron are able to stop her.  It ends up, Astoria is much more shrewd than she appears and tells Destro about Project Overkill, an AI system meant to defend the world.  It was Overkill that attacked the arms show (though it was Astoria who tried to kill Destro).  Back at M.A.R.S. Industries, Tomax and Xamot welcome Cobra Commander.  Writing :  This issue really takes what we thought w

Prepare for battle? 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. In this twelfth issue, the Autobots’ rescue mission has gone horribly awry as Ultra Magnus abandoned them in the middle of a fight! Can Optimus Prime turn things around against Devastator and stop Shockwave’s plan to transfer Earth’s energy resources to Cybertron, which is now hovering over Earth via space bridge? Fighty fight? This issue is indeed mostly a long fight scene, which is only fitting for the conclusion of the second arc. The main drama happens late in the issue where Optimus faces a choice that will define his relationship with his Autobots and

Our first story is told from the perspective of a Tribble during the episodes The Trouble with Tribbles (Star Trek: The Original Series: Season 2, Ep 15) and Trials and Tribble-ations (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 5, Ep 6).  It is... extremely silly but also fun at the same time.  Our second story is from Strange New Worlds and has La'an Noonien-Singh dealing with her feelings for Kirk after the episode Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (Strange New Worlds: Season 2, Ep 3).  She talks with his brother Sam at great length.  It is fine but it doesn't really add any anything in the end.  It feels like a rehash of things we've already seen.  Our third story is set in the future of Discovery.  Michael Burnham brings a lost girl back to her mother.  Simple as that.   Our next story is set during season seven of Deep Space Nine and features Quark's dog Latinum playing baseball with the senior staff.  It is also silly and fun.  The story itself is very short but seeing

Creators : Kelly Thompson (Writer), Marco Ferrari (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : During the corporate raid, Jinx and Scarlett exchange some code phrases.  Storm Shadow leads the rest of the clan to another floor looking for their weapon while Jinx and Scarlett are able to finally catch up as they make their way to a different floor.  Jinx believes that maybe the Arashikage could be an ally against the new threat: Cobra.  They eventually find the treasure and some Cobra troops.  Shadow joins in and he is able to retrieve the sword.   Writing :  We get a good "catch up" issue here.  Scarlett and Jinx finally get their moments to tell each other what's going on.  The main meta-plot going on right now doesn't move too much though, some hints are put throughout these issues along with leaving on a good cliffhanger. Art : This issue does have many cool fight scenes but we also get a page or two of Jinx and Scarlett just standing around a

Battle of the Black Stone part 1: Eyes Upon Us, the epic new Conan event from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics continues. Chicago, 1936. Professor Kirowan and John Conrad arrive late for their meeting at the Wanderer's Club. Clemants (from The Children of the Night) has organized a secret soirée and it's populated by scholars of the uncanny who are showcasing their rare relics. Francis Xavier Gordon (El Borak, now a shadow of his former self, close to madness, grizzled and drunk) is waiting for Kirowan and Conrad, they want to know more about the mysterious BLACK STONE eye SIGIL that Gordon witnessed in Savage Sword of Conan #4. Gordon nervously denies seeing the sigil in the Arabian Desert...but finally confesses that he is subconsciously marked by the BLACK STONE eye glyph... that something is watching him. Grenoble, France, 1522. Since encountering the BLACK STONE sigil, random spouts of rage have been drowning the mind of Agnès de Chastillon. The breeches wearing Sword W