Bottalk Reviews

eBook by John C. Hocking Dedicated to Roy Thomas (Conan comic book writer and editor) Cover once again by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  A sequel to CONAN AND THE EMERALD LOTUS! Yes, the fan favourite Conan pastiche from 1995. With their Little Shop of Horrors adventure with the wizard, Ethram-Fal now in the rear view mirror, the emerald lotus addicted long legged sorceress Lady Zelandra of Akkharia desires to return home, to do so Conan and friends have to cross the River Styx from Stygia to Shem. Seeking a boat, our heroes arrive at the village of Quenah, but it's a ghost town. They sleep in an abandoned tavern, thinking of searching the docks the next day. Two living corpses appear! One steals the sorceress's last stash of eldritch drug (the crushed seeds of a deadly, addictive lotus plant that enhances her magical powers and that she is tapering off over time to be free of it) while the other zombie is just a distraction brandishing

Ro and B'Elanna fight as Hugh and Spock look on.  Ro's words seem to reach her for a moment.  Long enough for Worf to knock her out.  As the Defiant crew weigh their options Spock takes things into his own hands, literally, and mind melds with the possessed B'Elanna.  He finds himself in a hellish landscape for a brief moment until Worf breaks the meld.  Spock runs off and with no other options Hugh suggests he assimilate B'Elanna.  Deep in the Starbase Spock finds a door... a door which opens to reveal a gigantic monster emerging. We grow closer to a Sela face turn in this issue.  I think it is wise to keep her out of the main action this issue.  There is some minor continuity here with Hugh mentioning the Starfleet project to reclaim assimilated Borg.  Or as they will be known in season one of Picard, xBs.  Worf has little to do this issue.  The first half is dominated by the fight between Ro and B'Elanna and later the actions of Spock and Hugh.  So not much room

The all-new PREQUEL to the original simian sci-fi classic from 1968 is finally over. Cornelius frees the Gibbon slaves from their gigantic prison. Our favourite hippie chimpanzee Lucius saves his aunt Zira from being trampled by horses. The Hominidae empire is actually planning an invasion of Ape City. Nova kills Sergeant Audhild. Mutant leader Ivana makes Colonel Jarl see insects, he runs away.  The Gibbons do not want to fight the Gorillas, Cornelius tries to motivate them with a stirring "Caesar" speech. Surrounded by Gorillas, Sniper Kennard wants to retreat, Ivana says no. Nova wants to fight some more. Cornelius attacks with his Gibbon allies. Ivana avenges Lyla. Cornelius runs away with Lucius and Zira. The Gibbons win the day, Ivana wants Colonel Jarl to order his troops to surrender, he refuses. Ivana takes control of Jarl and the Colonel orders his soldiers to stand down. Ivana sends the gorillas to the gigantic Gibbon prison.   Back at Hope's Point (the ruins

Kate Marsden, an investigative reporter, tracks her subject.  She ends up following a man through the jungle who claimed a drowning victim.  She falls into the river and nearly drowns when the Creature saves her.   This... is not a good start to be quite honest.  The story spends too much time setting up Kate and her situation.  A down on her luck reporter, trying to catch up with her subject, paying bribes and taking too much medication.  It is something you've seen in a hundred movies and TV shows.  We're here for the Creature.  You know it.  I know it.  Let's just get on with it.  The modern setting adds absolutely nothing here.  I had hopes for something set in the sixties or maybe even the seventies or eighties.  But a modern day reporter coming across the Creature just feels... wrong.   six out of ten.

Creators : Joshua Williamson (Writer), Andrea Milana (Artist), Annalisa Leoni (Colorist), Rus Wooton (Letterer) Story : As Nemesis Enforcer fights the Dreadnoks, Cobra Commander drags Ripper to a locked underground chamber and has him open it.  As he explores, he discovers a scientist that the Dreadnoks kidnapped and have been holding in the chamber to study the Energon.  Meanwhile, Zarana, Zandar and Buzzer are trying to figure out how to get away from the fight as we see they are all that's left.  They force Buzzer to be a distraction and as Nemesis Enforcer flies off with him, Zandar grabs some Energon in a bottle from the cabin.  Zandar throws the bottle at Nemesis Enforcer and shots it, blowing it up and buying Torch, Buzzer, Zarana and himself time to get away.  Nemesis Enforcer then decides to check on Cobra Commander.  Back at the lab, the scientist tells Cobra Commander not only has he been using the Energon to make things, he's been finding ways to stretch out the sup

eBook by Stephen Graham Jones Cover by E. M. Gist  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  Herdsman Jen Ro's French kissing cow rouses our blood caked Cimmerian from his slumber. Conan remembers being part of Shen-ga's raiding party, something must have turned sour on the battlefield because he realizes that he is now lost in the mountains. Conan collapses back to sleep in cowpats.  Conan finally awakens surrounded by cattle, and with Jen Ro's water, he washes the blood of battle from his body and loincloth. Jen Ro, a black lotus addict, cuts a steak from his narcotized cow's flank and miraculously heals the new wound with a mixture of glowing purple moss and black lotus. Jen Ro starts cooking the meat, but the starving Cimmerian can't wait and consumes it rare. Conan asks for more, Jen Ro goes to another drugged cow and brings more meat and wine.  Jen Ro mentions Trinnecerl, a village where he usually sells his purple glowing horned bovines. But

T'Lir recounts his time on Organia and how Kahless's weapon tore a hole in time.  How he chose to incorporate and be born as a Vulcan.  The hole in time worked backwards, destroying his people twenty two years ago.  T'Lir asks for help in getting to Pleroma, a Council of the Gods, so that he can repair the damage Kahless's weapon caused and save his people.  Later, Sisko finds himself in the Prophet space speaking with his mother.  She says he must not go to Pleroma. Sato and T'Lir have an argument and later she is approached by a Section 31 operative. Doing some mop up work from the Day of Blood event makes sense.  I'm not sure the drama from Sato is warranted though.  Sisko even describes it as 'high school level' and given the character interaction and bickering in the Defiant book, I've had my fill of it.  Sisko being forbidden from going to Pleroma is an interesting wrinkle.  We'll see how that plays out.  And with Wesley Crusher being name-

Back to Cybertron! That’s right! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s new Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on the linchpin of this new initiative, a brand-new Transformers comic series! Well, he maintains the reins on the writing of this series at least, as does Mike Spicer on colours. Jorge Corona takes over regular penciling duties as of this issue, with a style that barely misses a step from DWJ’s previous efforts. In this seventh issue and the beginning of a new story arc, we are made known of how the war effort goes on Cybertron as Elita One leads a team to rescue… someone. Meanwhile on Earth, the Autobots deal with the fallout from last issue’s battle, Spike and Carly work through their grief in their own ways, and the Decepticons decide a change in leadership is necessary! So new art guy, yay or nay? I guess that depends on whether you were enjoying DWJ’s pencils, because Jorge Corona tries his be

What’s happenin’ in the world of Void Rivals? Void Rivals continues here with issue # 8! 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 eighth issue, our titular protagonists Darak and Solila are on the run from Proximus, the deadly hunter. As Mobile Suit Gundam’s narrator would ask… WHO WILL SURVIVE? That Proximus dude looked cool. Hellz yeah he does! I’ve been in this sci-fi game a long time, and lemme tell ya- if there’s one thing people love, it’s armoured

eBook by Steven L. Shrewsbury Cover by Gary Gianni (that Raven helmet is pretty fly! Brân means Raven) Illustrations by Patrick Zircher  From Titan Books and Heroic Signatures Spoilers! Spoilers!  The past... We are witnessing the last great battle of Bran Mak Morn. Picts and Romans are fighting. Bran Mak Morn, of the blood of Brule the Spear-slayer (the friend of King Kull of Valusia who reigned thousands of years ago before Atlantis sank) kills a Decurion (a Roman cavalry officer). Alaric and Bran's son Gallam are also there. Old Scottish priest Father Rogan stirs Dr. Elijah Blackthorn from his vision/reading. Dr. B, a psychometric archaeologist with the Miskatonic Institute of Technology awakens in an ancient Scottish Episcopal church, the Rosslyn Chapel. Dr. B spots Purple sashes of Advent (violet is the colour of royalty) anticipating the arrival of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Dr. B has a special talent, artifacts talk to him, he only has to touch them and their secrets

Jim Zub's The Age Unconquered part 1: Suffer Not the King of Wonders, starts here. Conan stabbed himself in the chest and died on the way back to his home planet? The End? Nope! Not the end. Conan gets The Terminator treatment and gets sent back in time by unknown mystical forces to the Thurian Age (The Age of Atlantis), the epoch of Atlantean King Kull of Valusia and his buddy Brule, the Spear-Slayer, a Pict of the Borni tribe. We see Brule once again piercing the loathsome Black Stone statue with his blessed spear from way back in issue #4. Lighting from heaven's grasp strikes the spear and the obelisk shatters. Time traveler Conan still alive with his clothes, horned helmet and Brule's sword, emerges from the destroyed Black Stone sculpture, you know, like in Ghostbusters with the charred Terror Dogs. Brule's Pictish warriors suggest killing the slime covered barbarian from the future. The Spear-Slayer stops them. A confused Conan does not remember Brule (from previo