(Image of Void Rivals Issue #1 varient by Jason Howard)
By Brandon T. McClure
Since 2005, IDW Publishing has been the home of Transformers. They’ve published hundreds of issues of the Hasbro property up until December 2022. Sadly, it was revealed that IDW would be losing the license to Transformers and GI. Joe. It’s unclear if the decision to not renew was on IDW’s side or Hasbro’s side, but nonetheless the decision was made and IDW would be losing one of their most significant publishing lines. This lead many to wonder where the popular IP would land next.
Speculation began almost instantly about who would want to pick up the license going forward. Marvel, who published the very first Transformers comics, had recently regained the rights to many properties they used to have, such as Star Wars, Micronaughts, and Rom The Space Knight. Because of this, some speculated that Marvel might be interested in regaining the rights to everything, including Transformers. However, it’s been an open secret for many years that Skybound’s owner and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has been wanting to write Transformers comics. But he owns a creator-owned company within Image Comics, so it seemed unlikely that he would be interested in writing or publishing a comic based on something he wouldn’t be able to own. Then Void Rivals came out.
(Image of Void Rivals Issue #1 varient by Marz Jr)
Originally solicited as a new creator-owned book from Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici (Oblivion Song), Void Rivals follows two space pilots from warring factions named Darak and Solila. The two of them crash land on a dangerous planet and have to find a way to work together so they can escape. Readers were in for a shock when they picked up this new book to find the Transformer Jetfire making a cameo. Void Rivals was Robert Kirkman revealing to the world that Skybound is the new home of Transformers and G.I. Joe. Kirkman had apparently made a deal with Hasbro in 2021 and kept it under wraps until the launch of this new issue.
Void Rivals is just the beginning. New Transformers and G.I. Joe titles will begin in October starting with Transformers written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson (Murder Falcon). Soon after, two four-issue mini-series will launch called Duke and Cobra Commander, both written by Joshua Williamson (Birthright, Dark Ride). Tom Reilly, and Jordie Bellaire will join Williamson on Duke, and Andrea Milana and Annalisa Leoni will join him on Cobra Commander. In November, Larry Hama will continue his run on G.I. Joe: Real American Hero, which he started with IDW, with issue #301. The book will pick up where his last issue left off and seems to be the only comic that is continuing and not an outright reboot. However, plot details on Transformers are scarce at this time. Together with Void Rivals, these titles will form the Energon Universe.
What is really interesting about this new Energon Universe is the inclusion of Void Rivals. Decades ago, when Marvel owned the rights to publish Godzilla comics, they had Godzilla go up against all sorts of Marvel heroes. Because of this, when the license went to Dark Horse and then IDW, these comics were unable to be reprinted due to all the Marvel characters on almost every page. It’s a pretty big gamble to have a creator-owned comic like Void Rivals include a Transformer that is owned by Hasbro. Should Skybound lose the rights to the characters, Void Rivals wouldn’t be able to be reprinted in the way that Invincible or The Walking Dead currently are. However, it’s important to note that the general public doesn’t know how long this deal will last. Thinking that far in the future in the comics industry doesn’t really make sense, but it would be interesting to know why Kirkman went about it in this way and not just write a Transformers comic himself.
This is also new territory for Image Comics and its subsidiary Skybound. Both are known as creator-owned publishing companies which means every comic published by them is owned by the creators. Even as Skybound has begun to expand into multi-media formats, the creator is still the owner of the IP. With Transformers and G.I. Joe, that will no longer be the case. Daniel Warren Johnson and Joshua Williamson are great comic creators, but they will have to play by the rules set down by Hasbro for the need to protect their IP’s image. This is something that IDW Publishing got adept at handling and Skybound will no doubt have to go through some growing pains. But hopefully, Hasbro allows them some room to do some interesting things.
This new Energon Universe certainly has potential as some of the top creators in the industry are working on it. Kirkman also mentioned that older Transformers comics will begin to be republished soon which should make fans excited considering the later Transformers comics didn’t make it to the trade market. At the end of the day, it looks like Transformers and G.I. Joe are in good hands and fans can look forward to some interesting new comics. The Energon Universe has just begun.