I loved that book as a kid. The Little Golden Book with Grover I mean. This is a new comic…that came out during my needed slowdown because all the good announcements happen on a week I’m not able to write about it.
It’s also an odd way for Skybound to confirm that they indeed are the new home of Transformers, which has been speculated soon after it was learned IDW was losing the license (took way too long if you ask me). Void Rivals #1, a story that has nothing to do with Transformers, features a cameo by Jetfire, found by the two marooned enemies (somebody saw Enemy Mine recently) stumble across what they think is a crashed vessel only to activate Jetfire, who concludes he’s been out of action for millions of years and runs off, leaving them to continue the series.
This is the beginning of what Skybound is calling the “Energon Universe”, not to be confused with Transformers Energon from the Unicron trilogy and making this another title reuse by the franchise. The universe will include a Transformers ongoing, a GI Joe ongoing, and Void Rivals. Skybound is of course responsible for The Walking Dead franchise and Invincible, but they also did the all-ages Super Dinosaur. However, I’m betting this will be closer to Invincible than Super Dinosaur, thus denying kids yet another Transformers series. Sorry, original target age group, all you have is the mediocre EarthSpark series. Seriously, I’ve watched the first season and it’s like a weaker version of Transformers Prime if you ask me. The adults get to play with the good toys now. So what about this “Energon Universe” and is it a good sign or a bad sign?
Void Rivals is apparently the centerpiece of this universe and I’m rather confused as to why. It’s an original property not even created by Hasbro and has no connection to the Transformers that I can tell from the first issue. (Yes, I…looked it up for research.) Jetfire shows up, blasts off without so much as a thank you, and the aliens reveal to themselves that they’re actually from the same race despite being from dueling planets. Also one’s male and one’s female and if this turns out to be something like Vandread you’ve got some serious work ahead of you, guys. That show worked in spite of its odd premise. What ties the “void ring” mentioned in the previews for issue #2 has (ties to Unicron maybe given the ring around his planet mode) is of course unclear but that means the center of a Transformers universe/second attempt at a shared Hasbro universe is something not from Hasbro or tied to the Transformers. I’m not sure about this decision.
So what is the first actual Transformers comic going to be about? From the press release:
Launching in October, Transformers #1 begins an all-new era for the iconic robots in disguise from superstar creator Daniel Warren Johnson (Extremity, Do a Powerbomb, DC’s Wonder Woman: Dead Earth). Optimus Prime was supposed to have led the Autobots to victory. Instead, the fate of Cybertron is unknown, and his allies have crash-landed far from home, alongside their enemies—the Decepticons. As these titanic forces renew their war on Earth, one thing is immediately clear: the planet will never be the same. New alliances are struck. Battle lines are redrawn. And humanity’s only hope of survival is Optimus Prime.
I have seen a review for Do A Powerbomb and it does seem like a fun comic idea. It could end up being a well written story. However, another source claims that Optimus won’t be there when the Transformers wake up on Earth. Back when IDW had promise they took their time introducing Optimus Prime but the story was crafted in a way that made it work and it always feels weird praising a Simon Furman Transformers story. I’m willing to take a “wait and see” approach to this. I just hope don’t get forced-sex-change/no-she-was-actually-trans-according-to-our-retcon Arcee, the Decepticon Justice Division, evil Autobots, or any of the other parts of IDW’s take that I really hated.
A bit less odd but always a bit confusing to me is that the Transformers arrival is going to be tied to the other Hasbro license that Skybound has picked up, GI Joe. According to the same press release, Cobra Commander ties Cobra’s origins to Energon while Duke is investigating the Transformers and this somehow leads to forming GI Joe against Cobra. Yes, I know that Transformers and the Joes have done crossovers all the way back to the original Marvel comics. I don’t care. The only time the idea has truly worked without invoking questions is when it happens out of continuity, like the Top Cow set of miniseries G.I. Joe Versus The Transformers. I don’t like the idea of joining the Joe/Cobra conflict with the Transformers. Using Energon was also one of the lesser issues with their re-imagined take on MASK so using that to explain Cobra science…it just doesn’t work for me. The writer for these miniseries is Joshua Williamson, whose had some good stories among the few I’ve reviewed but he’s also been part of some of the badder ideas of modern DC. I’m not really big into GI Joe and this attempt to force them into the Transformers isn’t really going to win me over.
Side note on that, though: Larry Hama is apparently going to be brought in to continue his take on GI Joe, including reprinting the original Marvel comics and setting more stories in that continuity. I’d like to see Bob Budiansky get the same opportunity with Transformers if he wants it, or at least something better than a rehashed adaptation of Transformers: The Movie given that he’s responsible for the majority of G1’s lore. Maybe continue after his last issue and ignore Furman’s retcons and style to see what he would do with a bit of hindsight. Hopefully it would be better than Regeneration One, a Furman series I have no positive comments on.
Overall I’m hopeful but it wouldn’t be the first time I was told not to hope. I’d still rather see something more all-ages so the kids could enjoy a Transformer comic alongside the former kids who insist everything needs to age up with them. If my generation had that attitude they wouldn’t have Sesame Street, but that’s another topic. I hope it’s closer to Super Dinosaur than Walking Dead at least, so maybe Invincible. Time will tell if this is another mistake or if Hasbro made the right choice this time.
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