In the “Eating My Words” Department, it’s time to confess that Daniel Warren Johnson’s take on Transformers has me hooked. When Void Rivals launched and Robert Kirkman snuck in a Jetfire cameo, it left me cold. But here’s the thing: I admit that while I do occasionally still buy action figures, there’s not a single Transformer in my collection. I only bought one G.I. Joe — Snake Eyes. Nothing against them; they’re all cool enough toys. They arrived at a time I was moving away from toys for a while. I’ve seen the movies to, ahem, varying reactions.
Because Johnson has consistently impressed me with his books, I picked up Transformers #1. It was great. And now I’m intrigued by Skybound Entertainment’s collaboration with Hasbro (and Image Comics, too), the Energon Universe. Though the legendary Larry Hama gets to continue his G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series that’s jumped from Marvel to IDW to Image, the Energon Universe includes a different G.I. Joe series and all of it starts from scratch, So despite not buying an issue of G.I. Joe since I was in high school trying to get my younger brother to read something, I just picked up Cobra Commander #1. I need to find the first issue of Duke. And dammit, Kirkman, I’ll give Void Rivals another try, because if you get to launch a new toy line…
Anyway, most comics fans didn’t come begrudgingly to this line. They embraced it. To celebrate — and to lure more in — Skybound and Hasbro teamed for a trailer that lays out that this is one big story, even if it’s not obvious in these early days.
From Skybound Entertainment:
The Energon Universe officially began in June 2023 with the surprise first appearance of iconic TRANSFORMERS character Jetfire in Void Rivals #1 from Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead), Lorenzo De Felici (Kroma), and Mateus Lopes (Step by Bloody Step), introducing the historic new collaboration between Hasbro and Skybound, with TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE comics finding a new home with the publisher. Then TRANSFORMERS #1 from writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson (Extremity, Do a Powerbomb, DC’s Wonder Woman: Dead Earth) and colorist Mike Spicer (Stillwater, Murder Falcon) kicked off a brand-new era for the iconic franchise. The Energon Universe recently expanded with the launch of Duke #1, a limited series from Joshua Williamson (DC’s Superman, Dark Ride), Tom Reilly (The Thing) and Jordie Bellaire (W0rldtr33) and Cobra Commander #1 from Joshua Williamson, Andrea Milana (Impact Winter: Rook) and Annalisa Leoni (Oblivion Song). Fans should expect can’t-miss moments from every issue of the Energon Universe, as secrets are unveiled along the path to answering the BIG questions.
