War continues, next on Void Rivals!
The Quintesson War continues in issue # 27 of Void Rivals! Void Rivals is Robert Kirkman’s 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 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.
New artist Andrei Bressan steps in along with regular colorist Patricio Delpeche to join Robert Kirkman for the third part of “Quintesson War”. In this instalment, the Quint invasion continues on both planets while Darak and Solila reunite to find a solution. Also, Cobra-La's Pythona reenters the scene and Proximus comes to an important realization!
Darak and Solila are together again?
Yes, but there’s no time for a happy reunion as both of their planets are still under siege by the Quintessons. Their relationship is probably the largest emotional stake people have in this series, so it’s nice to see them side-by-side again. Solila brings with her a plan to empower the armies of both Zertonia and Agorria as the Quintessons up their own threat levels.
An alliance between the two planets seems closer than ever, but are they risking “Unity” and awakening Goliant again? That seems to be the line that Kirkman keeping skirting them close to and this Quintesson War might push them over it again.
What else is going on?
Like I said, we check back in with Pythona as she is sneaking around the Quintesson ship. I don’t know what Kirkman has planned with her but I feel like it’s been awhile since we’ve checked in with Cobra-La, so I guess they’re about to enter the Quintesson War officially.
I also enjoyed the continued interplay between Zalilak and Proximus as they put aside their beef to deal with the Quint invasion. It leads up to the cliffhanger of the issue where Proximus comes to a revelation about himself that he, if not the reader, wasn’t privy to. I think Proximus is pretty cool, so it’s nice to see him about to enter the spotlight again.
Cube?
Kirkman’s just past the midpoint of this arc now, so things feel a little stuttery. Plot points advance but Kirkman lets Andrei Bressan strut his stuff on a couple of double-page spreads of Quintesson combat. The major reveal for Proximus is probably the most important thing that happens and that’s more of a personal stake thing than something important to the existential threat. Still, I’m enjoying this and I’m eager to see how things progress, as always.
Read Void Rivals # 27 this week and watch the Energon Universe live up to its name!