Energon Universe 2026 Special #1 review

What’s all this then?

Oh, it’s just time for a Free Comic Book Day Energon Universe Special! For 2026, this edition features four tales:

M.A.S.K., written by Dan Waters with art by Pye Parr.

Transformers, written by Robert Kirkman, penciled by Jason Howard, and colored by Sarah Stern.

Void Rivals, written by Robert Kirkman, penciled by Conor Hughes, and colored by Patricio Delpeche.

G.I. Joe, written by Joshua Williamson, penciled by Tom Reilly, and colored by Lee Loughridge.

Oh.

Yeah, it’s the usual Free Comic Book day teases of upcoming storylines or in M.A.S.K.’s case, a new ongoing comic. Accordingly, M.A.S.K. gets the longest story that sets up the ongoing as Matt Trakker and Miles Mayhem begin to assemble their teams.

The Transformers tale is free of dialogue, introducing a mysterious new human character and a classic Autobot who has been absent from the Energon Universe so far.

The Void Rivals tale takes place after the current “Quintesson War” arc (and annoyingly SPOILS some plot elements that haven’t been revealed yet as of this release) and follows Proximus and his kid sidekick Ultum.

The G.I. Joe tale is a spotlight on Zartan and his role in current Joe affairs.

So?

I mean, it’s free, so there’s really no excuse for you to not pick this up if you see it, right? If you are invested in any of these properties, and especially excited by the prospect of a M.A.S.K. comic, this is for you!

As far as I personally go, I’m invested in Transformers and Void Rivals, and… well, a little disappointed in the scant coverage Transformers gets here. Also, a little annoyed at the SPOILER of certain Void Rivals character statuses following the Quintesson War arc, which only has one more issue to go as of this writing. But hey, I guess that’s just the biz.

Cube?

Are you kidding? It’s free. You see. You grab. For the great art in all four tales, at the very least.

Renaud Frequently Asked Questions

Is that Autobot Stratosphere in G.I. Joe: Special Missions (2013) #3? Yes, it is. I was Paul Gulacy's toy reference guy for most of his run on Special Missions. Are your reviews written by Bots, Robots, Cyborgs or Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Real humans only. One of your reviewers gave me a less-than-stellar rating/grade/score! My feelings are hurt. I want a perfect 10 out of 10! I'm sorry that you're devastated. You'll find that all of our reviews are frank and feature constructive criticism. I'm extremely irritated that one of your reviewers gave my favorite thing a less-than-stellar rating/grade/score! What do you recommend I should do? I appreciate your passion. At the end of the day all reviews are irrelevant, the only thing that matters is money. If you truly dig something, purchase it (even multiple times, if you can) to support it. You ran the CTLP? Yes, the Complete...

Void Rivals #17 review

Void Rivals Has Secrets To Reveal! It does and it continues here with issue # 17! Void Rivals is Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’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. In this seventeenth issue, the secret of Zerta Trion is revealed, Darak has a “friendly” chat with his father, and Proximus is on the rampage! Proximus? He was cool. He was! And that continues here as him and his new kid sidekick go on a quest together. It’s unclear exactly what Proximus wishes to get out of it, but he’s clearly no longer...

Transformers #18 (2023) review

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