Group huddle!
It’s reunion(s) time in 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.
In this thirty-fifth issue, virtually our entire cast gather, take stock, fight, make new friends, unmask, and do various other things!
So everyone’s here?
Geez, almost. With Skuxxoid arriving on the planet that Darak and Solila, not to mention Pythona’s gang and ROM are currently stranded, that’s nearly the entire cast of Void Rivals in this issue. That’s not even mentioning the final couple pages, where Darak and Solila also run into two more important recurring characters. You’ve also still got Predacron up and around, and his fight with ROM is resolved by Pythona and what she found inside the alien bounty hunter’s ship.
Basically, this is an issue for character interactions and a sort of rebooting of the plot’s direction, and it’s all pretty good stuff. Kirkman certainly seems more at home with this diverse cast of characters than he is over on Transformers. Unsurprising, since most of them would probably be right at home in the Invincible universe. He adds some nice layers of depth to Predacron and further dimension to Pythona in their interaction.
So what about the larger plot?
Kirkman’s spent the issues since the Quintesson War doing some character and team-building, so with this issue it looks like he’s mostly getting his ducks in a row for the next big undertaking. The Sacred Ring is still overtaken by Quintessons, and Darak and Solila are headed to Earth now. I can only imagine with every main book’s cast now on or near Earth, there’s a big Energon Universe crossover in the works.
Void Rivals has been my favorite book of the Energon Universe thus far, and I’m eager to see where Kirkman takes this motley crew of characters. This issue’s cliffhanger, featuring the return of one of my favorite characters in the book, certainly has me excited for the next instalment. Conor Hughes’ art has been great since he took over as main penciler and I hope he continues on this book.
Cube?
Some nice character work and interactions as the plot moves on from the “break” it’s been on since Quintesson War ended. This book has always worked well because there are less preconceptions about the characters, be they original or obscure, and Kirkman continues to have fun with this corner of the Energon Universe.
Buy Void Rivals # 35 this week.