BotTalk Reviews

Calling all Magni! There’s at least two now! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, he now takes the writing reins of the flagship Transformers comic series as well, with Dan Mora now on pencils and Sarah Stern on colors. In this twenty-ninth issue... FIGHT! Fight? Yep, that’s about it. After Megatron’s shocking killing of Trailbreaker last issue, Optimus Prime and his boys (and girl) show up to lay the smackdown on the Decepticons. Guess they didn’t have to even roll out to find them! Kirkman takes a break from seeding plot threads to have an all-out Brawl (well, they’re not all Brawl) between the Decepticons and the Autobots for just about the entire issue! It’s a chance to showcase Dan Mora’s art as the two teams of Transformers on Earth go at it. The Decepticons have the objective of freeing Soundwave from the Ark’s prison cell, while Optimus is rightly ticked at one of his soldiers being turned into a Capri Sun by Megatron! Uh, what else? Ag...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Marco Fodera (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : The Crimson Twins, Tomax and Xamot, pay a visit to Marvin F. Hinton, aka Roadblock, who is running a successful food truck, as they want him to be the "face" of their fast-food brand, Red Rocket. The Joes also wish to recruit Roadblock due to his abilities as a heavy gunner when he was in the army.  Roadblock rebuffs the twins and instead of taking it graciously, they have their Crimson Guards attack.  Roadblock takes the Siegies down and chases after the twins, driving them off as well.  Meanwhile, in Springfield, Cobra Commander and Destro confer on the status of Cobra and the need to get more Energon.  However, Cobra Commander does have eyes and ears everywhere.   Writing : A nice, solid (mostly) stand-alone issue.  We get to see what makes Roadblock such an awesome character - his abilities as a soldier, yes, but also his love of food a...

Void Rivals Are At War! The Quintesson War continues in issue # 26 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 second part of “Quintesson War”. Having invaded both Agorria and Zertonia, the Quintessons make their intent known to planetary leadership. While Zalilak and Proximus fight the Quints on the ground, Darak is in a spot of trouble in space. How will e...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : As the Dreadnoks corner Cobra Commander, he instead offers a proposal to them to be hired henchmen, which they accept.  As the Joe team enters the area, they now have to fight off Cobra Commander leading the Dreadnoks.  Autobot Hound joins in the fight, much to the shock of everyone.  Destro finally arrives and Cobra Commander and the Dreadnoks escape with him while Duke wants answers.  Hawk, meanwhile, recovers from his injuries while taking a call. Writing : Williamson throws a lot of action into this issue and helps set up our "standard" status quo going forward - with the Dreadnoks working with Cobra.  He continues to show us how much of a professional soldier Duke can be.  Even with changing battlefield situations, Duke is able to quickly adjust his strategies.  We also get some classic Cobra Commander as well - he's always thinki...

Kirkman Kills The Transformers! Well, not all of them, yet! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, he now takes the writing reins of the flagship Transformers comic series as well, with Dan Mora now on pencils and Mike Spicer still on colors. In this twenty-eighth issue, Megatron has a freakout, Arcee gets a promotion, Miles Mayhem tries his darndest to get a spin-off, and SOMEONE DIES. FOR REAL. PERMANENTLY. Whut-oh. Yeah, Kirkman finally gives in to his Walking Dead and Invincible pedigree and brings on the gore here, for both human and Transformer alike! After I felt like he was being remarkably restrained for his first three issues, he really goes for it here and it’s... I dunno... kind of on the nose, maybe? I guess he wanted to show that his run will be chock-full of consequences too, but I feel maybe his choice of victim was a little flawed and a real shame. The victim is a Transformers character that is known for getting the shaft usually...

Void Rivals Are At War! UNITY was narrowly averted and we go to war again in issue # 25 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 first part of “Quintesson War”. Unity has been averted for now, and the threat of Goliant is still looming over both Agorrian and Zertonian civilizations. That makes it a perfect time for the Quintessons to invade the planets of...

Creators : Joshua Williams (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Duke is given a chance to fight for Cobra Commander's freedom against Dreadnok Buzzer.  Meanwhile, Hawk and Destro continue their meeting.  As things begin to look bleak for Duke and the Commander, the rest of the Joes and Autobot Hound arrive.  Duke is able to get away with the Joes while Cobra Commander commences his combat with the Dreadnoks.   Writing :  Williamson keeps the story and action going in this issue.  Between some one-on-one brawls, chases and all out battles, this is a fast-paced issue. We get a couple of surprises from Colonel Hawk, which was nice to see. One thing that's a bit much was just how much the Dreadnoks are praising grape soda.  While it's only in the beginning of the issue, it does seem a bit much.  Art :  Reilly's art is able to do a good job keeping up with Williamson's story here, especially the ...

Transformers Lives Again! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, he now takes the writing reins of the flagship Transformers comic series as well, with Dan Mora now on pencils and Mike Spicer still on colors. In this twenty-seventh issue, the Autobots get back into fighting shape as many are revived or repaired. Ultra Magnus makes a choice, Spike and Carly make plans, and Thundercracker settles in! Meanwhile, General Flagg and Miles Mayhem (leader of V.E.N.O.M. (Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem)) come to blows, and on Cybertron... something sinister hunts Cliffjumper. Wow, that’s a lot. I didn’t even finish! Kirkman drops a boatload of new plot threads, new and returning characters, and intrigue for the future here. It’s actually kind of refreshing, as I felt Daniel Warren Johnson’s plotting was a bit on the anemic side, but Kirkman seems bursting with stuff he wants to address and play with as soon as possible. It makes for a fairly dense read, wh...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterers) Story : Duke and Road Pig fight only for Duke to end up captured like Cobra Commander and strung up in an attic.  They talk a bit and Duke gets a bit more information about the Commander.  Dreadnoks Ripper and Buzzer arrive and after a brief confrontation, befriend Road Pig, who drags out Duke and Cobra Commander.  By this point, the rest of the Dreadnoks have arrived. General Hawk has a meeting on his way to Langley that could change the tide of the Joe/Cobra conflict and Clutch and Cover Girl decide to go rescue Duke.  Writing : I've been enjoying the Duke/Cobra Commander moments in this series, with Duke slowly getting more information about Cobra and what's been going on with The Transformers. Destro making plans to secure more profit versus having more power is a nice move as well.  I felt the Road Pig/Dreadnok friendliness happened a bit quicker ...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Jodie Bellaire (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Story : Cobra Command and Duke continue to run from the horde of Dreadnoks chasing them in a high-speed desert chase.  Duke releases Cobra Commander so that he can help him fight back.  Meanwhile, back at Cobra HQ, Destro begins his takeover and offers Cobra as open for business with many of his former clients while at the Joe base General Hawk reveals he his off to talk with General Flagg about what's going on and wants to be told when Duke checks in.  Through some clever fighting and driving, Duke and Cobra Commander make it to an almost-abandoned town with one tough resident.  Writing :  Williamson keeps the action going on this issue.  A few pages are devoted to other things but the bulk of the issue is the running chase/battle between Duke with Cobra Commander vs. the Dreadnoks.  Cobra Commander also nicely points out how similar he and Duk...

Transformers Lives Again! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, he now takes the writing reins of the flagship Transformers comic series as well, with Dan Mora now on pencils and Mike Spicer still on colors. In this twenty-sixth issue, the new alliance the Autobots have struck with the humans is put to the test and the Ark is a stage for conflict as Decepticon Thundercracker seeks to free Skywarp from Teletraan-1. Oh yeah, Thundercracker and Skywarp went on a little trip last issue. Yup, they were teleported into the midst of Cobra-La and when they return, Thundercracker is in no mood to listen after being confronted with the organic horrors he witnessed there. Thankfully, Optimus Prime manages to talk him down and agrees to help free Skywarp from being entangled with Teletraan-1. Thundercracker’s uneasy loyalties take center stage here and Kirkman sets him up for a new role in this universe that may seem a bit familiar to fans of Beast Wars or ...

Void Rivals Recover! UNITY was averted and we recover in issue # 24 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. Ongoing artist Conor Hughes and colorist Patricio Delpeche join Robert Kirkman for this 24th issue and wrap up the second year of Void Rivals. Unity has been averted for now, but the threat of Goliant is still looming over both Agorrian and Zertonian civilization and the universe itself! We catch up with our various factions of characters here as a new era b...

Story : Cobra Commander is running low on energon and tasks his subordinates to search out various locations for more of it.  Meanwhile, he takes Ripper to investigate a strange energon signal.  While on leave, Duke gets a call about the same strange energon signal and discovers Cobra Commander is there but can't get a signal out to tell the Joes.  Cobra discovers it's a trap as their vehicles blow up and Dreadnok Ripper reveals he's been watching and learning and staged this betrayal.  As it seems he has the upper hand, Duke saves Cobra Commander and when he tries to get away, they discover that the rest of the Dreadnoks are fast approaching and quickly drive away while at Cobra Command, Destro makes his moves. Writing : After a few low-key, character-building issues, Williamson's next arc is a 5-parter "Dreadnok War," bringing back the rest of the Dreadnoks last seen in the Cobra Commander mini-series.  Williamson was able to use Ripper pretty effectively he...