BotTalk Reviews

It’s a Combiner Wa… skirmish…scuffle? Yup! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on the linchpin of this initiative, the flagship Transformers comic series, with Jorge Corona on pencils and Mike Spicer on colors! In this twenty-first issue, Megatron leads a massive assault on the Ark, and he wants his arm back! That’s fine, because Optimus doesn’t want that smelly thing anymore anyhow! He doesn’t care HOW cool and edgy it makes him look! What’s this about combiners then? Well, Megatron’s got TWO to Optimus Prime’s ONE, as Superion makes his debut and immediately needs to take on both Bruticus and Devastator. That is, unless Bruticus and Devastator don’t wreck each other first! As for the rest of the excitement, Optimus finally realizes that the weird visions and violent spells he’s been having are due to Megatron’s arm! Apparently he never played Metal Gear Solid 2 and fig...

Skuxxoid Begins to Return Forever! He does and it starts here with issue # 19 of Void Rivals! 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. Lorenzo De Felici steps away from this book with this nineteenth issue as we welcome new ongoing artist Conor Hughes to tell a tale of Skuxxoid! A new artist? Yep, according to the letters page, Conor Hughes is our new ongoing artist for Void Rivals and he makes a great debut with a sort of Skuxxoid origin tale! I did apprecia...

G.I. Joe Picking up from where issue #6 leaves off, Hound and Clutch are at odds but realize they can help each other and a familiar name helps them.  Meanwhile, Cobra Commander's energon supply might be in jeopardy.   A nice interlude that expands on the end of issue 6 of the on-going G.I. Joe title.  We get a bit of background on Hound and how he came to be reactivated.  We also get to see a familiar face from the Cobra Commander mini-series make a reappearance.  I did like this story but do worry that if someone skipped this issue, they might be a bit lost when they pick up issue 7 (though we'll see when it comes out!). Transformers Jazz is kicked out of his Cybertronian band but seems to be searching for something more.  On Earth, he seems to have gotten closer to finding it.  A nice "slice of life" style story, we get to see Jazz on Cybertron playing in his rock band and, like on Earth, they have drama.  This plays up to a lot of Jazz's perso...

Trains, planes, and automobiles! Yup! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on the linchpin of this initiative, the flagship Transformers comic series! Well, he maintains the reins on the writing of this series at least, as does Mike Spicer on colors. Jorge Corona has returned to regular penciling duties after Ludo Lullabi filled in for a Megatron solo story last issue! So Megatron is back? He is and it’s time for him to put his house in order. And that means dealing with triplechanger Astrotrain, who wants revenge on him for some unspecified thing we… probably won’t get closure on! Also, Starscream’s about due for a whuppin’ too, right? If there’s one thing this issue does, it’s sell Megatron as the primary threat and mightiest Decepticon, able to basically no-sell Astrotrain even as wounded as he is. Megatron’s cruelty is on full display here as he doles out punishment t...

Void Rivals Meet Again! They do and it continues here with issue # 18! 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 eighteenth issue, Darak and Solila’s separate paths are set to converge again as the truth about Unity is revealed to them both! But is it the same truth? Seems like they split up or reunite at the end of every arc. Yep, that seems like the pattern thus far! Solila’s been gifted insight and an upgrade from Zerta Trion and Vector Theta, while...

Creators : Joshua Williamson (writer), Tom Reilly (artist), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer) Plot : Duke and Cobra Commander fight it out, both physically and with words as Cobra Commander is ready to detonate the Brain Bomb.  Cobra Commander also reveals he is aware of the robots (Transformers), surprising Duke.  Meanwhile, the rest of the Joes are trying to escape in a helicopter while Destro is chasing them down in a F.A.N.G. [Fully Armed Negator Gyrocopter].  Clutch  convinces the Baroness to turn around to retrieve Duke, surprising Destro who orders all the troops back to Springfield before the bomb detonates.  Duke is able to stop Cobra Commander, though suffers injuries in the process and tells the Commander that Cobra may live on but not with him, prompting Cobra Commander to stop the bomb.  Before Cobra Commander can kill Duke, the Joes show up.  The Commander tells Duke he hopes they meet again and escapes.  In Springfie...

Who do you belong to? Nobody! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on the linchpin of this initiative, the flagship Transformers comic series! Well, he maintains the reins on the writing of this series at least, as does Mike Spicer on colors. Jorge Corona has taken over regular penciling duties with a style all his own but this issue sees Ludo Lullabi fill in for a Megatron solo story! Sooo, we’re NOT following up on last issue’s cliffhanger? Nope! You’ll have to wait another month to see the fallout of the return of Megatron, because DWJ decides to give us some backstory on how Megatron became the mad, bad dude we’ve barely seen so far! He brings in the Quintessons here, who haven’t featured much in this book but play a big role over in Void Rivals, so it’s nice to see some cross-continuity ties to the larger Energon Universe. In an effort to perhaps provide some insight...

Is Shredhead totally in my face? Yup! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, noted writer/artist rolled-into-one Daniel Warren Johnson takes the reins on the linchpin of this initiative, the flagship Transformers comic series! Well, he maintains the reins on the writing of this series at least, as does Mike Spicer on colors. Jorge Corona has taken over regular penciling duties with a style all his own. In this eighteenth issue, Shredhead kills some guys you may have liked, Ultra Magnus boxes a helicopter, and the Decepticon civil war comes to an end with the return of… well, c’mon, you know. Does Shredhead arrive at the fireworks factory? There’s actually relatively little to do with Shredhead here, aside from an opening fight scene where he showcases how badazz he is by killing some name characters. One of the victims in particular I was kind of annoyed by, considering he just got his first new toy in decades and has always been a fan favorite f...