Skybound reveals more details at San Diego Comic Con of the crossover that will star Transformers and GI Joe
The Transformers and the GI Joes join forces again, both on the big screen and in the comics. The two franchises will star in several crossover stories thanks to Image Comics and Skybound. Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici kicked off the Energon Universe last month with the debut of Void Rivals. In the coming months, the Transformers and GI Joe stories will feature their own comics.The next step for the Energon Universe is Transformers, a comic book series by Daniel Warren Johnson. She will be followed by a couple of limited series focusing on individual GI Joe characters. Duke, written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Tom Reilly, will arrive in December, and in January, Williamson will team up with Andrea Milana for a Cobra Commander solo series.
Panel at the San Diego Comic Con
Ever since Skybound first announced their Shared Universe of Transformers and GI Joe, fans have been clamoring for information about the company’s plans. And last weekend during the San Diego comic con they were able to learn more details. Robert Kirkman, Joshua Williamson, and Daniel Warren Johnson appeared at Skybound’s “Transformers & GI Joe Return in The Energon Universe” panel in Room 6A, offering a glimpse into the new universe they are building. The three were joined by Skybound SVP/Publisher Sean Mackiewicz, who explained the genesis of the project: “From the beginning we wanted to focus on original projects, so any licensing needed to be done. join what we were doing. And Robert has a great passion for Transformers, I have a great passion for GI Joe. We find creators with whom we have long-standing relationships who are some of the best in the business. So I think pairing top-tier talent with great global franchisees that we love and have a connection to and actually believe we can build on their legacies… That’s exactly why we did it.”
Two series of GI JOE characters
As for the choice of creators involved, Daniel Warren Johnson on the upcoming Transformers and Joshua Williamson on the Duke and Cobra Commander series, Kirkman commented… “They are both creators who are obviously tremendously talented, but have really unique aspects of what they do. I mean, Josh took Flash and put a fresh coat of paint on it and made it better for a modern audience. And to be able to take something that has so much history and make it look vibrant and fresh and exciting is something really unique and it’s something that we really need to achieve with this brand.” “Then Daniel Warren Johnson, this guy has a lot of heart for his work. He does this incredible action stuff and he puts on an incredible show, but the emotion that he’s able to put into the stories is unparalleled in this industry. You really want people to care about these characters; and the emotional aspect of both the Transformers and the GI Joes. Joe’s stories from the past is what made them so unique and great and made me fall in love with them. So we wanted to find a team that could bring that to these comics in a really exciting way.”
Void Rivals nº1
Regarding Jetfire’s surprise appearance in the first Energon Universe comic, Void Rivals #1, Kirkman said, “When you get the first issue of Daniel, you’ll see how it all works together and how it’s the starting point of this universe that’s going to expand and grow as we get deeper into this series. He’s a cool character, and he had that toy when he was a kid, and I absolutely love it. It’s great to be in a position to say, ‘Cool toy that he played with as a kid. Cool toy I played with as an adult.’”
Regarding the use of Void Rivals as a stealthy introduction to Skybound’s Energon Universe, Kirkman commented, “I had the general idea of ’Wouldn’t it be great to have an original book that was actually a Transformers comic or a Transformers comic-related comic, but I had never worked out the details of what that original book would be per se. He had this notion of ‘Oh, it would be great if there were two people stranded on a planet and then they found a transformer and that led to their escape.’ But he had never really developed it. So when it came to fruition and we were talking to Hasbro, it was great to be able to sit down with Lorenzo De Felici and try to come up with something that was cool and original and felt like a viable book for us to work on, but also had an ’80s feel to it.” toy shelves. So it was a huge challenge as a creator to sit down and try to find something that could sit alongside Transformers and GI Joe and exist with them in a believable way.”
Energo Universe Trailer
After sharing some details about the new Energon Universe at Comic Con on Sunday, Skybound Entertainment shared a trailer from the future of the connected franchise, teasing the upcoming Transformers and GI Joe series.
The #EnergonUniverse starts here. pic.twitter.com/gR22WupUD2—Skybound Entertainment (@Skybound) July 22, 2023
