Energon Universe - ongoing Transformers and G.I. Joe comics from Skybound

ZakuConvoy

Well-known member
Citizen
Was that a thing in the cartoon? Or was it just in the comic? I still have never actually gotten around to reading Hama's GI Joe run. I don't remember it being a thing in the Sunbow cartoon, if it was.
 

ZacWilliam1

Well-known member
Citizen
It's from his Bio card:

IMG_5360.jpeg


I think he might have done it like once in the toon but my memory of the early cartoon isn't super detailed and he was a pretty small part of it.

-ZacWilliam, I think the General idea is he likes to think himself cultured but his poetry is crap.
 

ZakuConvoy

Well-known member
Citizen
Void Rivals #22 is out!

It's another solid issue! This one's mostly action across a few different storylines. Things are slowly coming to a head, right before we head into the Quintesson War. I have a feeling the next issue is going to be a big one. Again, it's not necessarily reading for Transformers-only fans. But, it has drastically improved over it's humble beginnings.

On the Cobra-La side of things, they've landed on the planet Quintessa in order to infiltrate the Quintessons. And...Grakula's armor is starting to come to life. Yeah...that's weird. I'm sure that's a reference to something specific, but I'm not sure what. Grakula (from WAAAY back in issue #15) doesn't seem to worried about it, and actually seems to welcome her new...pet? Maybe this is the start of the Pretenders in this universe, who knows?

Meanwhile, in Agorria, Springer and Hot Rod are in the middle of a fight with Proximus and his troops. It's not going well.

It's all out war between the Zertonians and Agorrians! It's not the best battle between two armies I've ever seen. But, I appreciate the attempt.

Solila tries to talk sense into Proximus, since they both want to achieve Unity. But, Proximus and Zalilak are both convinced that Unity can only come through subjugation. Oh, what bitter irony! Oh, what political commentary!

Also, I guess Solila's connection to Zerta gives her the backstory on everyone on the planet. Because she acts like she actually knows Proximus. Maybe it's because they've met before and Proximus just forgot. But, I think she just has access to everyone's tech specs inside her head, personally.

Meanwhile, in Skuxxoidland...Scarred Skuxxoid confronts Skuxxoid Alpha about his origins. Turns out Scar is actually the first "bud" Alpha ever created, he's Skuxxoid Beta! Alpha wants his Rockeroid back, since it's supposed to be the flagship of his armada. But, when Beta/Scar asks about what happened to their family, Alpha orders him sent away to the Divider! This is actually a annoyingly interesting scene. There's some legitimately interesting drama going on here. Alpha seems to actually be in pain due to the memory of whatever happened to their family. It's just baffling that this is happening to Skuxxoid of all characters.

Back in Agorria, the battle's not going well for our heroes. But then, EVERYONE'S forehead energon gems start glowing, and everyone on the battlefield has a massive headache. UNITY HAS BEGUN! ....Apparently. It's unclear what triggered this. Strange. Interesting, but strange.

Over in the letters page, Kirkman gets a little cagey when asked about a certain character starting with the 21st letter of the alphabet showing up, as the "enemy" the Goliant was designed to defend against. (It's "U", by the way). So...hmm...who COULD it be, who COULD it be...

Quintesson War starts in issue #25. So, this arc is probably going to be wrapping up with a few big reveals beforehand.
 

Swerve

Life of the Party
Citizen
I've been enjoying all three of the titles.....I just wish we had more Void Rivals toys on the way....I didn't want to buy Jetfire again, but I would love Darak and Solila as well as some of the other characters.
 

Agent X

Kreon Bastard
Citizen
Transformer #24 came out today. Action-heavy, great moments, and then.....

Well, if the arc was akin to a restaurant meal, the moment I'm thinking of is akin to the chef coming out and farting in your face.

Another use from the strip-mined 86' movie
 

ZakuConvoy

Well-known member
Citizen
Transformers #24 is indeed out! And this issue marks the end of Daniel Warren Johnson's run on the book. It's been a pretty memorable run. I've enjoyed it. I feel like it's brought some new fans into the Transformers comic side of things, and that's always a good thing. I think people will end up remembering this run, and look back on it fondly. It's been good times. You did good, DWJ! We'll miss you.

And yeah, agreed on most points. Lot of action. Lot of excitement. A interesting new status quo for a few characters.

If I have one minor complaint, it's that this feels more like the ending to a arc, instead of the end of DWJ's run. It just doesn't quite feel..."big" enough, somehow. Too many things are left unresolved. And it's not like this book is over, so it really shouldn't be. The story is obviously still continuing. But, this is still a fine ending to this phase of the comic. I'm looking forward to what they have for us next.

If you haven't been picking this up...this might honestly be the absolute WORST place to start up again, unless you really want to see how it ends. Just give yourself one more issue and you'd have yourself a better jumping on point. But, if you've been reading this, you won't want to miss this one!

The fight between Optimus and Megatron is REALLY kinetic! So many chips of metal flying everywhere. So many wrestling moves! It's a pretty fun fight. Maybe even one of the top fights in Transformers. Maybe.

Megatron's such a jerk in this, using the human onlookers as shields. It kind of feels like he's trying to make Optimus "better" ...in a very Reverse-Flash stalkery kind of way.

Oof...you know that art's good when you can FEEL Optimus getting impaled on those smokestacks.

And, yes, Beachcomber is NOT dead! That's...almost kind of too bad. I was warming up to my whole "ghost" idea. Oh well, probably for the best. Or maybe not, depending on if he gets the Cliffjumper treatment in the book in later issues.

Ah man....who would show up RIGHT at this exact moment but OMEGA SUPREME! What a...strange moment. Where did this guy come from? Where did he go? What's going on? I guess we'll find out later? But, given Starscream's old love of these guys from the flashback issues (issue #13)...

"My name...is Ulchtar" Dang....okay, powerful moment right there. And then...he tries to blow his own face off. It doesn't take, since we see that he survives later. But...man...that's a little dark. But, he finally found a way to resist Megatron's influence. Good for him! I mean...I can't say this redeems him. He's done WAY too many nasty things to the humans in these issues. But, I am interested in seeing where this ends up going.

And who should show up at the last moment but Shredhead! Nobody's a match for him! He handles things pretty easily, all things considered. I guess he really is just built different.

"Carly. Cliffjumper says hello." Gotta love that he takes time out of the middle of the fight to just say "hi", like he promised.

The Decepticons all retreat. Starscream's alive, but pretty broken in multiple ways. The Autobots start picking up the pieces. And even the Matrix is slowly starting to recharge. All in all..not the worst day ever for the Autobots. It was a busy day. And a pretty rough day. But, it all worked out pretty well, all things considered.

Interesting thing to note. DWJ does say that it was someone "higher up" who told them to include the Thirteen in the Matrix vision. DWJ just called what he wrote the "Hall of Primes". So, that's kind of interesting. Not sure what that would mean for any future plans for the Thirteen in this universe.
Another use from the strip-mined 86' movie
I guess I don't mind it so much. Sure, it's overused. But, it's used well, here. And it's pretty clear that this universe LOVES the Sunbow cartoon. I can't blame them quoting the Movie. It doesn't ruin things for me, personally.
 

Agent X

Kreon Bastard
Citizen
I guess I don't mind it so much. Sure, it's overused. But, it's used well, here. And it's pretty clear that this universe LOVES the Sunbow cartoon. I can't blame them quoting the Movie. It doesn't ruin things for me, personally.
It practically did for me. Skybound have been good with borrowing heavy inspiration from the SunBow media. There is 'borrowing from, 'inspired by', then there is 'straight ripping from'. This was a pretty big moment, one where DWJ could have put his OWN mark on the franchise, like "Going on the Offensive", but NO. Situational-specific quote from the 86' movie! And THAT is what I'll end up remembering from this issue/arc.

meme-transformersmovie.jpg
 

Magnusblitz

Well-known member
Citizen
TF #24 (I'll keep with the spoiler box since it's still day of release)

So yeah, DWJ's run comes to an end. And... it's not terrible, but certainly a bit underwhelming, and I think emblematic of the latter half of his run as a whole: cool fight scenes, but plot-wise it definitely felt like he ran out of steam and didn't have any clear idea on where to go. Given that this is by far the longest run he's ever done (Extremity was 12 issues, everything else was 8 or less), I'm not too surprised. I think things started off great, and the theme of 'war is hell' was pretty evident, but it just sorta kept chugging along without anything more to say. Most of the characters are used in relatively interchangeable ways, and there's no interesting or novel high-level concepts at play.

The actual climax was also somewhat weird... Omega Supreme shows just outta nowhere to just... fly by? Bizarre. Maybe he's supposed to be less of a 'real' Cybertronian and more of a mythological figure? Reminds me of say, a viking or ancient Roman seeing their gods at a pivotal moment or something.

Starscream has a sudden flash of insight, which... it's an interesting thread to pick up again, but it certainly doesn't feel like a fully redemptive moment for me. I know we got his backstory as Ulchtar back in #13, but while we saw the motivating event for him joining up with the Decepticons, we never saw his descent into a bloodthirsty murderer, and without that I still can't muster up too much sympathy for him. (It probably also doesn't help that the comic is kinda vague here - does he shoot himself, or does Megatron? Is he actually still alive at the end?)

Between Omega Supreme and the sudden Shredhead appearance, it's almost verging on the worst sort of deus ex machina, though at least we knew Shredhead was on his way.

I also wasn't too bothered by the 'sterner stuff' line, kinda inevitable, and at least it's a lesser-used line (at least as I can remember, 'one shall stand' gets used a lot more, for example).

I think the 'small but mighty' theme at the end here would've had more of an impact of any of the smaller guys (Beachcomber, or the humans, etc) actually did anything to save the day. At most you can give some thanks to Cliffjumper for sending Shredhead, but even then there's an awful lot of luck and convenient timing involved.

EDIT to add:
When Megatron rebuilds Starscream in #20, the location is a 'beacon of the Ancients' in part of the Cybertronian wreckage, and he notes it "still signals." Still pretty damn convenient timing!
 
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