Void Rivals issue 1
From Transformers Wiki
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 Looks like the Void Rivals are doing a marketing stunt. | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Image Comics Skybound Entertainment | ||||||||||||
| First published | June 14, 2023 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | June 2023 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Robert Kirkman | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Lorenzo De Felici | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Matheus Lopes | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Rus Wooton | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Bixie Mathieu | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Energon Universe | ||||||||||||
Two enemies from opposite sides of a galactic war find themselves stranded together on a desolate world and discover a shocking secret that changes everything they know.
Contents |
Synopsis
The Agorrian Darak crash lands on a remote planetoid. Unconscious, his Handroid glove takes control of his body, dragging him to a nearby medpack and using a reviver to awaken him. When Darak asks where they are, the Handroid reports that, following the battle with a Zertonian ship that shot down his, each ship was caught in the gravitational pull of a comet and Darak was slingshotted into an uncharted region of space, far away from the Sacred Ring. Darak examines the wreckage of his ship, deeming it unlikely he'll be able to get it flying again, only to be attacked by the aforementioned Zertonian, Solila. The two enemy combatants fight, with Darak gaining the upper hand. He ultimately decides to spare her, reasoning that if the two work together, they can repair one of their ships and return to the Sacred Ring.
The pair begin to make repairs to Solila's cruiser, stripping the remains of Darak's for spare parts. Solila notes how little modification is needed for the parts to be integrated, something Darak attributes to Zertonian spies stealing Agorrian tech. However, during the process, Solila attaches the wrong cable to their energy source, causing the ship to explode. Darak saves her life, and she returns the favor by putting out the fire on his jacket. Believing their situation hopeless, Solila leaves, refusing to die with an Agorrian.
After several hours of sulking, Darak decides to once again try salvaging the Zertonian craft, only for Solila to return, having found what appears to be a crashed spaceship buried in a nearby valley. Handroid confirms that it is neither Agorrian nor Zertonian in origin, and Darak speculates it may have been buried for thousands of years. The two use their energy cores to try and activate the ship; as soon as they do, parts of the ship begin to move and shift. The two stare in awe as it converts before their eyes into a giant robot—the Cybertronian scientist Jetfire! Jetfire tells the two that he means them no harm, and inquires as to how long he's been offline, which neither of the soldiers can answer. Upon examining himself, Jetfire concludes that he must have been buried for millions of years and must return to Cybertron. He apologizes to the two as he transforms back to jet mode and flies into space, leaving them behind.
With their one hope of getting off the planet gone, Solila begins to sulk, but Jetfire's transformation has given Darak an idea: using components of each of their flight armors to convert the wreckage into a spacecraft. Solila refuses, as taking off their helmets violates each of their people's sacred decrees, but Darak counters that it's better than dying. The pair remove their helmets... revealing them to be of the same race.
Darak is stunned; this is just like his vision. A confused Solila asks what vision he's referring to.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Quotes
"Please?! Are you begging me to spare you? Would any of your people ever spare my kind? Well?! Would you?!"
"... Probably not."
"Huh. An honest Zertonian... What are the odds of that?"
- —Darak and Solila
"Cybertron... After all these years... I'm sorry. I have to get home."
- —Jetfire
Notes
Continuity notes
- Void Rivals gives us our first glimpse at the brand new Energon Universe from Skybound. However, much of the status quo of this new universe is left in the dark, so as to not give away the surprise.
- That said, one major clue can be gleaned: Jetfire appears to feature no insignia on his body, Autobot, Decepticon, or otherwise. As is revealed later, Jetfire left Cybertron long before war broke out and thus remains unaware of the factional split, something which will have serious consequences later...
Transformers references
- Hey kids, it's JETFIRE! The Cybertronian scientist makes a quick cameo in this issue as part of the surprise reveal of the Energon Universe. His being woken up after millions of years asleep and with no visible faction logo echoes the character's introduction in the Generation 1 cartoon episode, "Fire in the Sky". His design is also that of his Generation 1 cartoon counterpart.
- While it's never outright stated, the implication is that the fuel used for the Zertonian ship and to revive Jetfire is energon. However, it is notably colored yellow, as opposed to the more common pink or blue.
Other trivia
- Void Rivals' status as the launch for the Energon Universe was kept secret for almost the entirety of the comic's promotion, with Skybound only revealing its existence to retailers just before the first issue's FOC date. It would ultimately be leaked by Bleeding Cool five days before this issue's publication.
- The copyright notice for the book, placed on page 27 with a text epilogue by Kirkman away from the rest of its indicia on page 1, reads "VOID RIVALS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2023 Hasbro...Licensed by Hasbro." and sports the Hasbro logo.
Covers (21)
- Cover A: Darak and Solila in parallel, with the Sacred Ring looming ominously, by Lorenzo De Felici.
- Cover B: Darak attacking Solila, by Ethan Young.
- Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Darak's wrecked ship, with the giant heads of Darak and Solila, by Matteo Scalera and Moreno Dinisio.
- Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Solila plugged into some sort of machinery, by Karen S. Darboe.
- Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Darak emerges from the wreckage, with the giant head of Solila and the Sacred Ring still looming ominously, by Jim Cheung and Jay David Ramos.
- Cover F (Blank Sketch Cover): Get your favorite artist to actually make this thing seem Transformers-relevant!
- Cover G (1:100 Copy Incentive): Jetfire towers over Darak, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer; advertised as a secret spoiler cover, with no official images of the cover art made available before release.
- ComicTom101 exclusive: Black and white variant of main cover A. Limited to 1,000 copies.
- Stadium Comics exclusive: by Ainsworth Lin. Limited to 1,000 copies.
- Wanted Comix / Rupps Comics / JJ's Comics & Art / Big Clutch exclusive A: by Maria Wolf and Mike Spicer. Limited to 1,000 copies.
- Wanted Comix / Rupps Comics / JJ's Comics & Art / Big Clutch exclusive B: Virgin variant. Limited to 500 copies.
- Jonathan Comics exclusive: by Tri Vuong. Limited to 1,000 copies.
- Whatnot/San Diego Comic-Con exclusive: by Alex Riegel.
- The Comic Mint exclusive: by Matthew Roberts. Limited to 800 copies.
- San Diego Comic-Con exclusive: by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
- Second Printing Variant Cover A: Jetfire and the Autobot insignia, by Jason Howard.
- Second Printing Variant Cover B: Jetfire as "The Transformers Bot at the End of This Comic", by Marz Jr. after Michael Smollin.
- Third Printing Variant Cover: Jetfire, by Ryan Barry and Mike Spicer.
- Fourth Printing Variant Cover: Darak, Solila, and Jetfire, by Flaviano.
- Fifth Printing Variant Cover: Jetfire towers over Darak and Solila, by Jahnoy Lindsay.
- Sixth Printing Variant Cover: by Dylan Burnett.
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- The Energon Universe is here!
- Transformers #1, Duke #1, Cobra Commander #1
Reprints
- Void Rivals Volume 1: More Than Meets The Eye (February 21, 2024) ISBN 153439818X / ISBN 978-1534398184
- Collects issues #1–6.
- Trade paperback format.
Volume 1: More Than Meets The Eye – cover art by Lorenzo De Felici
