Transformers Image/Skybound Discussion

I mean, I knew stuff like Spawn, Savage Dragon, and Invincible were already hardcore, and I was reading Void Rivals just for Jetfire, but I guess I grossly underestimated how fast everything would escalate.

Sorry if I came off as snobby or insulting. Daniel Warren Johnson is only one of the many at Image who illustrate how gruesome and engrossing comics can be without restraint. We're not used to having collateral damage nor interspecies interaction being THIS influential in Transformers. It's refreshing but unsettling.

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Nov 18th 2023 at 2:56:07 PM

Issue 3 is out.

Laserbeak attacks Carly and Sparkplugg while they're talking, but Cliffjumper arrives to save them. Unfortunately, Sparkplugg isn't willing to listen and shoots him in the face with a shotgun, then runs off with Carly. Beak sends a message to Starscream about Cliff, and Skywarp is sent to deal with it. Sparkplug hooks up with some old friends in town who're well armed, but isn't listening to Carly when she tells him Cliffjumper isn't a threat. Cliff shows up at the bar and tries to talk again, but gets shot at more. Then Skywarp shows up and starts kicking everyone's ass. Optimus arrives and is about to take Skywarp down, but the other humans, lead by Sparkplug, hit him in the arm with a Bazooka (they are really well armed), and then Skywarp shoots him in that same arm, while laughing at how dumb the humans are for attacking the one saving them. Spike runs to help Optimus...and gets shot by accident. This freaks out Sparkplugg and gets Optimus pissed enough that he rips off his own damaged arm in order to beat Skywarp into submission with it. He picks up Spike and when Sparkplug holds a gun to him with tears in his eyes, Optimus transforms into his (now badly damaged) truck form and tells him to get in, telling him he'll save his son.

I'm hoping this series will get past all the humans hate the autobots and see them as no different from the decepticon stuff as soon as possible. I know Marvel held on to that for a while, and IDW ran with it a bit as well, but maybe we'll see that downplayed a bit in this new series. Sparkplug may be the measuring stick for how much we have to deal with that.

Still don't like the art of the robots, body parts seem to float in place. Regardless, it does an amazing job at keeping the pace and illustrating movement.

I somewhat miss there being a line drawn between the two factions but the constant carnage from the humans helps cement the lack of a status quo. It's very refreshing.

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Dec 11th 2023 at 12:08:58 PM

So I wonder if this series is gonna re-introduce Chip Chase?

Like, I started thinking about how Carly is an artist in this universe instead of a Teen Genius and about how Chip and Carly never appeared in the same episodes (in fact, it seems like Chip was more or less phased out as the series went on in favour of Carly) probably due to overlapping skill sets.

But now that Carly does art instead of computer stuff, there might be room for Chip again, and since they're tapping G1 a little bit more (still on the fence about that, but this series is forging its own path), maybe they can give him a try in comic form.

Surprise!

Daniel Warren Johnson's Transformers is not a miniseries and he's still on as writer, but now Jorge Corona will take over as artist as of the seventh issue. (Be careful about clicking the link, the page uses an image that looks MIGHTY spoiler-heavy!)

Edited by TargetmasterJoe on Jan 11th 2024 at 10:08:57 AM

Jazz is back! And we have Elita-1 as well! Nice! Where’s Wheeljack?

I was more referring to Optimus having Megatron's fusion cannon arm, but okay, those things you pointed out are also spoilery.

I mean, Issue 4 has got some neat surprises in it, too. I mean, let's see:

Carly teaming up with Cliffjumper to give Optimus ample room to get to the hospital, Optimus using the Matrix to give the hospital just enough power to get the backup generators running after Starscream shot up the place, Spike ending up in a coma... Oh, and Starscream and Soundwave deciding to cannibalise Skywarp for the parts needed to fix Teletraan-1.

Gnarly robot stuff is my jam.

I have no excuses for not noticing that.

Alright. Just read the issue.

After something of a rough start with Sparkplug, Optimus' efforts have done a lot to improve the Autobot's standing, even if only a tiny bit. And now, as shown in the spoiler that I missed, he's rocking Megatron's missing arm. Also, Jazz is back, but only for a short time due to lack of Energon. And we've already seen the end of Skywarp. T'is a shame. This is the second time we've seen a Skywarp who's actually pretty smart in how he uses his powers, after IDW 2.

So this trailer of the next wave of the Skybound Energon Universe just went up:

You can obviously see a certain Emperor of Destruction before you even click to start the video but there's one other thing later on in the it that interests me.

Is The Baroness part of G.I. Joe?

Maybe she starts out as part of G.I. Joe before she joins Cobra? It kinda reminds me of Rise of Cobra in a way because in that film, the Baroness wasn't exactly part of Cobra/M.A.R.S. willingly.

Apologies for double-posting, but can I ask why there are edits concerning issues that haven't come out yet, aside from previews?

Saw a review of Issue five on youtube.

Sparkplug takes the Autobots to the damn, and has them just plug in directly to supply them with the energy they need. This allows them to fully recharge Jazz, and get Wheeljack back up (though only with half a body) But with Wheeljack restored and a more consistent source of power, they can work on fixing others. Arcee is next up (and she gets a new earth based vehicle form that's either a Lamborghini or some kind of newer style of Corvette). Meanwhile the Decepticons have completed their Robot resources plan and integrated Skywarp into Teletran-1. They use that to restore Thundercracker (who they lie to and say the Autobots messed up Skywarp) Reflector and Frenzy...Rumble.....the red one.

The Decepticons transform and rise up to beat up some Autobots....and get their shit kicked in by Megatron armed Optimus. Reflector's return is short lived as he gets nuked, and Frenzy might also be down. They bolt and the Autobots push their momentum....only to run into the Constructicons, who Starscream restored as well. Actually, the constructions run into them, with Optimus getting rekt first, and Rachet losing a leg. And then....Devastator.

So shit is happening.

Issue 6 picks up where we left off.

Devastator is devastating the Autobots. Carly and Cliff use an alternate route to get inside, while the others manage to get past Devastator into the arc, but Optimus gets so badly damaged he's near death (yes, they're getting Optimus dies out of the way immediately) and Rachet has to sacrifice his other leg in order to let them close the door. Sparky seems to instinctively know what to do, and enters the matrix (shut up, this is serious), giving up his life to somehow recharge it. Meanwhile Cliffumper and Carly confront Starscream and manage to get him on the ropes, but Cliff is unable to bring himself to kill the latter, something which angers Carly more than a little. Optimus manages to use Devastator's own momentum to toss him off a cliff causing him to separate, and Starscream gets messed up anyway, and the Cons retreat, giving the Autobots back control of the Arc. Meanwhile, Spike is finally awake, and wants to know where his dad is.

They told us we'd get a death, but they still surprised us. I'm annoyed I never considered Spark Plug. Hopefully, this won't sour Spike on the Autobots, but we'll have to wait and see.

Edit: Also, it seems Arcee is a Lamborghini. I'm displeased. Corvette was right there. I mean look at◊ her, dammit!◊

She's a damned Corvette!◊

Edited by HandsomeRob on Mar 13th 2024 at 3:43:41 AM

The "AW YEAH" and "YOU KNOW THE SONG" sound effects was a brilliant and hilarious touch.

I also really loved the bit where Optimus begs Soundwave to end the senseless violence and Soundwave actually considers it, only to be reminded of how Optimus shot Ravage back in issue one and lose it from anger. Something I'm really appreciating is that, while this series goes back to the classic "Autobots wage the battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons" setup, it doesn't over-correct by turning the Decepticons into a legion of one-dimensional BWAHAHA-ing pure evil douchebags. Starscream is evil as fuck, but the rest of the Cons are a lot more varied, with most of them coming off like just normal people reared in a toxic environment trying to make the best of their situation. They're shown to care about one another a lot as friends and family, and many of them like Soundwave seem like they'd rather just leave the humans alone and get on with more important things. DWJ is really good at making his characters feel like actual people and that extends to the villains.

Issue 7.

The Autobots are recovering from the events of the previous issue. Carly is still mad at Cliff for not killing Starscream when he had a clean shot at it. She's doing some target training when Arcee joins her, and tries to convince her not to be consumed by revenge, but Carly ain't hearing it. Spike is dealing with the death of his dad. He says he doesn't blame Optimus (though that may not be true) but asks to be left alone. While Optimus and Ratchet are heading back to the base, Optimus gets some strange visions of what may be Sparkplug's memories of Spike's birth. Meanwhile, the Autobots are having issues with Teletran-1. Skywarp is still integrated into it, and Wheeljack mistakenly gave away that they were there, so the former is locking them out and they can't access all the functions they need right now.

Meanwhile, the Cons are in a volcano (I think), licking their wounds. Soundwave does what he does best: prove he's superior by challenging Starscream for leadership. Screamer tries to weasel out of it, but Thundercracker says do it bitch. Starscream fairs about as well as he does in any fair fight. Soundwave punctuates it by ripping out some of Starscreams internals and kicking him off the cliff (possibly into the lava if they are in a volcano), then the cons all bow to him. So that's the end of Carly's revenge even if she doesn't know it.

Also, a battleship has been given orders to beat up robots.

So there you go.

The Starscream became a victim of his own trope. And to Soundwave, The Creon of Decepticons. Ironic

Question - where are you putting the character tropes from the GI Joe series?

I was going to Energon Universe character directory and I see entries specific to the EU Transformers are spread across Characters.Transformers 2023 & Characters.Void Rivals while I don't see one for the GI Joe/Cobra characters

Edited by jormis29 on Apr 26th 2024 at 1:23:23 AM

Issue 8 the cons get back into their base and Soundwave promises astrotrain he can have Megatron once they find him. Also thundercracker doesn't want to kill the humans if he can help it because they can't hurt him and Soundwave kills them because they would tell others. Meanwhile things continue to be bad for the autobots and arcee takes a hit that carly accidentally shot off after being talked down from killing skywarp.and then Soundwave makes contact with shockwave

A fan dub of the best scene in the comic so far.

They even synched the Yeah to the panel with AW YEAH in the background. Good stuff.

I found Sparkplug's reaction to be a little unrealistic. If you find a sperm whale in what were once clear and safe waters, you should get away from it as soon as possible, and if it insists on approaching by all means do whatever to create distance. If it has already grabbed you though, is doing nothing to actually harm you, and is in fact moving you away from a bull shark that was already pursuing you, your best course of action is to try and stay calm and wait for your chance to get away.

I get that robots are new to this world, unlike whales and sharks, that they're explicitly encroaching on human territory rather than the other way around, but it's the same scenario we've dealt with for a thousand years otherwise. One big animal can and will kill people, but doesn't go out of its way to do so and isn't showing any intent to even now up close. The other big animal kill people pretty much wherever it finds them and was actively trying to seconds ago. The bigger less lethal one is saving me from the smaller one, I will try to do nothing to convince the bigger one that it made a mistake.

Also, I've got zero interest in Transformers sharing a universe with GI Joe. I have no idea why that keeps getting pushed. Crossovers, I understand, but if this is a long term thing hopefully the Joes can be safely ignored after the connections are firmly established.

It's been almost a tradition in the comics for Transformers to share stories with G.I. Joe for decades, as far back as the classic Marvel comics. Hell, this isn't even the first time Megatron was found by Cobra, or a Cobra-adjacent faction.

The way this Energon Universe is set up, it looks like the connections are gonna stick for a while, which I am all for, personally.

Part of the reason for this might be to maintain trademarks. Even if GI Joe isn't as popular as Transformers these days, Hasbro wants to retain the rights to it and its characters. They're both sci-fi(-ish), so it's also easy to see them together side-by-side, market-wise.

And like the guy above me said, it's been like that for a while. In the G1 cartoon, Marissa Faireborn- a human ally in Season 3- is the daughter of Flint and Lady Jay. Not to mention that Cobra Commander appears under the alias of Old Snake. So yeah, the two franchises have been interacting with each other for a long time.