Cybertron Will Die | Transformers Issue #01 (2023) Skybound Comic Book

Earlier this year, Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment launched a new sci-fi comic book called Void Rivals that, in a surprise twist not announced in advance, turned out to be the kick-off for a shared narrative continuity with Hasbro’s Transformers and G.I. Joe brands. The first few issues of that book featured cameo appearances by select Transformers characters, leading to the introduction this month of a dedicated Transformers comic. The premiere issue, available now, shows some potential.

At least so far, reading Void Rivals is not strictly necessary to jump into the Transformers solo book, though it certainly couldn’t hurt. The only relevant story set-up you need to know is that the robot named Jetfire was revived from a long hibernation and immediately flew off in search of his friends. That much is easy enough to figure out even without it being fully repeated here.

Transformers: Issue 1 - Jetfire & Starscream
Title:Transformers
Issue:01
Published:Oct. 3, 2023
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer/Artist:Daniel Warren Johnson
Format: Comic Book

Back in the 1980s, Hasbro dominated the imaginations of young boys across America with its juggernaut G.I. Joe and Transformers brands, and saturated the market with a media blitz to promote them in both television and print. At the time, it was the general sentiment among kids my own age that the G.I. Joe comic book published by Marvel was superior to the sillier (though still very fun and popular) Sunbow TV cartoon, while the Transformers cartoon was regarded as better than its corresponding comic.

My recollection of it is that, although early issues of Marvel’s Transformers comic started out pretty well, that title had a downturn in story quality and never recovered – at least not while I read it. Looking up the details, Marvel published 80 issues of The Transformers from 1984 to 1991. I believe I gave up somewhere in the mid-30s, when the focus shifted to the Headmasters theme, though I’d already lost interest well before that point. With that said, I haven’t read any of those issues in ages and sold off my collection a long time ago. I’d be very interested to revisit them now, should Skybound have republishing rights.

The new Skybound Transformers comic (written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson of Wonder Woman: Dead Earth) is framed as a reboot of the familiar “Generation 1” origin story, which was pretty closely aligned between the cartoon and comic originally. Having fled a devastating war on their homeworld of Cybertron, a band of heroic Autobots were attacked by evil Decepticons, who boarded their ship (called the Ark) and caused it to crash on the remote planet Earth, where it was buried in the side of a volcano for eons, all aboard laying dormant until re-awakened in the modern day. That much remains unchanged, if abbreviated here. The Autobots are also once again befriended by human teenager Spike Witwicky (Marvel called him Buster for some reason, and Michael Bay called him Sam), who gets caught in the middle of the robot conflict and needs saving.

Transformers: Issue 1 - Optimus Prime & Starscream

In this telling, Jetfire is responsible for reactivating the rest of the Transformers upon locating them on Earth. Unfortunately, because he’d been out of commission much longer than the others, Jetfire isn’t aware of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, and unwittingly wakes up both sides, only to watch in shock and horror as his old friend Starscream launches straight into a psychotic murder spree.

One point not clear is exactly how long ago the Ark crashed on Earth. Traditionally, it’s supposed to have been buried in this volcano since prehistory. The fact that no human ever found it until now would seem to align with that. However, Starscream explains to Jetfire that, “We have been at war for the past hundred years!” Does he mean one hundred Cybertron years? Or, perhaps, does Starscream not yet realize how long he’s been out? That detail could use clarifying.

It’s also awfully convenient that both the Autobots and Decepticons natively speak English that can be immediately understood by Spike and his friend Carly. I suppose we just need to suspend disbelief about stuff like that.

The new Skybound continuity makes a point of diverging from prior G1 canon in a couple significant ways. Starscream is leader of the Decepticons now, with only one quick reference to Megatron suggesting that he may already be dead (or at least Starscream thinks so). More dramatically, the first issue makes a point of killing off three very important, even iconic, characters – one of whom most fans probably assumed was untouchable.

Robert Kirkman’s influence no doubt drove that decision. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. On the one hand, I have an ingrained skepticism of writers who kill off beloved characters just be edgy. On the other, if we’re to take this reboot at a true start-over, those characters shouldn’t actually be important, as they die before we get to know them. To a hypothetical reader going into this new comic knowing nothing about Transformers, they’re just background fodder.

Realistically, though, would anyone not already an existing fan of Transformers pick up this book in the first place? The comic aggressively courts the G1 audience. All the robot characters are drawn in their original G1 styling, with zero trace of the Michael Bay “ugly piles of random gray scrap metal” aesthetic. Even the artwork is drawn in a decidedly old-school style that looks like it could easily have been published in the 1980s.

Transformers Issue 1 (Oct. 2023)
Transformers #01 – One of a few variant covers

One issue may be too little to judge whether the Robots in Disguise will truly thrive under the stewardship of the man who created The Walking Dead. As I said, the premiere feels promising. If it seems to hew a little too closely to the usual Transformers story, that could well change in the future. Kirkman’s Void Rivals took some big steps to expand the scope of its narrative after the first issue. Perhaps this will do the same? At least so far, I’m interested enough to give it the benefit of the doubt and read a few more issues.

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