At New York Comic Con on Saturday, fans packed into Javits Center Room 406.1 to hear news about Skybound’s shared Energon universe between Transformers, GI Joe, and now MASK.
The panel was moderated by Energon Universe editor Ben Abernathy and featured Void Rivals artist Connor Hughes. Transformers artists Jorge Corona and Dan Mora. GI Joe artist Tom Riley. Joshua Williamson, writer of GI Joe. Robert Kirkman, the screenwriter for Transformers. Last year’s Energon Universe panel was a highlight of NYCC, and this year’s stacked lineup guaranteed a great follow-up.
Abernathy asked Kirkman what he thought about the reception of Transformers #25, Kirkman’s first issue as a writer. Kirkman responded, “I’m so relieved. Daniel Warren Johnson is a tough guy to follow. I loved the way he ran.”
Mora, who also placed 25th in the first issue of “Transformers,” added, “I was scared when I started because everyone was doing such a great job on this series.”
It wasn’t easy to get Mora on the books. “I’ve reached out to Dan a few times. I’m a huge fan. I buy all his books, some of them by this guy,” Kirkman said, referring to Williamson. “I’ll put up with anything to get Dan Mora’s art. Dan was the one who pushed me to pick up this book.”
Mora said his love for Transformers began in childhood and continues to this day. “I have a lot of toys. I have 10 types of Optimus Prime and 5 types of Megatron.” He loved the series so much that he signed a copy of the book, adding, “This is something I wish I had when I looked back on my career.”
Upon hearing the number from Mora, Kirkman jokingly exclaimed, “That’s a bush league number!”
Looking back on his time working on “Transformers,” Corona said, “It was a lot of fun to be a part of this project.I was scared when I started reading with issue #7, but I loved the universe that was created in this book.”
Mr. Kirkman immediately asked, “Which one is better? Compare my 12 pages to his 12-18 issues.”
Corona replied, “Robert, I love your script, but I know I can write it better than you,” and added that he had often wondered why he was asked to write Johnson’s script when Johnson himself could write it better. Corona also said, “It was very bittersweet to be in charge of page 12 of issue 25.”
As for who fans can expect from Transformers, Kirkman, who is usually tight-lipped about spoilers, said, “Mirage is one of the OG G1 players from the beginning, and I want to get as many players involved as possible early on. Whoops, I might have spoiled something.”
Showing a slide of the Autobot bulkhead, Kirkman explained that he had been watching Transformers: The Animated Series with his son and wanted to bring the character into the Energon universe.
Mora added, “I knew about Bulkhead from an onboard show I saw when I was a kid.” In response, Kirkman said, “I hope they make toys.”
While showing the #25 panel with MASK’s Miles Mayhem, Kirkman said, “There’s a lot more to uncover about this guy. You’ll see that great moment that Dan did where Miles Mayhem and Optimus Prime share a mutual look.”
Kirkman also revealed that Brown will be returning for issue #27. Regarding Brown, he said, “I like Transformers in different scales, and I’d like to see smaller Transformers as well.”
If there’s anyone Transformers Mora hates drawing, it’s Ultra Magnus. He revealed it in a roundtable interview before the panel. Upset by this, Kirkman asked shyly. “Hey, Dan, how much fun do you have drawing Ultra Magnus in battle scenes?” To which Mora deadpanned, “I hate it.”
Kirkman surprised everyone in the audience with an Optimus Prime action figure complete with Megatron’s cannon arm, taken straight from the Energon universe.
Kirkman said, “This is great. This is Optimus Prime, who was introduced in issue #4 when he got the Megatron arm. It’s 7.25 inches, leader scale, $59.99 and will be in stores in the fall of 2026. It’s really nice.” You’ll probably need this in your home too. He added: “It’s an amazing moment to see the Skybound comics come to life in toy form.”
The panel then moved on to GI Joe. Writer Williamson filled the room with the upcoming Dreadnock War storyline.
Williamson said: “They’re coming back for revenge. Duke is the only one who can save Cobra Commander. They go on a Mad Max-esque adventure.”
Regarding the character design, GI Joe artist Tom Reilly said, “We stuck to the original design of Dreadknock.”
Williamson added: “We created a bunch of new Dreadnoks just to kill them.”
To which Tom Riley joked: “You can blow everyone up. It’s very cathartic.”
The slides showed off the Road Pig design.
Williamson revealed: “Originally I wanted Lord Pig to appear in the Cobra Commander books, but that didn’t work out. Part of this story is how he joins the Dreadnoks. It’s cruel. His introduction is terrifying.”
“I didn’t think they would approve, but they did,” Riley added.
Williamson emphasized the point: “That hammer made of cinder blocks? You’re going to see someone hit you in the face with that.”
“I’ve always wanted this cover. It’s the last time I’ve seen them together since issue #6,” Williamson said while showing off the cover of The Dreadnok War, which features both Cobra Commander and Duke.
Templesmith revealed that Roadblock will be joining Joe’s team in issue #18. “I’m a big fan of Roadblock. It’s a fun issue for him. The Cobras are going to scout him first,” Williamson said. Roadblock joins the Nightforce, led by Flint and Lady Jaye.
Williamson added, “Duke doesn’t know that Hawk is setting up a second GI Joe team. When he finds out, he’s not happy about it.”
When it comes to Transformers, Williamson got into Duke’s head. The author said, “Duke hates giant robots. He doesn’t know about Autobots, he doesn’t know about Decepticons, he only knows about the giant robot that killed his best friend. He wants to kill all the giant robots he can.”
Kirkman then yelled, “Come to the Energon Universe panel. You don’t have to read the book!”
After that, the conversation turned to art. Riley revealed that he has a friendly competition with Andrea Milana. They each try to outdo the other and add even more character to the page.
Riley said she loves Milana’s art, adding: “It’s great to be a part of this stable of top talent.”
What’s next for Cobrala? “I’m not allowed to say any more,” Williamson joked. Kirkman then said, “Cobra La is the glue that holds the Energon Universe together,” and offered to wrestle anyone who didn’t love Cobra La.
The panel then moved on to “Void Rivals,” also written by Kirkman. He’s very excited about the Quintessonic War, saying, “It’s going to be so great. It’s such a huge event. They’re looking at the Sacred Ring. They’re coming to destroy the ship. They’re going to have a lot of Sharktron action. If you’ve been reading Void Rivals, this is going to shake things up!”
Kirkman turned to a Hasbro representative in the front row and asked, “When will we get the Skuxxoid toys?” He loves Skuxxoid.
“I love drawing fetal-like characters,” Connor Hughes said of a page depicting a dismembered Skuxoid.
Kirkman added, “These are the best three-dimensional blobs I’ve seen on this page.” He also joked, “I’m here to announce that Skuxsoid will be the fourth continuing title in the Energon universe. I love that weird alien pig.”
“It’s devastating that he lost the family he never really had,” Hughes said of Skuxxoid’s pity.
When asked how many ideas he has planned for the Energon universe, Willamson said, “For years.”
Kirkman agreed. He loved writing the Energon universe, adding, “This is the best thing I’ve ever done in comics.”
When an audience member dressed as Bumblebee asked when they would see Bumblebee return, Abernathy replied, “You’ll see his body sometimes in the background.” Poor Bumblebee!
Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage of NYCC ’25.
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