Fans at New York Comic Con came to hear the creators involved in the Energon universe, which combines the GI Joe and Transformers universes published by Skybound, talk about what they’ve accomplished so far and what they can expect in the coming months. They packed the room. The panel discussion included Skybound founder and Void Rivals writer Robert Kirkman, GI Joe writer Joshua Williamson, GI Joe artist Tom Reilly, Transformers artist Jorge Corona, and Skybound senior vice president President and Publisher Sean Mackiewicz;
The upcoming launch of the Energon Universe GI Joe series was the main focus of the panel, with variant covers and character profiles on display throughout. “Robert read ‘The Secret’ and embodies this,” joked Sean Mackiewicz, referring to Skybound’s overwhelming success as a Hasbro-licensed comic.
Robert Kirkman made his love for GI Joe clear from the beginning. The Walking Dead creator said, “So many great things have been done in the G.I. Joe comics, and the only thing we can do like a fresh take is to focus on individual characters.” He playfully provoked an audience reaction by saying that Jaws had some of the best villains in comics. “I’ve got a better rogues gallery than Spider-Man or Batman. Are you groaning? I’ll fight anyone.” He admitted, “I like Clayface, but don’t cast him in a movie. I can’t do that, because the movie has to be canceled.” But then he went back to twisting the bat knife, saying, “Bane is lame.”
They showed photos of their new Joe, Risk, who will debut in GI Joe #1. “We have all these toys, but we needed to introduce a new character,” explained GI Joe writer Joshua Williamson. Joshua talked about his love for the GI Joe Classifieds toy line. I’m sure he would be even more excited if Hasbro introduced Risk as a classified character. Williamson said of Risk, “He’s rebelling against Duke. Duke isn’t a Boy Scout character, but unlike Risk, he doesn’t want to take unnecessary risks.” Risk is a thrill seeker. In his free time, he engages in cage fights, Williamson explained to the crowded venue.
Tom Riley had a lot of fun designing new characters for the series. “We’re designing new characters for GI Joe on Mount Rushmore,” Riley said. He went on to say: “You know what I’ve never seen before? I’ve never seen Joe wear a tie. Or a suit.” Kirkman added, “Tom gave him a shotgun. We gave it, and we made it money, and I thought I’d call it a moneymaker.” And although Risk is wearing a suit, Tom explained, “It was very important to me not to make him look too much like John Wick.”
When it came to putting together the new Joe lineup for the first issue of the Energon Universe GI Joe series, Josh explained that it was a bit of a give-and-take. “On this, Robert says no.On this, Robert says no. But as we put together the roster, we wondered who would be joining the toy line early on. I followed this up by asking whether we could expect additions to the team to continue in the same way, i.e. whether we could expect second or third wave additions to precede later characters. Ta. But Joshua explained that no, he wasn’t going to add the character that way. Robert joked, “You should check out this snake-eyed guy. He’s popular.”
At the beginning of GI Joe, Joe is the Baroness, a character forever associated with Cobra. Everyone expects her to defect at some point, but Joshua Williamson says it won’t be that soon. “We want to respect history, but we don’t want it to repeat itself. You’re all wondering when the Baroness will flip sides. Maybe she won’t.” Mr Williamson said: He pointed out that by choosing Joe as his wife, there are very few women left on Cobra’s side. Sean says, “There’s nothing wrong with women, Josh. Only men.”
Panel participants were shown various covers, one of which featured Cobra Valkyrie. They have been talked about in folklore, but not introduced in the comics. Williamson liked that “Cobra Valkyries just shoots the wounded on the battlefield.” They take to the field after the battle and send the wounded Cobra troops to Valhalla.
Another difference in the Energon universe is Cobra Commander’s ferocity. “We want this Cobra Commander to never retreat. Right at the beginning, someone yells, ‘Retreat!’ And he shot him in the head,” Williamson revealed. This is very different from the comic book version of Cobra Commander, whose catchphrase was “Retreat!” It was about the same as “Cobra!”
But the Energon Universe panel didn’t just focus on GI Joe. Next up is Void Rivals, which will soon feature a guest appearance from the GI Joe character. Robert was struggling to find a way to include the character of GI Joe in the deep space-set Void Rivals, and Joshua Williamson had the answer. Kirkman said: How do we incorporate GI Joe? Josh says these big Cobrara creatures could be space worthy. ” So Cobra-La’s Pythona appears in Void Rivals #13 and remains for at least a few issues of the series.
Speaking of guest stars on Void Rivals, Josh asked Robert, “Are you going to let her meet Hot Rod?” To this, Robert jokingly replied, “Do you want to talk about this later?” before saying to the audience, “When you’ve had your fill, I’ll give the GI Joe character back to Josh.” Then he told a funny story about hot rods and void rivals. “I love the ’86 movie. I love hot rods. I said at the meeting that I was surprised they hadn’t included hot rods in the book yet.” Daniel Warren Johnson replied, “I really love hot rods. I wish I could have done something with him.” Robert’s reaction was, “Oh,” he added. “Look, Daniel would have killed him anyway. I’m going to say that I saved Hot Rod in the Energon Universe.” And he said, “You see Hot Rod and Pisona on the cover of the same book. Who would have thought it was possible?”
The next book was “Transformers.” Sean talked about what Starscream was going through in the comics, and what Daniel Warren Johnson said to Starscream. Eventually I’ll get my legs back, but I’m going to ride the HISS tank for a while.”Additionally, I don’t know if Hasbro will turn this into a toy. ” To this, Robert Kirkman was quick to joke. “It’s not our problem!”
Jorge Corona loves working with Daniel Warren Johnson, but was worried about following him up on the art work for Transformers. He said, “I had to keep the intensity and work with Dan. We need to maintain the same level. I’m so grateful that you liked the second volume.” Sean said, “The death threats are coming.” “What kind of industry do we work in to expect death threats?” he asked.
They previewed several pages introducing Ultra Magnus. Sean says, “In issue 11, he transforms and escapes. He’s been in prison for a million years and he’s mentally scarred.” Jorge added: He’s a memorable character, but you can see how broken he is on the inside. ” Sean says that the Cybertronian Autobots are blaming Optimus Prime for focusing on saving Earth. Sean said that Elita-1 told Optimus, “Everything that is suffering on Cybertron is suffering because of your poor leadership.” Sean hinted, “If you’re a Megatron fan, get ready now.”
An oversized hardcover collection of the first two trade paperbacks in each Energon Universe series will be available starting next year. For the GI Joe prequels, each hardcover will contain two volumes. Robert Kirkman boasted that they have long-term plans and are not rushing things. “We’re in this for the long haul. It could happen now. It could happen in year three.” To this, Sean added, “Except for Snake Eye.” When I spoke to Joshua Williamson after the panel discussion, he reiterated this, talking about how long he’s been working on the series and the range of ideas he has planned. Don’t expect Joshua Williamson to leave this toy box anytime soon. Expect Energon Universe to be at many New York Comic Con locations in the future.
Stay tuned for more coverage of NYCC ’24 from The Beat.
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