Robert Kirkman Talks About His New Comic Void Rivals

Void Rivals #1, the debut issue of the massive new comic book series, sold out at the distributor level on the same day it hit comic book shops. Void Rivals #1, from the iconic Oblivion Song team of Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) and Lorenzo De Felici (Kroma), along with colorist Matheus Lopes (Step by Bloody Step) and letterer Rus Wooton (Fire Power), will return with a second printing on July 19, 2023, the same day Void Rivals #2 arrives in comic book shops.

Void Rivals #1 launches the all-new shared “Energon Universe” with the surprise first appearance of iconic Transformers character Jetfire. The stealth launch introduced the historic new partnership between toy and game company Hasbro and Skybound, with Transformers and G.I. Joe comics finding a new home with the publisher.

In Void Rivals, war rages around the Sacred Ring, where the last remnants of two worlds have collapsed around a black hole in a never-ending war. However, when pilot Darak and his rival Solila both crash on a desolate planet, these two enemies must find a way to escape together. But are they alone on this strange planet? And what dark forces await that threaten the entire universe?

During a Q&A with Midtown Comics I got to ask Kirkman about his upcoming series (along with other comic content creators) – First congratulations on selling out the same day hitting comic book shops & getting a second printing, will Jetfire be a former Decepticon?

He discussed working on the The Walking Dead, Invincible and how coincidently the G.I. Joe cameo in ‘Transformers Rise of the Beasts’ coincided with the release of Void Rivals.

Unknown 0:53
Do you think that these wars announcement for the movie was completely coincidental with the release date that we had planned for avoid rivals and it just happened to be a good good timing of everything? Yeah

“Yeah. I mean, it’s a weird coincidence. It wasn’t planned. I don’t remember how we came across June 14 as the specific release date. I don’t remember. Morgan, maybe you remember if that was chosen because we knew that Transformers movie was launching a week before? I don’t remember. I don’t think so. I think it was a, it was a coincidence, but because I know I wanted to put it out in March, but we weren’t ready yet. But I know that Hasbro would say vague things to us, like at some point, maybe a year or two ago they were like yeah, you guys want to do transformers God together are kind of vaguely doing something like that in the next Transformers movie. So they you know, we knew a little bit about what was happening in that movie, but it wasn’t like a big synergy thing where they were like we’re doing this in the movie do this in the context like it was more or less just a happy accident.”

Kirkman: Oh, well, I mean, okay, so if you’re talking about the the alien thing, the alien thing was a gag, like that’s not really, you know, part of Walking Dead or continuity or anything. And we did send that up Ryan Ali and I did this. We did a story in the back of Washington 75. And then we expanded on that when we did Skype on X last year. And it was recently collected into a hardcover called Rick Grimes 2000. Called a Rick Grimes 2000. Because that makes it sound like the future. But to the year 2000 is actually in the past now, which I don’t know, it gives me no end of entertainment, to think about that. But anyway, so if you want that crazy form of Walking Dead, you could pick up Rick Grimes 2000. As far as actually returning to the world of The Walking Dead, I’ll never say never, there’s no plans right now. But when the pandemic hit, and when things kind of calmed down to try and get people back into the stores, I did that special Negan lives with Charlie and you know, we got the band back together, it was a lot of fun. And I had a fantastic time doing that. And while I was writing that issue, I was like, Oh, that can lead to this. And that can lead to this next we list. So I’ve got a whole bunch of Negan plots that I could do at some point. But I’m not doing them yet. But I’m sure that at some point before I die, unless I die suddenly. And unexpectedly, which happens, unfortunately. But hopefully, before I die, I’ll be able to do a little bit more Negan stuff. So so we’ll see.

Unknown 1:23
shifting a little bit, before we dive into a lot of questions about the shared universe. Got another one says, also does Robert plan on making any in person appearances at San Diego Comic Con or New York Comic Con,

Kirkman 1:35
I plan to be at both, I got this little thing called the invincible show. And season two is going to be launching later this year. And we’re going to be you know, talking about that show and showing some things off it at Comic Con, both the San Diego version and the New York version. And so you can get some info and tidbits and stuff there. And I’ll be there to promote that show, as well as talking about the inner John universe stuff. And we’ll be doing some events with Hasbro that I’m really excited about. And I’ll probably be, you know, walking around artists alley, you know, talking to artists and doing things and it’s funny every year when I thought about ComiCon I’ll be like you can see me a Buddha’s mind transformer toys. And it’s always been true. But it’s funnier this year, in light of the Energon universe news, but you can also catch me at any random booth, mind transformer toys and you know, bug me and get me to sign a book or something or take a photo while I’m doing that. I’ll be around to try and

Unknown 2:35
find him. So this is all super exciting. What made you want to make this new universe announcement of surprise, the secret type of release?

Kirkman 2:44
Oh, I love doing new and different things. I think you can see from every book I’ve launched in the last like two years or so. Or more. I guess with the pandemic and Ollie, I kind of forget, it’s been like for like five or six years, I always do something new for the different launches of different books. And when we were contacted by Hasbro about pitching for the possibility of doing transformers and GI Joe comics, I realized that well there are two aspects of that one, there’s a ton of great IDW books that had come out and we’re still coming out. And so those you know, that fan base was fed and there wasn’t like a long period where there wasn’t transformers and GI Joe comics. And so just doing good transformers and GI Joe comics had already been done. So we had to do something a little bit different. And I also you know, I tend to approach things as a fan because I’m a fan first and foremost. And I would just love the possibility like if I if I was sitting down to read like a new Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips book. So like night fever came out this Wednesday, if I was sitting down reading night fever, and on like page 20 Freddy Krueger showed up, how crazy would that be? You know, be shocked and it would be thrilling and I would love that. And so I was thinking about how much I would enjoy something like that. And it made me think well is this something that could actually be done? Is this something that’s actually possible? And so I thought a new way to you know, make transformers and GI Joe like new and exciting and do something that you know made people I mean, I love going to the college bookstore. I love the idea of like walking in and seeing something on the shelf and discovering it and being like oh my god, this is this is crazy. I didn’t even know this existed. And so I’m always trying to like you know, give people that feeling and so to debut a new series by me and Lorenzo that you know might as well be like Oblivion song or firepower or whatever, and then just have a transformer randomly show up in it like that’s, that’s the craziest like, seems impossible. So, you know, once I realized that, that actually was possible. It was like, oh my god, we totally have to do this. And being able to you know, take things down to the ground floor and have like new job Putting on points for transformers and GI Joe in the Energon universe so that anyone who has been a fan of those concepts for however long they’ve been around, but maybe hasn’t tried comics or fell out of reading the comics can kind of just, you know, come in with those issue ones, learn who those characters are, or relearn who those characters are, and just kind of start from there and go, like, I think that’s a great opportunity for fans. So it’s great to like, have a new beginning, but a new fresh coat of paint on things. And also, the void rivals book is going to have like completely new characters and completely new concepts, because that’s kind of stuff that keeps me excited. And so all of those are going to like drastically, like change things along the way as we get deeper and deeper into that universe. So it’s a whole lot of new and familiar, like crashing against each other and some really cool ways. And so I’m really excited to, like, show you guys all the things that we have planned.

Unknown 5:53
I think this question was kind of answered by your answer just now. But acquiring transformers is a huge deal. Like how are you guys going to follow up after the great run that IDW had? And will there be Beast Wars? Yeah, I

Kirkman 6:07
mean, I can’t speak to that specifically. But I will say that the ignorance on your universe is just a quarter of what we’re doing. And so there could be some aspects of these tours that eventually show up in the Energon universe. But we’re also doing Larry Hama as GI Joe, a real American hero. And that’s a continuity that’s completely separate, like that ties in, we’re doing issue 301 on. And so that ties in directly to the 300 prior issues that came out. And that’s just one other aspect of what we’re doing with transformers and GI Joe. So there’s going to be other transformers books and other GI Joe books that don’t necessarily tie into the Energon universe. So there’s going to be a wide array of all kinds of cool stuff. So anything that you’re a huge fan of, like, you know, definitely like on our social media platforms and stuff, like contact us and say, I want this I want this. I want that because we’re always looking for ideas, but we definitely have a ton of stuff planned and hopefully we’ll get to whatever it is that you love the most eventually.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

VOID RIVALS #2 Advances The Epic Energon Universe Story By Robert Kirkman & Lorenzo De Felici

Skybound revealed a first look at Void Rivals #2, the hugely anticipated follow-up to the shocking debut of the new comic book series from the Oblivion Song team of Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) and Lorenzo De Felici (Kroma), along with colorist Matheus Lopes (Step by Bloody Step) and letterer Rus Wooton (Fire Power).

Void Rivals #1 kicked off the all-new shared “Energon Universe” with the surprise first appearance of iconic Transformers character Jetfire. The stealth launch introduced the historic new partnership between toy and game company Hasbro and Skybound, with Transformers and G.I. Joe comics finding a new home with the publisher. Each issue of Void Rivals promises to take readers further into this all-new world, with more familiar faces to appear.

After the jaw-dropping reveal in the debut issue, everything Darak and Solila thought they knew about the Sacred Ring’s never-ending war has changed. To deliver the truth back home, they must first get off this deadly planet—by any means necessary.

Void Rivals #2 (Diamond Codes listed below | $3.99) will feature a main cover by De Felici, along with a stacked lineup of variant covers by some of the top talent in comics today.

The issue will be available at comic book shops and digital platforms including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.

The full list of covers is below: