Posted in: Comics, IDW, Image | Tagged: gi joe, image comics, skybound, transformers, Void rivals

SCOOP: Transformers & GI Joe at Image Comics In Void Rivals #1

Transformers and GI Joe will be making their debut appearance together for Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment in Void Rivals #1.

Comic book retailers kept the secret. After all, they had ordered over 100,000 copies for some reason. But then the Diamond Comics Distributors shipment landed in certain select stores in the USA today. And Bleeding Cool got the proof we were waiting on. That the Transformers and GI Joe will be making their debut appearance together for Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment in Void Rivals #1, out next week. And this will begin a new Skybound comic book license with Hasbro for Transformers and GI Joe. This comes just as the new film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' ending implies "there is more to come in the form of worldbuilding" for the franchise, as Kaitlyn Booth notes in her review of the film.

Bleeding Cool broke the news that IDW Publishing was to lose the Transformers and then the GI Joe comic book rights back in November 2021, and we soon learned that Robert Kirkman's publisher Skybound would acquire the rights, though it was never confirmed. Until now.

Void Rivals is a new comic book by Robert Kirkman, Matheus Lopes and Lorenzo De Felici, from Image Comics and Skybound, being published next week. The true nature of which has been shrouded in mystery and was said to launch a new shared universe of storytelling. That shared universe, it seems, will contain Transformers and GI Joe. Expect a big display at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con and given the timing, I might expect a new Transformers #1 or GI Joe #1 comic books from Image Comics for September. Or maybe they will wait until Image Comics goes fully with Lunar for distribution for the launch of both titles.

I am told that Void Rivals #1 doesn't reveal the true nature of the comic until the end, but that the 1:100 variant cover of Void Rivals #1 features both Transformers and GI Joe. And from then on, everything about the series will change. Might it even inform movies to come, just like Dark Horse Comics' Aliens Vs Predator once did?

Skybound is the company owned by Robert Kirkman, partner at Image Comics and best known as the co-creator of The Walking Dead. He hasn't published many licensed titles, preferring creator-owned or reactor-participant new properties, could this be the beginning of something new for him? And with Marvel announcing Predator Vs Wolverine, how long until we get GI Joe Vs Invincible or Transformers Vs The Walking Dead? Who else is going to be a part of this shared storytelling space?

VOID RIVALS #1 CVR A DE FELICI
IMAGE COMICS
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(W) Robert Kirkman (A) Matheus Lopes (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici
SERIES PREMIERE The blockbuster OBLIVION SONG team of ROBERT KIRKMAN & LORENZO DE FELICI debut the biggest new comic book series of 2023 with the launch of AN ALL-NEW SHARED UNIVERSE and a SURPRISE you won't see coming! 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?  In Shops: Jun 14, 2023 SRP: $3.99

VOID RIVALS #2 CVR A DE FELICI
IMAGE COMICS
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(W) Robert Kirkman (A) Matheus Lopes (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici
ROBERT KIRKMAN & LORENZO DE FELICI's new shared universe continues here! 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.In Shops: Jul 19, 2023 SRP: $3.99

VOID RIVALS #3 CVR A DE FELICI
IMAGE COMICS
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(W) Robert Kirkman (A) Matheus Lopes (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici
ROBERT KIRKMAN & LORENZO DE FELICI's new shared universe debuts a monstrous new villain! Fighting for their lives to return to the Sacred Ring, Darak and Solila face a new threat-capture! And they're not the only prisoners on this ship…In Shops: Aug 16, 2023 SRP: $3.99

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