Publisher: Image Comics (Skybound Entertainment)
Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson
Artwork: Jorge Corona
Colours: Mike Spicer
Lettering: Rus Wooton
Release Date: 10th April 2024

---

[NOTE: Contains spoilers for the first arc of Skybound’s Transformers]

After a red hot opening arc that immediately cemented Skybound’s “Energon Universe” as one of the hottest properties in comics today, Daniel Warren Johnson’s Transformers is back again this week with a brand new arc and a brand new artist. While Johnson is undoubtedly one of the most singularly talented artists working today, the transition to Jorge Corona here is pretty much seamless with the Eisner-nominated Corona packing the pages with action, energy (or should that be Energon?) and a lot more fine-lined detail than DWJ’s more distinctive scratchy, dynamic approach.

This issue serves as something of a stock take, laying the groundwork for the arc to come while setting up a lot of interesting new storyline wrinkles. But before we get to all that, we have one big question that needs to be answered – namely, who will lead the Decepticons into the war to come? And that’s what the bulk of this issue focuses on, with a brutally violent showdown between Starscream and Soundwave as the pair trade blows, blasts and cheap shots to try and assert their dominance.

It’s during this exchange where the stylistic similarities between Corona and Johnson’s artistic styles are showcased to their fullest, with Corona delivering the same bone-crunching impact and sometimes shockingly over-the-top violence (albeit robot-on-robot violence this time) as DWJ as the two iconic ‘Cons go head to head for seven straight pages. As something of a Soundwave fan, it’s fantastic to see him being showcased like this rather than as a monosyllabic second (or even third) in command, and Johnson and Corona certainly do a great job of proving just how formidable he truly is.

The remainder of the issue features the Autobots regrouping in the Arc after their recent victory, featuring a nice little back and forth exchange between troubled (and justifiably angry) teen Carly and Arcee. We also get a hint of some of the “side effects” that might be happening as a result of Sparky sacrificing himself and being absorbed by the Matrix of Leadership to save Prime’s life last time out, along with a tantalizing glimpse at the events unfolding on Cybertron. So much interesting stuff.

Skybound’s Energon Universe continues to go from strength to strength, with Johnson and Corona delivering a blistering new storyline and a fresh take on your favourite Robots in Disguise. With a new status quo for the Decepticons and more tantalising sub-plots than you can shake a Fusion Cannon at, this series once again comes highly, highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5.

---

[UNLETTERED PREVIEW – CLICK TO ENLARGE]

---

The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says
You can follow Ceej on Twitter

---