On Saturday at New York Comic Con, fans packed into the Javits Center Room 406.1 to hear news about the Skybound’s Energon Universe, which is shared between Transformers, G.I. Joe, and now M.A.S.K.
The panel was moderated by Energon Universe editor Ben Abernathy and featured Void Rivals artist Conner Hughes; Transformers artists Jorge Corona and Dan Mora; G.I. Joe artist Tom Reilly; G.I. Joe writer Joshua Williamson; and Transformers writer Robert Kirkman. 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 of the reception to Transformers #25, the first issue of his run as writer. Kirkman responded, “Quite a relief. Daniel Warren Johnson is a tough act to follow. I adored his run.”
Mora, whose first issue of Transformers was also #25, added, “I was scared when I was starting because of the amazing work everyone was doing on the franchise.”
Getting Mora on the book was not easy feat. Kirkman explained, “I contacted Dan a couple of times. I’m a huge fan. I buy every single book that he does. Some of which are written by this guy,” pointing to Williamson, “which I’ll tolerate to get the Dan Mora art. Dan was the thing that pushed me over the edge to take this book on.”
Mora said that his love of Transformers started in his childhood, and extended to today: “I have a bunch of toys. I have 10 different Optimus Primes and five different Megatrons.” Because he loved the franchise so much, he signed onto the book, adding, “It’s something I wanted to have when I look back on my career.”
Hearing those numbers from Mora, Kirkman jokingly yelled, “Those are bush league numbers man!”
Corona looked back on his time on Transformers, saying “I loved being part of this. I was terrified when I started with issue #7, but I loved the universe being created in these books.”
Kirkman immediately asked him, “Who’s better? Compare my 12 pages to his 12-18 issues?”
Corona responded, “Robert, I love your script, but I know I can draw it better than you,” adding that he would often think why is he being asked to draw Johnson’s scripts, when Johnson himself could draw them so much better. Corona also said, “Getting to do the 12 pages of #25 was very bittersweet.”
Talking about who fans can expect on his Transformers run, the usually tight lipped about spoilers Kirkman said, “Mirage is one of the OG G1 guys from the very beginning, and I want to get as many of them in as possible early on. Oops, I may have just spoiled something.”
While showing a slide with the Autobot Bulkhead, Kirkman explained that he used to watch Tranformers: The Animated Series with his son, and wanted to bring that character into the Energon Universe.
Mora added, “I knew Bulkhead from the aboard show, which I watched as a kid.” To which Kirkman also said, “Hopefully they’ll make a toy.”
Showing a panel from #25 with Miles Mayhem of M.A.S.K., Kirkman said, “There’s a lot more to reveal about this guy. You get this great moment that Dan did, of Miles Mayhem and Optimus Prime sharing a look with each other.”
Kirkman also revealed that Brawn returns in issue #27. Talking about Brawn, he said, “I like the different scales of the Transformers and want to get some of the smaller ones in there.”
If there’s one Transformer Mora doesn’t like drawing, it’s Ultra Magnus, which he revealed in a roundtable interview before the panel. Ribbing on this, Kirkman coyly asked, “Hey Dan, how much do you enjoy drawing Ultra Magnus in fight scenes?” To which Mora deadpanned, “I hate it.”
Kirkman surprised everyone in the audience showing off an action figure of Optimus Prime with Megatron’s cannon arm, taken directly from the Energon Universe.
Kirkman said, “This is amazing. This is our Optimus Prime introduced in issue #4, when he got the Megatron arm. It will be 7.25”, leader scale, $59.99, on the shelf in Fall 2026. It’s absolutely lovely. You’re going to need this in your home.” He added, “This is an amazing moment seeing the Skybound comics come to life in toy form.”
The panel then shifted to G.I. Joe. Writer Williamson filled the room in on the upcoming Dreadnok War storyline.
Williamson said, “They’re coming back for revenge. The only one who can save Cobra Commander is Duke, and they’re headed on on a Mad Max style adventure.”
In regards to character design, G.I. Joe artist Tom Reilly said, “I stuck to the original designs for the Dreadnoks.”
Williamson added, “We created a bunch of new dreadnoks just to kill them.”
To which Tom Reilly joked, “I get to blow them all up. It’s very cathartic.”
A slide showed off designs for Road Pig.
Williamson revealed, “I originally wanted Road Pig in the Cobra Commander book. It didn’t work out. Part of this story is how he joins the Dreadnoks. It’s brutal. His introduction is scary.”
Reilly added, “I didn’t think they’d approve and they did.”
Williamson drove the point home with, “That hammer made of a cinder block? You get to see someone take that to the face.”
Showing off a cover of The Dreadnok War featuring both Cobra Commander and Duke, Williamson commented, “I wanted this cover for so long. We haven’t seen them together since issue 6.”
Templesmith revealed that Roadblock joins the Joe team in issue 18. Williamson said, “I’m a big Roadblock fan. It’s a fun issue with him. Cobra tries to recruit him first.” Roadblock will be joining Night Force, helmed by Flint and Lady Jaye.
Williamson added, “Duke doesn’t know that Hawk is building a second G.I. Joe team. When he finds out, he’s not happy about it.”
Williamson got into Duke’s mind when it comes to the Transformers. The writer said, “Duke hates the giant robots, as he calls them. He doesn’t know the Autobots. He doesn’t know the Decepticons. He only knows a giant robot killed his best friend. He wants to kill all the giant robots he can.”
Kirkman then yelled out, “Come to the Energon universe panel and you don’t need to read the books!”
The talk then turned to art. Reilly revealed he has a friendly competition between himself and Andrea Milana. They each try to outdo each other, adding more and more characters to their pages.
Reilly said he loves Milana’s art and added, “It’s good to be part of this stable of top talent.”
What’s next for Cobra-La? Williamson joked, “I’m not allowed to talk any more.” Kirkman then said, “Cobra-La is the glue that holds the Energon Universe together,” and then offered to wrestle anyone who doesn’t love Cobra-La.
The panel then turned to Void Rivals, also written by Kirkman. He’s really excited for The Quintesson War, saying, “It’s going to be so great. It’s a huge huge event. They have their eyes on the Sacred Ring. They’re coming to wreck ship. They’re going to get a lot of Sharkticon action. if you’ve been reading Void Rivals, this is going to shake things up!”
Kirkman turned to the Hasbro reps in the front row and asked, “When am I getting my Skuxxoid toy?” He loves Skuxxoid.
Talking about a page showing dismembered Skuxxoids, Connor Hughes said, “I love drawing fetus like characters.”
Kirkman added, “Those are the best 3 dimensional chunks I’ve seen on the page.” He then joked, “I’m here to announce Skuxsoid is going to be the 4th ongoing title in the Energon universe. I love that weird alien pig.”
Speaking of the pathos of Skuxxoid, Hughes said, “It hits hard that he lost his family that he never really had.”
When I asked how far they have ideas planned out in the Energon Universe, Willamson said, “Many, many years.”
Kirkman agreed. He loves writing the Energon Universe, adding “It’s the greatest thing I’ve done in comics.”
An audience member dressed as Bumblebee asked when we’re going to see Bumblebee’s return, to which Abernathy responded, “You will see his body now and again the background.” Poor Bumblebee!
Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage from NYCC ’25.
