Void Rivals has better things to do tonight than die!
It does and it continues here with issue # 12! Void Rivals is Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici’s sci-fi comic that tells the tale of two crumbling planets linked by a “Sacred Ring” (it’s not Halo), their peoples at war for generations. When a member of each culture are stranded together, the two find they must put aside their differences if they want to survive. This story takes place in the so-called “Energon Universe”, Skybound Entertainment’s initiative to relaunch properties like Transformers and G.I. Joe within a shared universe that also happens to include the original characters and setting of Void Rivals.
In this twelfth issue, Darak and Solila reach a crossroads as they find their paths must now diverge. Who gets the giant green sword-wielding robot in the separation? We also check in with all our other players, including Skuxxoid and Proximus as the second arc comes to a close.
We’ve reached the second trade cut-off point, huh?
Yeah, the action briefly comes to a rest as the story prepares to go in another direction. Our two main characters realize that the only way forward is apart, with the conspiracy threatening both their worlds being too far-spanning to be approached from the same angle. Darak and Solila are the driving force of this book (well, ideally) so breaking them up again is a calculated risk on Kirkman’s part.
Kirkman also takes the time to re-orient all the other supporting characters in play, with the aforementioned Skuxxoid and Proximus each getting interesting little scenes of their own. I particularly liked Proximus’ scene, which “humanized” him a bit more. I can see him becoming the cool anti-hero/rogue of this story as it continues on.
What of the ENERGON UNIVERSE, as in TRANSFORMERS??
Like I said, Springer seems to be sticking around, and the Skuxxoid subplot introduces yet another Sunbow cartoon character into the mix. The cliffhanger of the issue and this second arc altogether is a rather chilling hint of things to come. Is it Transformers-related? Hard to say right now, but the obvious place people’s mind will go to is certainly a Transformers destination… or character.
So cube?
A strong, if light on actual plot progression, close to the second arc. The character development and world-building make up for the loss of momentum in whatever case. This is more a setup for the future of this title, and it succeeds in adding more intrigue for the future. Again, I’m sure this will read better in trade format, as does most of Kirkman’s output, but I was pretty satisfied with this wrap-up.
Buy Void Rivals # 12 this week, because across the void of space… IT HEARS.
