Autobots, roll out! Skybound has announced the full team line up of Cybertronian heroes that will be fighting for the forces of good in their forthcoming Transformers #1.
Initially teased over social media, the publisher has now confirmed that the initial line up of Autobots will be led by Optimus Prime, and also include Ratchet, Cliffjumper, Arcee, and Wheeljack.
All five of the Autobot characters are G1 (Generation 1) Transformers, created for the original toy line between 1984 and 1993, and featured in the classic animated series. They were all onboard the Cybertronian ark which crash landed on Earth some four million years in the past.
Intriguingly, Jetfire, who appears in Robert Kirkman's ongoing series Void Rivals, does not appear to be in the new Transformers comic, suggesting that character may remain a part of Kirkman's comic.
Skybound's blurb for the new issue reads:
"Optimus Prime was supposed to have led the Autobots to victory. Instead, the fate of Cybertron is unknown, and his allies have crash-landed far from home, alongside their enemies - the Decepticons. As these titanic forces renew their war on Earth, one thing is immediately clear: the planet will never be the same. New alliances are struck. Battle lines are redrawn. And humanity’s only hope for survival is Optimus Prime."
Daniel Warren Johnson is both writing and drawing the new comic for Skybound, which is the next launch in the company's freshly minted Energon Universe. The shared setting will continue with a plethora of G.I. Joe-related titles, including no less than four spinoff books, as well as the relaunched G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series written by Larry Hama.
The line-up of evil Decepticons will be revealed over the course of this week on Skybound's Twitter.
Transformers #1 is published by Skybound on October 4, 2023.
Find out more about the shared Energon Universe in our exclusive interview with Robert Kirkman.
