Warning! Spoilers for Void Rivals #1 ahead!Void Rivals #1 shocked the world by revealing it is set in an all-new Transformers continuity, and the ’Bot whose appearance establishes this new universe couldn’t be more perfect. Although ultimately a cameo, the appearance of Jetfire promises to have major repercussions for the newly-formed “Energon Universe.”
Coming from the creative team of Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici, Matheus Lopes and Rus Wooten, Void Rivals #1 introduces readers to the Sacred Ring, where the last remnants of two worlds are caught up in a lengthy war around a collapsed black hole. Two pilots from each world, Darak and Solila, are stranded on a distant moon following a space battle, ultimately putting aside their differences to work together and save themselves. That’s when they come across an ancient spacecraft that looks like a jet fighter, which ultimately transforms into a giant robot. And according to an interview with Robert Kirkman on CBR, there is a very specific reason the Autobot Jetfire was chosen as the first Transformer in this universe:
“It dovetails into Jetfire's introduction in the old animated series, where he was lost in the ice and was from a pre-war Cybertron before the Decepticons and Autobots had formed his factions. So we're kind of adapting that story. Instead of him being lost in the ice on Earth, he was lost on this planet, but it's going to dovetail into the Transformers in some interesting ways.”
Jetfire's Debut In Void Rivals Sets Up a New Universe
Kirkman goes on to elaborate further on Jetfire’s inclusion, and why he’s the perfect character to reintroduce this new Energon Universe: “I love that perspective of the character that re a bygone era of Cybertron before the conflict arose, and I love his innocence from that story.” Introducing the character in such a way also gives the subsequent Transformers story its own narrative thrust, as it will lead to Jetfire “seeking out other Transformers, and it's possible that those Transformers are asleep under a volcano on Earth.”
Jetfire’s Allegiance Is a Mystery In This New Continuity
Jetfire’s legacy in the Transformers franchise is rather complicated, going back to his introduction in the classic toy line in 1984. That action figure was actually a redesign of the famous Mactoss Valkyrie, which caused licensing problems when Mactoss was brought over to the United States as Robotech. The character was redesigned for the cartoon and renamed “Skyfire” as a result, although later incarnations saw him return to the classic “Jetfire” moniker. One aspect of the character that usually remains constant throughout all the different continuities is that he is an ex-Decepticon who defects to the Autobots after becoming disgusted with Megatron’s methods.
However things play out from here remains to be seen, but for right now, there's no better character to reintroduce the Transformers than Jetfire.
Void Rivals #1 is on sale now from Image Comics
Source: CBR
