Void Rivals #2 Second Print

Void Rivals (Single Issues)

by Robert Kirkman, Matheus Lopes Lorenzo De Felici (illustrator)

Cover by Jason Howard. ROBERT KIRKMAN & LORENZO DE FELICI's new shared universe continues here! After the jaw-dropping reveal in the debut issue, everything Darak and Solila thought they knew about the Sacred Ring's never-ending war has changed. To deliver the truth back home, they must first get off this deadly planet-by any means necessary.

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels

28 pages, Comic

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.

Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.

In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teil 2 der Void Rivals Serie, es gibt Hintergründe zu den zwei "Rassen" bzw. Glaubensrichtungen der rivalisierenden Gruppen, der beiden Protagonisten aus Teil 1.
Weiterhin sehr gutes Universe, welches mich schon jetzt gepackt hat

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirkman’s approach to this Universe is very slow, very different, and I feel like I’m up for it. It’s definitely hyping up levels of intrigue.

[Cybernex007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

We start the next issue with a majorly cool introduction to the world as we get a glimpse of Darak’s home…the sacred ring. A giant typical space ring where people live and maintain an ecosystem…except there is a giant black hole in the middle!! How does that work? We find Darak moments before the mission where he will ultimately end up on the uncharted planet with Solila. He finds out they have intel that the Zertonian’s are rationing water and a comet made of ice will be coming nearby which they will be desperate for. Darak’s mission is to capture the ice comet for themselves to prevent the Zertonian’s from using it and allowing them to maintain superiority and oppression. As it turns out, Darak is the son of a pretty powerful minister, who is waiting to talk to him before he launched. Typical dad prep talk, basically don’t come back if you aren’t successful and you have a reputation to uphold…well, maybe not a typical pep talk. Definitely some issues there. The Zertonian’s had an advance on information when it came to the comet but Darak was warned about a rival being sent out at the same time. On an interesting note, when it comes to pilots leaving the sacred ring, they medically go under until they pass the event horizon, allowing the handroid’s to wake them up when it is safe. The launch went as normal, but the moment the ship cleared the event horizon and the handroid began to revive Darak…he didn’t wake up and the handroid immediately grew concerned. A voice entered Darak’s mind, it showed him a brief look at their history. I can help but think back to Kirby’s introduction to fourth world as it shows off two worlds in an unending war but united by a dying sun. The two civilization spent generations working together to build the sacred ring to give both of their species a chance to come together and live. The peace maintained to create the ring but wouldn’t last and now the two civilizations, now physically linked together by the ring, have been warring for centuries. History and truth has been lost and all that remains is conflict. Darak was shown the people of the two different civilizations with their different cultures and values but united by fear and hate of the other as they fight over dwindling resources. The voice tells Darak that things are only growing darker and in order to survive the two civilizations must come together or risk perishing together. Suddenly Darak wakes up just in time for Handroid to warn him of the encounter with the comet and ultimately what led him to getting slingshotted with Solila. This was the fusion that Darak saw and is now describing to her, he described the voice as artificial but also organic. Solila claims it is the voice of Zerta, who speaks true to those willing to listen. He doesn’t believe in Agorrian myths, but whether or not he dies he has received the gift of truth and has now given it to Solila. Both of their kind are committed to a war built on lies and they seem to be the only two in the universe who realize it, there is no telling how deep this goes on both sides and it will be for nothing if they don’t survive.

So now it’s time to really get to work at repairing and re-configuring Darak’s ship to get them out of there using the circuitry from their helmets. They only have one working thruster so they have to strip the ship down to only have the thruster, basic life support, and the one cockpit they will have to squeeze into. It takes them 20 days and the end result is not pretty, but it’s better to die trying to escape than starving to death on this planet. I have to wonder if their species can go longer without food or water or if the days are way shorter cycles to them. Solila still feels guilty, she trained her entire life to kill Agorrians and their water reserves are nearly spent. Her people could be doomed and she is too busy trying to save her like and Darak’s. Darak reassures her she is not, hell there is still a low chance they even get out of here without that ship blowing them up with the best case scenario being they get out and starve on the rocket instead of the rock. Ha, that finally gets Solila and the two load up. They are able to launch and even get into space, and immediately start to send out a signal for help, even if it means blasting it into all the darkest corners of space for anything to pick up in. Handroid estimates that they will reach the sacred ring in 12.4 years, or it will take roughly 8 days for the signal to reach the sacred ring and another 3-7 for them to notice and dispatch a ship to get them. But suddenly something pops up on their radar moving towards them fast. It appears to be an asteroid…but it’s following them. Suddenly the asteroid gets close to reveal a scavenger ship using the asteroid as a disguise. Solila immediately prepares her spear for combat, making Darak question if that is the right approach as they could be friendly…for once the handroid agrees with the Zertonian that they should be ready for a fight. They step out of their ship and walk through the near empty ship, Solila compliments how interesting it is that the technology is melded with the asteroid. Suddenly a voice booms out that he can accept that compliment and that they now need to surrender as they have bee claimed by Skuxxoid. They look over to see a large anthropomorphic pig/snake like creature wearing what appears to be a chastity cage and pointing a laser gun at them. Fun stuff in this big universe, lol.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Void Rivals continues with no apparently concrete direction, but I'm interested to see where the adventure takes us. There are no Cybertronians in this issue, which makes me think Transformers crossover will be limited, but the issue also ends with the appearance of a Skuxxoid, which is apparently a race from the G1 cartoon. So we'll see how that plays out.

We get a bit more drama about Darak and his backstory. Less so for Solila. I assume we'll get to her later. A bit more backstory for the Sacred Ring and the relationship between the heroes' respective worlds as well, but nothing like an infodump. The way Kirkman is writing it, I don't get the sense that the "lore" is meant to be as significant as the "journey" and/or the artwork, so I'm not too bothered by how little information we have so far. But also that might be considered a negative statement, so idk.

Looks like Midtown Comics, from whom I've started buying other things, do not have Issues #3 and 4, which is annoying.

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rivalry between the faction the first two main characters have seems like a microcosm of the Transformer schism between Autobots and Decepticons. Maybe not a direct copy, but a poetic echo of it.

Anyway, both main characters are interesting, but the robot hand / digital assistant is far behind with its own personality.

The last page reveal is also Transformers related. The author is building up the hype for a new book coming out of his publisher.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

No major surprises this issue, but backstory on the male pilot and his rift with his father. The two enemies work together to get a working ship off the planet, but the literal frying pan to fire occurs by stories end.
Neat space opera continues in this fresh sci-fi series.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little further

I like it, some side quests along the way, but we'll get there eventually. Setting up the world is I treating and let's see how it ties into the greater energon universe.

[Howell Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covering vols. 1 and 2. This seemed like a promising story at first, but eventually you find out its in the Transformers universe and they are part of the plot. Really? Kirkman could’t do better than that? What a waste!

[Brian J. Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great continuation

Another great surprise cameo! But more importantly... New original main characters I actually care about. Great writing, beautiful art... Highly recommended storytelling.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

solid 2nd issue

This is a fun new comic and the 2nd issue was well done. Can’t wait to see how transformers and GI Joe fit into all this.

[Katy Morrical · Rating 3 out of 5]

These little snippets are such an annoying tease...lol. I am so ready for a trade paperback!!

[Clay Fernald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Energon Universe

Off to a great start! Loving Void Rivals and how it will be it’s own story! Transformers and G.I. Joe crossovers coming!

[Josh Beasley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pacing is good, characters are developing, story seems interesting so far. Art is fine, not my favorite.

[Dennis Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this so far... 4/5

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

On ajoute de la chair autour de l’os avec un peu d’info du backstory de Darak.

“A dying sun. Two warring civilizations must come together… or perish appart.” •§₽33

[Jose Granados · Rating 4 out of 5]

Segundo número muy suave, se conoce más sobre las 2 razas pero se desconoce por qué se odian , si sólo es por creencias, y sufren un posible destino ambas razas

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5