Robert Kirkman is a writer known for making gut-wrenching choices and killing off characters at a moment’s notice. Truly nobody is safe when you’re reading a Kirkman comic. So I should have expected at some point we’d suffer a surprising loss in Skybound’s Energon Universe title Void Rivals. But nothing prepared me for Void Rivals #16 which — spoilers past this point — kills the icon of millions, Skuxxoid.
In the issue, our beloved family man Skuxxoid is standing up to Pythona and the forces of Cobra-La in space. While he surprisingly holds his own against the deadly soldiers, the fight ends with Skuxxoid sliced in half, lying bleeding on the floor. Sure we’re in a world where robots are in disguise and whatnot, but it’s a sad, ignominious end for the character. Yes, we got to see him kick butt — but Skuxxoid’s death ends one of the funniest running jokes in comics.
If you haven’t been reading Void Rivals, Skuxxoid is a trader traveling from planet to planet, selling wares, and being heavily depressed while he does. Most issues randomly cut in on Skuxxoid for one or two pages, like he’s the intergalactic Charlie Brown, always lamenting how much his life is meaningless and/or he missed his family. In the middle of a book that has a lot going on, Skuxxoid was a nice organizing point… Even if you weren’t gibing with the rest of the issue, the Skuxxoid interlude was always laugh out loud funny.
Now, that’s done. While there are other big moves in this issue, including an end reveal that once again ties this book back to Transformers, plus de Felici’s always excellent art, it’s a bit of a bummer that this otherwise pretty serious comic book will miss a bright, humorous spot in the middle. Hey, maybe that is true to the spirit of Skuxxoid, after all.
Void Rivals #16 Rating:
Void Rivals #16 Official Synopsis:
SKUXXOID vs. PYTHONA! The battle you didn’t know you wanted!
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