Energon Universe goes to war. Paul Levitz writing Marvel history book. Amalgam Age Spider-Boy facsimile coming.
SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, APPLE, SPOTIFY, OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON BLUESKY, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.
Powered by RedCircle
Episode Transcript:
Energon Universe goes to war.
Paul Levitz writing Marvel history book.
Spider-Boy gets a facsimile edition.
This is Comic Book Club News for August 5, 2025.
Energon Universe Goes To War:
Are you ready for all-out war in the Energon Universe? Because The Dreadnok War is heading to G.I. Joe, and The Quintesson War takes over Void Rivals. Meanwhile, Transformers is just gonna have regular ol’ war.
As announced at Skybound’s Energon Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, G.I. Joe will be going bi-weekly for three months The Dreadnok War, which will find G.I. Joe and Cobra teaming up starting in G.I. Joe #13. That’ll be written by Joshua Williamson, and feature art by Tom Reilly.
Void Rivals, meanwhile, will kick off the story it’s all been leading up to with the eight-part Quintesson War, written by Robert Kirkman with art by Andrei Bressan. Starting in Void Rivals #25, Skybound promises “an Energon Universe epic like nothing you’ve experienced.”
And last but not least, Daniel Warren Johnson’s final issue of Transformers #24 and Robert Kirkman and Dan Mora’s run starts in Transformers #25, which promises — get this — war between the Autobots and Decepticons.
Transformers #25 releases October 8, Void Rivals #25 on November 26, and G.I. Joe #13 on a TBA date.
Paul Levitz Writing Marvel History Book:
Paul Levitz, a man probably best known for his work at DC, is writing a book on Marvel’s history, tentatively titled Marvel Explodes. But don’t worry, it’s the good kind of explosion.
Per Bleeding Cool, Levitz announced the book at his San Diego Comic-Con panel, where Levitz explained this was sort of a throwback to his fanzine days, aka where he started in the industry. The book will cover Marvel’s history from 1967 through 1975, meaning the time when Marvel became a cultural force — hence “explodes” — and Levitz has been calling up friends like Gerry Conway to understand what was going on behind the scenes of Marvel at the time.
Explained Levitz, “It doesn’t focus on the characters, it’s not about how the stories at Marvel changed at that time, it’s about how the function of Marvel changed, about the business, and how the old world of the newsstand worked, how sales reports affected things.”
There’s no release date for the book as Levitz has just started piecing it together, but it will eventually be published as part of Bloomsbury’s Age of Marvel Comics series.
Spider-Boy Facsimile Edition Coming:
The DC Versus Marvel omnibuses released last year have been enormous hits, and it seems likely the upcoming Deadpool/Batman #1 and Batman/Deadpool #1 will do the same. So Marvel is keeping the hype train rolling with Spider-Boy #1 Facsimile Edition, reprinting the classic issue from the Amalgam crossover.
Written by Karl Kesel with art by Mike Wieringo, the one-shot was first published in 1996 by Amalgam Comics, a joint imprint from Marvel and DC that jammed together heroes…. In this case, Spider-Man and Superboy. The issue, per usual for facsimiles, will be represented in its original form, with ads and all.
Will this be the first of many facsimile editions? And will they all be published by Marvel, or will DC get in on the action too? Only time — and sales — will tell.
Spider-Boy #1 Facsimile Edition will hit stores on October 1.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And I can’t wait to check out the Chef Boyardee Spider-Man pasta ad in the Spider-Boy facsimile, that’s my favorite.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
For more comic book news, reviews, and interviews, check out comicbookclublive.com.
Listen early and ad-free on Patreon.com/comicbookclub.
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.