A few months ago, I blogged about the goofy fan theories that certain TV shows aren’t really over when their last episode airs, that the studios might be holding back a “secret” final episode. This was – and is – an idiotic supposition, because the world of entertainment in the modern age is utterly averse to surprising their audience in any conceivable way. Movie trailers guard no secrets, casting announcements clue us in to what could have been surprise character reveals YEARS before a TV show is released…it’s irritating as hell. But this week gave me a nice reminder that there is, thankfully, one exception to that rule, and his name is Robert Kirkman. This week, Kirkman did something vile, insidious, and totally cruel to his fans…and we love him for it.

Here’s a crash course for anybody who doesn’t know the name. Robert Kirkman is a comic book writer who came to mainstream prominence when his two most successful comic books were made into television shows, those being the hit zombie series The Walking Dead and the animated superhero show Invincible. Kirkman has since blown up from being a mere writer to being a serious player in the entertainment world, with those two properties still making waves and lots of other things in the works. He still writes comics, but he also manages his own studio, Skybound Entertainment, which produces (through Image Comics) not only his own work, but works of other creators and a host of licensed comics as well. 

Kirkman is one of the few people left in the world of entertainment who actually seems to value surprising his audience, as he has done several times. When issue 193 of The Walking Dead comic book came out, fans were stunned to realize that – unannounced – it was an extra-length issue. We were even MORE surprised when we reached the end and found the announcement that it was the LAST issue. Unlike most comics (or TV shows, for that matter) that make a big deal out of their finale, announcing it well ahead of time to build up hype, Kirkman floored all of us by not telling us the biggest thing in comics was ending. He even had released fake solicitations and covers for issues 194 and 195, knowing perfectly well that those issues would never be published, just to throw us off the scent. It was a zombie story, after all, and just like in a zombie story anyone can die at any time, the same was true for the series. 

This wouldn’t be the last time Kirkman did something like this. In 2020, while everybody was having an existential crisis in the midst of the pandemic, Kirkman decided he was going to have a little fun. Without warning he dropped issue 17 of a comic book called Solid Blood. This was surprising for a few reasons. Not only was it totally unannounced, but the previous 16 issues of the series did not exist. This was a reimagining of the character who eventually became Michonne of The Walking Dead, played up as if she’d been in a science fiction series that had been running for a few years. It was weird and wild, and it came at a time when weird and wild was particularly appreciated.

In 2023, Kirkman pulled off perhaps his biggest surprise coup when he announced a new ongoing science fiction series called Void Rivals. Even though I hadn’t ordered it, when the first issue dropped the manager at my local comic shop (BSI Comics in Metairie, Louisiana, and they deserve the shout out) reserved one for me because he knew I’d want it when the big secret of the book became public, which is another reason it’s important to find a good comic shop with a great staff. Void Rivals was a sort of space opera, with two protagonists from warring races trying to overcome the biases of their respective cultures. Interesting, but nothing world-changing.

Until the last few pages, when the two of them suddenly stumbled upon an enormous robot with a very familiar red symbol on his chest: it was Jetfire the Autobot. It was a Transformer. And Void Rivals, the text at the end of the comic book announced, was actually the beginning of a new publishing initiative Kirkman was calling the Energon Universe. It was part of a shared universe with rebooted versions of the Transformers and G.I. Joe, both of which launched new ongoing comics within the next year. The three titles (and assorted miniseries and one-shots) share a universe, and although each can be read on their own, reading all of them paints a more satisfying, complete picture of the universe. This wasn’t the first time that Hasbro, the toy company that owns the two franchises, had attempted to create a shared universe among their properties, but it has by far been the most successful. The Energon titles have become a sales juggernaut and are driving people into comics shops who haven’t read comics in years, decades, or in some cases, EVER. And plans are in the works for an animated series based on this universe, which will presumably incorporate all three titles, and more.

Yes, more, because Transformers and G.I. Joe are not the only two toy lines Hasbro owns, and speculation began running rampant about which other Hasbro properties could potentially become part of the Energon Universe. And Kirkman did what Kirkman does better than anybody: he lied. He told us that there were no plans to add any of the other Hasbro lines. But then some of the books, specifically G.I. Joe, began to incorporate characters from Hasbro’s M.A.S.K. series. This wasn’t a huge surprise – M.A.S.K. (although never AS popular as G.I. Joe or the Transformers) has a pretty large following, and there have even been efforts in the past to reboot the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand as a subgroup of the G.I. Joe team, so nobody was TOO shocked when it was announced that M.A.S.K. would join the Energon Universe in June as the fourth series.

This Wednesday, M.A.S.K. #1 came out, and it took part in a current comic book practice that, frankly, I kinda hate. They released it “Blind Bagged,” in sealed plastic, so that you don’t know which cover of the book you’re getting until you open it up. I’m not a huge fan of variant covers in the first place, so I just asked the friendly folks at BSI to put aside the standard, non-bagged cover for me. Alas, do I kind of regret that now. Because the Blind Bags, in addition to having M.A.S.K. #1, ALSO have one of three randomly-inserted BONUS comics in them. Some comics come with an early printing of M.A.S.K. #2. No big deal – I can wait for that issue to come out, since I’ve already got it ordered. Others came with a one-off book called M.A.S.K. Origins, which apparently collects all of the M.A.S.K.-related scenes from the previous Energon titles, for those who like to keep score. Neat, but I’ve already read all of those books, so it’s not really necessary.

But the third book. Oh, the third book. Robert Kirkman, you magnificent son of a bitch.

The third book you might randomly pull in a blind bag is ROM #1.

ROM is – like G.I. Joe and the Transformers – a toy line that was fleshed out in the 80s by a Marvel comic book series. UNlike G.I. Joe and the Transformers, the ROM toy line kind of fell flat and ended rather quickly. The comic book, however, was a smash hit, outlasting the toys by several years and still being a favorite of a lot of readers today. Unlike M.A.S.K., there had been no indication that ROM would be added to the Energon Universe, making this issue the biggest surprise since Jetfire showed up in Void Rivals #1.

Now, this is not to say I’m thrilled about how this came about. Making the book a blind bag exclusive is certainly going to drive up sales – but odds are most comic shops are ALREADY sold out of these by the time you read this. Copies of the issue are going for $50 on eBay and, much as I would like it, I have absolutely no intention of buying it for that price. (And if my wife is reading this thinking about Father’s Day, I am begging her NOT to spend that much money on this particular book.) If you’re the sort of person who, like me, just wants to READ all of the books in the Energon Universe, it’s somewhat frustrating to know this one is floating out there somewhat out of reach. As of this writing, Kirkman hasn’t announced any plans to reprint the book for a wider audience (although one would think it’d be foolish not to), nor has he said if there will be further issues of ROM, although he says that the character’s story is going to continue in the pages of Void Rivals. 

I’m hoping that there WILL be SOME edition of this book that I can get at a reasonable price sooner rather than later.

But even if there isn’t, I find I have to admire Kirkman’s desire to use surprise to create an event. He could have told people ahead of time that ROM was coming back. He could even have teased that it would be found ONLY in Blind Bagged copies of M.A.S.K. #1. But doing it the way he did got people talking in a way that no other announcement could have done. 

So now the question is, what’s next for the Energon Universe? There are still plenty of other Hasbro properties that could potentially show up. Another less-remembered toy line, Visionaries, has had its home planet of Prysmos name-dropped in an Energon book – is that a hint that those characters may turn up next? How about the fan-favorite Micronauts (like ROM, a well-regarded series better remembered for its comic book than the toy line), or the U.K.’s G.I. Joe-equivalent Action Man, both of which were part of previous efforts at a Hasbro universe? Honestly, at this point ANY toy line owned by Hasbro feels like it could potentially show up, from Battle Beasts to Jem and the Holograms. (And the only reason I’m not including My Little Pony or Dungeons and Dragons as possibilities is because, at the moment, both of those are licensed to other comic book publishers.)

And it’s not like Energon is the only trick Kirkman has up his sleeve, either. He’s publishing a pair of Invincible spin-offs right now and has a new superhero comic book called Terminal dropping in a few months. What surprises could await us there? Furthermore, his Skybound Entertainment also publishes licensed comics with properties as diverse as Creepshow, LEGO, and the Universal Monsters, and at this point I don’t know what to expect next from ANY of them.

This is why I admire Kirkman. Not because he’s a good writer, although he is that. Not because he’s a good businessman, although he has proven himself quite adept there as well. But because he actually has cultivated an environment in which even someone like me, who reads most of the stuff he produces, can be surprised at ANY MOMENT. That’s exciting. That’s thrilling. That’s the sort of thing that’s got me wondering if I should call up BSI and tell them to put aside a Blind Bag of Terminal #1, if they’re going to do that this time.

Because I don’t know what’s coming next.

And in a world where every movie trailer gives away the whole plot and comic book publishers are announcing the aftermath of their major crossover events before the major crossover event even begins (lookin’ at YOU, Marvel, with your Avengers: Armageddon series), the idea that there’s SOMEBODY out there who finds value in keeping his audience on their toes is actually pretty joyful. 

Blake M. Petit is a writer, teacher, and dad from Ama, Louisiana. His most recent writing project is the superhero adventure series Other People’s Heroes: Little Stars, volume one of which is now available on Amazon. He’s also started putting his LitReel videos on TikTok. Seriously, Erin, get off eBay. $50 is too much.