The Decepticons attack in a new teaser for Transformers #1

The Decepticon line-up for Transformers #1.
(Image credit: Skybound)

Last week Skybound revealed the lineup of Autobots that will feature in Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer's forthcoming Transformers title. Now, the publisher has revealed which of the villainous Decepticons will be facing off against them, once again teasing them out daily on the publisher's Twitter account

As with the Autobots, the line-up has a distinctly old school - or G1 in Transformers parlance - flavor. Leading the forces of evil will be classic baddie and Decepticon Air Commander, Starscream. He's followed by comms officer Soundwave, infiltrator Laserbeak, demolitions expert Rumble and Skywarp, who was announced today.

Skywarp is an especially notable addition to the comic, with Johnson naming the "loveable dummy" in an interview with ComicPop Returns yesterday as his favorite Decepticon. In case you were wondering, Optimus Prime is his favorite Autobot.

Promo art for Transformers #1.

(Image credit: Skybound)

In the same interview Johnson revealed that he considers 1986's classic Transformers: The Movie as his "visual bible" for the new Skybound series, his general dislike for the Michael Bay movie series, and that the comic will be a fresh start with no connection to the continuity of IDW's previous comics, though it does, of course, tie-in with the recently launched Void Rivals and the upcoming range of G.I. Joe titles.

We're still a little way off the publication of the first issue, but Skybound's preview copy for the first issue reads:

"Optimus Prime was supposed to have led the Autobots to victory. Instead, the fate of Cybertron is unknown, and his allies have crash-landed far from home, alongside their enemies - the Decepticons. As these titanic forces renew their war on Earth, one thing is immediately clear: the planet will never be the same. New alliances are struck. Battle lines are redrawn. And humanity’s only hope for survival is Optimus Prime."

Transformers #1 is published by Skybound on October 4, 2023.


Check out our in-depth interview with Robert Kirkman about Transformers, Void Rivals, G.I. Joe, and the new Energon Universe.

Will Salmon
Comics Editor

Will Salmon is the Comics Editor for GamesRadar/Newsarama. He has been writing about comics, film, TV, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he has previously launched scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for over a decade. He sometimes feels very old, like Guy Pearce in Prometheus. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places and he runs the micro-label Modern Aviation, which puts out experimental music on cassette tape.