Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman (born November 30, 1978) is an American comic book writer and the co-founder of Skybound Entertainment. He is best known for co-creating and writing the post-apocalyptic horror comic book The Walking Dead, also taking part in its television adaptations and several spin-offs. Outside The Walking Dead, he has also co-created such titles as Invincible, [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Tech Jacket|{{#if:||Tech Jacket}}]] (alongside E. J. Su), and Haunt, and has worked on [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Ultimate X-Men|{{#if:||Ultimate X-Men}}]] and [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Marvel Zombies|{{#if:||Marvel Zombies}}]]. Kirkman even was involved as both producer and story writer of the Nicolas Cage horror-comedy Renfield. In 2008, he became a partner of Image Comics, the first to join since the publisher's formation.
Kirkman is a longtime Transformers fan and was even an attendant at BotCon 2006.<ref>{{#if: And for anyone who questions Robert Kirkman's TF bonafides, we took this at the '07 Louisville BotCon. |"And for anyone who questions Robert Kirkman's TF bonafides, we took this at the '07 Louisville BotCon."—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/chris_ryall/status/601184796513959936 |Chris Ryall|Chris Ryall}}{{#if: |, |}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2015 |, 2015{{#if: 05 |/{{#switch:{{#len:05}}|1=005|05}}{{#if: 20|/{{#switch:{{#len:20}}|1=020|20}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/chris_ryall/status/601184796513959936 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/chris_ryall/status/601184796513959936%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/chris_ryall/status/601184796513959936%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/chris_ryall/status/601184796513959936%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/chris_ryall/status/601184796513959936%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref> Akiva Goldsman hired him to help develop an upcoming film for the expanding Transformers live-action film series. However, he only attended the writers' conference for the series for one day before having to leave due to health issues that led to throat surgery.<ref>Robert Kirkman Reveals He Was Only in the 'Transformers' Writers Room for One Day</ref>
In 2021, Hasbro approached Skybound about developing a new line of Transformers and G.I. Joe comics, leading Kirkman to formulate the concept of the "Energon Universe", a shared universe in which Skybound's output for the properties would reside. Kirkman acts as a "showrunner" for the shared universe, including writing its first entry, Void Rivals,<ref>Skybound Acquires Transformers and G.I. Joe Comic Book License</ref> with him later taking over for Daniel Warren Johnson on Skybound's ongoing Transformers series following his departure in late 2025.<ref>SUPERSTARS ROBERT KIRKMAN AND DAN MORA BEGIN A NEW TRANSFORMERS ERA WITH ISSUE #25</ref>
Writing
[edit]- Void Rivals
- Energon Universe 2024 Special (Void Rivals story)
- Energon Universe 2025 Special (Void Rivals story)
- Transformers (#25-)
Convention appearances (Transformers related)
[edit]Hasbro Pulse livestream appearances
[edit]- July 27, 2024's Exploring Skybound's Energon Universe Comic Books on YouTube, with Jordan Hembrough, Daniel Warren Johnson, Joshua Williamson, Tom Reilly, and Sean Mackiewicz.
Notes
[edit]- Before Dreamwave Productions acquired the license, Kirkman had a Transformers pitch that evolved into Tech Jacket.<ref>{{#if: Fun Doodle. Tech Jacket story was compared to Green Lantern and design compared to Guyver, the truth is, the story was evolved from Transformers comic that Robert Kirkman didn't get to write and my design was inspired by Space Sheriff Sharivan. #art #artshare #sketch #techjacket |"Fun Doodle. Tech Jacket story was compared to Green Lantern and design compared to Guyver, the truth is, the story was evolved from Transformers comic that Robert Kirkman didn't get to write and my design was inspired by Space Sheriff Sharivan. #art #artshare #sketch #techjacket"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401441224205082627 |E. J. Su|E. J. Su}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2021 |, 2021{{#if: 06 |/{{#switch:{{#len:06}}|1=006|06}}{{#if: 06|/{{#switch:{{#len:06}}|1=006|06}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401441224205082627 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401441224205082627%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401441224205082627%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401441224205082627%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401441224205082627%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}
{{#if: Robert Kirkman was going to write Transformers if Dreamwave didn't get the liecense. |"Robert Kirkman was going to write Transformers if Dreamwave didn't get the liecense."—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401553695045689354 |E. J. Su|E. J. Su}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2021 |, 2021{{#if: 06 |/{{#switch:{{#len:06}}|1=006|06}}{{#if: 06|/{{#switch:{{#len:06}}|1=006|06}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401553695045689354 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401553695045689354%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401553695045689354%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401553695045689354%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ejsu28/status/1401553695045689354%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref> - His favorite Transformer is Hot Rod while his favourite combiner is Predaking.
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Robert Kirkman at Bluesky
- Robert Kirkman at IMDb
- Robert Kirkman at Twitter
- [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Robert Kirkman|{{#if:||Robert Kirkman}}]] at Wikipedia
Interviews
[edit]- June 2023—CBR
- June 2023—IGN
- June 2023—Looper
- June 2023—Newsarama
- June 2023—Screen Rant
- June 2023—The Beat
- January 2025—Robservations (with Rob Liefeld)