John Barber and Fico Ossio Talk IDW Revolutionaries

Maybe this won't be quite so bad after all. At least we know that Kup isn't missing out on anything now (I think I read a complaint about that), and there seemed to be a few nods to the fact that the writers understand the general reception of Revolution and are attempting something a bit different. That's how I read it, at least.

Synopsis
THE REVOLUTION MAY BE OVER--but the future is just beginning! Ripped from the pages of the hottest crossover of the year, the REVOLUTION team of John Barber and Fico Ossio continue the action! KUP is a CYBERTRONIAN literally older than the universe; ACTION MAN is the ultimate special agent trying to live up to an impossible legacy; MAYDAY is a G.I. JOE leader trying to rescue her first command; and BLACKROCK is a CYBERTRONIAN that thinks he’s a human. It takes the mind-bending clash of ROM versus MAJOR BLUDD and the OKTOBER GUARD to bring this unlikely team together... and the secret they learn threatens to unravel the entire universe.



Story

Whatever your thoughts on the IDW Hasbro franchise crossover event, Revolution did happen, and we have now entered the phase titled Reconstruction (but not really). The multiple universes now coexist, and a new book in particular emerged from the rubble: Revolutionaries #1.



John Barber takes the helm of this new venture, which feeds off some of the tracks set in pre-Revolution Transformers comics - and the start of the issue clearly shows that, by having its timeline show more TF lore than any other book so far - alongside otherwise series-less Action Man/Ian Noble, and the full return of GI Joe (in some way or another).



Blackrock does mostly steal the spotlight, as we have come to know him in his early days, and after his discovery of his Cybertronian origins - no sass was lost in the transition, no ego was too bruised to recover - and he seems to be working mostly for himself once more; even after the events just happened, the various human factions are not particularly keen to collaborate.



Then enter Kup, and his partnership with young Action Man operative Ian Noble - if GB is the sass, the duo are the other side of the chemistry that keeps the book together. There are witty exchanges, playing on established TF concepts but not too heavily given the new audience, and the story does not bode badly at all for the future of the ongoing.

Art

My apprehensions about the art, especially when it had to do with non-human characters in the Revolution books, seem to have faded a little here, as Fico Ossio brings out some strong work even in Kup and ROM's designs - though Blackrock's features can still throw me a little off at times.



Similarly, Sebastien Cheng's colours still have that glossy finish that works really well as an eye-catching piece of art, but can get in the way of fully enjoying - and potentially understanding - the more crowded scenes. I do feel, however, that it works perfectly in sync with the lineart, and there are no problems in the issue itself!



Tom B. Long has his hands full with the art, too, as had happened before - and the task of keeping who's who clear in a book as busy as this is not an easy one, but he does manage to make it the least cluttered as possible. As for the covers, there are a slew of them, from Tradd Moore/Felipe Sobreiro's main, via TF veterans Andrew Griffith/Thomas Teyowisonte Deer and Sara Pitre Durocher's variants (thumbnailed), plus the usual Paul Pope/Kindzierski, Sonny Liew, then Tone Rodriguez/Jordi scuin and Ossio and Cheng's own take - and the retailer exclusive Jed Dougherty/Jason Millet variant, too. Phew.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

I can't shake the feeling that his book is what Revolution could have been/wanted to be, had it not been dumped into one event, one book, one giant mess of clashing factions within a core story (heavily pivoting on Transformers... and ROM the Space Knight): a monster of the week format with overarching mythology; likeably unlikeable characters; hints and nods to the various fandoms, global scope and scale of casts and settings - though with one major issue...



...more traditional GI Joe fans may not like this new incarnation of their team. And that is fine, obviously, but I'd be interested to hear the opinion of readers with feet more in that than the robot pool of things to confirm my suspicion. Not the redesigns, or retakes on the characters, but how the new dynamics work, and who they're pitted against in the series as a whole. That said, I enjoyed the read, and would suggest giving the book a try!

I liked it I'm excited to see where this goes. It's really cool to see some transformers in other books. As somesone who reads comics as their medium-not just transformers but in everything- I'm loving this shared universe. No different than Superman showing up in batman or captain America showing up in x-men or wolverine showing up in Spider-Man. Looking forward to Kup and Blackrock and I personally think it's awesome to see GI Joe all over the place since that franchise has been dead for past couple years. It's sad when the bulk of the toys coming out are the collectors club figures than actual retail store toys.

I think I'm really going to continue to like the Kup/Action man duo. They are as you said Va'al: A great pairing. And Blackrock is pretty awesome too. The team is a good one with likable characters that we know and ones that can share a pretty good dynamic considering their history.

I'm optimistic for the book

Can someone fill me in on the new status quo with the transformers? Where is Thundercracker hanging out? Did Kup and Action Man meet up in revolution, or one of the one shots?

On another note, I can't say I like Blackrock'so new look. I kind of like the design he had as sovereign in titans return. Does he go by Blackrock or Sovereign now, anyway? I normally buy IDW comics a month later when they're on sale.

^ Thundercracker is on vacation/road tripping with Buster and Marissa Faireborn. Yes, really! It's fun. Josh Boyfriend convinces him to do this in the TF:Rev one shot (figuratively, on that part)

Kup gets captured by MASK in Rev 3, iirc, maybe 2. He's then somewhat accidentally rescued by Action Man in the Action Man:Rev one shot. They keep hanging out because AM thinks it's cool to have a giant robot friend. He's not wrong.

For Revolutionaries, gotta say I enjoyed it overall. I still have some issues with the art, and I wouldn't call this great but it was definitely a good start.

Also, passing mention of something from the Hot Rod and Doubledealer Spotlights? What year is it?

Blackrock goes by... well, Blackrock. Sovereign is essentially a completely different entity dormant within him that Sentinel/Infinitus awakened, but then also Soundwave let Blackrock take over again. I really hope they do something with that rather than it just being something awkwardly shoved in for the toy tie-in.

iTunes once more brings us a comic preview, this time in the form of Revolutionaries #2. Revolutionaries starts right where #1 left off, with Action Man deserted on the Moon with a lot of dead Cobra guys. Check out the preview below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

First with the Lost Light preview teasing us about for someone "big" (literally), now Revolutionaries. For shame.

The third comic out this week with IDW Publishing is part of the wider, braver new world of the Hasbro universe, and includes some of our Transformers characters too - and so we keep up with the stories, to bring you the best content we can where possible. Check out below a preview for tomorrow's Revolutionaries #2, featuring Kup, Action Man, Blackrock, and the rest of the gang!

Revolutionaries #2
John Barber (w) • Fico Ossio (a) • Tradd Moore (c)
ENTER THE SHADOW! One of the REVOLUTIONARIES is missing—and when his teammates launch a rescue mission, they get a little help... from the 4"-tall other-dimensional MICRONAUTS! Together they'll have to face the swords of the all-new, all-different STORM SHADOW—and she's not taking prisoners!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Enter the all-new, all-different STORM SHADOW!
The secrets of the Hasbro universe are revealed here!
Variant cover by Andrew Griffith!

In other IDW Revolutionaries news today, we have a variant cover for the third issue of the new Hasbro universe series with our pals Micronauts, Kup, Blackrock, Action Man and GI Joe - check out below the Soundwave-tastic artwork from Marcelo Ferreira, via Previews World!

Revolutionaries #3

(W) John Barber (A) Ron Joseph (CA) Marcelo Ferreira
BLAST FROM THE PAST! In the deadly catacombs beneath an ancient pyramid, Joe Colton-the original G.I. Joe-found something far worse than any curse or boobytrap. He found the Decepticon Soundwave... scouring Earth for Cybertron's salvation. Their meeting remained classified-until the Revolutionaries crashed headlong into the modern-day results!

Lifting him out, or putting him in?

Hrm, does that jive with Maximum Dinobots though? I don't feel like re-reading that again quite this soon after the last time, so for now, in Barber I'll trust.

ScottyP wrote:Hrm, does that jive with Maximum Dinobots though? I don't feel like re-reading that again quite this soon after the last time, so for now, in Barber I'll trust.

If its set prior to 1984 then it won't clash with Soundwave's burial under Mt St Helens and subsequent return in Maximum Dinobots. What it does tell me though is that Soundwave has s penchant for getting buried. Often.

New IDW title on the block, 'Revolutionaries', is trying to add more to the mythos of Transformers, GI JOE, Action Man, Micronauts and the other IDW Hasbroverse comics. How will issue #2 tickle your nostalgia fancy? It certainly continues to take a good shot at it!

Recap:
Action Man and the sought after talisman got transported to somewhere unknown and Ayana’s Joe team members were zapped into alien creatures along with a townful of innocents.. What do you do? Who’s in kahoots? And Kup wants his little buddy back…



This Issue:
Did you check out the preview?

ENTER THE SHADOW
Action Man’s been transported to the moon (via a familiar GI JOE device). A seemingly abandoned bad guy base happens to be there as well—and not abandoned— not to mention a whole squad of dead Cobra soldiers. We also have tiny people/aliens trying to elude very large people and an even larger alien.


Whatchamadoodles > Petrorabbits

Kup, Mayday, and Blackrock are trying to catch and talk to (and not squish) the Micronauts to ask them for help in using the talisman to hopefully: (a.) find Action Man and (2.) change the alien-zapped Joes and townfolk back to normal. The talisman has been recognized by Blackrock as microverse tech, thus, the ‘watcha-ma-doodles’ should be able to use it- hence the needed help by the Micronauts. The ‘nauts are still very nervous about getting involved in these matters… in their experience, alien meeting alien = destruction/havoc/capture/torture. Thank Primus, Micronimus, and all the other deities and Primes that we have a universally recognized greeting to rely on and an older wizened bot who knows it!


"Now offer them some energon goodies..."


"Don't worry, they'll reciprocate..."

Progressing and Layering:
Pieces are getting pulled together from the different involved franchises. There’s a few familiar surprises -used in a new way- new bad guys, and some old, as well. Perhaps, no one familiar bigger than the inclusion of Stormshadow and HER Red Shadow ninjas who are also alien symbiotes. Yes, that’s right. Red Shadow Alien Ninja Warriors…(and that other thing).


Storm SHE-adow joins the fray...

It’s not just all fun for Joe fans (or not depending on how you react to the above information). There are plenty of other cool elements splashed into the story. Kup and Blackrock are there for Transformer fans to appreciate (note Kup’s Titanmaster deluxe toy form), and by the way, the microverse tech seems to also be ancient Cybertronian…

ART:
The art by Ossio is consistent with what we’ve seen before. Excellent action scenes and vehicle design work, I really loved his Kup flyer design, and Ossio seems to be finding his rhythm becoming more familiar with drawing big robots and people much more consistently. As much as I like what has been done, I’m still not a fan of how Blackrock has been designed in his Cybertronian form, looking more like Iron Man (“Iron Man sucks…”) than a titanmaster- and then when you add in his ‘billionaire’ human head image the likeness seems even more intended-.


Computer, password 'Blackrock Sucks!' Password Accepted. Welcome home Kup.

Ossio and the art team also have a very large task (and tiny) -especially in this issue- trying to show the different scales of the characters- from teeny, tiny micronaut people and ship to large Cybertronian-scaled Kup; scale and size are a huge element, and I think it’s no easy task to effectively portray the character’s size in relation to one another in the panels, but are they doing it? Sort of. I think they rely more on your understanding of the character’s size rather than other devices to show the scale. I often feel like Acroyear is the size of a regular Cybertronian, or at least Rom, and that the Micronauts are regular human-sized alien people, not 3 3/4 inch action figure size (or 6 inch whatever). Not a big deal, and I may be being a bit too picky on this, which is why I mentioned that it would be quite hard to do!

Tom B. Long is always making his presence felt in very meaningful ways. It’s hard to imagine the books he works on without his special touch.

WRAP UP:
I wasn’t sure where to begin with this review. The concept of this comic being such an amalgamation of the different worlds and franchises coming together, and I’m just not used to it yet— or where all the other involved franchises were prior to Revolution. It’s a lot better than the introductory crossover story that it spawned from, being focused on a much tighter and smaller group, and working to relate the different titles together.


New Buckethead bad guy on the block that I do not yet feel threatened by.

Kup and Action Man are a fun pair. A bit like Hot Rod’s generalized relationship with Kup, Action Man seems to fill that role of young, hot shot go-getter to Kup’s experienced war vet. Action Man is very capable on his own, as is Kup, but together they both seem to be getting something that they both need…

I’m not sure what to think of Mayday yet, or Blackrock. I seem to have a lot of personal problems with Blackrock and what he is (and isn’t) that I can’t get to really trying to enjoy or hate this character yet. I lean more toward hate right now.

The story definitely has something good going for it. I’m not sure we are far enough in to the series to really understand what this book’s characters and plot ‘do’ other than bring together pieces/histories of the IDW/HASBRO-verse. As the Revolution story line showed us, this is not an easy task, but Revolutionaries seems to be going in a positive direction.

WRAP UP 2:
Joe fans may be cringing, but at least IDW is calling GI JOE the flagship title and it’s getting more exposure. Transformers fans still have lots of other fun in other places. Revolutionaries, so far, is a capable add-on, but it still has a long way to go to approach ‘Optimus Prime’, ’Til All Are One’, or ‘Lost Light’ for that group of fans.


Kupgrade!

Overall, a good issue. I love the Kup/Action Man duo, which is probably why I am enjoying the book so far. I do agree though that I wish Blackrock looked a little more Sovereign than Iron Man (even though Iron Man is cool)

Yeah, haven't really been a fan of Blackrock's design myself. It's especially jarring for me when this is, like, his third robot body design in such a short amount of time. There was the original one he had when Barber was doing his own thing, then they were forced to change it for Titans Return; and now this. It's a bit weird to say the least.

We continue today with some more comics news, in the form of new listings on online retailer Amazon.com, for books released by IDW Publishing in the near future! The first one up is the second volume for Revolutionaries, the variegated team of Hasbro universe licenses made paper and ink - check out more details and the cover below!

THE REVOLUTION MAY BE OVER--but the future is just beginning! Ripped from the pages of the hottest crossover of the year, the REVOLUTION team of John Barber and Fico Ossio continue the action! KUP is a CYBERTRONIAN literally older than the universe; ACTION MAN is the ultimate special agent trying to live up to an impossible legacy; MAYDAY is a G.I. JOE leader trying to rescue her first command; and BLACKROCK is a CYBERTRONIAN that thinks he’s a human.

The Revolutionaries uncover the deep, dark secret of Mike Power, the Atomic Man—and enlist the help of M.A.S.K. to bring in the long-lost agent! But there's more to Power's story than anyone imagined. Collects issues #5-8.

Series: Revolutionaries
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (November 14, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1684050154
ISBN-13: 978-1684050154

The 3-page iTunes comic preview for Revolutionaries #3 has been made available, leading to a presumable 3/15/2017 release for this comic first solicited for a February release. This is an especially quick look, as pages 1 and 2 of this preview are merely the recap and roll-call pages seen in each book. Despite this, these pages do lead to some intriguing information and speculative possibilities for the future of the Hasbro Universe of comics, with references oozing out of the first page featuring some Micronauts, our old mono-eyed pal Shockwave, a certain 'Visionary' totem, and even a short nod to Binaltech! Check out the preview pages below and let us know what you think by replying to this post.

John Barber (w) • Ron Joseph (a) • Tradd Moore (c)
BLAST FROM THE PAST!In the deadly catacombs beneath an ancient pyramid, Joe Colton—the original G.I. Joe—found something far worse than any curse or boobytrap. He found the Decepticon Soundwave... scouring Earth for Cybertron's salvation. Their meeting remained classified—until the Revolutionaries crashed headlong into the modern-day results!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
· A special “Blast from the Past” issue featuring art by Revolution: Rom #1 artist, Ron Joseph!
· The secrets of the original Adventure Team are revealed here!
· Variant cover by Marcelo Ferreira!

'Binaltech'. So fanwanky. I love it

And THIS is what I was hoping for from Revolutionaries. Relatively smaller self-contained stories featuring a handful (which means less than 10. Can you hold more than 10 characters in your hand? If so, check with your local doctor!) of characters that may or may not have repercussions on the main story but is generally a side thing. Like the old Spotlights. Spotlight: Shockwave was great. More of that please.

So yeah. Well excited for this one~

Way to initially screw up the news story title, me. Dummy.

Hah! I love The Oatmeal.

Via comics and entertainment site Newsarama, we have a full preview of next week's third issue of IDW's Revolutionaries ongoing series, featuring Kup, Action Man, Blackrock, G.I. Joe and more - plus, this issue Soundwave! Check out the page below, and head back for more thoughts on the book's release.

Revolutionaries #3
John Barber (w) • Ron Joseph (a) • Tradd Moore (c)
BLAST FROM THE PAST! In the deadly catacombs beneath an ancient pyramid, Joe Colton—the original G.I. Joe—found something far worse than any curse or boobytrap. He found the Decepticon Soundwave... scouring Earth for Cybertron's salvation. Their meeting remained classified—until the Revolutionaries crashed headlong into the modern-day results!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
- A special “Blast from the Past” issue featuring art by Revolution: Rom #1 artist, Ron Joseph!
- The secrets of the original Adventure Team are revealed here!
- Variant cover by Marcelo Ferreira!

Whose head is that behind Colton inside the tomb? It sort of looks like Prowl, but he never crashed onto ancient Earth in the IDW universe.

concrusher792 wrote:Whose head is that behind Colton inside the tomb? It sort of looks like Prowl, but he never crashed onto ancient Earth in the IDW universe.

Which head are you seeing? I can't see one that looks like Prowl

There has been an update in the Amazon listing for the second collected volume IDW Publishing's Revolutionaries ongoing series, first reported here. The book will be out much later this year, and will apparently lead into the wider story that John Barber mentioned in our ScottyP's interview with him and Dave Hedgecock (you can listen to it here).

The big news in the change? It looks like we're headed to another crossover event somewhere later this year: Insurgency! What do you make of this news? Check out the description below, and let us know in the Energon Pub!

The team-up of the year continues as the TRANSFORMERS' Kup and Blackrock, G.I. JOE's Mayday, and Action Man join forces with the likes of Optimus Prime, Sgt. Savage, and more to unravel the secrets of the newly-formed shared universe! Leading in to the next major crossover, Hasbro's INSURGENCY!

Continuing the adventures of the first volume of Revolutionaries, the team has the Talisman, a mysterious object with fantastic powers that dates back to when Transformers first visited the Earth. Now they just need to figure out why their enemies want it so badly! It's a jam-packed action-adventure that's full of twists, turns and a little bit of time-travel as our heroes make powerful allies from the past in hopes of saving their present! Featuring the talents of Hasbro-expert writer, John Barber, who artfully weaves the backstory of the entire universe closer and introduces fan-favorite characters and stories to a much larger audience! Also featuring the talents of master artists like Fico Ossio, Guido Guidi, and Ron Joseph! Bridging the gap between the first major Hasbro event, Revolution, and the newest crossover, Insurgency!

I'm sure it'll be a fun read. They learned a lot from revolution and I'm hoping it'll please people more than it did. Personally I liked Revolution a lot but I do wish when they do cross over events it'd be handled like the Infestation and Mars Attacks which they kinda did with revolution in ways but where they just have special books instead of intertwining them with the main books. To each his own though, bring it on!

i want some movie comics. :/

Crossovers do not sales make. This one probably will be better than Revolution, but I am not particularly happy about the (inevitable) news.

Va'al wrote:Crossovers do not sales make. This one probably will be better than Revolution, but I am not particularly happy about the (inevitable) news.

Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about another crossover either

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Va'al wrote:Crossovers do not sales make. This one probably will be better than Revolution, but I am not particularly happy about the (inevitable) news.

Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about another crossover either

IDW should do some universe building and tiny crossovers (like Rom vs Tranformers) before we get a bigger one again. Most people agree that most of Revolution was a dud and we're still getting the taste of that outta our mouths. Give us some time with the new universe. Then a large crossover would feel awesome.

Whoops, my post entered twice?

Nexus Knight wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Va'al wrote:Crossovers do not sales make. This one probably will be better than Revolution, but I am not particularly happy about the (inevitable) news.

Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about another crossover either

IDW should do some universe building and tiny crossovers (like Rom vs Tranformers) before we get a bigger one again. Most people agree that most of Revolution was a dud and we're still getting the taste of that outta our mouths. Give us some time with the new universe. Then a large crossover would feel awesome.

I mean, Insurgency is going to happen a fair while away from now, so more building in Rom, Revolutionaries, Optimus Prime, GI Joe, Micronauts, MASK is bound to happen. But still, yeah. Not enough time for a good solid foundational buildup!

Plus we have Earthwar and Wrath of Karza, whatever they might be, also pointed at.

... wait, hang on, it's an actual second full-blown crossover?

Uuuugggghhhh. At least this won't have Revolution's inherent problem of having to kick off 3/5 franchises and reviving a long-dead fourth, but everyone here is totally right; this is too much too soon. It's not exactly helpful business-wise either when comic fans on a whole seem to be pretty sick of big crossover events and I certainly can't blame them.
Expanded shared universes like this work better when they're very casually leaking over into each other; like how it's a G.I. Joe team monitoring the situation with/helping out Optimus or the MASK team hunting down Transformers pieces or even Revolutionaries. Doing a big crossover event every year or so instead of making them few and far between - like, y'know, an actual event - is just intrusive and hurts the fiction more than helps it.
God, imagine if before Revolution ex-RiD and MTMTE had a crossover every year - that would have gone down so well and made the reading order so wonderful to get into, wouldn't it?

I honestly thought this was just going to be the name of the next Revolutionaries arc upon first reading. Ugh. This is painful.

Kurona wrote:... wait, hang on, it's an actual second full-blown crossover?

Uuuugggghhhh. At least this won't have Revolution's inherent problem of having to kick off 3/5 franchises and reviving a long-dead fourth, but everyone here is totally right; this is too much too soon. It's not exactly helpful business-wise either when comic fans on a whole seem to be pretty sick of big crossover events and I certainly can't blame them.
Expanded shared universes like this work better when they're very casually leaking over into each other; like how it's a G.I. Joe team monitoring the situation with/helping out Optimus or the MASK team hunting down Transformers pieces or even Revolutionaries. Doing a big crossover event every year or so instead of making them few and far between - like, y'know, an actual event - is just intrusive and hurts the fiction more than helps it.
God, imagine if before Revolution ex-RiD and MTMTE had a crossover every year - that would have gone down so well and made the reading order so wonderful to get into, wouldn't it?

I honestly thought this was just going to be the name of the next Revolutionaries arc upon first reading. Ugh. This is painful.

We did, it was called Dark Cybertron, Combiner Wars and Titans Return.

We're now 5-6 months the end of revoluion and Optimus Prime is still very much the book it was before revolution except EDC has been replaced with GI Joe, lost light is still the same book MTMTE was and TAAO is still TAAO. Obviously we are living in a dark age for transformers comics

Randomhero wrote:

Kurona wrote:... wait, hang on, it's an actual second full-blown crossover?

Uuuugggghhhh. At least this won't have Revolution's inherent problem of having to kick off 3/5 franchises and reviving a long-dead fourth, but everyone here is totally right; this is too much too soon. It's not exactly helpful business-wise either when comic fans on a whole seem to be pretty sick of big crossover events and I certainly can't blame them.
Expanded shared universes like this work better when they're very casually leaking over into each other; like how it's a G.I. Joe team monitoring the situation with/helping out Optimus or the MASK team hunting down Transformers pieces or even Revolutionaries. Doing a big crossover event every year or so instead of making them few and far between - like, y'know, an actual event - is just intrusive and hurts the fiction more than helps it.
God, imagine if before Revolution ex-RiD and MTMTE had a crossover every year - that would have gone down so well and made the reading order so wonderful to get into, wouldn't it?

I honestly thought this was just going to be the name of the next Revolutionaries arc upon first reading. Ugh. This is painful.

We did, it was called Dark Cybertron, Combiner Wars and Titans Return.

We're now 5-6 months the end of revoluion and Optimus Prime is still very much the book it was before revolution except EDC has been replaced with GI Joe, lost light is still the same book MTMTE was and TAAO is still TAAO. Obviously we are living in a dark age for transformers comics

It didn't happen every year; and even then not every comic was involved. post-DOOP ran for 5 years and in that time only 3 crossovers happened, one at the very end - and ex-RiD was the only comic in which all three took place.

And I never said anything about a dark age or the comics themselves getting worse. On the contrary I think modern IDW is by far the best Transformers fiction we've ever gotten, and while LL and OP are both a tad rough around the edges at the moment most likely due to being restarted, they're still excellent. And TAAO of course just keeps getting better.
My beef is more with the crossovers themselves - Revolution did not prove to be of any particular quality, and the more crossovers there are the worse the reading order will be for any new readers. The main comic already has you jumping through hoops thanks to Revolution and the three crossovers before it; adding another into the mix so soon is just adding insult to injury.

The comics themselves are good, and I actually feel the shared universe itself is good and has a lot of potential; but the crossovers themselves are easily the worst part of the comics and something I only dread.

Technically we have had event books even before dark Cybertron. 2011 we had the 2 part infestation that dealt with galvatrons return, 2012 were the annuals which was something in their own way due to their impact on both books. 2013 were the spotlights and Dark Cybertron which bled 2014 then followed by the Prime Wars trilogy that will conclude this year or next. So in a point of view we have in a way had a form of an event book in transformers for 6 years.

I... guess, but those were completely different creative teams. I don't think it's fair to bundle -ations, AHM, Costa and post-DOOP all together.

Kurona wrote:I... guess, but those were completely different creative teams. I don't think it's fair to bundle -ations, AHM, Costa and post-DOOP all together.

That's why I didn't name those. those were eras, the main books at the time. But the books I named were books that stood outside what was currently going on or were put in what was happening and left impact. They were still technically event books. Originally even Chaos was intended to be an event mini series to end Costas time but Schmidt threw it with the ongoing due to "mini series books not performing as well as an ongoing"

Doesn't change that in one form or another IDW has been giving us event books for 6 years almost

I really don't want IDW shoving events at us too often. It's why I gave up on Marvel recently. "Event fatigue".

Randomhero wrote:Technically we have had event books even before dark Cybertron. 2011 we had the 2 part infestation that dealt with galvatrons return, 2012 were the annuals which was something in their own way due to their impact on both books. 2013 were the spotlights and Dark Cybertron which bled 2014 then followed by the Prime Wars trilogy that will conclude this year or next. So in a point of view we have in a way had a form of an event book in transformers for 6 years.

What's been pretty nice with IDW transformers books, up until fairly recently with the wars trilogy, is that their events are structured differently from companies like Marvel and DC's. One of the reasons I stopped reading Marvel books was that every year there would be a big company wide crossover event. This event would barely count as a self contained story, with important plot points happening in tie in issues. Even then, most of the events involve the protagonists from the various series fighting one another. To top it all off, the stories in individual titles would grind to a halt to make room for tie ins.

IDW events like combiner wars and titans return, to me anyway, are much less annoying. Though they do spread the event out over multiple titles, they are all easily collectible. Everything that happens in, say, Combiner Wars is contained in books with the combiner wars label, which is rarely more than 4-5 issues. Compare that to something like Civil War, where you have to buy the main series plus the countless tie ins if you really want the full scope of the story.

According to the IDW July Previews at http://www.cbr.com/idw-publishing-solic ... july-2017/ Revolutionaries #8 is the end of that series. See below:

OPTIMUS PRIME VS. BARON IRONBLOOD! The final mystery is revealed as Baron Ironblood reveals his true identity! Only by teaming with Transformers leader Optimus Prime do the Revolutionaries have a chance to save Earth—and the whole Hasbro universe! The senses-shattering conclusion to Revolutionaries leads directly into next month’s massive crossover event!

this is already covered in the solicitaions we newsed. Its not cancelled, it was a miniseries which is ending and leading to another event.


https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... 017/37836/

william-james88 wrote:this is already covered in the solicitaions we newsed. Its not cancelled, it was a miniseries which is ending and leading to another event.


https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... 017/37836/

Yeah. but I posted this 40 minutes before the solicitations got posted.

I must have missed the announcement that Revolutionaries was a 8 issue miniseries.

Nik Hero wrote:

william-james88 wrote:this is already covered in the solicitaions we newsed. Its not cancelled, it was a miniseries which is ending and leading to another event.


https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... 017/37836/

Yeah. but I posted this 40 minutes before the solicitations got posted.

I must have missed the announcement that Revolutionaries was a 8 issue miniseries.

We have access to the solicits as other sites (including Previews World) do, but sometimes it takes a while to actually get to post them - especially when I'm not available at the time! But thank you for bringing it to our attention.

Finally, after a long wait, we have a new Revolutionaries preview, courtesy of itunes! The new book doesn't give much away, but sure makes a scene with some Predacons showing up right off the bat, and let us not forget the Hearts of Steel styled Transformer from last time! Check out the 3 page preview below, and let us know what you think of these new developments in the comments section below!

Cobra Commander vs. Hearts of Steel! Thousands of years ago, a starship crashed on Earth—and the Hearts of Steel Transformers were born... but how can these steampunk Cybertronians be real?! And what does Cobra Commander want with them, when he hasn't even got Cobra to back him up? The Revolutionaries have uncovered one of the darkest and most incredible secrets on Earth!

Ok lion head chest flamethrower is cool.

More of that please!

Razorclaw's head is... certainly looking quite a bit different.
Not that I mind. Bring on the Predaking! Wonder if they'll have any Stormbringer or Spotlight Jazz flashbacks with Kup...

So, I guess the Predacons are stranded on Earth following Galvatron's attack.

That probably means Flamefeather, Squawktalk, Beastbox, Cutthroat, Cindersaur, and Red Wing are doing something here too, I'm guessing random appearances in various comics

Soundwave902 wrote:So, I guess the Predacons are stranded on Earth following Galvatron's attack.

That probably means Flamefeather, Squawktalk, Beastbox, Cutthroat, Cindersaur, and Red Wing are doing something here too, I'm guessing random appearances in various comics

Knowing IDW their dead wasted potential or will never be heard from again.