If Hasbro is unifying its properties into a single movie universe, it makes sense the comic book line would fall in line as well. IDW Publishing is ready to bring them all together with a giant Hasbro crossover event.
Revolution will allow Transformers, G.I. JOE, Micronauts, ROM, Action Man, and MASK: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand to share the same world, and according to IDW Publishing, this is not a reboot.
The Revolution series takes many of the building blocks of what has come before from IDW and builds on them anew, bringing all these elements together in an epic event that results in an all-new status quo for all involved. Everything fans have enjoyed up to this point remains intact as part of this ongoing continuity. The ramifications of Revolution will extend well beyond the event, as all of these iconic characters will henceforth exist in the same universe, altering the scope of IDW editorial in all the Hasbro series from this moment onward.
Revolution will be a five-issue event that will be written by Cullen Bunn and John Barber, with art by Fico Ossio, and will be released as a bi-weekly series.
All aforementioned titles will tie-in to the event with a bevy of talent on board including:
- ROM
Co-written by Chris Ryall (Onyx), Christos Gage (Marvel’s Daredevil)
Art by David Messina (Star Trek) - G.I. Joe
Written by Aubrey Sitterson (Street Fighter X G.I. JOE)
Art by Giannis Milonogiannis (Prophet) - Transformers: Till All Are One
Written by Mairghread Scott (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, TRANSFORMERS)
Art by Naoto Tsushima (TRANSFORMERS) - Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye
Written by James Roberts (TRANSFORMERS)
Art by Alex Milne (TRANSFORMERS) - Transformers
Written by John Barber (Back to the Future)
Art by Andrew Griffith (TRANSFORMERS) - M.A.S.K.
Written by Brandon Easton (Marvel’s Agent Carter, TRANSFORMERS: Deviations)
Art by Tony Vargas (Rot & Ruin) - Action Man
Written by John Barber (TRANSFORMERS)
Art by Paolo Villanelli (G.I. JOE: SNAKE EYES) - Micronauts
Written by Cullen Bunn (Uncanny X-Men)
Art by Chris Panda
“The Revolution series builds out of a detail that was introduced in IDW’s first-ever issue of TRANSFORMERS in 2005,” said IDW’s Chief Creative Officer, Chris Ryall in a press release. “So to finally be able to build upon the various story elements we’ve seeded over the years, and which come into play in a big way starting with July’s ROM #1 even before the launch of Revolution, is a blast. We’ve been working toward a full-fledged universe for some time and it’s great fun to be able to finally bring it to vivid life, especially since it allows us to give the world new titles like the very-requested M.A.S.K., as well as some exciting new books still to be announced.”
“We’ve done plenty of crossovers in the past,” said Michael Kelly, Head of Global Publishing at Hasbro, “but nothing near this scope or scale. Our heroes, whether they are from Earth or from distant reaches of the galaxy, all have one thing in common: their powers and abilities are based primarily on technology. We have been able to use this fact to build a natural and believable link between all of these disparate characters. The result is a complex and dynamic world where all manner of conflicts and team-ups can and will exist. If you are a fan of Hasbro’s brands, your time is now.”
The Revolution happens in September!
2 Comments
I’m very cautious about this. On one hand, I welcome a shared universe with Transformers. They have a history with GI Joe in particular back in the Marvel days. MASK would work great with GI Joe, and ROM would go well with some of the space adventures of the Transformers.
My worry is that this will harm some of the work that’s been done in Transformers since their soft reboot back in 2011. We’ve had some of the best stories that have ever been written in Transformers fiction since that time and I would hate to see that compromised just because Hasbro is pushing IDW to do this as a testbed for their future movie ambitions.
I’ll second that. I’m interested, and I’m hoping it is good and done in a way that “fits”, but I’m a little more on the cautious side.