The Energon Pub

Sneaking in just before San Diego Comic Con 2017, IDW Publishing has sent out the full solicitations for their comic books to be released this coming October, once the Hasbro Universe event First Strike is in full swing - as we can see from the information below! The Transformers series - Optimus Prime, Lost Light and Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor, are also still going, in spite and alongside the rest of the shared universe.

Check out all the available covers so far below, and be warned, there may very well be spoilers for things to come.

Optimus Prime #12—Cover A: Kei Zama
John Barber (w) • Kei Zama (a & c)
With Optimus Prime trapped on Cybertron, the Autobots track down their missing friend, Jazz—and find themselves under fire from humans armed with Cybertronian weapons!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Optimus Prime #12—Cover B: Casey W. Coller
John Barber (w) • Kei Zama (a) • Casey W. Coller (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Optimus Prime #12—Cover C: Andrew Griffith
John Barber (w) • Kei Zama (a) • Andrew Griffith (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
While First Strike blows up Cybertron, the Autobots must keep the peace on Earth!
Variant cover by Joana Lafuente!

Transformers: Lost Light #11—Cover A: Jack Lawrence
James Roberts (w) • Jack Lawrence (a & c)
Success? The crew of the Lost Light, led by the mutinous Getaway, is now only weeks away from completing their quest. But such remarkable progress comes at a price. Just how far is their new captain prepared to go to find Cyberutopia? Unfortunately for the likes of Riptide and First Aid, it turns out the answer is “very far indeed.”
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers: Lost Light #11—Cover B: Nick Roche
James Roberts (w) • Jack Lawrence (a) • Nick Roche (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers: Lost Light #11—Cover C: Alex Milne
James Roberts (w) • Jack Lawrence (a) • Alex Milne (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Variant cover by Joana Lafuente!

Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4 (of 5)—Cover A: Alex Milne
John Barber & Christos Gage (w) • Alex Milne (a & c)
Stardrive is torn between joining her fellow Transformers and staying with Rom and his knights… and the fate of an innocent world rests in her choice!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4 (of 5) —Cover B: Nick Roche
John Barber & Christos Gage (w) • Alex Milne (a) • Nick Roche (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4 (of 5)—Cover C: Fico Ossio
John Barber & Christos Gage (w) • Alex Milne (a) • Fico Ossio (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
An all-star lineup of Christos Gage (Rom), John Barber (Optimus Prime), and Alex Milne (More Than Meets the Eye) tell the never-before-revealed secret history of Rom and the Transformers!

Revolutionaries, Vol. 2: Power and Glory
John Barber (w) • Fico Ossio, Ron Joseph, Agnes Garboska, & Guido Guidi (a) • Pierre Droal (c)
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! 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! Leads directly into the events of First Strike! Collects issues #5-8.
TPB • FC • $15.99 • 96 pages • ISBN: 978-1-68405-015-4

Bullet points:
“Excels with a more narrow focus on just how much fun comics can be when all of your favorite toys logically come together under one ongoing series.” –Multiversity Comics
Advance solicited for November release!

Offered Again!
Revolutionaries, Vol. 1 • FC • $17.99 • ISBN: 978-1-63140-921-9

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First Strike #5—Cover A: Freddie E. Williams II—SPOTLIGHT
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Freddie E. Williams II (c)
Prison Break! After a daring escape, Optimus Prime, the Autobots, Scarlett, G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. must venture into the heart of Cybertron to stop Cobra’s devastating weapon that will kill every Transformer on the planet!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

First Strike #5—Cover B: Max Dunbar
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a & c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

First Strike #5—Cover C: Alex Ronald
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Alex Ronald (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

First Strike #5—Cover D: Rob Duenas
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Rob Duenas (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
The Hasbro comic book event of 2017 continues!
It’s a race against time as Cobra reaches their goal! Can our heroes catch up? Or is Cybertron doomed?
Filled with the action, drama and humor you’ve come to expect!
Variant covers by Jay Fosgitt, Davide Fabbri, Leonardo Manco, and Whilce Portacio!

First Strike #6—Cover A: Freddie E. Williams II—SPOTLIGHT
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Freddie E. Williams II (c)
War for the Core! Deep within Cybertron, the ultimate weapon to kill all Transformers is about to be activated! Meanwhile, Elita One plans to stop the weapon—by killing every human on Cybertron! Either way, looks like some species on Cybertron is going down unless Optimus Prime and Scarlett can save the day…
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

First Strike #6—Cover B: Max Dunbar
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a & c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

First Strike #6—Cover C: Alex Ronald
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Alex Ronald (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

First Strike #6—Cover D: Rob Duenas
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Rob Duenas (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
The Hasbro comic book crossover event of 2017 is here!
The wild ride ends here! Who will live? Who will die? What will happen to Cybertron?
Expect both a satisfying conclusion and the start of a whole new era!
Variant covers by Jay Fosgitt, Davide Fabbri, and Leonardo Manco!

M.A.S.K.: First Strike #1—Cover A: Drew Johnson—SPOTLIGHT
Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Ilias Kyriazis (a) • Drew Johnson (c)
V.E.N.O.M.’s showdown with the G.I. Joe team continues as transforming vehicles, robotic ninjas and explosions threaten to bring the mission to a deadly end!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

M.A.S.K.: First Strike #1—Cover B: Ilias Kyriazis
Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Ilias Kyriazis (a & c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Tying into the events of First Strike—A Hasbro Comic Book Event!
The second part of G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K.’s story—continued from last month’s G.I. Joe: First Strike #1!
Variant cover by Humberto Ramos!

Rom: First Strike #1—Cover A: Nelson Daniel—SPOTLIGHT
Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a) • Nelson Daniel (c)
Rom’s team-up with the Micronauts leads our heroes right to the Dire Wraiths… and their new microscopic threat!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Rom: First Strike #1—Cover B: Chris Panda
Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a & c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Tying into the events of First Strike—A Hasbro Comic Book Event!
The second part of the Micronauts and Rom’s story—continued from last month’s Micronauts: First Strike #1!
Variant cover by Humberto Ramos!

Transformers: First Strike #1—Cover A: Sara Pitre-Durocher
John Barber (w) • Guido Guidi (a) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (c)
Continued from Optimus Prime: First Strike! When a bounty hunter drags one of their own into the wilds of Cybertron, the Revolutionaries join forces with Arcee and pursue! But in the midst of war, can humans and Cybertronians put aside their differences, or has the invasion of Cybertron doomed any chance at peace?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers: First Strike #1—Cover B: Guido Guidi
John Barber (w) • Guido Guidi (a) • Guido Guidi (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Tying into the events of First Strike—A Hasbro Comic Book Event!
The second part of the Optimus Prime and the Revolutionaries story—continued from last month’s Optimus Prime: First Strike #1!
Variant cover by Humberto Ramos!

Roberts had better not kill off First Aid.

So help me out here. Scott decided to end Till All Are one because she was asked if she wanted to tie it into First Strike becuase she had a long term plans for the series and said no and yet she's the writer of first strike?

I'm confused

Randomhero wrote:So help me out here. Scott decided to end Till All Are one because she was asked if she wanted to tie it into First Strike becuase she had a long term plans for the series and said no and yet she's the writer of first strike?

I'm confused

She ended it because she was asked if she wanted to do another story after Till All Are One; but she didn't have any plans for after the current storyline and she didn't want to be locked into writing a story she wouldn't be passionate about writing -- something that would be bad both for her and the readers.

...............So who thought stupid, ungrateful, human terrorizing Transformers on Earth and on Cybertron was a cool idea?


To be honest Bots against humans feels like boring issues of X-men where the premise was about mutants taking the high road against the "Friends Of Humanity".


Went from and average of buying at least 3 IDW books a month to barely hanging on to 1.

Looking forward to that issue of Lost Light though.

I been saying it the whole time "Getaway was right!". With 2 of my favorite Transformers following him, and the smartest, Perceptor and First Aid.

Kurona wrote:

Randomhero wrote:So help me out here. Scott decided to end Till All Are one because she was asked if she wanted to tie it into First Strike becuase she had a long term plans for the series and said no and yet she's the writer of first strike?

I'm confused

She ended it because she was asked if she wanted to do another story after Till All Are One; but she didn't have any plans for after the current storyline and she didn't want to be locked into writing a story she wouldn't be passionate about writing -- something that would be bad both for her and the readers.

But she did have stories that's why I'm confused. In her blog announcement she listed off almost a dozen plots she wanted to do after this story arc.

Randomhero wrote:

Kurona wrote:

Randomhero wrote:So help me out here. Scott decided to end Till All Are one because she was asked if she wanted to tie it into First Strike becuase she had a long term plans for the series and said no and yet she's the writer of first strike?

I'm confused

She ended it because she was asked if she wanted to do another story after Till All Are One; but she didn't have any plans for after the current storyline and she didn't want to be locked into writing a story she wouldn't be passionate about writing -- something that would be bad both for her and the readers.

But she did have stories that's why I'm confused. In her blog announcement she listed off almost a dozen plots she wanted to do after this story arc.

She listed things she wanted to do during this particular ongoing story rather than after -- and most of those were cute minor details.

YoungPrime wrote:...............So who thought stupid, ungrateful, human terrorizing Transformers on Earth and on Cybertron was a cool idea?


To be honest Bots against humans feels like boring issues of X-men where the premise was about mutants taking the high road against the "Friends Of Humanity".


Went from and average of buying at least 3 IDW books a month to barely hanging on to 1.

Looking forward to that issue of Lost Light though.

I would honestly like to see a series or story line set on Earth where this didn't continually happen. The weird thing is that none of the Cybertronians ever explain the context of anything to humanity, nor does humanity give them an opportunity to. Like the interview with Jazz in the Optimus Prime series. He doesn't bother to actually explain anything that happened in the past or why he ended up killing a cop. He stumbles over himself instead.

Right now, my ideal series would be about a group of Cybertronians who buy some property on Earth and get green cards or something, so that the story actually has to pay attention to laws and what humans can or can't do to aliens.

Kurona wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Kurona wrote:

Randomhero wrote:So help me out here. Scott decided to end Till All Are one because she was asked if she wanted to tie it into First Strike becuase she had a long term plans for the series and said no and yet she's the writer of first strike?

I'm confused

She ended it because she was asked if she wanted to do another story after Till All Are One; but she didn't have any plans for after the current storyline and she didn't want to be locked into writing a story she wouldn't be passionate about writing -- something that would be bad both for her and the readers.

But she did have stories that's why I'm confused. In her blog announcement she listed off almost a dozen plots she wanted to do after this story arc.

She listed things she wanted to do during this particular ongoing story rather than after -- and most of those were cute minor details.

Thank you - I have been trying to explain this to so many people. All the things she listed that she didn't get to do were originally part of this particular story that she told in TAAO 1-12 - not followup stories. I imagine she would have loved to have 18 issues to tell that story, but because First Strike was coming up, she had to cut certain side plots (even though the Kaon one seems pretty major).

TAAO had the lowest attrition rate of all the current TF comics, the problem is that it started off with a low buy rate from issue one. IDW would have loved for Scott to do a follow up series with a new #1 issue because if she could get the same 1st issue buys that OP #1 or LL #1 got, but maintain her low attrition, they would have a great sustainable book on their hands.

Where I do question some things though is that there wasn't a story that she felt passionate about after First Strike - I do feel that some of the lack of desire stems from how the comic book industry works in terms of having to wrap up stories in a certain amount of issues to service an event book and the whole relaunch process if monthly buys fall below a certain level that the projected trade sales can't offset.

YoungPrime wrote:...............So who thought stupid, ungrateful, human terrorizing Transformers on Earth and on Cybertron was a cool idea?


To be honest Bots against humans feels like boring issues of X-men where the premise was about mutants taking the high road against the "Friends Of Humanity".


Went from and average of buying at least 3 IDW books a month to barely hanging on to 1.

Looking forward to that issue of Lost Light though.

Tbf, it's not so much "ungrateful humans," it's Cobra. A group of full-fledged SUPERVILLAINS. Of course they're gonna try to destroy the giant alien robots who could pose a threat to their plans.

Daniel Adkins wrote:

YoungPrime wrote:...............So who thought stupid, ungrateful, human terrorizing Transformers on Earth and on Cybertron was a cool idea?


To be honest Bots against humans feels like boring issues of X-men where the premise was about mutants taking the high road against the "Friends Of Humanity".


Went from and average of buying at least 3 IDW books a month to barely hanging on to 1.

Looking forward to that issue of Lost Light though.

Tbf, it's not so much "ungrateful humans," it's Cobra. A group of full-fledged SUPERVILLAINS. Of course they're gonna try to destroy the giant alien robots who could pose a threat to their plans.

Additionally, it's obscure 90's Cobra villains that were used before in Transformers fiction. What fiction, you may ask? The story created by Takara for Binaltech! Maybe that reference in Revolutionaries 3 was more than meets, well, you know.