Ghosts, Machines, and That Joe GuyA review of IDW Publishing's
Revolutionaries #8, and a look back at the series
Just barely over a year after the initial
Revolution issues hit stands, and several months after its originally intended release date, the final issue of
Revolutionaries came out almost two weeks ago. As we were not supplied with a review sample from IDW Publishing, this review is quite late. Couple this with yours truly suffering from post-TFcon exhaustion and, well, sorry about the tardiness. How is this issue, and how well does it wrap up this series? Read on to learn more.
Remember, Titan Class Predaking next year!Story
A book that started out being primarily about Kup and his human buddy Action Man has changed, with most of the plot from
issue 5 and onward being directed toward the history of the Adventure Team (in-fiction, a predecessor to G.I. Joe; in reality, paying homage to some of the original Joe action figures hailing from the days before "A Real American Hero".) The narrative doesn't leave Kup and Ian by the wayside by any means, with their adventure still being the crux of the plot, but it definitely shares the focus in a big way as it has for the past several issues. Threads from the earlier (and too short)
Action Man series aren't left aside either, which is a pleasing turn for myself and the three other fans of that book.
Most of Action Man's cast shows up! Mostly.Of course, given the fictional roster of the Adventure Team in this series, by this eighth installment we've not had focus on its leader: "G.I." Joe Colton, the plot armored, narrative-charisma-sucking, walking Optimus Prime foil. While it's great to see John Barber playing with this universe's continuity in a masterful way that other series in this "Hasbroverse" haven't been able to live up to, Colton has the same detrimental effect on
Revolutionaries as he does over in
First Strike. In particular, I mean to say that this character takes away all the stakes. With the fakeout death he was handed in
Revolution #1, coupled with the unfathomable good luck/timing/circumstances he keeps encountering in
First Strike, prepare to have all tension zapped away once he enters the scene.
:yawn:This is thankfully where the drawbacks come to a close. The cheeky, self-aware, over the top, borderline cheesy/campy nature of the book continues here, lending a charm that manages to overcome the more flattened Total Brand Awareness characters like Colton. From Skywarp's wisecracks, to Blackrock seeing insane unimaginable events occur that he laughs off with a smile, the potential of the Hasbro universe is realized to a pretty great extent on many of the panels within.
Remember Infraspace? No one will blame you if not.Art
The line art duties are handled by series regulars Ron Joseph and Fico Ossio, and if you've read other issues of
Revolutionaries you'll know precisely what to expect here. Though it must be said that just like many other artists more adept at drawing humans, as Ossio in particular shows, sometimes it just takes some time and practice to get drawing Transformers down. I do find myself agreeing with fellow site Administrator Dr. Va'al, in that the shifting artists throughout the course of the issue does take the edge off of some scenes.
Placing at least this issue after the entire nine-issue G.I. Joe run.That said, the colors of David Garcia Cruz and Sebastian Cheng do help lend some consistency. Particular call-out is in store for the wonderful way in which these teams have found their voice through the techno-organic hybrid characters like Storm Shadow, Krieger, and Blackrock. Were it not for the incredible Guido Guidi Beast Wars pages (earlier in the series, not in this issue) I might be clamoring to see some of their takes on our favorite Maximals and Predacons!
As always, you can find full art credits and cover images
in the Vector Sigma Database, just be wary of the spoiler filled character list!
Verdict
Right book, wrong time?I have to admit that there's a part of me that goes easy on
Revolutionaries from a critical perspective. It's not perfect, its surprises have been given away at every turn by publication delays, and there just don't seem to be many fans of the series. Despite starting from a disadvantage, this eighth issue is on par with the rest in its ability to just have fun and is both a fitting conclusion and a great, though sorely preempted, lead-in to the still ongoing
First Strike.
For
Revolutionaries #8:
That wrap up may have seemed short, but this was intentional. We're not quite done here yet!
A Look Back on Revolutionaries
To say that IDW Publishing's creation of a shared universe of Hasbro properties has been less than well received by fans would be a monolithic understatement. My local shop's subscriptions are down for both Transformers and Joe, and things are worse for the Hasbroverse books with yours truly being the one and only
Rom subscriber left in this pocket of Raleigh - they don't even buy extras for the shelf these days. Even our own site's owner has given up on Transformers comics for the first time in over 30 years. I was reminded recently by fellow podcaster Counterpunch that this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. After all, Transformers fans went berserk and swore off IDW in late 2011 when they had the
audacity to split the story into an entire
two ongoings. It was only the quality of the stories that came after that made that whole ordeal, well, pretty forgotten.
How much do these things cost to make? Because I kind of want to fund a whole series of this.You may be wondering how this is relevant to
Revolutionaries. You see, of all the Hasbro Universe tie-ins, this series replaces
Micronauts for me as the "one that I would recommend to Transformers fans" when looking at the post-
Revolution material. It features characters from other properties, yes, but the core cast was established in John Barber's
Robots in Disguise/Transformers run, with Action Man serving as a really fun "plus one" - not to diminish his role, but maybe it'll help some potential readers get over the G.I. Joe hurdle they feel has been placed in front of them.
Space Colton! That's not a compliment.The first issue, and maybe even the first half of this series won't ameliorate much if your default position is that these comics have gone too far, there are too many properties, and there are too many series to buy and keep track of. The first four issues' story arc does its job, which at that point was to (from my perspective) keep up the hard sell of this Hasbro Universe of monthly comics. The first trade is available now, and if you pick it up you may be wondering why, in hindsight, I recommend this title. It's really down to this second half, as I feel it's going to be looked back at as a pretty special thing despite a few critical flaws.
They do, Mr. McCarthy, they do. They even referenced your story.The continuity weaving that happens is outstanding in the entire run, but notably in the second half of
Revolutionaries, you get all of the following and more: closure of a minor but conspicuous character absence in
Spotlight: Soundwave; actual tie-ins to
All Hail Megatron; references to
Spotlight: Doubledealer; more closure on Kup's "Dead Universe" story; and even a
de facto retcon of
Hearts of Steel and
Infestation 2 into the shared Hasbro Universe. This doesn't even touch on the huge amount of material pulled from earlier IDW G.I. Joe stories, which I don't have any real idea of but the later pages of
Revolutionaries #8 go through several Easter Eggs related to those books. We've jokingly nicknamed the author John "Continuity" Barber, but in this series you may come to realize he's no-joking,
scary good at this world-building concept.
To your left: Smarts, a good friend.And then there's
Revolutionaries #6, and you can find my review at this link. This might have had the fewest Transformers related panels and pages in the entire run, but is such a touching while simultaneously heartwrenching story that it really elevated the legitimacy of the second half as a good story that exceeded what should have been bounds made of Brand Building and Multi-Channel Cross-Vertical Storytelling Synergy. When the second trade comes out, it might be worth it just for this alone.
Well, maybe after First Strike?And with that, it's time to wrap things up on this longer than normal review. While I'm sure any endorsement of these books will ring hollow to many readers of this site, for those of you not stomping your feet with your hands over your ears refusing to check out any IDW books right now, pay attention. You should give some of this series a chance, and also know that even if you just go and pick this one (or parts of it) up it doesn't mean you have to suddenly grab five other books at the same time. This will have you more than prepared for
First Strike, if you want, and quite honestly will save you some time you don't need to spend as a "Transformers-only" or "Transformers-first" reader on other Hasbro Universe titles.
For
Revolutionaries, the series:
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:48 pm
