IDW Hasbro Comics Crossover: Revolution - Tampa Bay Toy Expo Variant Cover

Alas, if only the Tampa Bay Toy Expo was still a free-to-attend event.

$7 to attend is to much?

Another event exclusive cover for the first issue of the Hasbro licensed properties over at IDW Publishing - Revolution - has been revealed via comics and entertainment website Comics Alliance. This time, the event is Granite State Comic Con (Manchester, New Hampshire), and the artist is Ben Bishop (TMNT covers). Check out the image and breakdown of the cover below!

Just for the record, here’s who we’re looking at on this one:

Soundwave, from Transformers, the big blue occasional boombox.
Laserbeak, a part-time cassette tape who lives in Soundwave’s chest.
Zartan, Cobra’s master of disguise from GI Joe, best known for having a color changing action figure and for leading a group of bikers who are definitely Australian despite living in Florida.
The Manta, my personal favorite car from MASK, a purple ’85 Nissan 300ZX that can turn into an airplane with laser beam headlights. In the original series, it was driven by Vanessa “Not Quite The Baroness” Warfield
The Jackhammer, an armored back Ford Bronco with a pop-up missile launcher, driven by bare-knuckle boxer Cliff “Blaster” Dagger.
The Piranha, a motorcycle that is also a submarine, driven by Sly “Wrecker” Rax.
And a few other MASK vehicles floating around in the background.

Gliding on Laserbeak... that's way too cool

So much awesome in that artwork!

The cover artists are having so much fun with this and it is awesome!

A couple of Amazon.com listings have appeared regarding stories from the upcoming Revolution event from IDW Publishing - both the wider crossover and the Transformers specific stories - collected in two volumes of interest for robot-fans, and scheduled for February release! The first is for the event itself, and its five issues, the second has the 2015 holiday special, plus the three issues (one each) from More Than Meets the Eye, The Transformers and Till All Are One. Check out more info and the covers for both below!

THE REVOLUTION BEGINS! Explosions rip across the Earth―and all signs of blame point to OPTIMUS PRIME and the TRANSFORMERS! G.I. JOE refuses to go quietly―and they assemble heroes big enough to stop the invaders! ACTION MAN and M.A.S.K. fight for humanity―but where do ROM and the MICRONAUTS stand? Celebrating more than a decade of stories by IDW and HASBRO, this unprecedented event draws everything together―and leaves nothing standing. The REVOLUTION is here―TAKE A STAND! Collects Revolution issues #0–5.

Series: Revolution
Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (January 17, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 163140816X
ISBN-13: 978-1631408168
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 10.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

The Revolution continues! Thundercracker and Buster save the World! A White House under siege by Dire Wraiths! Windblade on Earth! And a date with destiny for Krok, Crankcase, Fulcrum, Spinister, and Misfire!

Collects The Transformers, More Than Meets The Eye, and Till All Are One Revolution One-Shots plus the 2015 Holiday Special.

Series: Revolution
Paperback: 104 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (February 14, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1631408429
ISBN-13: 978-1631408427
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 10.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

So why is the Holiday 2015 issue is here. Is there something in that issue that ties in to Revolution that we missed?

... wait, hang on, did I miss something? Why is Thundercracker in his FoC body? That's not even a form he ever got the chance to take in IDW!

Kurona wrote:... wait, hang on, did I miss something? Why is Thundercracker in his FoC body? That's not even a form he ever got the chance to take in IDW!

He had it in his and Orion Pax's Spotlight issues (but which were set in the past), so yeah it's weird seeing it here.

Sabrblade wrote:

Kurona wrote:... wait, hang on, did I miss something? Why is Thundercracker in his FoC body? That's not even a form he ever got the chance to take in IDW!

He had it in his and Orion Pax's Spotlight issues (but which were set in the past), so yeah it's weird seeing it here.

Oh huh, didn't know that. I just thought it was a new form all the seekers sans Dirge took upon returning to Cybertron a few years back.
I'm gonna guess it's an error due to Skywarp still being in that body.

Nik Hero wrote:So why is the Holiday 2015 issue is here. Is there something in that issue that ties in to Revolution that we missed?

They just needed somewhere to slide it in, much like Combiner Hunters and the Distant Stars TPB.

Dr Va'al wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:So why is the Holiday 2015 issue is here. Is there something in that issue that ties in to Revolution that we missed?

They just needed somewhere to slide it in, much like Combiner Hunters and the Distant Stars TPB.

I'm glad we're getting it, even if it is a bit random

So #1 and the ROM tie in are out. The ROM issue actually occurs first, contrary to the reading order that IDW has been distributing.

I've been following the comics related to this crossover for the past several months. The build up to this has actually been pretty darn good! Micronauts in particular is a very fun read each month. So despite my reservations, I've tried to rebuild some hope back up for this 90s style stunt launch.

You know what though? I thought Revolution 1 was garbage. Without spoiling anything yet, here are a few of the problems. For one, this is a continuity nightmare for Transformers right now. Titans Return comes before, yes? It's not all out yet though, so that's annoying. There are characters in places for reasons unknown. Agh.

There's a ton of GI Joe in it, which was anticipated/makes sense, but honestly? They could be anyone. EDC, the army, hell even the Mounted Police. Just special ops edgelords with guns and unreasonable aggression.

Then there's ROM, showing up oddly overpowered considering the events of his own book. His appeals to reason gone on a whim? OK then. And don't even get me started on thinking about the mental gymnastics required for his enemies to be in the position they are within this story and not further along in the implied plan.

The art is also at times great, at times awful, and at times "lol remember the 90s?"

I think folks that didn't bother trying to keep up with all the lead up will enjoy this more. I think comics/pop culture fans in general (with the exception of one involved franchise) that don't follow Transformers closely might even really like this. But as a Transformers fan that tried to do this the "right way", I feel very disappointed.

December can't come soon enough.

A little damning but to be honest, I've only ordered MASK and Transformers as well as the Revolutions books.

Generally agreeing with Scotty here; but one more thing to add to that - I'm getting really, reaaaaaally sick of the whole humans-hate-transformers-and-they-fight thing. I mean I get why it happens in-universe; durr, of course that's going to happen considering the context. But it's just so dull and uninteresting and engaging and it just feels like some necessary evil to slog through before you can get to anything remotely interesting. It's not fun. All Hail Optimus at least tried to make it a little different and a little more interesting - helped especially by character we'd known for a while like Faireborn and the humans' side having Spike fucking Witwicky - but this is just... this is just deplorable. The only different thing that really happens here is that ROM comes in and kills some guys - and as someone who hasn't read ROM #1, this was my first introduction to the character. And according to Scotty, ROM #1 establishes him as the complete opposite to that. AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

We have a nice IDW Revolution roundup for you today. First of all, John Barber announced on Twitter just now that he will have his first ever Reddit AMA (ask me anything) session. It will be at noon pacific time today (so 3 pm eastern time).
The AMA session will also feature Cullen Bunn, Brandon Easton, Aubrey Aitterson, Chris Ryall, Christos Gage and others.




Also, from Bleeding Cool, we have found a combined image of all the interconnected Ken Christiansen Retailer Incentive covers. They wraparound to create one complete image. We have included a pic of it sideways so you can take it all in easier. These covers include all 5 parts of Revolution plus all the Revolution tie-in one-shots as well, which include M.A.S.K., Rom, Action Man, GI Joe, and Transformers.

So about 8pm British time. Might have to watch in on this.

That is a long-ass cover sequence

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:That is a long-ass cover sequence

it is but they dont feel that connected. Most are connected only because of the colour in the background. Its a far cry from things like this: