New Creators Video - IDW / Hasbro Comics REVOLUTION Crossover

Dr Va'al wrote:Stuff on MASK.
http://www.newsarama.com/29710-idw-s-m- ... -show.html

Today sees the release of IDW’s Action Man #1, which kickstarts a Hasbro expanded universe that brings together several of their other properties including The Transformers, G.I. Joe, Micronauts, M.A.S.K and more. Sadly, My Little Pony is not part of it. To celebrate the comic’s release, we caught up with the man who is spearheading this series – John Barber.

Barber is a man who has been hailed as ‘The God of Continuity’, and has previously worked with Marvel before jumping to IDW and writing for Transformers – both the Michael Bay movie tie-ins and IDW’s on-going series. But now he’s moving into a slightly less known territory of Action Man. So, why use him over more established characters?

“Well, it goes without saying that Action Man is the biggest character in the Hasbro stable,” Barber jokes. “No, I love Action Man, but I kid. [He’s] got a great set of fans, don’t get me wrong, but this comic is really about introducing the character to readers while honoring his history. The lead-up to Revolution is part of the DNA of the book Paulo Villanelli and John-Paul Bove put together. We’re not going to hit you over the head with it on page one, but Action Man is really the first book we’ve launched post-plans about the shared universe—I guess Rom #0 was the first, but Action Man was in that book in preview form, anyway. And Action Man absolutely plays a key role in Revolution—in fact he’s the first character you see in Revolution #1—but we’ll start to see these characters interacting in most of the comics leading up to Revolution (I say “most” as Micronauts is in another universe and More Than Meets the Eye is in deep space so we’re not cramming anything in that isn’t organic to the story).”

Is it going to be difficult to bring in characters from G.I. Joe, Transformers, etc?

“In a way, even though you don’t have to be reading Transformers,” he claims. “Revolution grows from the events in the Transformers comic Andrew Griffith and I do. Optimus Prime has declared Earth is under his protection, whether it wants to be or not. And for a lot of people, “not” is the answer. So when something starts going wrong with Ore-13—a substance Transformers can convert to energon, their food—signs point to the Transformers.”

He adds: “Action Man is one of the first discoverers of how bad things are with the Ore-13 crystals, and his actions cause G.I. Joe to be called in. Meanwhile, Rom’s been running around killing these shape-shifting aliens called Dire Wraiths, and the Transformers and G.I. Joe don’t know what to do with him—they don’t know what he’s up to, but Rom knows who the Cybertronians are. As the story goes on, the Micronauts enter the scene in a big way (no pun intended), and M.A.S.K. is formed… there’s a lot of moving parts, but Cullen Bunn—who’s co-writing the Revolution event with me—and Fico Ossio—who’s doing the amazing art—and I are making sure the story is clear and that everybody has a legitimate point of view and desires.”

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IDW is no stranger to the world of crossovers, having brought Green Lantern to the world of Star Trek and countless team-ups between Transformers and G.I. Joe. There have also been connecting comics like Infestation, which tied together their on-going comics for Ghostbusters and Transformers but never saw the characters interact.

“IDW’s done really cool, really fun stories where they put together some great characters, like Star Trek/Green Lantern. And Tom Scioli (and slightly me, but Tom deserves all the credit) did absolutely amazing stuff on Transformers ss. G.I. Joe,” Barber says. “Then there have been line-wide stories like Infestation and Conspiracy where there’s a central spine and tie-in comics from different series, but the characters from one series don’t necessarily interact with each other—just with the central spine. I love those stories, but they’re very self-contained – that’s got advantages, of course. Transformers vs. G.I. Joe wouldn’t have the personality or impact it had if ten comics tied into it. But I think with the right project, it’s really great to have an event with big consequences in the comics crossing over.”

So how does Revolution differ? “This is going to have big repercussions,” Barber answers. “The individual titles will all maintain their own identities, their own stories, their own styles—but the canvass they’ll take place in will be this big, unified world, which I think is a ton of fun. It’s really great to have the ability to move characters between books and have these characters interact.”

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Barber has been hailed by fans as ‘The God of Continuity’, which makes him the perfect man to take on something like Revolution – as it not only brings together these characters but does so without compromising the stories already told. Is ‘The God of Continuity’ a fitting moniker?

“I don’t know about that,” he says laughing. “When I came on to Transformers, I sort of approached it as an archeologist. I dug in and read everything and took notes and thought about things and tried to see what resonated and what I could build on. I think I got too into the woods with that in places, but it created the worldview I have on some of the characters. Like, I looked at how Soundwave or Prowl were handled, and they were both written really differently by different writers over the years, and I thought through—what would make somebody be like that? What if they really did act all those different ways, what’s their deal? And that led to—I hope—richer characters.”

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Barber has written for two different types of Transformers – the IDW on-going series and the comic tie-ins for Michael Bay’s live action movies. “I did the movie tie-in comics first, so a lot of it was just learning how to write, and how to write Transformers,” he recalls. “I think philosophically, there’s a part of me where I wanted to have the high-octane non-stop action of the Bay movies in a comic, and another part that wanted to explore the world in a different way. The Rising Storm series was me trying to write a Michael Bay story in a comic; the Foundation series—which was the first time I worked with Andrew Griffith!—was meant to have a different tone. That was a thing I was thinking about a lot, then. And when Andrew and I came on to the IDW Universe series, it was more about our take on Transformers. We respected the past, but we weren’t operating under, or really reacting to, anybody else’s style. I talked to James Roberts, who was starting writing the other series, and we bounced ideas around and tried to figure out where we could intersect and how we could keep a different feel between the books but still feel coherent.”

But the real question is: who would win in a fight between Bay’s Optimus Prime and IDW’s Optimus Prime…?

“The Bay Prime is more vicious, but I think Optimus in the Transformers comic is more tactical in his thinking at this point, and he’s not exactly a pushover,” he says. “I think the comic book one wins.”

When Revolution was announced earlier this month, there was a large vocal outrage from fans who felt that this ‘cash in’ was going to ruin the stories they’d liked in G.I. Joe: Real American Hero and Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye. IDW editor Chris Ryall spent a long time on Twitter answering fan queries and concerns, and told them all to trust the process.

“I used to edit Wolverine. I’m used to the internet reaction being negative,” Barber jokes.

But one has to wonder, did that level of negativity have some effect on the plans for Revolution?

“Nope. The plan is the plan and the plan is awesome,” Barber emphatically states. “I mean, there’s pressure, of course – Cullen and Fico and editor David Hedgecock and colorist Sebastian Cheng and I all feel a lot of pressure to not let people down, and to do justice to the characters, and to build a strong foundation to this world. Telling a story has it’s own pressure! A nice pressure, I’m not complaining – it’s great! But I don’t feel any additional pressure based on anybody’s initial reactions.”

One of the big things promised coming from Revolution is that things will change. Big things. Groundbreaking things. So what can we expect?

“Transformers is going to change – the grand, over-arcing story I’ve been telling is still totally in place, now with cooler pieces making Earth a richer, more interesting place,” Barber says. “But the actual title will have a couple big changes.”

He adds: “Micronauts will be on Earth – which is huge (pun completely intended this time); Rom will have new relations to Transformers and G.I. Joe; G.I. Joe will have a big, new mission coming out of Revolution; Action Man will have a pretty interesting remit and goal; and M.A.S.K. will exist, which it doesn’t now. I mean, it’ll do a lot more than just exist! But M.A.S.K. is born in this crossover.”

1984forever wrote:Speaking as a human being in the IDWverse, if the Earth was just attacked by aliens, and one of those aliens offered protection against further attacks by his kind, why would we refuse?

1984forever wrote:Speaking as a human being in the IDWverse, if the Earth was just attacked by aliens, and one of those aliens offered protection against further attacks by his kind, why would we refuse?

PREVIEWSworld: Tell us what you’re on point to do for Revolution. What creative chores have you accepted?

Fico Ossio: I´m doing pencils and ink. And I get to do the characters redesigns, for all the G.I. Joes. And I´m having the first crack at the M.A.S.K. vehicles, which is awesome. I used to own all the toys.

I took some liberties with the Transformers, as well as Action Man. It does all serve the purpose to have them all stand together and have a cohesive look.

Kurona wrote:Nice to see they're having a bit of fun with it.
If Grimlock's in it a little, I guess we're seeing the Scavengers at some point?

Dr Va'al wrote:

Kurona wrote:Nice to see they're having a bit of fun with it.
If Grimlock's in it a little, I guess we're seeing the Scavengers at some point?

You made me go look for an article - which turns out wasn't posted! Working on it now, but yes, the Scavengers are the focus of the Revolution MTMTE issue.

James Roberts: Well, MTMTE gets in on the action with a Revolution tie-in featuring the Scavengers, who are kind of the alternative main cast. That’s an Earth-based story. Nick Roche and I are co-writing for the first time since 2010’s Last Stand of the Wreckers, so even if we weren’t getting an opportunity to pit the world’s worst Decepticons against the likes of MASK and GI Joe, it would still feel like an event for us.

o.supreme wrote:Gretings All...

ok so I just got my monthly comics. Please forgive me but after looking at the schedule for Revolution...I am totally confused. I've been trying to keep up with the articles, but apparently I haven't been doing a good job.

I know that in Sept both the self titled TF & MTMTE will stop at #57 and the next month, October with Revolution go back to #1 (MTMTE will be renamed "The Lost Light"). But will the "Revolution" be each titles #1, or are there Revolution #1's, and individual TF #1's ...(if that makes sense).

Also...is TAAO going to reset after only 4 issues?...seems kind of silly, but oh well.

I know I probably am putting myself through more trouble than its worth, but I am a fan of linear continuity. all these stupid restarts always get on my nerves. IN my world, the Titans return one shot is issue #300 of an ongoing series, and for the most part I've been able to keep track despite all the curveballs that IDW throws, but this one has me perplexed. Its nice they are always providing jumping on points for new fans, but I guess they really don't think much of us that have been around since Infiltration #0 .

If anyone can list it all out for me, this would be appreciated. Also, is it just me or does it seem the timing of Revolution is a bit off. This would have been a good thing to start in January 2017, when both ongoings had a solid 5 year run behind them, and Titans Return could have been fleshed out a bit more rather than forced through 5 issues.

o.supreme wrote:Thank You. Yes it makes sense in that now I know what to look for at my local shop, and wont be missing any issues. It still doesn't make sens from a business point of view, but whatever. They can number the issues however they want. I just wish maybe in the inside, maybe even on the back page they could put a number in the corner like #301, #302 etc...for those of us that are keeping an overall tab on things.

So...Basically Titans Return is 5 issues (The Titans Return one shot plus MTMTE #56, 57, and TF #56 & 57) . And TAAO #3 and 4 are basically doing there own thing...you'd think it would be part of Titan wars as well but...


Oh and one more question... So...for example in October will there be a TF MTMTE Revolution #1 AND Lost Light #1, or will TF MTMTE Revolution #1 be October, then Lost Light #1 in November?

Dr Va'al wrote:- Lost Light starts in December.

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 bi-weekly event draws everything together—and leaves nothing standing. The REVOLUTION is here—TAKE A STAND!

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 bi-weekly event draws everything together—and leaves nothing standing. The REVOLUTION is here—TAKE A STAND!

SW's SilverHammer wrote:Is this like the first time since the 84 marvel run, that the transformers have been in Portland?

Big Grim wrote:Who was that strung up? Some of the colours are making me think Blitzwing but I don't believe it's him.

Kurona wrote:According to TFWiki it is Blitzwing; shock of being de-combined from Galvatronus knocking him out and sending him ashore.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wasn't going to give this a chance, due to not caring about any of the other characters besides the Transformers, but this art is beautiful. If the story is halfway decent, I'll keep up with it. Still, can't wait until Lost Light debuts.

Optimizzy wrote:I thought it was scorponok...Im disappointed it's not.

Kurona wrote:

Optimizzy wrote:I thought it was scorponok...Im disappointed it's not.

Well, Magnus did kinda take him into space and imprison him... uh... somewhere.

I do wanna see him eventually return tho. Especially since the random 'cons around the universe need a leader. Not that there's a shortage of candidates right now - Deathsaurus/Nickel, Bludgeon; they could even bring back Sixshot...

Randomhero wrote:

Kurona wrote:

Optimizzy wrote:I thought it was scorponok...Im disappointed it's not.

Well, Magnus did kinda take him into space and imprison him... uh... somewhere.

I do wanna see him eventually return tho. Especially since the random 'cons around the universe need a leader. Not that there's a shortage of candidates right now - Deathsaurus/Nickel, Bludgeon; they could even bring back Sixshot...

Scorponok was imprisoned on Garrus-9 with Shockwave and was meant to have a pivotal role in Last Stand of the Wreckers but was cut out. Since G9 is now decommissioned he's no doubt toting around the Galaxy. I've always assumed he may have been the one that took grimlock off G9 during overlords occupation. He'll show up again eventually.

Bludgeon is still on Cybertron no doubt alive but he's not really a deception anymore. He just big walking ball of crazy nowadays

Sixshot will show up again eventually. If anything that awesome new toy may help with that.

Kurona wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Kurona wrote:

Optimizzy wrote:I thought it was scorponok...Im disappointed it's not.

Well, Magnus did kinda take him into space and imprison him... uh... somewhere.

I do wanna see him eventually return tho. Especially since the random 'cons around the universe need a leader. Not that there's a shortage of candidates right now - Deathsaurus/Nickel, Bludgeon; they could even bring back Sixshot...

Scorponok was imprisoned on Garrus-9 with Shockwave and was meant to have a pivotal role in Last Stand of the Wreckers but was cut out. Since G9 is now decommissioned he's no doubt toting around the Galaxy. I've always assumed he may have been the one that took grimlock off G9 during overlords occupation. He'll show up again eventually.

Bludgeon is still on Cybertron no doubt alive but he's not really a deception anymore. He just big walking ball of crazy nowadays

Sixshot will show up again eventually. If anything that awesome new toy may help with that.

Personally I just want it to be BW Megatron. It means we get one of the franchise's best characters, we get more Beast Wars stuff, and we won't have to worry about Hasbro asking IDW to turn Megatron into a Decepticon again since we'd have a Megatron in charge. Win-wins all around!

ricemazter wrote:Does it feel to anyone else like we've been going through the same song an dance with Transformers and humans for what feels like decades? It's always the humans hate transformers for being big destructive robots, but none of them can learn to tell the difference between good and bad robots despite the entire cybertronian race being color coded for their convenience at this point. Even when in engaged in obvious humanitarian efforts, in populated areas, this kind of thing constantly happens, it seems.

This isn't even a specific comics based problem, the movies are an even worse offender. It's getting tiresome that the automatic human response to the Autobots is to shoot them. There's no dramatic tension to any of it. What would be much more interesting is if there were actual, tense negotiations between the transformers and human leaders with everything becoming complicated due to the involvement of Rom, M.A.S.K, and the Micronauts bringing in more alien shenanigans.

primalxconvoy wrote:Thanks again to Seibertron for uploading the pictures! TFW2005, as usual just gave a link to the (unreachable) IDW and that was it. Plus, then there is the hassle of trying to open a very large PDF file.

However, it was an absolute bugger to download these pictures. Server problems?