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Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez

Transformers News: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez

Tuesday, June 27th, 2017 6:43PM CDT

Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al   Views: 12,193

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It ain't over yet..! IDW Publishing's Revolutionaries is about to reach its conclusion, as we head into First Strike, but the Hasbro Universe multi-team has some more tricks up its sleeve - such as issue #6's GI Joe centric variant cover from Tone Rodriguez (plus colourist), as seen below courtesy of Previews World!

(W) John Barber (A) Fico Ossio (CA) Tone Rodriguez
M.A.S.K. vs. ATOMIC MAN! The Revolutionaries team with MATT TRAKKER and the M.A.S.K. team to find Mike Power-a.k.a. ATOMIC MAN-the long-lost member of the G.I. JOE ADVENTURE TEAM. The bizarre history of this tragic hero leads to the truth behind "Project Ice Man"-and the return of another classic G.I. JOE hero!
In Shops: Jul 26, 2017


Transformers News: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez
Credit(s): Previews World

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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1896521)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on July 13th, 2017 @ 2:19pm CDT
We have the iTunes Preview for #6: M.A.S.K. Vs. the Atomic Man! https://twitter.com/hasbroupodcast/stat ... 3474660353
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1896527)
Posted by Kurona on July 13th, 2017 @ 2:35pm CDT
Courtesy of fellow Seibertronian Daniel Adkins, we've got a 3-page preview of Revolutionaries #6 for you straight from iTunes! Featuring Kup and the rest of the squad teaming up with a couple of M.A.S.K. characters, check out the blurb and preview below and join the discussion in the forums if you like!


M.A.S.K. vs. ATOMIC MAN! The Revolutionaries team with MATT TRAKKER and the M.A.S.K. team to find Mike Power—a.k.a. ATOMIC MAN—the long-lost member of the G.I. JOE ADVENTURE TEAM. The bizarre history of this tragic hero leads to the truth behind "Project Ice Man"—and the return of another classic G.I. JOE hero!

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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1896554)
Posted by Targetmaster Kup on July 13th, 2017 @ 4:45pm CDT
So this happens after the M.A.S.K. Annual, hmm.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1896557)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on July 13th, 2017 @ 4:56pm CDT
Maybe. It's hard to know when the MASK Annual takes place considering the presence of Cliff Dagger. At first I was thinking the same thing and that Stalker called in Matt and Gloria, but then Stalker said Scarlett called them in, so who knows.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1899463)
Posted by Va'al on July 25th, 2017 @ 3:56am CDT
Directly from IDW Publishing, we have the full preview of this week's comics releases for the Hasbro Universe! First up is the Revolutionaries series, leading into First Strike in the coming months, and setting up a big stage of crossover material, with issue #6 - check it out below!

Revolutionaries #6
John Barber (w) • Fico Ossio (a) • Robert Atkins (c)
M.A.S.K. vs. ATOMIC MAN! The Revolutionaries team with MATT TRAKKER and the M.A.S.K. team to find Mike Power—a.k.a. ATOMIC MAN—the long-lost member of the G.I. JOE ADVENTURE TEAM. The bizarre history of this tragic hero leads to the truth behind "Project Ice Man"—and the return of another classic G.I. JOE hero!
Bullet points:
Variant cover by Pierre Droal!


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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1899731)
Posted by ScottyP on July 25th, 2017 @ 7:56pm CDT
Power and Glory and Feelings
A Review of Revolutionaries #6

Primarily Spoiler Free, but you might find your own if you're in a bad mood
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A real panel from the book that you will actually take seriously. Buckle up for a trip.

With the yearly mega-event First Strike fast approaching, the book intended to bridge the gap between last year's Revolution and said event hits its sixth installment this week. Originally solicited for a May release, it looks like this series won't quite hit its ultimate eighth issue before First Strike, barring a rapid fire release schedule. After reading Revolutionaries 6, this is an acceptable scenario. Sure, it won't be fun to have plot details spoiled, or other things partially unexplained, but if the seventh and eighth issues of Revolutionaries are anywhere close to as good as this one is then no one's going to care about those other factors.

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We now return to The Transformers (feat. Action Force as your backup strip)

While this is an ensemble book, and the ensemble does play around in this issue and do their monthly actioning and adventuring, make no mistake that this issue could also easily be titled Spotlight: Atomic Man. This shouldn't make you turn away if you're a fan of Transformers that doesn't like fun peanut butter in your chocolate. On the contrary, if you fit those qualifications (and even if you don't), Officer Reeses yourself down to the comic shop or over to your digital platform of choice and read this now. The Saturday morning cartoon fun is interlaced by a gripping story of a boy that becomes a hero that becomes a man that becomes lost. In one issue, Atomic Man goes from "one of those Adventure Team guys in the flashbacks in that Revolushunries book" to a fully defined character, and it's hard to put this one down halfway.

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"How would G.I. Joe fancy a team-up with M.A.S.K.?"

Matt Trakker and Gloria Baker make the Hasbro Universe "Total Brand Awareness" roster for this one, and they serve their purpose well. Author John Barber shows his chops in making sure things fit together through them, at least in a small degree, by nailing the dynamic that's been built between the two characters in the actual M.A.S.K. series. Add in some interactions between them, Mayday, and Stalker, and you have a nice bit of crossover that helps smooth over the wider narrative of the universe while it's at it.

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Seriously though Shark has one purpose and that's it.

They really are just there for fun and to move things along, at least on a high level, because outside of Atomic Man another character absolutely shines in this one, and that's Action Man. Ian Noble continues to be treated more like 007 than A Real American Hero (Imported By Palitoy) and here, it really works. Through a clever twist in one of the Agnes Garbowska drawn "Mikey Powers" scenes, Action Man serves as a linchpin to the issue's plot that takes place through the non-flashback sequences featuring the art and colors of series regulars Fico Ossio and Sebastian Cheng, respectively.

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I love parallelograms

The art throughout varies wildly, but this is for very, very good reasons. As mentioned, Ossio's work takes up the "Main" story and while there are a few of his panels that left things to be desired, with Agnes Garbowska (who many fans may know from IDW's My Little Pony series) lending back up pages in the first half of the issue, his style is balanced out into smaller chunks that I personally find more digestible. Eventually, Ron Joseph takes over for these back up pages and provides his style to these in two different but still effective ways, and it has the same net positive impact on the storytelling. One page even plays around with a real Adventure Team toy advertisement from Marvel Comics' Man Thing #20, published in August of 1975 (This information was retrieved from a blog post at www.ferretpress.com. This ad is ten years older than me, I wasn't going to recognize it on my own!)

There are four covers available for this one, including the primary cover by Robert Atkins with colors by Simon Gough that's shown in the thumbnail for this review. As always, you can find the full list of covers, credits, and characters that appear in this issue in our Vector Sigma Database Entry for Revolutionaries #6.

Verdict
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Reaganomics!

I kind of want to check in on John Barber and make sure he's ok, given the dark and almost brutally melancholic nature of this issue and Optimus Prime #9. However, I also kind of don't because he's on an absolute roll and there'd be fear of disrupting his mojo. Mr. Barber continues here with telling gripping, meaningful stories in this Hasbro Universe that take what could be meaningless monthly serial beats and elevate them through genuine emotion. If pressed, one could definitely find parallels between the "Life of Sideswipe" and the life of Atomic Man presented here which is just incredible.

Seibertron's staff of comic book reviewers has been giving out a great deal of very high scores lately, and I promise you we aren't turning into IGN - the output of the past several weeks has just been that darn good. Pick this one up even if you haven't given Revolutionaries a shot, but be prepared to feel feelings.

. :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: and ½ out of :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO:
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1899898)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on July 26th, 2017 @ 1:19pm CDT
This might make for my favorite issue of Revolutionaries yet. I love the mixed media approach, I'm always a sucker for the Adventure Team, and Mike Power's story was very sad. Though, given certain solicitations, I have to wonder if there's more to his story than meets the atomic eye.

If I had one criticism, it's that MASK really did feel like they had no real reason to be here other than "we needed to put them in somewhere." Still, I much prefer Barber's writing on the MASK team compared to Easton.

And of course, I loved getting to see more of the Hearts of Steel/Eukarian Transformers doing stuff, even if they were only puppets. Perhaps there's a chance they could come back in the future?
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1899899)
Posted by Kurona on July 26th, 2017 @ 1:20pm CDT
I do kinda hope we get more HoS Transformers somewhere down the line. It'd be disappointing to bring it into the universe and only use one of them.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1903805)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on August 11th, 2017 @ 8:23pm CDT
http://www.multiversitycomics.com/previ ... onaries-7/

Multiversity Comics has the full preview of Revolutionaries #7 up. This is the penultimate issue of the series, featuring Sgt. Savage (from G.I. Joe's Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles line) as the guest star.

It also features more Centurion and the Adventure Team. Which means this issue is going to be awesome.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1903930)
Posted by ScottyP on August 12th, 2017 @ 12:55pm CDT
As first seen on Multiversity Comics and as pointed out by Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forum user Daniel Adkins, the five page preview for Revolutionaries #7 is now available. Kup, Centurion, Action Man, Blackrock, Mayday, and Sgt. Savage feature in this next chapter of the series keeping the Hasbro Universe glued together, and while delays have kept this from being released before First Strike as intended, the preview pages below may help you decide whether to give this a shot this upcoming Wednesday, August 16th when the issue hits the shelves.

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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1904584)
Posted by ScottyP on August 15th, 2017 @ 10:26pm CDT
Idk if I'll have time for this post in the morning, so typing it now. Super minor Revolutionaries 7 spoilers from here on!

There's a page with Sgt. Savage and a "Team Extreme" done up in a very 90s style. I dug around the internet and figured out who was on it. Other than Sgt. Savage himself it has:
1. "Action Man" who I take to not be Ian's predecessor, Agent Brogan, but instead, Alex Mann from the Action Man Xtreme cartoon. Could still be Brogan but I figured they'd have name dropped him if it were.
2. Natalie Poole, a Team Xtreme member from that same cartoon.
3. Zartan in his appearance from the GI Joe Ninja Froce toyline.
4. Toxo-Zombie from the GI Joe Eco Warriors toyline. Blast from Kaybee clearance aisles past!
5. Cesspool from the same toyline.


Hope this saves y'all some Google time :)
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1904727)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on August 16th, 2017 @ 2:24pm CDT
This issue was totally tubular! I mean, seriously dog, this was bodacious. 90s Action Man (who is totally Alex Mann) and Sgt. Savage drawn in such extreme art. It was totally dope. But man, I thought Centurion was my homeskillet, but him still working for the bad guy? That's whack! It's a major bummer that twist got jacked, cause the foreshadowing was slamming! But hey, I'm not tripping. Point is, this issue was totally dank!
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1904741)
Posted by Kurona on August 16th, 2017 @ 3:49pm CDT
Like the last issue, I feel this one was a bit of a mess and all-over-the-place hence making it weaker than the first 5 issues of Revolutionaries; but I still enjoyed it. Sgt. Slaughter in particular I really liked and would love to see join the Revolutionaries' main team.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1904989)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on August 17th, 2017 @ 8:44pm CDT
Kurona wrote:Like the last issue, I feel this one was a bit of a mess and all-over-the-place hence making it weaker than the first 5 issues of Revolutionaries; but I still enjoyed it. Sgt. Slaughter in particular I really liked and would love to see join the Revolutionaries' main team.

*Sgt. Savage. (Slaughter was the pro wrestler-turned-Joe figure.)
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1904990)
Posted by Kurona on August 17th, 2017 @ 8:48pm CDT
Daniel Adkins wrote:
Kurona wrote:Like the last issue, I feel this one was a bit of a mess and all-over-the-place hence making it weaker than the first 5 issues of Revolutionaries; but I still enjoyed it. Sgt. Slaughter in particular I really liked and would love to see join the Revolutionaries' main team.

*Sgt. Savage. (Slaughter was the pro wrestler-turned-Joe figure.)

Bleh, keep mixing Joe names up. Either way, I like him!
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1905077)
Posted by Tigertrack on August 18th, 2017 @ 11:08am CDT
Image-Last time-
Looking for the ‘talisman’ to use to attempt to reverse the wraithifying of an entire city of people, the group of Rev comrades headed to the last known location of the Axalon discovered in their previous investigations/adventures due to the ship’s ties to the powerful relic. Thank you Mr. Paoli, welcome to the brig…

-Currently-
This issue continues the adventures of, well, GI JOE’s former Adventure Team (Force) members and the current REVOLUTIONARY team members as they work to uncover the secrets of the ‘talisman’ and Project: Iceman. They’re nearing the finish and as you can expect, the action, intrigue, and various threads are starting to be pulled together for the series culmination next issue!

ImageIt's really not as bad as all that.

Largely focused on what happened to Sergeant Savage when he took his jaunts through time thanks to the talisman energy, the Axalon, and the notorious scheming of former ally Krieger; this issue begins the end for the series. Savage becomes a person from the 40’s fighting in WWII, to living in the 90’s fighting ninjas and totally picking up on the language and catch phrases of that radical time, to now; all the while upholding his ideals and determination as his story (and the story of the Axalon/Krieger/the talisman) further unravels.

ImageI am here to ki..save you my ene...friend!

-The Visuals-
The art is acceptable to awesome in this issue. Revolutionaries’ art has been down right good for the most part, I know I criticized Fico Ossio’s art during Revolution, but I think he’s growing in ability, and had some help from comrades like Guido Guidi and Ron Joseph to take some of the load (or maybe I’ve just become accustomed to the style and nuances). Add in a page of guest work by one my favorite artists, Guido Guidi, who draws and colors an action page straight out of the 90’s for good ol’ history hopping Sgt. Savage and some notable 90’s cobra baddies! Mr. Guidi had already practiced this style via his previous Revolution #5 cover where he drew deep inspiration from the Generation 2 Transformers comic to create his beautiful 90’s style incentive cover. The coloring work by Sebastian Cheng on the other 21 pages is excellent helping to give a grainier dull, less focused feel to events happening in the past, and straight up being bright, colorful and sharp for the events happening in the present. No issue would be complete without Tom B. Long’s action-intensifying Skraxxxh, Pow, and Wooms!

ImageTime travel = Cable sighting

-Story-
I’m going to be honest, I went and re-read all the previous issues of REVOLUTIONARIES to fully grasp everything going on in this issue and start to put it all together. Upon my first read of this issue, keeping the characters, and the jaunts through time straight was difficult even with the visual support. Going back and re-reading helped me to focus in on understanding how events lead up to the point of issue #7, and to better understand all of its cool history building. There are a lot of characters, locations, and events to keep track of and it can seem like a whirlwind of confusing events, if not read carefully. But reading carefully, yields a deep story and creatively written unraveling of another piece of Hasbro-verse history. New characters like Action-man, Mayday, Krieger, and Sgt. Savage are being fleshed out to a level where they are becoming enjoyable to read and solid in who they are. Even Blackrock, for TF fans is becoming less annoying to me, although the seemingly misguided Centurion still needs to grow on me more. Kup’s portrayal has always been fun, and welcomed in the series as a bit of a known commodity, but his interaction with the others has really started to grow him more as well. This series and this issue in particular, was a deciding factor in me taking the digital plunge into the latest HumbleBundle by IDW and Hasbro with a ton of GI JOE IDW Collections, and TRANSFORMERS too, it seemed the perfect fit to help me revisit the material that led up to where Revolutionaries, First Strike, and the whole Hasbro-universe is at and gives me another excuse to donate toward a worthy cause.

ImageI ain't no trained teach, but visual aids is 'portant in learnin'.

-Oops-
It is, however, unfortunate that due to some glitch in IDW’s scheduling, we already have some idea of where this issue, and the next are headed, due to First Strike #1 being already available, and the big surprise in this issue of REVOLUTIONARIES was, well, already revealed in said First Strike issue— there might be other clues to the finale based on characters that appear (and those who are missing)-.

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We understand, not everything is controllable.

-Rating-
Overall, a more than satisfying read that leads to the final issue of the series. Events are coming together well, the unfortunate big non-reveal (which would have been so much more of a ‘Whoa!’ moment), with the ever enjoyable Kup running at the mouth, and the fleshing out of Sgt. Savage (- I def read Sgt. Savage with Hound’s/John Goodman’s voice-), an interesting TF cameo or two, and tracks to TF issues far past. I think this is a solid issue leading up to the series encore with an above average level of interest for TF fiction fans to read.

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:HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: out of :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO:
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1910753)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on September 13th, 2017 @ 7:10pm CDT
Revolutionaries #8 iTunes preview: https://t.co/JedZbryjOA
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1910827)
Posted by Bounti76 on September 14th, 2017 @ 3:40am CDT
Hot on the heels of the previous preview, we have another Transformers related title, scheduled to be released on September 27th, the final issue of Revolutionaries! After last issue (which arrived a touch late) and the big reveal it contained, what will the final issue hold?

OPTIMUS PRIME VS. BARON IRONBLOOD! The final mystery is revealed as Baron Ironblood reveals his true identity! Only by teaming with Transformers leader Optimus Prime do the Revolutionaries have a chance to save Earth—and the whole Hasbro universe! The senses-shattering conclusion to Revolutionaries leads directly into next month's massive crossover event!


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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1912967)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 26th, 2017 @ 11:53am CDT
Thanks to Comic Crusaders, we have the full preview for IDW's Revolutionaries #8! This is the final installment of the Revolutionaries series, and features the final pieces of the puzzle necessary to fully understand First Strike. Check out the preview below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1913126)
Posted by Va'al on September 27th, 2017 @ 5:11am CDT
Fun fact: this book is not actually out this week, according to IDW.

Which means a July book with a plot reveal for First Strike will be coming out the same month as the final issue of the mini-series it introduces.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1913134)
Posted by Kurona on September 27th, 2017 @ 7:56am CDT
Va'al wrote:Fun fact: this book is not actually out this week, according to IDW.

Which means a July book with a plot reveal for First Strike will be coming out the same month as the final issue of the mini-series it introduces.

:APPLAUSE:
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1913168)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on September 27th, 2017 @ 11:05am CDT
Va'al wrote:Fun fact: this book is not actually out this week, according to IDW.

Which means a July book with a plot reveal for First Strike will be coming out the same month as the final issue of the mini-series it introduces.

What you talkin bout, Va'al? I just read the thing on Comixology.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1913169)
Posted by Va'al on September 27th, 2017 @ 11:14am CDT
Daniel Adkins wrote:
Va'al wrote:Fun fact: this book is not actually out this week, according to IDW.

Which means a July book with a plot reveal for First Strike will be coming out the same month as the final issue of the mini-series it introduces.

What you talkin bout, Va'al? I just read the thing on Comixology.


We weren't given it digitally! Has anyone had any luck in print format?
(Oh IDW, sometimes I do wonder..)
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1913321)
Posted by Calvatron on September 28th, 2017 @ 9:26am CDT
Va'al wrote:
Daniel Adkins wrote:
Va'al wrote:Fun fact: this book is not actually out this week, according to IDW.

Which means a July book with a plot reveal for First Strike will be coming out the same month as the final issue of the mini-series it introduces.

What you talkin bout, Va'al? I just read the thing on Comixology.


We weren't given it digitally! Has anyone had any luck in print format?
(Oh IDW, sometimes I do wonder..)


I got a hardcopy at my lcs yesterday. It’s a fitting final issue (physically) to the best thing to come out of the combined hasboroverse.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1913322)
Posted by Va'al on September 28th, 2017 @ 9:41am CDT
Calvatron wrote:
Va'al wrote:
Daniel Adkins wrote:
Va'al wrote:Fun fact: this book is not actually out this week, according to IDW.

Which means a July book with a plot reveal for First Strike will be coming out the same month as the final issue of the mini-series it introduces.

What you talkin bout, Va'al? I just read the thing on Comixology.


We weren't given it digitally! Has anyone had any luck in print format?
(Oh IDW, sometimes I do wonder..)


I got a hardcopy at my lcs yesterday. It’s a fitting final issue (physically) to the best thing to come out of the combined hasboroverse.


Yep, I have emailed IDW. It wasn't even listed in their official solicits for the week. Odd. :-?
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1913434)
Posted by ScottyP on September 28th, 2017 @ 5:17pm CDT
Just read my paper copy. What a criminally underrated series, especially the second half. Definitely shows the potential of this universe to do something great.

Also, at last, a Titan Master does something befitting the name!
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915565)
Posted by ScottyP on October 9th, 2017 @ 6:48pm CDT
Ghosts, Machines, and That Joe Guy
A 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.

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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.

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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.

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: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.

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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.

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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

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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:
. :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: out of :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO:


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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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:
. :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: out of :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO: :HASBRO:
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915566)
Posted by Kurona on October 9th, 2017 @ 7:06pm CDT
As the second Action Man comic fan on the comic, I agree with that bit :lol:

In fact, I agree with pretty much all of this. I remember back when this comic was announced I felt that with the multiple factors it had going for it - the Hasbroverse already being set up; a slower read spread out over a year; a self-contained story that you are not required to read; a fun little ragtag group compared to having to get every major player involved - this would be one of the positives to the Hasbroverse, one of the things that would prove it could be done right, and the polar opposite to Revolution in how well it's handled. And I feel that for once I predicted correctly. Revolutionaries was a very fun mini (maxi?) that deserves a lot more attention and credit than it gets. I can only hope we get something else like this after First Strike -- this time throwing Sgt. Savage in the mix; he is so entertaining and so deserves to be on this team!
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915611)
Posted by ArmadaPrime on October 10th, 2017 @ 5:31am CDT
Checking in as one of the three Action Man fans, that series was wonderful. Now where are the other two...? :-?
I've said it before though and I'll say it again: Revolutionaries is a better crossover than any of Hasbro's actual crossovers. And that's even considering the huge step up that first strike is from Revolution. The world building tie-ins were delightful even if half of them were to stuff I've only read about on the wiki, and it really managed to strike the right balance and tone for such a varied cast.
I'm curious to see where they all end up next, as I don't think it's getting a direct continuation. Atomic Centuribee (I kinda hope he picks a new name for his new... self) seems to crop up on a couple of OP covers if memory serves, which is kind of a shame as the team could've done with another mech imo, but other than that I'm not sure?
Maybe I've missed an announcement, but the only new serials I remember are Scarlett's Joe Sequel, Robot And The Small Robots, and Somehow We'll Make The Visionaries Relevant I Promise.

Also, I've honestly not found the release offset too jarring, despite FS being 2/3ish of the way through already. Having not read Joe or Mask I don't know who half the villains are anyway, and both FS and Revolutionaries are at the same level of cool if you know them but fine if you don't, imo.
I am still confused about Head Ninja (storm shadow?)'s whole deal though, having wraith like powers and magic DNA that reverses the talisman's effects? Sure, why not :lol:
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915636)
Posted by Big Grim on October 10th, 2017 @ 8:48am CDT
I enjoyed the Action Man I read from the super IDW Humble Bundle a while ago. Was there more to that series? Or is it straight into revolutionaries? I am well behind with my comics at the moment, so info is appreciated. :)
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915638)
Posted by ArmadaPrime on October 10th, 2017 @ 8:56am CDT
Big Grim wrote:I enjoyed the Action Man I read from the super IDW Humble Bundle a while ago. Was there more to that series? Or is it straight into revolutionaries? I am well behind with my comics at the moment, so info is appreciated. :)

Ding ding ding! That's all three of us, folks :lol:
It ran last year for I think a 4-issue miniseries, with oneshot tying in to the Revolution event, in which he featured... probably? Tbh I can barely remember what happened in Revolution.
Pretty sure the 5 have been collected into a TPB if that's your style.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915651)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on October 10th, 2017 @ 9:44am CDT
Then we have issues because Action Man was my favorite of the shared universe guys. He and Kup are a great team!
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915666)
Posted by Kurona on October 10th, 2017 @ 10:38am CDT
Action Man came in at the last second in the final battle of Revolution, where he did... uh... something. For all intents and purposes, Revolutionaries was his ongoing.

Scotty, looks like you counted wrong -- D-Maximus makes 5 Action Man fans here! :lol:
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915669)
Posted by ArmadaPrime on October 10th, 2017 @ 10:58am CDT
5? Well I never. The only question is when do we stage a takeover (or I guess you could say... Revolution?) and turn this into an Action Man fansite ;)

On a slightly more serious note, thinking about CenturiMike reminded me of MMC's tragically short-lived hearts of steel inspired line. Iirc they made a Prime (Knight Morpher Commander) and a billion repaints I never managed to get hold of, a stupidly big and expensive Shockwave, and altmode-combining Insecticons that never got past the prototype stage...
Now that these designs are canonised, and with MMC having a distinct IDW leaning in their Reformatted line, perhaps there's hope for a revival and we'll get an HoS Bee?
It's a stupendously long shot (though slightly more likely than an official hastak offering methinks) but what can I say, having a train nut for a dad has made the idea of transforming steam engines incredibly exciting to me :lol:
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915683)
Posted by ScottyP on October 10th, 2017 @ 11:45am CDT
Kurona wrote:Scotty, looks like you counted wrong -- D-Maximus makes 5 Action Man fans here! :lol:
I claim "figure of speech" ;) Really cool to see it got around a bit more. I forgot it was in that Humble Bundle, I'm sure that helped a great deal!
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915717)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on October 10th, 2017 @ 2:20pm CDT
Action Man is the greatest hero of them all. People who don’t like Action Man are like people who don’t like fun.

ArmadaPrime wrote:Robot And The Small Robots

Rom isn’t a robot, he’s a guy in cyborg armor, and only 2 of the Micronauts, Microtron and Biotron, are robots.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1915719)
Posted by ArmadaPrime on October 10th, 2017 @ 2:32pm CDT
Daniel Adkins wrote:
ArmadaPrime wrote:Robot And The Small Robots

Rom isn’t a robot, he’s a guy in cyborg armor, and only 2 of the Micronauts, Microtron and Biotron, are robots.

Yeah, I realised that as I was writing it. Couldn't think of anything else that was equally silly or amusing to my work-addled brain though :-P
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1920369)
Posted by Va'al on November 7th, 2017 @ 9:48am CST
Coming this month from IDW Publishing is the second a final volume of collected issues from the bridge series between Revolution and First Strike, featuring the likes of GI Joe, Action Man, and Transformers in the characters of Blackrock / Sovereign and Kup: Revolutionaries! The series that showed best how the Hasbro Universe could work well is an essential and enjoyable read to pin down some of the major lore developments in the IDWverse so far, so make sure to pick this one and its predecessor up!

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!


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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1920496)
Posted by steve2275 on November 7th, 2017 @ 8:41pm CST
cool
i missed issues 5-8
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1920691)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on November 9th, 2017 @ 9:46am CST
Figured I'd drop this in this thread. Action and Adventure: The Hasbro Universe Podcast is going to be doing a Revolutionaries Retrospective with special guest John Barber, talking about his work on Action Man, Revolutionaries, First Strike, and the wider Hasbro Universe. We're also taking listener questions for people to ask John.

If you want to submit questions, go to our Twitter account and reply to this tweet: https://twitter.com/HasbroUPodcast/stat ... 6312675328
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930226)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on January 6th, 2018 @ 6:07pm CST
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Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930246)
Posted by Burn on January 6th, 2018 @ 9:49pm CST
Cool story bro.
/sarcasm
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930247)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on January 6th, 2018 @ 9:53pm CST
Burn wrote:Cool story bro.
/sarcasm

Why must you always be a total jackass, Burn?

Why?
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930248)
Posted by Burn on January 6th, 2018 @ 9:56pm CST
It's in my job description.

But hey, if you want to make a post featuring an image that makes little to no sense, you go right ahead and be pointless. Whatever works for you mate.
/jackass.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930254)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on January 6th, 2018 @ 10:04pm CST
Burn wrote:It's in my job description.

But hey, if you want to make a post featuring an image that makes little to no sense, you go right ahead and be pointless. Whatever works for you mate.
/jackass.

It’s a meme, my dude. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mcdonalds-alignment-chart Thought it might be fun to do one for my favorite book and maybe make a few people chuckle.

Personally, if someone posted a meme that I didn’t get or find funny, I would just shrug and move on rather than feeling the need to inject a pointless comment to strike up some kind of a sparring match because I have more important things to do with my time, but hey, you do you.
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930256)
Posted by Burn on January 6th, 2018 @ 10:14pm CST
See? Would it have been hard to put it into context in the first place? Not everybody is Meme-Guru.

Personally, if you're going to call someone a jackass, maybe make the effort to get to know that person and how they work before you go around insulting them. But hey, I'll be sure to use more emojis next time to help convey my tone. Will that be acceptable to your standards?
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930262)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on January 6th, 2018 @ 10:57pm CST
Well I apologize for calling you a jackass. But to respond to something I made with a sarcastic comment like yours was incredibly insulting, and I’m sure you can see why I would consider it something of a jackass thing to do. You say my image was pointless, then what was the point of responding to it, other than to stir things up and end up with this back and forth?
Re: Variant Cover for IDW Revolutionaries #6 by Tone Rodriguez (1930267)
Posted by Burn on January 6th, 2018 @ 11:17pm CST
Mate, I don't want your apology. You did wrong, I did wrong, what the fuck ever.
Like I said, make an effort to get to know someone before judging them. You and I have barely interacted yet you seem perfectly okay to judge me.

That? That doesn't sit well with me. I doubt it would sit well with anyone.

Here's some facts for you. Generally I'm a pretty laid back kinda guy, it's an Australian thing, along with the sarcasm and general smart arsedry.

A lot of people don't get that. They see a title and expect me to act to some sort of standards that is actually imposed on me by them.

The title only comes into play when I have to enforce rules and shit. Which, isn't all too often. So the majority of the time, I'm just being me.

Don't like that? Not my problem.

Now that I've (once again) explained who I am, we can return to the topic about a series which is now complete.

Back in the good days when we we only had half a mouthful of a shared universe shoved into our faces. Image

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Transformers Podcast: Twincast / Podcast #359 - One
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"One"
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