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IDW Hasbro Comics Crossover: Revolution - Chris Ryall Interview, John Barber Clarifications

Date: Wednesday, June 1st 2016 1:40pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Entertainment Weekly

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Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, we have some more information on the IDW Publishing crossover event REVOLUTION, featuring all the Hasbro licensed series and restarting the comics numbering at #1 for the books involved. Chris Ryall answered some of the questions, which you can read in full here, and a snippet below.



We've also included a compilation of tweets from Ryall and John Barber, to help navigate this big change in the IDWverse. So fear not, and keep reading!

But IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall insists this isn’t a reboot.

“We didn’t want this to be what fans have seen from so many others, which is a reboot or a relaunch where you’re asked to forget about all these characters and stories you’ve been following for years,” Ryall says. “It’s just now everybody will be acknowledging each other in a much greater way than ever before.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this whole thing come about?
CHRIS RYALL: It happened in a stealthy way. When I was bringing back ROM, the co-writer Christos Gage and I were talking about a nice way to make something big and impactful happen in that issue. So at the end of the issue there’s a big reveal that shows ROM might be a part of a larger universe than fans expected at the start. We were going to stealthily seed things along the way, so that fans would think these guys might exist in ROM’s world and then, in talking about it internally, it just made sense, now that we’re launching Micronauts and ROM, and we’ve already got G.I. Joe and Transformers, and were looking to do M.A.S.K. All these things should exist together. That’s what fans want to see.

When we first launched G.I. Joe, fans asked us, “Are they gonna meet the Transformers?” And every time we’ve added a Hasbro title since then, it’s been the same question. Are the Micronauts gonna meet the Transformers? Is ROM gonna meet the Micronauts?

[...]

What will the event involve?
Revolution is its own thing. It’s a five-part biweekly series that we’re launching in September, and that series will detail the reasons why these characters are all drawn together. It centers around something called Ore 13, which is an unstable version of Energon, the material that gives the Transformers their power and life. There’s a version of that on earth, that has an adverse effect on tech, which adversely affects ROM, and changes the status of him and his villains, the Dire Wraiths. It affects the Micronauts universe in a way they didn’t expect, and then it also gives birth to M.A.S.K., which is a big new title we’re launching out of this.

So that series details the reason for all these characters to be drawn together. Then all the series will be relaunched with new number ones and this new status quo. The plan is to have the characters go back to occupying their own spaces. I don’t want G.I. Joe or Transformers fans to feel like they have to buy every issue of everything we publish now just to get the whole story. If they do, certainly that’s a nice outcome, but I still want them to read a Transformers book and have it feel like a Transformers book. It’s just, now within that universe, ROM is somewhere in the background and may be drawn back in at some point.

Barber:

I'm very excited about Revolution, and it's absolutely not going to scale anything back from what's happened in any Transformers comics.

Revolution will get these comics where I think they always should have been, and since I like where they are already...

...I don't think we'll be losing anything we already like.

Oh--important note, the list of creative teams in the press release is for the Revolution tie-in stories.

Just to make clear--post Revolution, @SaraLePew and @Max_Dunbar will still be there!

Ryall:

How do the other Transformers books play in (MTMTE, TAAO), renumbered? ending? untouched?

We'll get into more specifics soon but some will end and restart differently; TAAO will keep rolling as is.

It won't affect Titan Wars. We've been threading this needle very carefully for some time know, building to this.

MTMTE untouched?

Rather, you can assume that any involvement will make sense to that series and not change what James has built.

OK now I'm panicking. Restarting MTMTE is just about the craziest thing to do to a book with such a hardcore fandom.

I understand the trepidation but we're not abandoning plans, characters or stories. Just moving things forward.

Not a reboot in any way, shape or form, actually. All the stories you read here before still happened.

We'll get into new-title specifics & teams before long. If you like the way things are, you'll be happy. Only moreso



@chris_ryall How will the IDW GI Joe continuity be reconciled with All Hail Megatron's global invasion that killed 15% of all humans?


It will be addressed. We're not scrapping things.

Please wait and see. It makes sense. And everything is always changing, just changing in the right ways here.

Not TAAO [renumbering]. We'll get into specific post-event plans before long. Never a good plan to reveal everything all at once.

I understand people don't want to lose what they like, I get that. But yes, the comic itself will put fears to rest.

IDW Hasbro Comics Crossover: Revolution - MASK, Transformers, Action Man, Micronauts, ROM, GI Joe

Date: Wednesday, June 1st 2016 12:52pm CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, Press Releases, Company News, Digital Media News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): IDW

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We've had a lot of build-up to this official reveal from IDW Publishing about their HAsbro properties, from August solicitations for Transformers, to the Hasbro Allspark Studios writers' rooms - but it looks like everything will be coming together in a gigantic crossover, including the three ongoings: Till All Are One, More Than Meets the Eye and The Transformers! Read more on REVOLUTION below, and let us know what you think in the Energon Pub!

The Revolution Is Here
IDW Merges Their Iconic Hasbro Comics in an Epic Crossover Event

San Diego, CA (June 1, 2016) – IDW Publishing has unveiled its most ambitious comic book publishing venture in its history revolving around its fan-favorite titles based on Hasbro properties.

The “Revolution” event marks the birth of a comic book crossover that will be comprised of not only the TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE properties, but also all-new properties MICRONAUTS, ROM, and ACTION MAN, as well as the launch of a long-awaited M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand series.

This is not a reboot—rather, the Revolution series takes many of the building blocks of what has come before from IDW and builds on them anew, bringing all these elements together in an epic event that results in an all-new status quo for all involved. Everything fans have enjoyed up to this point remains intact as part of this ongoing continuity. The ramifications of Revolution will extend well beyond the event, as all of these iconic characters will henceforth exist in the same universe, altering the scope of IDW editorial in all the Hasbro series from this moment onward.

Revolution, the bi-weekly five-issue event series that launches this initiative, will be co-written by Cullen Bunn (MICRONAUTS) and John Barber (TRANSFORMERS) with art by Fico Ossio (MICRONAUTS). The event kicks off with a world-shaking threat that brings all opposing factions together in a storyline that just might see the destruction of the universe before it can truly begin!

All aforementioned titles will tie-in to the event with a bevy of talent on board including:

ROM
Co-written by Chris Ryall (Onyx), Christos Gage (Marvel’s Daredevil)
Art by David Messina (Star Trek)



G.I. Joe
Written by Aubrey Sitterson (Street Fighter X G.I. JOE)
Art by Giannis Milonogiannis (Prophet)



Transformers: Till All Are One
Written by Mairghread Scott (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, TRANSFORMERS)
Art by Naoto Tsushima (TRANSFORMERS)



Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye
Written by James Roberts (TRANSFORMERS)
Art by Alex Milne (TRANSFORMERS)



Transformers
Written by John Barber (Back to the Future)
Art by Andrew Griffith (TRANSFORMERS)



M.A.S.K.
Written by Brandon Easton (Marvel’s Agent Carter, TRANSFORMERS: Deviations)
Art by Tony Vargas (Rot & Ruin)



Action Man
Written by John Barber (TRANSFORMERS)
Art by Paolo Villanelli (G.I. JOE: SNAKE EYES)



Micronauts
Written by Cullen Bunn (Uncanny X-Men)
Art by Chris Panda



And many more!


“The Revolution series builds out of a detail that was introduced in IDW’s first-ever issue of TRANSFORMERS in 2005,” said IDW’s Chief Creative Officer, Chris Ryall. “So to finally be able to build upon the various story elements we’ve seeded over the years, and which come into play in a big way starting with July’s ROM #1 even before the launch of Revolution, is a blast. We’ve been working toward a full-fledged universe for some time and it’s great fun to be able to finally bring it to vivid life, especially since it allows us to give the world new titles like the very-requested M.A.S.K., as well as some exciting new books still to be announced.”

“We’ve done plenty of crossovers in the past,” said Michael Kelly, Head of Global Publishing at Hasbro, “but nothing near this scope or scale. Our heroes, whether they are from Earth or from distant reaches of the galaxy, all have one thing in common: their powers and abilities are based primarily on technology. We have been able to use this fact to build a natural and believable link between all of these disparate characters. The result is a complex and dynamic world where all manner of conflicts and team-ups can and will exist. If you are a fan of Hasbro’s brands, your time is now.”

As Revolution rolls out, each associated series will receive its own “Revolution” one-shot that ties in to the main event. Revolution will feature an array of variant covers with stunning cover art by Brandon Peterson, Tradd Moore, John Byrne, James Biggie, Adam Riches, Guido Guidi, Ken Christensen, Art Baltazar, and more.

Nothing will be the same after the Revolution erupts this September with issues 1 & 2 plus one-shot tie-ins (G.I. JOE, MICRONAUTS, ROM) all available to order together. Take a stand!

IDW Transformers August 2016 Solicitations: #TAAO, #TitansReturn, War Within, TPBs

Date: Wednesday, May 18th 2016 3:36am CDT
Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): IDW

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There may not have been any new comics previews or reviews for a week or so, but we do have an early look at the ones coming out from IDW Publishing this August 2016! Check out below the full list, with synopses and an assortment of covers, of the upcoming Transformers releases, reprints and collections, as Titans Return keeps on truckin', Windblade is Swindlin', Revolution is comin', and the summaries keep spoiling previous arcs - be warned!

Transformers: Till All Are One #3
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a & c)
WINDBLADE TURNS TRAITOR?! With the rise of the COMBATICON threat, STARSCREAM issues an ultimatum to WINDBLADE: do his—or everyone on Cybertron will learn her darkest secrets!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers: Till All Are One #3—Subscription Variant
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a) • Priscilla Tramontano (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Will WINDBLADE betray her own ideals and become STARSCREAM’s crony?
Is ONSLAUGHT really the threat to world peace that STARSCREAM claims?
And where in the name of the Primes is SWINDLE?!
Sets the stage for next month’s REVOLUTION!
Variant cover by Thomas Deer!

Transformers #56
John Barber (w) • Livio Ramondelli (a & c)
TITANS RETURN! Following the literally-Earth-shattering events of last issue… OPTIMUS PRIME establishes a new base of operations—AUTOBOT CITY! Its first visitor: a newly-revived SENTINEL PRIME, who sees a potential ally in OPTIMUS.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers #56—Subscription Variant
John Barber (w) • Andrew Griffith (a) • Casey W. Coller (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
You’ve never seen a TRANSFORMERS crossover like this before!
Ties directly in to this month’s MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!
Leads into next month’s REVOLUTION!
Variant cover by Ken Christiansen!

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #56
James Roberts (w) • Priscilla Tramontano (a & c)
TITANS RETURN! On Luna 1, nothing ever happens—and as far as FORTRESS MAXIMUS and RED ALERT are concerned, nothing ever will. After all, who else could possibly be interested in the Luna 1’s birthing field and its graveyard full of dead Titans?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #56—Subscription Variant
James Roberts (w) • Priscilla Tramontano (a) • Nick Roche (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
You’ve never seen a TRANSFORMERS crossover like this before!
Ties directly in to this month’s TRANSFORMERS!
Sets the stage for next month’s REVOLUTION!
Variant cover by Ken Christiansen!

Transformers vs G.I. Joe, Vol. 3
Tom Scioli & John Barber (w) • Tom Scioli (a & c)
The biggest space battle ever grows to universal proportions! Will the G.I. JOE team and the AUTOBOTS make peace—before COBRA and the DECEPTICONS end the war… the bad way?! Collects issues #10–13.
TPB • FC • $19.99 • 120 pages • 7” x 11” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-693-5

Bullet points:
The series you never thought would happen comes to its thunderous conclusion!

Transformers: War Within Omnibus
Simon Furman (w) • Don Figueroa, Andrew Wildman (a) • Don Figueroa (c)
Collects both the WAR WITHIN and WAR WITHIN: DARK AGES series. In this 12-part story, four million years before the Transformers arrived on Earth, civil war rocks their home world of Cybertron, and Optimus Prime faces his first–and greatest–challenge. But before he can deal with the Decepticons, the new Autobot leader must look within, and decide if Cybertron is worth saving at all!
TPB • FC • $24.99 • 312 pages • 6” x 9” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-692-8

Bullet points:
Back in print!

Transformers: IDW Collection Phase Two, Vol. 4
Chris Metzen, Flint Dille, John Barber, James Roberts(w) • Livio Ramondelli, Andrew Griffith, Alex Milne, Agustin Padilla, Atilio Rojo (a) • Marcelo Matere (c)
In the early days of the war on Cybertron, two leaders start down their paths towards destiny. Meanwhile, on current day Cybertron, Megatron is back! Everything Bumblebee and his Autobots have built teeters on the edge of collapse–and Starscream has to make the choice his whole life has been leading to. On the Lost Light, a secret prisoner is confined in the bowels of the ship. Collects the Monstrosity mini-series, Robots in Disguise #12–18, and More Than Meets the Eye #14–16.
HC • FC • $49.99 • 356 pages • 7” x 11” • ISBN: 978-1-63140-715-4

Bullet points:
Is there such thing as More than More Than Meets The Eye? Must be, because this is it!
Advance solicited for September release!

Toy Fair 2014 Coverage - Marvel Infinite Series Death's Head Gallery

Date: Saturday, February 15th 2014 6:28pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Toy News, Event News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): qbkiller94, Seibertron

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Enjoying the coverage so far, yes? Maybe you would like some more, eh? Quickly done! Thanks also to Seibertron.com member qbkiller94 we have another full gallery on an unexpected robot interloper: Death's Head, part of the Marvel Infinite series! Given the fact that the comic with both him and Death's Head II came out last week, this is quite timely, yes? Click on any of the images below for the full gallery.

Revolutionary War: Death's Head II Preview

Date: Friday, February 14th 2014 4:27am CST
Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): ComiXology

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Views: 17,574

We've seen sketches, teases and pre-lettering previews for the new Death's Head II one-shot part of Marvel's Revolutionary War. As of this week, the issue has been released, both in print and digitally - so head out to your local comic shop or to ComiXology to get your copy of the Andy Lanning (Transformers: Heart of Darkness) and Nick Roche (Last Stand of the Wreckers, Death of Optimus Prime) take on the robot bounty hunter, and check out a preview below (also courtesy of ComiXology)!

Revolutionary War: Death's Head II - Nick Roche Sketches and Signings

Date: Thursday, February 6th 2014 10:58am CST
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Nick Roche

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Continuing in the lead-up to next week's release of Marvel's Revolutionary War: Death's Head II, artist Nick Roche has been tweeting some sketches from the upcoming issue, which will feature both incarnations of the robot bounty hunter! Check them out below and click on the following links for signing launch events with Roche: here for the UK and here for Ireland, yes?

Marvel Revolutionary War: Death's Head II #1 Preview

Date: Saturday, January 18th 2014 11:18am CST
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): CBR

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A while back we saw Nick Roche's concept sketches for Death's Head and Death's Head II. Now, thanks to Comic Books Resources, we get a full-size pre-lettering preview of the upcoming Marvel Now! first issue focusing on the second iteration of the giant robot bounty hunter! Check out the images below.

Part 4 of 'Revolutionary War' o The long-awaited return of DEATH'S HEAD -- one of the biggest hits of the original Marvel UK! o Death's Head! Death's Head II! On an adventure together for the first time EVER! o What threat could be grave enough to bring these two heroes together from across time? How about the villainous Mys-Tech organization resurfacing with an army?!

Marvel Death's Head II Solicit, Nick Roche Concept Art

Date: Friday, November 15th 2013 7:52am CST
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Nick Roche, IGN

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We reported a while back that Death's Head II would be making his return to the comics world as of 2014. As the February solicits for Marvel comics went up with the first issue of the new series, artist Nick Roche has tweeted a couple of his own work in progress for the big bad bot bounty hunter - in both his incarnations! Check out the solicit for Revolutionary War: Death's Head II #1, the cover artwork by Mark Brooks and the art teasers by Roche below.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR: DEATH’S HEAD II #1

ANDY LANNING & ALAN COWSILL (W) • NICK ROCHE (A)

Cover by MARK BROOKS

Variant Cover by Sharp

Part 4 of “Revolutionary War”

• The long-awaited return of DEATH’S HEAD -- one of the biggest hits of the original Marvel UK!

• Death’s Head! Death’s Head II! On an adventure together for the first time EVER!

• What threat could be grave enough to bring these two heroes together from across time? How about the villainous Mys-Tech organization resurfacing with an army?!

32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$3.99

Death's Head II to Appear in Marvel Comics Event 'Revolutionary War'

Date: Monday, September 16th 2013 8:24am CDT
Categories: Comic Book News, People News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Steve Wacker, Bleeding Cool

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Views: 19,319

Not too long ago we posted a piece of news concerning the return of a certain giant robotic bounty hunter to the Marvel universe. It appears there may be more to it than that today! Marvel editor Steve Wacker has tweeted a teaser image of an upcoming event titled 'Revolutionary War', featuring a later incarnation of the bounty hunter: Death's Head II. Check out the image below, and a small piece about it on Bleeding Cool.

Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Issue #1 Review

Date: Friday, January 20th 2012 12:45am CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Editorials
Posted by: GetRightRobot | Credit(s): IDW Publishing

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I would like to start this review by addressing the artwork. Nick Roche and Josh Burcham have a wonderful and dynamic style. It brings glimmers of the gritty style from LSOTW which is, personally, a good thing. I'm sure people will be divided on some of the character designs which seem to mesh several iterations together. A more animated styled Rodimus and War for Cybertron Bumblebee look better together than I would have envisioned. With that being said:





I have recently had the privilege of reading IDW's More Than Meets the Eye issue 1, and I have to say WOW. The plot continues from the stand alone issue: The Death of Optimus Prime. The story so far: the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons is over, and after the matrix is used to purge its polluted core, the planet Cybertron reverts to a primordial state and sends a message to thousands of non-affiliated transformers: “come home”. The planet is once again teeming with life and chaos. As the newly appointed leader of the Autobots, Bumblebee must manage a populace that not only despise the Great War, but its warriors, Autobot and Decepticon alike. The planet is now inhabited by former enemies and civil unrest over an "illegal occupation of Cybertron" by the Autobots, and the political scene is set.

The ranks of the surviving Autobots has been tremulously split by the decision to stake out into the galaxy in search of The Knights of Cybertron. The brash revolutionary Rodimus, has convinced 208 Autobots that their time as warriors is over. That their sacrifice has been made and that it is time to seek out glory that has been lost. Promises of Cyberutopia and the ancient Knights of Cybertron are enough to convince many former Autobot warriors to join the crew of The Lost Light.

Included in this exodus are familiar faces, like Ratchet, the Autobots Chief Medical Officer. Finding no fit time to inform Bumblebee of his decision to leave, it is during the autopsy of a "Burning-Monk" protestor that Ratchet confides in Bumblebee the truth of his aging. Bearing witness to a being who transformed himself for weeks, constantly, until it killed itself, Ratchet admits he, like so many warriors, are aged, and tired. Being war torn for countless cycles, Ratchet has decided to join the Lost Light in hopes of not only repairing lost Cybertronians, but in hopes of finding his replacement - a new medic to take up his title.





One by one, Autobots board the Lost Light. Bumblebee and Prowl find themselves bitterly watching the launch. The crew includes Ultra Magnus, Drift, Chromedome Brainstorm and many more Cybertronian patriots. This ill fated ship, The Lost Light, takes on their first three injured 'bots even before launch, when Chromedome, Ratchet and Rewind stumble across an encounter between Whirl and Cyclonus! Unbeknownst to them, the brawl between ancient enemies erupted from a case of mistaken identity. Cyclonus, who appears to embrace the peace between the two factions, detects a very familiar energy signature, belonging to Scourge. As he pauses from his flight, he discovers something very strange. Twisted in the style that Roche and Roberts established in Last Stand of the Wreckers, Whirl, the exiled Wrecker, is found talking sweetly and openly to the spark fragment of one of the Sweeps. In a demented desecration, Cyclonus finds himself invading Whirls private world. Enraged, the former Wrecker pursues Cyclonus, all the while ignoring his pleads for peace. Shortly after Cyclonus attempts to defends himself, he his slammed to the ground, offline, with his aggressor ready to finish him off. This is where Ratchet and the others discover the brutally one sided conflict and attempt to step in. Whirl has lost his connection to reality. He is mad and aims to confront those who intervene, when up from the ground, comes an explosion. Poor little Tailgate had fallen through unstable ground trying to reach the Lost Light before take off. The fall disabled him from moving, so he decided that an energon explosion might help his chances of rescue.




In a behavior I would not have expected, Prowl and Bumblebee have plotted some sort of interference for the crew of the adventure ship. An explosion immediately after take-off hurtles the doomed ship through space and time, tearing the ship open. Many Autobots are hurled into space. A nearby remote planet is chosen to set down onto to make repairs and to begin retrieving the lost crew members. Rodimus is only in the very beginnings of his great quest and he faces the hardships of leadership and loss once again.

At the end of the book, is a series of cryptic, and static filled messages. Warning of future shortcomings and wrong decisions made by the leader and crew of the Lost Light. With no indication that the message was received, it may not have mattered at all.

This series is set to run parallel with fast approaching, Robots in Disguise. MTMTE will continue to follow Rodimus and the crew of the Lost Light. While RID will transcribe the on-goings of Cybertron and the civil unrest and intrigue that besets the remaining Autobots and their new leader, Bumblebee. Both series are years in the making as they continue the story of Generation One by bringing us to the end of the war. The return to Cybertron. And it is not the golden paradise one might have imagined. Rather, it is an unstable place with a new government and a mass of inhabitants that know very little of the struggle. The stage is set for political blowout in a post war world full of former enemies and new threats!

In conclusion: awesome. I have come to expect nothing less. This series my not be for everyone, however, I found it appropriately politically charged. Given the election and the US troop draw down, the book seems to emulate much of our current society. It also had several references for you G1 fans.