IDW Hasbro Universe First Strike: Champions on Amazon

• An OPTIMUS PRIME/REVOLUTIONARIES book
• A ROM/MICRONAUTS book
• A G.I.JOE/M.A.S.K. book

IDW Publishing’s next Hasbro crossover is looming, and it looks to have an even bigger impact on the line than fans might have initially guessed. First Strike, which brings together Transformers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K. and more, gets going next week with a #0 issue from co-writers Mairghread Scott & David A. Rodriguez and artist Max Dunbar, also the creative team of the main six-issue First Strike miniseries which kicks off with twice-monthly issues in August.

Along with the imminent debut comes the news that some of IDW’s current licensed Hasbro books will end in August — due to a “seasonal” model and in-story changes brought by the events of First Strike. August will bring the last issues of G.I. Joe (with #9), M.A.S.K. (#10), Micronauts: Wrath of Karza (#5) and Rom (#14).

But those characters, naturally, aren’t going away for good — September sees a G.I. Joe: First Strike by Aubrey Sitterson and Ilias Kyriazis and a Micronauts: First Strike one-shot by Christos Gage and Chris Panda; October follows with a M.A.S.K.: First Strike one-shot from Sitterson and Kyriazis and Rom: First Strike from Christos Gage and Chris Panda. Additionally, a Optimus Prime: First Strike one-shot is scheduled for September from John Barber and Guido Guidi; Barber is joined by artist Guido Guidi in October for the Transformers: First Strike one-shot in October.

Then in November, a new series titled G.I. Joe: Unmasked (uniting G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K.) is set to debut in the wake of First Strike, and Rom & The Micronauts is slated for December.

[...]

2. For story reasons that will become clear during First Strike, the titles we’re drawing to a close won’t really make any sense any more! After the events of First Strike, we’ve got plans for radically new, fresh takes on some of these properties and we want to signify how important the changes are. We couldn’t do that and keep the current series titles in place.

[...]

This is coming a year after Revolution — are you planning on annual Hasbro events?

We have a three-year story arc in mind for the shared Hasbro universe. First Strike is the second act. While Revolution brought everything together, First Strike is the first chance we get to see the ramifications of this bold direction we’ve undertaken, and it leads us directly into… well, I can’t wait to tell you what it leads us into but I can’t just yet!

G.I. JOE: First Strike #1—Cover A: Drew Johnson—SPOTLIGHT

Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Ilias Kyriazis (a) • Drew Johnson (c)
As Scarlett heads off to Cybertron to confront the events of First Strike, her G.I. Joe team on Earth faces an unusual enemy… V.E.N.O.M.! With the help of a former M.A.S.K. member, G.I. Joe looks to put an end to Miles Mayhem’s sinister group once and for all, in the Greatest Crossover One-Shot Of All Time!
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17

G.I. JOE: First Strike #1—Cover B: Ilias Kyriazis

Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Ilias Kyriazis (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17
*Retailer incentives: Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!

Micronauts: First Strike #1—Cover A: Nelson Daniel—SPOTLIGHT

Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a) • Nelson Daniel (c)
Rom, remaining on Earth as the events of First Strike take place, finds himself in a most unusual team-up… with Earth’s smallest heroes, The Micronauts! Together, these two forces must prevent a catastrophe on Earth even while Cybertron descends into chaos!
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17

Micronauts: First Strike #1—Cover B: Chris Panda

Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17
*Retailer incentives: Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!

Optimus Prime: First Strike #1—Cover A: Sara Pitre-Durocher—SPOTLIGHT

John Barber (w) • Guido Guidi (a) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (c)
With Cybertron under siege by Baron Ironblood’s forces, Optimus Prime and Arcee defend their homeland! Caught in the middle is the human/Transformer team known as the Revolutionaries—and one of them has a secret that puts everyone at risk!
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/20/17

Optimus Prime: First Strike #1—Cover B: Guido Guidi

John Barber (w) • Guido Guidi (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/20/17
*Retailer incentives: Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!

Kurona wrote:Now this is where I get a bit worried about the expanded universe - if they're joining multiple franchises into a single book for each, then that not only says bad things about how this is working out from a financial standpoint but it's likely not gonna go down well with fans of each. You were loving the Micronauts but you weren't fond of ROM's story? Too bad, he's in Micronauts now! You were kinda liking where MASK was going but you really couldn't be bothered with GI Joe? Guess what, they're the exact same team now!

And I know, detractors to the Hasbro universe would argue this is already a thing; but for the most part outside of actual crossovers every book in the Hasbro universe was allowed to be its own thing with minimal effect from the other books. You could easily read GI Joe without giving one iota of a **** about what's happening in Lost Light, and you can have a fine time reading Optimus Prime without really needing to know what that ROM dude's up to. I just hope Transformers is popular enough as a brand on its own to not have the whole "two-franchises-in-one-book" thing happen to it. And what about Action Man?!


One thing I'm very confused about though. Why does GI Joe need to combine with any book? I thought it was the CROWN JEWEL OF THE HASBRO UNIVERSE, surely it was doing fine on its own?

Daniel Adkins wrote:

Kurona wrote:Now this is where I get a bit worried about the expanded universe - if they're joining multiple franchises into a single book for each, then that not only says bad things about how this is working out from a financial standpoint but it's likely not gonna go down well with fans of each. You were loving the Micronauts but you weren't fond of ROM's story? Too bad, he's in Micronauts now! You were kinda liking where MASK was going but you really couldn't be bothered with GI Joe? Guess what, they're the exact same team now!

And I know, detractors to the Hasbro universe would argue this is already a thing; but for the most part outside of actual crossovers every book in the Hasbro universe was allowed to be its own thing with minimal effect from the other books. You could easily read GI Joe without giving one iota of a **** about what's happening in Lost Light, and you can have a fine time reading Optimus Prime without really needing to know what that ROM dude's up to. I just hope Transformers is popular enough as a brand on its own to not have the whole "two-franchises-in-one-book" thing happen to it. And what about Action Man?!


One thing I'm very confused about though. Why does GI Joe need to combine with any book? I thought it was the CROWN JEWEL OF THE HASBRO UNIVERSE, surely it was doing fine on its own?

I hate to say it, but Action Man will probably go with Kup and join the cast of Optimus Prime.

Nexus Knight wrote:

Daniel Adkins wrote:

Kurona wrote:Now this is where I get a bit worried about the expanded universe - if they're joining multiple franchises into a single book for each, then that not only says bad things about how this is working out from a financial standpoint but it's likely not gonna go down well with fans of each. You were loving the Micronauts but you weren't fond of ROM's story? Too bad, he's in Micronauts now! You were kinda liking where MASK was going but you really couldn't be bothered with GI Joe? Guess what, they're the exact same team now!

And I know, detractors to the Hasbro universe would argue this is already a thing; but for the most part outside of actual crossovers every book in the Hasbro universe was allowed to be its own thing with minimal effect from the other books. You could easily read GI Joe without giving one iota of a **** about what's happening in Lost Light, and you can have a fine time reading Optimus Prime without really needing to know what that ROM dude's up to. I just hope Transformers is popular enough as a brand on its own to not have the whole "two-franchises-in-one-book" thing happen to it. And what about Action Man?!


One thing I'm very confused about though. Why does GI Joe need to combine with any book? I thought it was the CROWN JEWEL OF THE HASBRO UNIVERSE, surely it was doing fine on its own?

I hate to say it, but Action Man will probably go with Kup and join the cast of Optimus Prime.

That's probably actually the logical thing to do. Action Man is admittedly only one person (whose book surprisingly did poorly) teamed up with a big alien robot, especially since. It makes sense (to me) for him to join the Transformers and provide a human prospective. Of course they already have plenty of characters doing that, but hey, I'm alright with the human perspective.

Daniel Adkins wrote:Action Man was always intended to be a 4-issue miniseries.

The series takes place immediately before the Revolution event in which it takes part; unfortunately, due to poor sales, "Action Man: Revolution" also happened to be the last issue of Action Man, with the series ending after a single four-issue arc.

Nexus Knight wrote:

Daniel Adkins wrote:Action Man was always intended to be a 4-issue miniseries.

The series takes place immediately before the Revolution event in which it takes part; unfortunately, due to poor sales, "Action Man: Revolution" also happened to be the last issue of Action Man, with the series ending after a single four-issue arc.

This implies it was actually supposed to go on longer than the four issues. To be fair, though, I'm getting this off the IDW Hasbro Wiki (the offshoot of TFwiki, for those that don't know) on Action Man's comic page.

Daniel Adkins wrote:

Nexus Knight wrote:

Daniel Adkins wrote:Action Man was always intended to be a 4-issue miniseries.

The series takes place immediately before the Revolution event in which it takes part; unfortunately, due to poor sales, "Action Man: Revolution" also happened to be the last issue of Action Man, with the series ending after a single four-issue arc.

This implies it was actually supposed to go on longer than the four issues. To be fair, though, I'm getting this off the IDW Hasbro Wiki (the offshoot of TFwiki, for those that don't know) on Action Man's comic page.

As one of the admins who helped write that article, that was what we assumed at the time. I conducted an interview with John Barber at NC Comicon Oak City 2017, and he confirmed that it was only supposed to be a miniseries. But thanks for reminding me to fix that.

Kurona wrote:One thing I'm very confused about though. Why does GI Joe need to combine with any book? I thought it was the CROWN JEWEL OF THE HASBRO UNIVERSE, surely it was doing fine on its own?

Daniel Adkins wrote:As one of the admins who helped write that article, that was what we assumed at the time. I conducted an interview with John Barber at NC Comicon Oak City 2017, and he confirmed that it was only supposed to be a miniseries. But thanks for reminding me to fix that.

Vince Brusio: What core idea helped to first strike sparks for this story? How did the concept of this Hasbro crossover first begin, and then grow to the point where it took two writers to make it all fit?

Mairghread Scott: The core concept is two-fold: IDW and Hasbro very much wanted G.I. Joe on Cybertron – a fight so big it dragged all the other Hasbro brands into it, and that idea is super-fun! The two franchises have a long history together and it’s definitely something I was interested in exploring. But I wanted to bring a second, more personal, layer to the story and so we hit on our central theme. Scarlett, the head of G.I. Joe is now being pitted against her own mentor, Joe Colton, who seems to be hell-bent on dragging Earth into an interplanetary war!

So it’s not just a question of saving the Transformers, or saving all of Earth, it’s also a question of saving one man in the midst of this who means the world to you. Is it really Colton doing this? Could he be brainwashed or coerced? If not, can he be redeemed? That balance is one we’re really striving for in this book. Big action, but with a big heart behind it.

David Rodriguez: It gives the entire story a great, emotional core. We’re all for piles of ninjas (so many ninjas) and explosions, but having this conflict that the series pivots on grounds it in stakes that are relatable on a human level. And to make matters more interesting, Colton is not a supervillain with a grandiose or cartoonish plan. He is thoughtful, tactical and incredibly dangerous. He’s spent years planning and assembling the execution of this mission. And Scarlett knows that Colton would not have pulled the trigger unless he knew he had a reasonable shot at pulling this off. So even though the Transformers think the humans pose little to no threat to Cybertron, the reality is that the entire planet is in very real and immediate danger.

[...]

Mairghread Scott: Well, fighting global genocide should never take away from petty squabbling. Naturally our primary heroes (Scarlett and her team from G.I. Joe, Matt and Gloria from MASK, Soundwave and Optimus from Transformers) get along fairly well, they’re not without conflict. Lady Jaye throws a lot of shade at people and Soundwave is not a fan of humans, but his character is weirdly adorable. (He’s really trying to be respectful of these vastly inferior, squishable things but…ugh.)

On the bad guys’ side, keeping competing minds like Storm Shadow from GI Joe and Shazraella from Micronauts (who gets a big upgrade in our story) together is a tall order. Miles Mayhem totally lives up to his name and it’s a joy to write whenever he gets cut down a peg. But they’re not the only people causing trouble. Elita One ends up throwing a wrench in everyone’s works when she steamrolls in with her own agenda. Let’s just say she makes Starscream seem like an upright citizen.

David Rodriguez: The twins (Skyburst and Stormclash) might be my new favorites. I wasn't really familiar with them before the series, but after researching them and seeing them in action in the story I am totally smitten. They have so much energy in their designs and personality that its hard not to enjoy every panel that they're on. But what is great about the human characters is that they hold their own in every scene. Any normal person would be dwarfed (in every sense) by the Transformers, but there really isn't anything “normal” about Scarlett and her team. They rise to the occasion and stand shoulder to shoulder with their robot allies. (Well, metaphorically. In the literal sense they sometimes stand on their shoulders. But that's purely tactical). The other duo that caught me by surprise are Stormshadow and Shaz. They need to have their own, buddy-villain, spin-off after this is said and done. Luckily vans and talking animals are easy to come by.

Daniel Adkins wrote:Might wanna put that in spoiler tags, Va'al, considering it spoils the identity of Baron Ironblood.

First Strike #3—Cover A: Freddie E. Williams II—SPOTLIGHT
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Freddie E. Williams II (c)
Secrets revealed! G.I. Joe, the Autobots and M.A.S.K. make their way to Cybertron to stop the siege and encounter the COBRA leader, but all is not as it seems! Will their arrival help—or just bring more disaster?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17

First Strike #3—Cover B: Max Dunbar
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17

First Strike #3—Cover C: Alex Ronald
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Alex Ronald (c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17

First Strike #3—Cover D: Rob Duenas


Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Rob Duenas (c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/13/17

*Retailer incentives:
Order 10 copies, get one free “Cartoon Noir” variant cover by Jay Fosgitt!
Order 25 copies, get on free variant cover by Davide Fabbri!
Order 50 copies, get one free variant cover by Leonardo Manco!
Order 50 copies of both issues #3 and #4 and get one free variant cover of issue #3 by Whilce Portacio!

Bullet points:
· The Hasbro comic book event of 2017 continues!
· G.I. Joe strikes back! So, I guess you could call this issue “SECOND STRIKE!”

First Strike #4—Cover A: Freddie E. Williams II—SPOTLIGHT
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Freddie E. Williams II (c)
Captured by Transformers! Even with the Autobots on their side, G.I. Joe is in trouble! Starscream doesn’t trust anyone, much less armed humans who show up during Cybertron’s darkest hour and he’ll do anything he can to keep G.I. Joe under control—including let COBRA get even closer to their goal!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17

First Strike #4—Cover B: Max Dunbar
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a & c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17

First Strike #4—Cover C: Alex Ronald
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Alex Ronald (c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17

First Strike #4—Cover D: Rob Duenas
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Rob Duenas (c)
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 9/27/17

*Retailer incentives:
Order 10 copies, get one free “Cartoon Noir” variant cover by Jay Fosgitt!
Order 25 copies, get on free variant cover by Davide Fabbri!
Order 50 copies, get one free variant cover by Leonardo Manco!
Order 50 copies of both issues #3 and #4 and get one free variant cover of issue #3 by Whilce Portacio!

Bullet points:
· The Hasbro comic book crossover event of 2017 is here!
· Time is running out! It’s G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. vs. the Transformers vs. the other Transformers vs. COBRA!
· We’re in the home-stretch! It wouldn’t be hard to envision what is coming down the line! No tricks, no illusions, no holograms! So pony up because it is about to get wild! Okay, maybe not everything is part of the shared line, but some exciting stuff is! It’ll be a whole new status quo with all-new books!

Kurona wrote:Fat Tankor seems to be featuring heavily in these covers. I really hope he doesn't die.

Daniel Adkins wrote:

Kurona wrote:Fat Tankor seems to be featuring heavily in these covers. I really hope he doesn't die.

...There aren't any Tankors on these covers.

Va'al wrote:

Daniel Adkins wrote:

Kurona wrote:Fat Tankor seems to be featuring heavily in these covers. I really hope he doesn't die.

...There aren't any Tankors on these covers.

I count two! One in #3 one in #4.

Daniel Adkins wrote:

Va'al wrote:

Daniel Adkins wrote:

Kurona wrote:Fat Tankor seems to be featuring heavily in these covers. I really hope he doesn't die.

...There aren't any Tankors on these covers.

I count two! One in #3 one in #4.

Oh shoot, you're right! I'll be honest, I thought you guys were looking at the MASK characters for a second. In my defense, one of them was hidden in the corner of the art.

Well that's egg on my face.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:TAAO dies in 2 issues, LL has let me down tremendously, and then there is this scrap. in my opinion, ROM has done nothing for the story so far for me. He has made things annoying and not fun. His upcoming crossover with transformers, away from the main story, looks good, but otherwise he has been scrap.

leokearon wrote:Still waiting for Zoids to come back

ScottyP wrote:I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't "toss out Revolution's main inciting conflict, drone on about Onyx's MacGuffin, and get set for the fourth doom-crisis to hit Cybertron in the past year."

The unexpected nature of the apparent crux of First Strike's high level plot would be good, if only said plot actually was. This looks bad and I can't imagine anyone reading this preview and going "wow, better go put in my subs!"

leokearon wrote:Still waiting for Zoids to come back

Maybe they'll make a return with Grimlock and MP3. And Brandon.

ricemazter wrote:

ScottyP wrote:I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't "toss out Revolution's main inciting conflict, drone on about Onyx's MacGuffin, and get set for the fourth doom-crisis to hit Cybertron in the past year."

The unexpected nature of the apparent crux of First Strike's high level plot would be good, if only said plot actually was. This looks bad and I can't imagine anyone reading this preview and going "wow, better go put in my subs!"

leokearon wrote:Still waiting for Zoids to come back

Maybe they'll make a return with Grimlock and MP3. And Brandon.

What was Revolution's inciting conflict and how are they throwing it out? Not critzicizing, I never bothered to read revolution.