IDW’s Revolution crossover is almost upon us! The event will see Transformers sharing a continuity with G.I. Joe, Action Man, MASK, and other Hasbro comics being published by IDW. The preview contains the full Revolution Prelude as well as the first half a dozen pages of Revolution itself – and the series spins right out of the All Hail Optimus storyline as well as having a central plot element relate to Ore-13! That means if you’ve been a fan of IDW’s Transformers since the start, you are going to want to pick this series up!
Check out the preview over on Comic Book Resources, or attached to this post.
Focksbot
Hmm. There simply isn't room in a story for all these (very similar) characters, unless it's a 300,000 word novel. Most of them will do nothing, add nothing but an occasional wisecrack, and need reintroducing with name boxes every few issues. Transformers on its own has struggled to keep control of its cast – it's bonkers to pile in a load more at this stage.
SMOG
You do recall how much disdain that run engendered with the readers, right? I'm sure Extreme Spike and his super-commandos ranked pretty low on a lot of fans' lists of favourite elements of the series. If this is 'more of the same' then that's a GREAT reason to quit, since we've already been down that road, and didn't like it that much to begin with…
… and back then, Skywatch wasn't even a mandated, licensed part of the universe that needed to be featured, and emphasized alongside the main Transformers characters. Dropping Action Man, MASK, and GIJOE into the mix, with all of their branded characters and accessories, is overkill of an even greater magnitude.
As I've mentioned before, I don't really care that much if Earth has a specialized high-tech task force for dealing with the Cybertronian presence. That's a common enough element in the TF continuity… I think that the TF concept is broad enough to stretch to accommodate things like MASK and GIJOE – IF it's done well, and follows a natural progression, rather than treated as a gimmick.
I'm more concerned with cross-pollination. Are Transformers, and the world they've impacted, the best thing for storytelling in MASK or GIJOE comics? No, I don't think so.
Mind you, I'm not planning on collecting MASK or Micronauts comics, and I haven't followed GIJOE comics for a long time (though I was an avid collector of the old Marvel Hama stuff, so it's still on my radar)… so in that sense it's sort of irrelevant. But I don't think that overstating the presence of MASK and the Joes in TF comics is necessarily a good thing.
zmog
Bass X0
Remember when Skywatch was a large part of the Transformers comic and Cybertronians were fighting or working with humans, Revolution will be like it was back then – just instead of Skywatch and a bunch of humans nobody cares about, we have the likes of Scarlett and Miles Mayhem instead.
If you didn't quit Transformers back when this kinda stuff was happening, there's no point in quitting now.
GoLion
I'm… yea, it's too much.
Why do all of these characters need a shared universe?
Well, whatever, if there are people that are down for this, more power to them. It's obviously not for me.
I'd also add that we're losing the uniqueness inherent to the IDW version of the transformers if we're going to shoe-horn in all these other "special" characters.
I think taking a break from IDW was the right call to make.
SMOG
I can't comment in full, since your Joyce-ian syntax is a bit disorienting, but I would offer that comics haven't been for Children Children for a long time. In large part, I'd say that it has been an adolescent medium for a couple of generations now at least, which means that violence, cynicism, darkness, and strife are all welcome. Meanwhile, so-called mature themes, adult storytelling, and narrative sophistication are still not really expected (or even appreciated). In 30 years, Transformers comics have only really joined the comics mainstream (barely), emerging out of a ghetto of denigration usually marked for licensed, toy-based material.
Which is not to say that comics don't attain higher levels. However, reading this preview, while maybe this might be considered de rigeur for the medium, it's certainly not good comics writing… and feels like it may even be a cut below what we've been accustomed to at IDW over the years.
zmog
Ham Sandwich
Nah, at least one other person agrees, and I pretty much concur entirely.
I mean I want to get on it like 'if you think this is good writing, well let me tell you why I'm an expert and you're not an expert [blah blah blah *fart noises*]' but It's (Where "It" is Corporate Brand Management Dictated Maximum Product Synergy For Increased Consumer Engagement) just one of those things, I guess, where it's another punctured balloon in the Up-Styled-Floating-House that is the Delusion of Worthwhileness as I read Comic Books For The Children Fans of Action Figures.
That being said, I guess it's not for Children Children, just Tweens and Manchildren as they obviously have torture and genocide and murder and violence as all Naturally Adult Good Stories For Not Infantilized Manchildren No Sir stories ought to have.
Bass X0
Arcee's face is terrible though IMO.
SMOG
I know I'm going to catch flak for this, but… this looks dumb.
Recaps are recaps… I realize that, but it's still clumsy, juvenile writing.
Which is fine I suppose. It is, after all, a comic book… a very comic-booky comic book at that, about toys who do unspeakable things to other toys. It's not aimed very high.
But I'm glad I didn't sign up for this.
zmog
Hanzkaz
Question: Where are the toys?
Sockie
Pretty sure it's still Metrotitan, he's just being coloured like Metroplex.
jaws
It's so odd that Metroplex is Autobot City on Earth when it has been Metrotitan previously
YoungPrime
Most of the Earth based stories yeah and most can agree on hating the human aspects because they're predictable and annoying.
battlefudge
I was only casually interested, like, I would read well after everyone had finished and the word was in. BUT… this seems like a really, really strong start.
I hope the hero's don't figure out they are on the same side for an issue or two. I like the tension.
Dark_T_Zeratul
Isn't that virtually every Transformers storyline ever, though?
Bathawk
eh still skipping it….no good ever came from adding humans to transformers storylines
WoundSave
i can't get enough of Soundwave and Optimus bromance
Dark_T_Zeratul
That's Aileron, a new bot created by IDW. She does intentionally have Crasher's color scheme, though.
Aileron – Transformers Wiki
Sockie
That's Aileron, an Autobot whose colours are just based off of Crasher's.
Prime135
Oooooo…I may have to start reading these. One question though, is that CRASHER on the headline cover??? Are there GOBOTS now???
Dark_T_Zeratul
Looking pretty cool!