Coming this Wednesday is Revolutionaries #1, the next phase in IDW’s Hasbro shared universe. iTunes have released a preview which you can check after the break. Description below:
THE REVOLUTION MAY BE OVER–but the future is just beginning! Ripped from the pages of the hottest crossover of the year, the REVOLUTION team of John Barber and Fico Ossio continue the action! KUP is a CYBERTRONIAN literally older than the universe; ACTION MAN is the ultimate special agent trying to live up to an impossible legacy; MAYDAY is a G.I. JOE leader trying to rescue her first command; and BLACKROCK is a CYBERTRONIAN that thinks he’s a human. It takes the mind-bending clash of ROM versus MAJOR BLUDD and the OKTOBER GUARD to bring this unlikely team together… and the secret they learn threatens to unravel the entire universe.
northjason
If it works for you, good enough. It's sort of like having a big bowl of Captain Crunch, Raisin Bran, and Shredded Wheat. Seems gross to me to mix the textures, but as you say, it is all cereal and I don't guess it'll kill you.
Megastar
Those reason, (If there the same ones I've been seeing), are ridicules. In what way does mixing the IPs detracts? This is what i'm asking for example; how does saying the M.A.S.K. vehicles being reversed engineered from Cybertronian tech and weaponized Mask powered by Ore-13 hurt either IPs?
I feel like people use the "nuances and concepts" of the IPs as a exercise to keep them separate even though they all share the basic same "nuances and concepts" (Sci-fi and war).
No that's a opinion, Transformers have been mixing with humans since their very begin as a franchise, so why not have those humans be the soldiers, spies, scientist and yes ninjas of the G.I.Joe franchise? They've done it with the G1 cartoons and nobody cared, the Joe fans thought it was a nice surprise and the TF fans liked the characters/stories. That's a poor example, we've seen humans hurt, imprison and even kill TF in IDW, yes non of those bots where one-man-armies, but how many of them are even in the IDW-verse and it's not like the humans don't have the tech to beat them or wouldn't get help.
northjason
Others have given good reasons, but I'll add that mixing these IPs together detracts from all of them. Each is based on a central conflict (i.e., Joe vs Cobra) that has its own nuances. Mixing a half dozen concepts gives none of them time to breath in a narrative sense.
Further, Mixing Joe and TF together has always been a poor concept from the creative standpoint because the implications fundamentally change the nature of GI Joe's universe. If one super robot can wipe out both sides of the conflict, Joe versus Cobra is no longer meaningful.
Megastar
IDWs TFs have always been kind of jumbled, so that's nothing new and the story here is very simple to fallow. I think the art is just fine and the other IPs fit well enough with each other.
Danny-Boy
See, I always thought M.A.S.K. was perfect to bring back as a TF spin-off, especially a cross-pollinated TF and Joe spin-off.
SouthtownKid
Ugly jumbled story with unappealing jumbled art. It's not a good use of ANY of the IPs except maybe ROM.
Megastar
I'm curious, how is this a mess? Is it becusce you don't knew the IP's? because if that's it than that's not a very good reason, becusce what you're messing can be easily read up on the wiki. I didn't start reading IDW TFs comics until the Death of Optimus Prime comic and caught up with the wiki.
northjason
That's…unexpected and depressing, that such a mess comes from the creative side. I wouldn't have guessed.
bman29
The confusion is on my part because of my lack of interest and not realizing they did those introductory series. They all start to blur when the Revolution/Revolutionary is plastered across the top. I realize it's a story arc visual gimmick.
Still I think what I was originally trying to articulate and bungled( senior moment) is that I don't have interest in those other IPs and would like to read mini series of other stories from the other Transformer universes. Just to see what the current writers could do with them. The original 2001 RID etc etc. A new coat a paint here and there. But I can understand probably why they don't so not to confuse some consumers.
I wouldn't be surprised by a lot of the younger guys on here aren't aware of the Dreamwave series. Which is spotty to most and it's slavish devotion to a fault to G1 continuity.
It's all good.
Danny-Boy
Except you don't really need to read every book. Just like you didn't read all the books published pre-MTMTE/RID. I presume you just understood that other stuff happened, and if you really want to know about past events, you can look them up on the Wiki. The same is true for all the books in a shared universe. Just because Rom exists, that doesn't mean that you have to read his series to understand what's happening in Optimus Prime. You can read what you want to read.
But since your original point was that you wanted miniseries to introduce Rom, the Micronauts, and Action Man, well… they did that. You can go and pick up one trade for the entire introduction story for each of those characters. Hell, a miniseries was all Action Man got.
And I feel it should be noted that Superman and Batman/Captain America and Thor weren't created to exist in the same world. That decision came from the marketing folks later.
bman29
According to folks around here it was IDWs idea to cross these lines over with one another, not Hasbro.
bman29
I've not read every TF comic since IDW acquired the publishing rights nor GIjoe for that matter. I didn't really keep up regularly till MTMTE or RID started their runs. I only in passing read some of the stuff previously because I kinda found it meh. I liked TF spotlights though.
I can buy some of these properties sharing space within a continuity, others not really. Just because all of these IPs come from the same toy manufacturer doesn't mean they should cohabitate TO ME in the same universe. DC Marvel works because for the mojority those characters live in their respective worlds together. I don't think readers should need to go out and purchase everything to have a gist of what's going on in other titles in large multi-title spanning story arcs. Which has become tiresome with the aforementioned publishers because how often they do it.
Dark Cybertron I didn't mind because it was Transformer centric. Though it a bit of a slog in parts.
A lot of it comes down to I don't have any interest in these other IPs and seems like there are other readers who feel the same.
I hope you're enjoying it nonetheless.
Dramatic Spoon
Because Clearly, the Misfits are going to be enough to defeat Megatron.
SerBuckman
I guess they just miss the old Union.
YoungPrime
This book is a behind the back pass.
I hate the premise of Transformers constantly stumbling by annoy humans that logic dictate they should simple step on. It's annoying enough in Prime's ongoing book.
Sockie
Because, despite the red star (which just seems to have morphed into their team's symbol), IDW's GI Joe has previously established them as a Russian special operations team.
CelticMutt
Or, you know, apply logic to it and realize that the reason Optimus doesn't interfere in GI Joe business constantly is because it's not his business and he has more important things to deal with … And besides, most Cybertronians ARE off in space. Optimus has a crew of maybe a dozen with him, and they are busy with more important matters.
Though I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that GI Joe does count a Cybertronian as one of its members, albeit reluctantly:
You know, I don't ever remember anyone whining this much about Transformers and GI Joe all being part of the Marvel continuity yet never helping the Avengers or X-Men. Or Transformers, GI Joe, Inhumanoids, and Jem all being part of the same continuity in the cartoons but not helping each other.
BB Shockwave
I honestly cannot really tell the human characters apart, especially when the artist keeps changing every issue. But frankly, I only follow MTMTE (Lost Light now) anymore and just skim through the other TF material every few months, I completely lost interest thanks to the shoddy writing, bringing in twenty other franchises to clutter the formerly TF-only universe only made things worst… Now in every GI Joe comic, the reader has to assume the Autobots are off in space or some other reason and that's why they cannot come and just easily defeat Cobra every time they try something.
God Ginrai
It's featured GI Joe in a secondary role and most of the Joes present were characters originally created for exRID in the first place. In terms of major GI Joe characters present there's just Flint and he hasn't even done anything. None of them have. The story is still very much about the Transformers.
Danny-Boy
That kinda was what happened. Prior to Revolution, Micronauts had 6 issues, Action Man was a 4 issue miniseries, and ROM had 4 issues. M.A.S.K. was introduced in Revolution, and G.I. Joe… should be something anyone who's read Transformers kinda already knows the basics of.
Besides, 3/4 of the principal characters in the series are Transformers originals. Kup, Garrison Blackrock, and Ayana Jones (retconned into being a Joe, but she was introduced in exRID as an EDC agent.)