Today via Entertainment Weekly we got a small look into the future of what the new Hasbro Universe will look like. Details are still very limited, including the most important issue of who is actually going to be writing this story up. Hopefully writer Christos Gage who’s name was mentioned in the EE write up will be directly involved. This book-series “Revolution” could very well be the most important pivot point for G.I. Joe as well as the Hasbro Cinematic Universe. No pressure, it’s only going to be looked at under a microscope by every fan boy who loves these Hasbro IP’s.
This will be the second attempt to combine the Hasbro’s power house brands under the same Universe. Fans were very excited to see Unit-E headed up by Aaron Archer at NYCC 2011 that seemed to loose steam and did not get the backing it needed to get off the ground. It looked promising and went almost unnoticed by the masses.
One thing is clear, this book is going to set the tone for the new Hasbro Universe. I hope everybody involved knows how important this will be to fans of these brands and takes it to heart. Comics are the CORE of every Marvel and DC movie that have taken over the film industry. This is Hasbro’s and IDW’s chance to make their mark and connect it all together. This is the future and the direction it’s all going in, lets hope and pray they hit the mark and everybody is Thunderstruck!
Read the full interview and details about Revolution The New Hasbro Universe
**** Updated with title listings and writers after the jump. ****
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!
Xerofall says
EW.com posted some interesting news along with an interview about a five-issue bi weekly event series, starting this September, that will bring together all of the company’s Hasbro properties: G.I. Joe, Transformers, Micronauts, ROM, Action Man, and M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand)
IDW's 'Revolution': Transformers, G.I. Joe, Hasbro universe come together | EW.com
“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.”
IDW’s announcement comes after rumbles of a Hasbro Cinematic Universe that would unite properties like G.I. Joe, and ROM on the big screen. But before any Hasbro characters come together on film, we’ll see them in the pages of comics.
Above, check out a beautiful image of the different characters interacting (illustrated by Fico Ossio and colored by Diego Rodriguez). And if that tickles your nerd button, check out EW’s interview with Ryall about the details of Revolution below.
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 does “Revolution” signify?
“Revolution” signifies a lot of different things, all of which felt applicable not only to the story here but to the idea of just what we’re doing, making this universe known to people. There’s actually story elements that date back to the very first Transformers comic we did in 2005 that serve as the catalyst for why everything we’ve done exists in the same universe, and why people can be comfortable with everything they’ve followed. It’s just now everybody will be acknowledging each other in a much greater way than ever before.
To some degree there’s a revision of history. It would be presumptuous to say that in our very first issue of Transformers we seeded the way for this event that will eventually include ROM and Micronauts. But now when we look back, we see that yeah, the story does make sense, and there’s reason for it to exist the way that it does.
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.
It’s sort of like the Marvel universe, how Spider-Man’s book can be his own thing but occasionally he may come into contact with the Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy. As a kid reading comics, that was actually something I loved, that you could read an issue of Spider-Man and Thor flew by in the background. He had no bearing on the story, but reminded you that there are other gods and heroes in the universe.
Beyond Revolution, what’s the long-term plan for uniting these characters?
The long term plan is just trying to make this as organic as possible. Like I said, we live in a world where contrived universes are being created daily now. We did our best to make this one feel organic to the story we’ve been telling here. Beyond that, we want just a fun universe where people can get into where each of these characters serves a different component. The Transformers are kind of the cosmic level beings, whether here on earth or up in space. ROM, I want to be the dark conspiracy-laden corner of this universe. The Micronauts bring in the tech and science-fiction. G.I. Joe is the closest component to a superhero team book that we’ve got. We wanted a universe where all these kinds of stories can be told in different ways, but also still feel like they belong together and feel part of a larger whole.
As these things go, you tell individual stories for a while until there’s a reason to bring characters back together again. It really opens up the storytelling potential. I don’t have to rely on ROM carrying a book by himself forever. If at a certain point it makes sense to have Snake Eyes and G.I. Joe in that book, now those characters can easily appear. It opens worlds and a broad universe of story potential.
DESTRO says
My Small write up about this book. It's the future of the G.I. Joe brand so everybody better pay attention to what's about to happen.
IDW Revolution The Second Attempt At Connecting The Hasbro Universe - HissTank.com
Steevy Maximus says
And somehow the relaunched GI Joe will still be in continuity with the older stuff? Whuuuuuut?
sbartek1974 says
Did I miss something? I think I did. Like when was the first attempt? Is the "first attempt" referring to back in the 80's?
DESTRO says
UNIT-E NYCC 2011 EXCLUSIVE COMIC HASBRO UNIVERSE ISSUE 0? - HissTank.com
DESTRO says
If you think this news is huge just wait for the new G.I. Joe Cartoon and potential toy line announcement that's about to go up.
Steevy Maximus says
I could see how this could work, even under the constraints:
Optimus Prime may have annexed Earth, but that doesn't stop the day to day of Earth:
MASK comes about because of the proliferation of Transformers technology, and works to prevent its spread and the dangers associated with it. Largely by fighting Venom, a Cobra offshoot (Think Hydra/AIM relationship)
Cobra rises from the ashes of AHM to try and overturn large areas of the planet, requiring a counter- GI Joe.
Action Man still does his spy stuff within a world where any car in the street might be a robot or artillery platform.
But if they're going to do that, I'd prefer they just start GI Joe fresh. Nobody really seemed to like the IDW stuff to begin with, hence why it was CANCELLED. So I don't see the reason to maintain all that, especially with the time jumps and being in continuity with Transformers (which killed off a billion or so people a few years back with All Hail Megatron).
DESTRO says
More info on the titles and writers for each book.
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!
Steevy Maximus says
Edit: BAH! DESTRO beat me!
Xerofall says
Keep reading: IDW to Release REVOLUTION - A Five-issue Series Featuring All of Hasbro's Properties - Page 2
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