Revolution

Transformers IDW #62

by John Barber

THE REVOLUTION BEGINS! Explosions rip across the Earth--and all signs of blame point to OPTIMUS PRIME and the TRANSFORMERS! G.I. JOE refuses to go quietly--and they assemble heroes big enough to stop the invaders! ACTION MAN and M.A.S.K. fight for humanity--but where do ROM and the MICRONAUTS stand? Celebrating more than a decade of stories by IDW and HASBRO, this unprecedented event draws everything together--and leaves nothing standing. The REVOLUTION is here--TAKE A STAND! Collects Revolution issues #0-5.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

156 pages, ebook

First published February 21, 2017

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book. This us a book by the fans for the fans. This is a great epic story, with awesome artwork and a whole jeep of action.

Growing up in the 80 and seeing a crossover of essentially all my childhood favourites together, my expectations were sky high. Just reading the foreword got me pumped to start reading this. Did it deliver yes it did.

The world has had a number of devastating strikes against it, now the Transformers/Cybertronians are mistrusted, hidden enemies and new aliens still popping up. A target painted on the Earth. Everything is either going to come together or totally fall apart. An epic story and turning point.

My only 2 let down and the reason I took off 1 stat are. For all the characters the story does seem a bit rushed and not enough characters get enough time or exposure in the book for me. Though there are tie in issue I have not read all of yet so that is understandable. My other reason cuts a little deeper is Optimus Prime. I love the art work on him, but preacher style he is portrayed as these days. In the 80s cartoon yes he did still give the speeches, but he was a warrior, he not only turned the tide in battle he led the charge from the front and kicked butt doing it. Here is continually on the back foot, and the first to be taken down. Call it a personal preference or prejudice but thus is not how I see the characters. Yes the others have a chance to shine but to me he should still be the hero.

The is a book that lived up to the hype and I can't wait the read every tie in and the fallout of this storyline. A cover gallery of all the players at the end as well.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things start off strong here but as more characters get added to the mix things begin to feel a little chaotic. I'm admittedly rather unfamiliar with ROM and the Micronauts so most of their big moments didn't resonate with me.

Also, this book is guilty of something that bothers me about a lot of these modern crossover events: significant plot points happen outside the pages of this volume. Things are referenced that are only fully understood if you've read the obligatory tie-ins, which I have not. If you can't tell your story within the parameters that you yourself have set then I see that as a failing of the storytellers, as well as an obvious sign of greed from the publishers who want to keep you on the hook for everything.

Still, the art is very nice and there are enough fun moments that make the book worth your time - it just could have been better.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a kid in the 80s, it was great fun when friends would come over and bring their toys -- Transformers, Go-bots, GI Joe, whatever they brought would join up with my own toys, get pulled into one big nonsensical storyline, and fight each other for narratively flimsy reasons. This is basically that experience in comic book form. Does it make sense? Nope. Does it have lots of nostalgic childhood characters fighting each other, often for no real reason? Heck yes. There are some genuinely funny parts, my favorite being when Scarlett corrects someone that Snake Eyes isn't just a Ninja, he is a "Ninja/Commando". But there are also a lot of parts that don't make much sense, especially when the Micronauts get thrown into the mix. Only worth a read for a fan of '80s cartoons and toys; skippable for anyone else.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

This IDW Revolution event has been really good. The way all the titles came together into an actual cohesive story was impressive. I hadn’t read several of them so I’m glad for the introduction.

The full page action artwork was amazing. Extremely well done. The final battle was very complicated so it was worth reading twice just to understand it all. Great story. Make sure you read the corresponding Heroes one shots to fill in the gaps or this won’t make sense. Must be read sequentially so look up the order online

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This does rate as one of the worst crossover events that I have read, and this is coming from a reader who is a sucker for these type of events. This would have been a one star review except for two things.

1. I also read the tie-in issues, and the last Transformers tie-in issue made delicious fun of the entire crossover/brand building aspect of this series. Sure, this all about IDW and Hasbro building a cohesive universe to make $$$. But, to have an issue which made fun of the brand building plus the silly aspects of most of these crossover events almost got to me to laugh out loud.

2. I am not a Transformers fan or reader, but the Transformers issues hinted at some decent story telling that is going on in the regular series, so points to those creators for doing some innovative work (hell I can't even watch the movies after watching the first Michael Bay mess).

If you are a fan of the pointless, IMO, Marvel events (I haven't read one of those in years), then you might enjoy this. Unless, you are die hard fan of these properties I'm thinking you should pass this by.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

So this crossover combines all of the various "Hasbro" comic universes into one cohesive universe. This means Transformers, GI Joe, Rom, Micronauts, MASK and Action Man all share the same space now.

While it was cool to see the various characters interacting, the story was too convoluted to enjoy. The problem was the writers, rather than rebooting all of the backstories, instead attempted to combine the complicated backstories together. This means that unless you've been following the various comic properties, you're probably going to be very confused. While I give the writers credit for such an ambitious undertaking, as a reader it was just too much to take in.

The art wasn't the problem, as it wasn't bad.

Overall I have mixed feelings about putting those characters in one universe. Many of them had their own really well thought out worlds, so I hate to see any of that diluted. I am interested to see where they take things from here.

[Philmore Olazo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember those times where you played with your different toys? Using your transformers with your action mans and power rangers and whatnot?

This crossover story is really fun, there is no much for plot or character development but if you have the Transformers and G.I. Joe on the story together what else do you need really?

OK so the story unites many toy properties, the previously mentioned Transformers and G.I. Joe, Action Man, Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and the best one of all, Rom Space knight.

The plot converges on the Transformers and their mythos, which I understand since they are the most popular of the franchises featured. Typical misunderstandings between all parties involved, a greater threat that is on the background and many cliche action tropes that are just cool.

It is not a masterpiece by any means, it's just fun and there is nothing wrong with that, specially considering that we are talking about toy properties and we had the same kind of imagination with our made up crossover plots.

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a HUGE fan of M.A.S.K., ROM, Transformers, and G.I.Joe. I'm familiar with Micronauts, but it was never my thing. Nonetheless, I expected quite a bit more from this collected crossover event.

Unfortunately, its atrocious. I cannot even be remotely kind to this one: it's a train wreck of shitty character development, poor pacing, confusing organization of the pieces, mis-characterization of some classic, well-known, and familiar names (e.g., Scarlett, Optimus Prime), and a very weak hook.

I found myself snoozing through much of it, and really struggling to even pick it up to finish. It never got better. He least IDW could've done is given me some eye-candy to enjoy while trudging through the weak dialogue, but that's just as inconsistent and terribly executed as the rest of the book.

I can't NOT recommend this enough. Buy something else -- anything else. Move along, nothing to see here. Almost literally...

I'm hoping the standalone M.A.S.K. series is better. Wish me luck.

[Brannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love all of these characters separately. I had hoped this would be an event to launch into the comics. Sadly it’s not. First off they keep refer to event that have happened in other series for basically all the separate teams. Second they are cramming way too much into a small issue run event. They should have given themselves more issues to slowly introduce each team to one another(and the reader) allowing the over all story to build. Instead they throw five different teams at you and expect you to understand what’s happening.

A real missed opportunity. I wanted to dig it and maybe rediscover some old childhood heroes.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

IDW's big attempt to bring together all their Hasbro properties into one universe. When it focuses on the Transformers, G.I. Joe, and MASK, it works best. (I particularly like their new take on MASK.) After Rom and the Micronauts are pulled in, however, it gets increasingly tough to process what's going on, and the grand finale is just a bit too much. I suspect some of the confusion may be cleared up by the tie-in titles, but that doesn't do anything to help a reader of this book specifically. (B)

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started reading this thanks to Linkara from Atop the Fourth Wall and now I am considering trying to collect the other IDW series like their Transformer and G.I.Joe lines as it is kind of interesting but that may have to wait as I already have a back log of so many series that I want to read but I do agree with Linakra that one of the major flaws with this book is just that there is so much going on and that it can kind of feel to much.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if, as a child, I had played with more of the toys depicted. (I had Micronauts, but none of the others.) But I suspect the problem is more that massive crossovers are inherently big old messes unless you are intimately familiar with the dozens and dozens of characters depicted.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's ok. Probably better if you buy all the side issues.

[Lena Fickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really liked this crossover!

[B.J. Fantine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standout issues: #0, #3, #4, #5

[MacDara Conroy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast-paced introduction to IDW's rebooted Hasbro universe that balances thrills and spectacle with the deeper, darker aspects the individual titles will no doubt explore.

[Christopher Colton · Rating 3 out of 5]

After years of Transformers comics (and some G.I. Joe comics, that I'll admit I was never really interested in reading), IDW's jumped into a massive shared universe of all the Hasbro properties they have the license for: Transformers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K, ROM, Action Man, and Micronauts. Interestingly, this was apparently not something dictated by Hasbro; John Barber, Chris Ryall, and David Hedgecock of IDW came up with the idea on their own and then got Hasbro on board. This would seem to have worked largely to its advantage.

I'll start with the good part: this was a much stronger story than the previous Transformers comics that laid the groundwork for the crossover. It did a good job taking the various plot threads that had already been set up and making them important, relevant, and meaningful. It wasn't a perfect story by any means, but it moved at a good pace and through enough separate but connected events that it felt like a well-filled story.

Unfortunately, it also felt a bit like half a story--though this is probably primarily a result of how they chose to split up the trade paperbacks. When initially published, there were six numbered issues of Revolution and eight one-shot issues each centered on a different Hasbro property (mostly; Transformers actually got three of these since it forms the backbone of the mythology, as it were). These fourteen issues are all interspersed with each other, but when they gathered the collections (three of them), rather than splitting it into three chronological parts they did one collection for the numbered issues, one collection for the Transformers one-shots, and one collection for the other one-shots (the latter two of which don't come out until March). The result is that there are a lot of points in the story where it references events that are happening during this one (and are often important to the story) but that aren't included in the collection.

Issues 3 and 4 are really kind of the worst offenders here. After spending the first two issues trying to solve a problem, issue 3 opens with them having discovered the cause in the Till All Are One one-shot, which ties directly into something introduced and explained in the Micronauts one-shot, and also relates to something revealed in the ROM one-shot. Issue 4 opens with multiple plot threads tying together thanks to events in the G.I. Joe one-shot, the revelation that the villain is working with a different major villain who's thus far gone entirely unseen due to appearing exclusively in the G.I. Joe and Transformers one-shots, and a note that issue 2's climax was effectively resolved in the Action Man one-shot. Fortunately issue 5, largely by virtue of being the finale, relies much less heavily on the one-shots and primarily focuses on the series' resolution. Despite all of that, though... It nonetheless felt like a solid story overall. The gaps were adequately explained (though not necessarily satisfactorily), and it never felt like I was completely missing critical information.

My other major complaint was the art, which was quite good for the human characters but really pretty terrible for the Transformers. Victorion lost all of her definition as an amalgam of six different Transformers, looking more like just a very big generic robot, and Arcee and especially Windblade's faces were... Bleh. Still better than Heart of Darkness, though that's an extremely low bar.

Anyway, I enjoyed it but it had some pretty significant story and art issues, so three stars it is.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skippable. This helps explain some important details of the Unicron event, but reading about it on the wiki is more fun than reading the actual comic. It's messy, boring, and ugly. The MTMTE and RID tie-ins are worth your time, though.