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Coming soon from IDW is the next chapter of their combined universe stories, called First Strike.
Starting off with some one-shot issues, there will be a series to follow (like there was for Revolutions.
Maybe this is an annual thing, with each new "year" of stories to start with one-shots and a new numbering, for new readers to jump in.
I'm not thrilled. There's so much to not like about this.
Eight months is too long for a yearly event. That said there's no guarantee it will disrupt ongoing titles the way Revolution did, but there are strong reasons for believing so.
I may be in the minority in prefering RID/TAAO over MTMTE/LL for the Starscream's political dueling with Windblade and hold this event responsible for Till All Are One's premature end.
An interview with the writers of the new chapter of the Combined Hasbro Universe, with details behind the story. It might have spoilers, but could be a useful intro to the new story for new readers.
From the website BleedingCool comes a timeline/checklist for the First Strike comics, similar to what they did for the Revolutions comics.
It goes from August to December later this year, and it notes the "season final" issues of various comic books, that will then restart their numbering after the First Strike event.
The following issues relate to the First Strike story arc.
AUGUST
- GIJoe #9 (season finale)
- MASK #10 (season finale)
- Micronauts #5 (season finale)
- ROM #14 (season finale)
- Optimus Prime #10
- First Strike #1
- First Strike #2
SEPTEMBER
- First Strike #3
- Micronaughts First Strike (one shot)
- GIJoe First Strike (one shot)
- Optimus Prime First Strike (one shot)
- First Strike #4
OCTOBER
- First Strike #5
- MASK First Strike (one shot)
- Transformers First Strike (one shot)
- ROM First Strike (one shot)
- First Strike #6
NOVEMBER
- GIJoe Unmasked #1
DECEMBER
- ROM & The Micronauts #1
- Visionaries #1
Comic listings for the October First Strike one-shot issues have been posted on the Newsrama website, giving us a look at how the three one-shot issues in October are actually part two stories to the three one-shot issues in September.
GIJoe and MASK
ROM and Micronauts
Optimus Prime and Transformers
This looks like it would then lead into paired comic titles, with GIJoe and MASK in "GIJoe UnMASKed" starting in November, and "ROM & The Micronauts" starting in December.
I think the two Transformers titles would probably continue as separate comics though, as it was only the other four comic titles that had "Season Finale" issues noted.
Quote:
M.A.S.K.: First Strike #1
—Cover A: Drew Johnson—SPOTLIGHT
—Cover B: Ilias Kyriazis
Aubrey Sitterson (w) • Ilias Kyriazis (a) • Drew Johnson (c)
VENOM’s showdown with the G.I. Joe team continues as transforming vehicles, robotic ninjas and explosions threaten to bring the mission to a deadly end!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 10/18/17
*Retailer incentives:
Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!
Bullet points:
· Tying into the events of First Strike—A Hasbro Comic Book Event!
· The second part of G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K.’s story—continued from last month’s G.I. Joe: First Strike #1!
Rom: First Strike #1
—Cover A: Nelson Daniel—SPOTLIGHT
—Cover B: Chris Panda
Christos Gage (w) • Chris Panda (a) • Nelson Daniel (c)
Rom’s team-up with the Micronauts leads our heroes right to the Dire Wraiths… and their new microscopic threat!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 10/4/17
*Retailer incentives:
Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!
Bullet points:
· Tying into the events of First Strike—A Hasbro Comic Book Event!
· The second part of the Micronauts and Rom’s story—continued from last month’s Micronauts: First Strike #1!
Transformers: First Strike #1
—Cover A: Sara Pitre-Durocher
—Cover B: Guido Guidi
John Barber (w) • Guido Guidi (a) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (c)
Continued from Optimus Prime: First Strike! When a bounty hunter drags one of their own into the wilds of Cybertron, the Revolutionaries join forces with Arcee and pursue! But in the midst of war, can humans and Cybertronians put aside their differences, or has the invasion of Cybertron doomed any chance at peace?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Expected in-store date: 10/18/17
*Retailer incentives:
Order 10 copies, get one free variant cover by Nick Bradshaw!
Bullet points:
· Tying into the events of First Strike—A Hasbro Comic Book Event!
· The second part of the Optimus Prime and the Revolutionaries story—continued from last month’s Optimus Prime: First Strike #1!
For those trying to follow the First Strike comics, and its related issues, the people from IDW have given up some details on where some bits fit together, and where they are heading in the future.
Quote:
we’re talking to writers John Barber, Christos Gage and Aubrey Sitterson about their First Strike one-shots featuring Optimus Prime, Transformers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, the Micronauts and Rom!
Where do your stories take place around the First Strike event?
CG: Concurrently. Basically, while all the Cybertronian action is occupying G.I. Joe and Earth's other homegrown defenders, the Dire Wraiths see an opportunity to enact a new and exceptionally brutal attack on our world. But Earth isn't completely defenseless...Rom and the Micronauts are still around, and they're our only chance!
AS: G.I. Joe: First Strike and M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand: First Strike both take place concurrently with the main First Strike series. But while First Strike is set primarily on Cybertron, my two-parter with Ilias Kyriazis is Earth-based. With Scarlett and Roadblock both
off-planet, Shipwreck finds himself in charge of the team, and when a Cobra-backed V.E.N.O.M. attacks, things go about as well as you'd expect for someone with the codename "Shipwreck."
JB: Optimus Prime: First Strike starts during issue one of First Strike, in Colton's initial attack on Cybertron. That fight keeps going for the first few issues of First Strike, so it covers some of what's
going on during the whole battle—Optimus doing stuff you don't see in the First Strike comic itself, including a special attack on a particular Cybertronian character.
How is the status quo set up for the new series and new arcs coming out of the one-shots and First Strike?
CG: You're going to see the first encounter of any real length between Rom and the Micronauts, so we're laying the groundwork for them knowing of each other and working together. There are a
number of things Rom has in common with several Micronauts, which we'll touch on. And as the heroes come together, so too do the villains…
AS: Coming out of G.I. Joe #9, we've got a reinvigorated Cobra and a brand-new Cobra Commander, but we haven't really seen them in action yet. That changes in our First Strike issues, where Cobra begins piecing together a devious scheme that we'll see play out in the pages of our new G.I. Joe series, with art by the amazing Nelson Dániel! Additionally, with V.E.N.O.M. getting folded into the evil organization, G.I. Joe counters by bringing M.A.S.K.'s Matt Trakker onboard! and considering Trakker's particular set of skills, you'll be seeing some notable upgrades on the
team's equipment…
JB: These will bring in some of the characters and stuff that's been happening in Revolutionaries into the ongoing Optimus Prime series. We'll see where that leaves us in the next Optimus Prime arc, "The Dead Come Home."
If you could team up any two characters in the universe, who would it be? And have you done
it yet?
CG: I would love to do an entire series that is just Baron Karza and the head Wraith sorcerer, D'rge, being haughty frenemies. Which I guess kind of gives away that they meet up. Oops!
AS: What kind of question is this, when The Crown Jewel of the Hasbro Universe already features the most iconic odd couple duo in not just comics, but all of fictional entertainment?! I'm speaking, of course, of Rock 'N’ Roll and Skywarp.
JB: In the Hasbro universe? Kup and Action Man, and yes I have—right here, in fact!
Looks like IDW have learnt from marvel how to do big boring events that stuff up the bigger selling titles (transformers) to try and get people to buy the failing books (everything else). No cybertronian tinted glasses here, gijoe gets a strong minor following but they've never gotten close to the (now rapidly) failing transformers numbers. I wish they'd leave things alone, bad enough we've lost Kup again to crossovers after losing him for so long with the first awful IDW event.