Revolution

[Dominic]

I agree with Sparky, it sounds more like a series of retcons than a true reboot. A reboot brings to mind going back and starting over, while Revolution is keeping some pretty big chunks of already-published material.

By this logic, the only true reboots have been "Flashpoint" and (maybe) the original "Crisis on Infinite Earths".

[Sparky Prime]

By this logic, the only true reboots have been "Flashpoint" and (maybe) the original "Crisis on Infinite Earths".

That sounds about right to me.

[andersonh1]

When IDW got the Transformers franchise, that was a genuine reboot. They started from scratch and went their own way without continuing Dreamwave or Marvel continuity. I don't know that I would say the same of Dreamwave... it could be considered a reboot, or it could be considered an alternate future for the old cartoon.

[Dominic]

DreamWave was a reboot. It borrowed general imagery from the cartoon, but nothing specific. And, the longer it went, the less it corresponded with the cartoon.


In "Revolution" news, I bought issue 2 yesterday. Still ain't read issue 1.

[Sparky Prime]

When IDW got the Transformers franchise, that was a genuine reboot. They started from scratch and went their own way without continuing Dreamwave or Marvel continuity. I don't know that I would say the same of Dreamwave... it could be considered a reboot, or it could be considered an alternate future for the old cartoon.

I suppose you could consider that a reboot, but that's sort of a different situation with a new company taking over the reigns of the franchise. And as I recall, even if they'd wanted to IDW wasn't allowed to continue Dreamwave's storylines due to legal issues following Dreamwave's collapse. IDW would eventually continue the Marvel storyline with ReGeneration One, although IDW had some issues with Marvel over that given Marvel wouldn't give them permission to use Circuit Breaker.

On a somewhat related note, an early idea IDW had for the franchise was to do a CoIE type situation... But they decided a new, fresh start for the franchise was the best route to take.

DreamWave was a reboot. It borrowed general imagery from the cartoon, but nothing specific. And, the longer it went, the less it corresponded with the cartoon.

I'd call Dreamwave's G1 story an alternate take on the G1 cartoon. And the longer it went, I'd say the more it started to correspond with the cartoon. The 3rd volume in-particular made many references to the cartoon with things like the Autobots planning construction of Autobot City, Starscream recounting the Combaticons getting their Earth forms was clearly a nod to "Starscream's Brigade", Unicron eating Lithone was depicted pretty much just like it was in the movie, and they even made a few references to the Beast Wars cartoon.

[Dominic]

Initially, there was some legal question about what could and could not be used. (Those same questions also delayed the TF/Joe cross-over with DDP,)

Those questions were eventually resolved. But, at that point, enough people had moved on to that no follow-up was needed.

'd call Dreamwave's G1 story an alternate take on the G1 cartoon.

So, putting aside semantics, it was a new thing that had little to do with the old thing and could be used as a perfect jumping on or starting point.

[Sparky Prime]

So, putting aside semantics, it was a new thing that had little to do with the old thing and could be used as a perfect jumping on or starting point.

I'd hardly call it semantics when the DW story was clearly meant to evoke the cartoon albeit with some differences in the story rather than something entirely new like you'd expect with an actual reboot. Little to do with the old thing? Not so much... A big part of why Dreamwave got the Transformers license in the first place was how well they played on nostalgia for the cartoon.

[Shockwave]

It's not a reboot, it's just a damned mess. Here's the really irritating part of it: WHY??!! I mean, what are we going to get out of this? Is IDW wanting to write some weird story where the Ghostbusters proton pack was actually invented by Cobra, based on Cybertronian technology as a precursor to phasers because it was left there by Dr. Who after his adventure with the Ninja Turtles? WTF IDW?!? Seriously, I do not need to read that story. Nor do I need to have every franchise randomly smashed together just to justify it.

[Dominic]

It is likely Hasbro more than IDW. (If this was planned by IDW, it would likely be smoother than it has been.)

WHY??!!

Objectively, this makes sense. Hasbro has 1 viable property, and they want to cross-brand it with their moribund properties.

This is not even without precedent.

"Micronauts" and "Rom" used to be licensed to Marvel, and the characters interacted with mainline Marvel. (I think we can assume that those stories do not count any more. But, they were published.)

TF and Joe have crossed over multiple times in the past. (And, if Hasbro folds "Jem" or "My Little Pony" in to this somehow, there will be precedent for those as well.)

I mean, what are we going to get out of this?

Comics.

We are going to have to wait and see exactly where this goes. Hasbro wants multiple properties that can cross-over. This formula has worked for Marvel, DC and Image. Why wouldn't Hasbro want that? They want a Marvel-style movie franchise. They want to test it out with comics. Again, this is perfectly sensible.

I am not thrilled with TF or Joe becoming like every other comic on shelves. But, "Transformers" has gotten more generic over the last few years, well before "Revolution". And, like with comics from Marvel or DC, we are going to read some and not read others.


On another note, I have bought and flipped through the second and third issues. "Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra" seems to be off the table, which knocks out a good chunk of IDW Joe by implication.

[Dominic]

Finally managed to read the first issue all the way through.

It is basically a comedy of errors. Mistaken identities and confused motives set up for the obligatory conflict.

"GI Joe" is definitely getting subordinated to TF here. Number of characters are either killed on page or assumed to have been killed before the first issue. (Depending on one's age, either Joe Colton or High-Tech are the biggest named kills.)

Breaker is name-checked, establishing that more of Costa's run (along with parts of "Cobra Civil War") is being ignored. Beaker was a turn-coat Joe, killed during "Cobra Civil War" by Blackout. In theory, IDW could weasel out of this and say it was a different guy using the same name. But, the intent in both "Cobra Civil War" and "Revolution" seems to be that this is "original 13" Breaker.)