IDW set to close out season one of Hasbro-verse comics with First Strike

Publisher IDW has been cranking out some pretty awesome comics based in their new Hasbro themed comics universe. And the worlds of Transformers, GI Joe, and others are about to usher in their first big event.

Or should that be ‘second big event’?

Technically, I guess Revolution was the first big event book/series for the Hasbro-verse. That was the trigger, the crossover that actually merged the different toy line-based comics into one cohesive universe. And the push has apparently proved pretty successful, as IDW has announced a “season 2”.

Not content to simply carry runs through to a new year, IDW will be holding another major crossover. And yes, that means that the current runs on some of these books will be halted. It’s all to make way for First Strike, and it promises to be a doozy.

IDW’s Editor-in-Chief, David Hedgecock says, “This is what REVOLUTION has been building towards over the past year. It’s been an exciting first season of action in the Hasbro shared universe which laid the foundation for all-new stories and adventures, but now with FIRST STRIKE, we’re shaking things up and, once again, disrupting the status quo forever. It’s a perfect time for readers, new and old, to jump on board and join us for one raucously fun ride!”

A jumping on point, and plenty more

First Strike basically centers on the fact the Earth has been brought into a kind of galactic UN by the Autobots. Optimus Prime is right there are the fore for that of course, and there are more than a few people who aren’t crazy about having an alien in charge. People like GI Joe’s Joe Colton.

This August, General Joe Colton, the original G.I. JOE, will take the fight directly to the TRANSFORMERS home world of Cybertron in the Hasbro Comic Book Event of 2017 – First Strike!

This six-part, bi-weekly series will feature the talents of writers Mairghread Scott (TRANSFORMERS) and David A. Rodriguez (SKYLANDERS), with art by Max Dunbar (DUNGEONS & DRAGONS), and colors by Ander Zarate (MICRONAUTS).

Earth’s heroes have united after the explosive events of last year’s REVOLUTION! Bringing together G.I. JOE, ROM, the MICRONAUTS, M.A.S.K.: MOBILE ARMORED STRIKE KOMMAND, ACTION MAN, and the TRANSFORMERS, Earth has never been more secure now that it has become a member of the Council of Worlds due to Optimus Prime’s leadership.

But oversight and control isn’t what everyone wants; especially when that control is in the hands of alien forces…

So, does that mean that Colton is a villain? You’ll have to read the series to find out. And fortunately, that shouldn’t break the bank, thanks to how IDW has arranged things.

One-shots galore

Yes, this is a big old fashioned comic book crossover event. But unlike what you might see from other publishers, IDW won’t be continuing its current runs of books during it. Instead, the Revolution runs of these books will be concluding, and giving way to First Strike. FS will function as an entry for Season 2, which is a pretty slick idea, and keeps nicely with the television legacies of properties like Transformers and Joe.

That creates a spate of titles that’ll be hitting from August through December. The one shots tied into First Strike will be first, with the all-new #1’s coming around the end of the calendar year. And man, are the #1’s sounding interesting.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Things begin with the main First Strike series, which arrives with issue #1 in August. You can also expect a free #0 issue in September, which is also when the one shots begin.

Those will look a little something like this:

September

• Micronauts: First Strike, by Christos Gage and Chris Panda,
• G.I. Joe: First Strike, by Aubrey Sitterson and Ilias Kyriazis
• Optimus Prime: First Strike by John Barberand Guido Guidi

October

• M.A.S.K.: MOBILE ARMORED STRIKE KOMMAND.: First Strike, by Aubrey Sitterson and Ilias Kyriazis
• Rom: First Strike, by by Christos Gage and Chris Panda
• TRANSFORMERS: First Strike by John Barber and Guido Guidi

Also, and this is kind of cool, IDW says that the one shots are strictly for those fans who want more. So they aren’t 100% necessary to read, if you just want the basic First Strike storyline. Thumbs up there guys.

But what happens after that? Well that’s when things get really interesting. When the dust settles on First Strike, Season 2 begins. And again, the titles of Season 2’s books are as tantalizing as it gets for fans. We’ve only got two to go on so far though, so there’s more to come. First up, is ROM & The Micronauts #1. Pretty cool right? Nice little mash up there. Second? G.I. Joe Unmasked.

There’s a TON that could be read into that title. GI Joe is more or less a military superhero team after all, and they’re at the center of the events of First Strike. So I think it’d probably be fair to say that there might be more than meets the eye going on here.

What exactly, is a pretty big mystery still, though I can imagine a few things pretty easily.