IDW Publishing

[FluffySheep]

I agree 100%. I saw in your sig that you have a few of the same books on your pull list that I read. Is that XO Manowar a reboot of the series, I heard they were supposed to be doing it.

EDIT: Went to IDW Publishing site, ROM ends w/#14 (August), goes into a book called First Strike in August.

First Strike#1—Cover A: Freddie E. Williams II—GEM OF THE MONTH
Mairghread Scott & David Rodriguez (w) • Max Dunbar (a) • Freddie E. Williams II (c)
A Hasbro comic book event! A new era of peace is dawning as Earth formally joins the Cybertronian Council of Worlds. That is… until Baron Ironblood joins Destro, Storm Shadow and other nefarious villains in a terrorist attack on Iacon! As chaos takes hold on Cybertron, it will be left to Scarlett and the rest of G.I. Joe on Earth to discover the true purpose behind the attack before both worlds descend into all-out-war!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

And then there's a ROM v TF, don't know if it's limited or ongoing, but it SUCKS that IDW is dropping ROM into guest star all over the Hasbroverse now.

Funnily enough, I had a look at the solicitations too. I saw this

Rom #14—Cover A: Nathan Greno—SPOTLIGHT
Chris Ryall & Christos Gage (w) • David Messina, Guy Dorian & Sal Buscema (a) • Nathan Greno(c)
“Long Roads to Ruin” finale!Is this the last issue of Rom? Yes… and no! First Strike is upon us and out of that momentous event, a new Rom will arise! But before that, the fate of the Knights of the Solstar Order!

It says "a new ROM will arise", which could mean a new ROM solo ongoing could happen after the event, but it doesn't really confirm it.

I'm really enjoying XO Manowar, but I've not read any of it before, so I know nothing of the history of the series. It feels like a reboot, but Aric already has possession of the suit from the start, which could be that it's set in the future after past series? I don't know, I'm the wrong person to confirm it, but it's really good. The art is amazing too.

[Lee Stone]

Just a heads up...
Pretty much the full Hasbro-verse is in the current 99-cent sale on Comixology. Ends on the 29th.

[Lee Stone]

Funnily enough, I had a look at the solicitations too. I saw this

Rom #14—Cover A: Nathan Greno—SPOTLIGHT
Chris Ryall & Christos Gage (w) • David Messina, Guy Dorian & Sal Buscema (a) • Nathan Greno(c)
“Long Roads to Ruin” finale!Is this the last issue of Rom? Yes… and no! First Strike is upon us and out of that momentous event, a new Rom will arise! But before that, the fate of the Knights of the Solstar Order!

It says "a new ROM will arise", which could mean a new ROM solo ongoing could happen after the event, but it doesn't really confirm it.

I'm really enjoying XO Manowar, but I've not read any of it before, so I know nothing of the history of the series. It feels like a reboot, but Aric already has possession of the suit from the start, which could be that it's set in the future after past series? I don't know, I'm the wrong person to confirm it, but it's really good. The art is amazing too.

I had a gander at the First Strike preview from their website and...

Last Issues:
G.I. Joe #9
M.A.S.K. #10
Micronauts: Wrath of Karza #5
ROM #14

New series:
G.I. Joe: Unmasked #1
ROM & the Micronauts #1
And a secret new #1 (looks like Visionairies to me)

[FluffySheep]

I had a gander at the First Strike preview from their website and...

Last Issues:
G.I. Joe #9
M.A.S.K. #10
Micronauts: Wrath of Karza #5
ROM #14

New series:
G.I. Joe: Unmasked #1
ROM & the Micronauts #1
And a secret new #1 (looks like Visionairies to me)

Thanks for that info. I'm pretty disappointed. ROM's sales figures obviously weren't what IDW were hoping for.

[Lee Stone]

Thanks for that info. I'm pretty disappointed. ROM's sales figures obviously weren't what IDW were hoping for.

It looks like a consolidation of the ongoings ('ROM with Micronauts' and 'G.I. Joe with M.A.S.K.') to give room for new titles to bridge the time from First Strike to next years event.

And they probably figured there was more overlap in readers with ROM/Micronauts and G.I Joe/MASK than other variations of combos.

I suspect they'll split back up and relaunch out of next year's event, whatever it is.

[noiseredux]

wow they're killing off that GI Joe series already? And starting another one? Hmm.

I only read a couple issues of GI Joe myself. I sort of liked it. Didn't care for the art. Wonder what "Unmasked" will be then.

[Lee Stone]

wow they're killing off that GI Joe series already? And starting another one? Hmm.

I only read a couple issues of GI Joe myself. I sort of liked it. Didn't care for the art. Wonder what "Unmasked" will be then.

It sounds like a play on words to give a G.I. Joe/MASK series a unique name.

[noiseredux]

yeah I was wondering the MASK thing as well. I'm less enthused about it being a GI/MASK crossover... but then again, at least that would differentiate it from the main series which the plain ol' GI JOE series that's being cancelled didn't really seem to do.

[Exciter]

wow they're killing off that GI Joe series already? And starting another one? Hmm.

As a lifelong G.I. Joe comic fan, I was extremely disappointed with the series. For a book marketed as the "crown jewel" of the Hasbro universe, the art struck me as below professional standards and the story wasn't so great either.

Hopefully the new series will see improvement, though I personally have no affinity for MASK.

[Lee Stone]

And I wouldn't read too much into the cancellations.
It looks to me that IDW may be allotting a specific number of titles for the Hasbro Shared Universe (maybe due to limits of available creators?) and they needed room to add the new titles, like Visionaries.
It's possible that a limit of Shared Universe titles may also be self-imposed to allow readers to afford to buy all of them if they wished.

Plus, the theme of combining two properties into one series plays well with their efforts with the events. So I expect the new titles to be highly influenced by the ending of First Strike while starting the threads leading up to next year's event.
They also cancelled the then-running Transformers and G.I. Joe titles going into Revolution, as well, to make room for books reflecting the new universe (and give new readers a starting point). Which is why the cancellations and relaunches surrounding First Strike doesn't really surprise me. And why I expect the mash-up titles to only be temporary, likely ending at the start of next year's event.

[Dark-Flux]

This was the first GI Joe i read and it was purely on account of Milo Milogiannis's art. I wont be back after he leaves.

[Lee Stone]

As a lifelong G.I. Joe comic fan, I was extremely disappointed with the series. For a book marketed as the "crown jewel" of the Hasbro universe, the art struck me as below professional standards and the story wasn't so great either.

Hopefully the new series will see improvement, though I personally have no affinity for MASK.

One of my few quibbles with the Hasbro line is the art.
It's not bad... but not great, either. And gives the impression that they're expecting to sell off of name recognition alone.

For instance, the artist from Satellite Falling would've been a perfect choice for Micronauts or ROM.

I had the same issue with Dr. Who when they did their first series. I just couldn't get into the art and it didn't feel like the level of art that I expected to be put on an important new launch for a popular property.

[noiseredux]

As a lifelong G.I. Joe comic fan, I was extremely disappointed with the series. For a book marketed as the "crown jewel" of the Hasbro universe, the art struck me as below professional standards and the story wasn't so great either.

Hopefully the new series will see improvement, though I personally have no affinity for MASK.

I really didn't like the artwork in the new GI Joe series either. Some of it really felt like unfinished sketches to me. Lots of heads w/ no faces that weren't even in the background. Stuff like that. Meh.

I really don't know MASK. I mean I read some of Revolution but that's the extent. I'd give a #1 a shot though.

I am interested in jumping back into the main GI Joe series, though. I'm just waiting for a new story arc or good jumping-on issue to come out I guess.

[Kaled]

The combining of the titles is just until the 3rd part of Hasbro's combined universe comes out and then the books will be relaunched again.

[Lee Stone]

The combining of the titles is just until the 3rd part of Hasbro's combined universe comes out and then the books will be relaunched again.

That was my guess.
I think it's actually a good idea to do it that way.
It frees up resources to launch other titles (like Visionaries and Inhumanoids) and by combining properties that fit well together for the duration readers may discover they like the title that's merged with their favorite.
It's likely that ROM and Micronauts share much of their reader base already, but it may still get a few new readers for one or the other.
The bigger benefit will obviously go to MASK, as G.I. Joe has had a longer tenure at IDW and is probably tied with Transformers as IDW's most popular Hasbro properties. But MASK fits G.I. Joe better than ROM or Micronauts would.

Is Revolutionaries continuing? I don't think I saw any mention of it in the First Strike checklist, other than the one-shot tie-in.