Revelation (IDW)
| The name or term "Revelation" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Revelation (disambiguation). |
The Transformers: Revelation is the follow-up miniseries to IDW Publishing's The Transformers: Devastation. From June–October, 2008, Revelation was played out through four Spotlight format issues, focusing on Cyclonus, Hardhead, Doubledealer and Sideswipe. This four-parter marked the Autobots' confrontation with the Dead Universe Cybertronians and the end of the "-tion" series "for the foreseeable". [1] It had previously been hinted that the following volume would be titled The Transformers: Expansion, but writer Simon Furman later stated that "the stuff [he] had (mentally) prepared for Expansion may still happen, just later or in a different form. [2] These four Spotlight issues were in addition to the normal Spotlight series, notably, Spotlight: Wheelie.
The four Spotlights were to be issues #23–26 in the IDW overarching "sub-numbering", the only Spotlights to be incorporated in this way, though the sub-numbering has since been abandoned.
| The Transformers Spotlight: Revelation issues: |
|---|
| Spotlight: Cyclonus | Spotlight: Hardhead | Spotlight: Doubledealer | Spotlight: Sideswipe |
Preceded by: Devastation
Followed by: Maximum Dinobots
Overview
Nemesis Prime's corrupted crew prepares to unleash the Expansion, bringing the unlife of the Dead Universe into our own. On multiple worlds and fields of battle, the Autobots struggle to uncover the plot and find a way to stop it. Cyclonus confronts his inner berserker, Hot Rod finds the truth about Dealer, Hardhead accepts an inevitable destiny, and Sideswipe proves his own worth to himself.
Ongoing story arcs that were wrapped up with this series include Hot Rod and Dealer's battle over the Magnificence; the mystery of what happened to the crew of the first Ark, and their plot for Expansion of the Dead Universe; the theft of Thunderwing, Monstructor and Sixshot; Arcee's revenge on Jhiaxus; and the nature of Gorlam Prime and the Micromasters.
Creative team
The creative team from Infiltration, Escalation and through Devastation (writer Simon Furman and penciller E. J. Su) again worked on Revelation, though Su only illustrated Cyclonus and Sideswipe and provided a connecting cover for all four. Nick Roche, who also drew a cover for each issue, penciled and inked Hardhead, while Dan Khanna penciled Doubledealer (with inks by Frank Milkovich and Robert Atkins). Kris Carter was the colorist for Cyclonus and Hardhead, Liam Shalloo for Doubledealer, and E. J. Su colored Sideswipe himself.
Trivia
- IDW Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall made the decision to tie up the -ation run short here, explaining it as a basic business strategy for comics: "it's like any book on the market--sales start at a point and then they slowly dip until things are done to re-invigorate them... the reality is that sales numbers need to stay steady for a book to stay on the market. This isn't to say that things were by any means dire--they weren't at all--but we do need to occasionally mix things up so people don't just take a book for granted." [3]
- Revelation is the third IDW miniseries in a row that borrows a title from Dreamwave Productions' The War Within: The Dark Ages series.
Collections
- The Transformers Spotlight: Revelation TPB (February 4, 2009 ISBN 1600104215)
- Bonus material includes each A and B cover, and sketches of the 4-part image, Cyclonus, Nightbeat, Doubledealer (including a dragon-like alternate mode), Grindcore and Straxus (the last 2 in robot and alt mode).
- The spine of the collection wields the number 4, putting it clearly in the Spotlight series rather than in the main "-ation" series (where it would have been #5).
