Comic Book / Hasbro Comic Universe

Pictured: Biotron, Space Glider, Orbital Defender, Acroyear, Arcee, Victorion, Soundwave, Optimus Prime, Kup, Roadblock, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Action Man, ROM, a Thunderhawk, and a Rhino, amongst others. Not pictured: ponies, teenagers with attitude and a truly outrageous band.

The Hasbro Comic Universe ^note or Revolution Universe is the Shared Universe of (most of) IDW Publishing's Hasbro-licensed comics, debuting with the release of the Revolution miniseries in 2016. Through Canon Welding of the previously unrelated IDW Transformers: Generation 1 and G.I. Joe series (and to a far lesser extent, Jem and the Holograms and Clue), and the introduction of ROM, Micronauts, Action Man and M.A.S.K. to the universe, these disparate franchises have been formed into a single shared universe. In addition to comics, it also includes... the Pound Puppies animated series (yes, it's true).

Despite its obvious similarities to the planned Hasbro Cinematic Universe, the comic universe is actually completely unrelated, as IDW was unaware of the movie plans before they pitched the concept to Hasbro. Major differences from the movies include the presence of Transformers (as their own film franchise is continuing), Jem and Action Man.

Comic series taking place in the Hasbro Comic Universe, by franchise:

Transformers

The Transformers

The longest-running and most expansive part of IDW's universe, IDW's Transformers universe began as a Darker and Edgier Ultimate Universe reimagining of the Transformers: Generation 1 franchise by longtime Transformers author and mastermind behind The Transformers (Marvel)'s comics, Simon Furman. It's since expanded to cover a huge range of styles and tones of the franchise, with multiple fan-favorite (and less fan-favorite) authors writing for it. It can be roughly divided into five "eras", based on the main writers and editorial direction of the series.

Era 1: "-ations"

Simon Furman's intricately plotted reboot of the Generation 1 Transformers universe, told through a set of miniseries. It establishes a serious, cloak-and-dagger tone to the universe, with an emphasis on the "robots in disguise"; the Decepticons work through "infiltration protocols" intended to destabilise the planet instead of the goofy, public supervillain schemes of the original Generation 1. These series work with very deliberate, limited casts, initially only using a small selection of the original 1984 characters (and the Battlechargers.) These miniseries ran between 2005 and 2008.

• The Transformers: Infiltration: The miniseries that started this continuity. It tells the story of three humans getting caught up in the Transformers' war of infiltration when a powerful new fuel source is found on Earth. It lasted for seven issues.
• The Transformers: Spotlight: A series of one-shot comics with a Day in the Limelight theme, each focusing on a different Transformer. Most issues expanded on the backstory of the universe and tied in somehow to the main miniseries; the majority were written by Furman, but some were written by other writers, such as Nick Roche and Stuart Moore. Initially running alongside Infiltration, it has run on-and-off throughout the IDW franchise's run.
• The Transformers: Stormbringer: A tie-in to Infiltration set simultaneously to it, this series sets out the status quo on Cybertron, as Optimus Prime, the Wreckers and the Technobots are forced to deal with Bludgeon, a rogue Decepticon attempting to learn the secrets of the powerful Pretender technology from the world-destroying Thunderwing. Ran for four issues.
• The Transformers: Escalation: The sequel series to Infiltration, focused on two plotlines: the Decepticons and Autobots coming to blows over the Ore-13 fuel, and the kidnap of - and experimentation on - Sunstreaker and human ally Hunter O'Nion by a mysterious human group, the Machination. Lasted six issues.
• New Avengers/Transformers: A crossover miniseries with Marvel Comics, involving the New Avengers and Latveria getting involved in the Transformers' war. Set during Escalation, it has had little effect on the overall universe, though it received sort of continuation in Spotlight: Ramjat. Ran for four issues.
• The Transformers: Megatron Origin: A miniseries by Eric Holmes detailing Megatron's origins and rise to power in this universe. Originally written for Dreamwave Productions, it's notorious for being subsequently more or less ignored by other comics until James Roberts' elaboration on Megatron's backstory in Chaos Theory and More than Meets the Eye.
• The Transformers: Devastation: Smarting from his defeat by Optimus Prime, Megatron summons his One-Man Army Sixshot to Earth to devastate it. Meanwhile, the Decepticons have to deal with the alien Reapers, and Hunter and Sunstreaker escape from the Machination - by combining into a Headmaster. Lasted six issues.
• Revelation: Initially intended as two six-issue miniseries (Revelation and Expansion), but condensed into four of the Spotlights, this series concludes the Dead Universe and Magnificence plotlines threaded through the earlier Spotlights. The last series prior to the All Hail Megatron relaunch.
• The Transformers: Maximum Dinobots: Simon Furman's last miniseries, running alongside All Hail Megatron and wrapping up the plotlines of Hunter and Sunstreaker, the Machination, and the Dynobots. Ran for five issues.

Era 2: All Hail Megatron

A "soft reboot" of the IDW Transformers universe involving a new author, Shane McCarthy. This era was very controversial for a number of reasons, the most prominent being that IDW forced Furman to truncate his long-running plan for the universe into four Spotlights and Maximum Dinobots so that McCarthy could take over, in the hope that the rebrand would increase sales. Similarly, All Hail Megatron had almost no link to the plotlines of the "-ations" until halfway through, leading to many believing, at first, that it was a full Continuity Reboot. Tonally, All Hail Megatron drops the deconstructive, Adaptation Distillation and Reimagining the Artifact elements of the "-ations" in favor of a Darker and Edgier take on the G1 cartoon. It ran from 2008 to 2009.

• The Transformers: All Hail Megatron: Starting In Medias Res, this series jumps to one year after the events of Maximum Dinobots, where the Decepticons have gone public and conquered the Earth thanks to the actions of a traitor in the Autobot ranks, and the Autobots are scattered and broken on Cybertron. It takes an unexpected ally for the Autobots and a Decepticon rebellion against Megatron to turn the tide. Lasted sixteen issues, including the four Coda issues, which were originally intended to be a miniseries on their own.
• The Transformers Continuum: A one-shot that aims to summarise all the events of the "-ations" and All Hail Megatron for the benefit of new readers... aims being the important part.

Era 3: The Transformers ongoing

With the end of All Hail Megatron came a new ongoing series by Mike Costa, simply named The Transformers, that many hoped would bring the series out of its Audience-Alienating Era, especially with the return of fan-favorite artist Don Figueroa to art duties. Unfortunately, instead of his traditional style, Figueroa debuted the series with a new, overly skeletal and mechanical art style influenced by the Transformers movies that was instantly unpopular with fans, particularly for what it did to characters' faces. On top of that, Costa freely admitted that he didn't really "get" the characters or see how to make them relatable, and in general struggled with writing a Transformer-based story; meanwhile, hands-off editorial direction led to massive inconsistency between characters' designs and personalities, even within the main series!

All that said, there are some popular elements, most notably the incredibly well-regarded Last Stand of the Wreckers and James Roberts' two-issue Chaos Theory story arc on the ongoing series, which provided backstory to Optimus Prime and Megatron that would later be expanded on in More than Meets the Eye. This era lasted from 2009 to 2011.

• The Transformers (IDW): Set two years after All Hail Megatron, this series begins with the Autobots stranded on Earth, hunted by human organisation Skywatch and with no way to get off-planet. Though the situations is tempered when Optimus Prime forms an alliance with Skywatch, tensions still run high. Ran from 2009 to 2011 for thirty-one issues.
• The Transformers: Bumblebee: Four-issue miniseries focused on Bumblebee's struggles as the leader of the Autobots on Earth.
• The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers: An acclaimed, five-issue miniseries by Nick Roche and James Roberts, following an adventure by the Wreckers, the Autobots' crack commando squad, that ends up killing half of them and tearing the team apart. (The clue's in the name.)
• The Transformers: Ironhide: A four-issue miniseries by Mike Costa telling the story of Ironhide's resurrection after his apparent death in the ongoing series, alongside Alpha Trion's attempts to restore Cybertron.
• The Transformers: Drift: A four-issue miniseries by Shane McCarthy dealing with the origins and adventures of his Creator's Pet Drift. It's actually considered significantly better than All Hail Megatron, and a decent character story; most of the dislike of it and the character come from Poochie-esque Character Shilling, percieved weeaboo traits (such as using katana and having kanji on his car mode), and IDW pushing him as "our Wolverine".
• The Transformers: Infestation: A two-issue story produced as part of IDW's Infestation Cross Through, by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; it tells the story of an army of zombies invading the Transformers universe, forcing the Autobots to team up with Galvatron's army to stop them. Star Trek, G.I. Joe and Ghostbusters were also invaded.
• The Transformers: Heart of Darkness: Another D'n'A story, this one four issues; it focuses on Galvatron's missions in the Dead Universe. It was significantly invokedworse-received than Infestation, with particular hate for its art.

Era 4: More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise

In the ending of The Transformers, two very shocking events occurred: Cybertron was made habitable again, and the war ended. In the aftermath, the neutral Cybertronians who never fought in the war have come flooding back to the planet, only to find that "habitable" doesn't mean "civilised"... and they're very much unwilling to shut up and accept an Autobot government. Faced with the difficulties of keeping the peace for the neutrals and dealing with the Decepticons and Galvatron's army, the Autobots are split into two camps: those led by Bumblebee, who believe they have a duty to try and build a new civilisation on Cybertron, and those led by Rodimus, who want to leave the planet to the ungrateful neutrals.

So begins the fourth era of IDW's Transformers, masterminded by James Roberts and John Barber (and later Mairghread Scott), in a widely-acclaimed relaunch of the series that has been praised for many of the daring changes it has made to the mythos, including in its very premise of ending the Autobot-Decepticon war, as well as its willingness to Retcon Furman's idea of the Transformers as a One-Gender Race and introduce female Transformers to the series. Roberts' More than Meets the Eye in particular has recieved widespread attention for its unusual, Slice of Life feeling, and progressive attitudes and LGBT characters. It's often considered a new "golden age" for the series, comparable to - or even better than - Furman's intricately plotted "-ations".

The main "spine" of the series is in the two main ongoings, More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise ^note "Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons...", which both lasted 57 issues before being relaunched with new numberings and titles after the Revolution crossover. Throughout the "second season" of the comics, Mairghread Scott's miniseries (Windblade and Till All Are One) have formed a third element of the universe. These series lasted from 2012 to 2016.

• The Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime: A one-shot comic by James Roberts and John Barber, summarizing the new status quo and showing the decisions Bumblebee and Rodimus to stay on Cybertron and leave, respectively. And Optimus... leaves on his own, believing that he symbolises the war too much for the neutrals and Decepticons to ever accept peace with him there. As he leaves, he chooses to return to his original name of Orion Pax: the symbolic "death" of Optimus Prime.
• The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye: One of two ongoing series running in parallel, More than Meets the Eye is written by James Roberts; it follows Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Drift, and a crew of other misfits as they journey into space to find the legendary Knights of Cybertron in the hope of being able to restore Cybertron to its former glory, getting into plenty of mishaps along the way. The first "season" covered issues 1 to 22.
• The Transformers: Robots in Disguise: The other ongoing series, Robots in Disguise covers Bumblebee's attempts to form a working government on Cybertron, and his struggles in dealing with the neutral Transformers (or NAILs), led by Metalhawk, and the Decepticons, "led" by Starscream. As with More than Meets the Eye, the first "season" covered issues 1 to 22.
• The Transformers: Autocracy: A twelve-issue digital comic by G1 cartoon writers Flint Dille and Chris Metzen, retelling the days just prior to the start of the Great War.
  • The Transformers: Monstrosity and The Transformers: Primacy: Two follow-up digital comics to Autocracy, by the same creative team. The first was initially released as a twelve-issue digital comic before being printed as a four-issue miniseries, while the second was released as a four-issue miniseries in print.
• The Transformers: Dark Cybertron: The crossover event for More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise, following up on Shockwave's machinations and the Dead Universe plotline from all the way back in the "-ations". It covered issues 23-27 of both More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise, along with two one-shots, and caused significant changes in the status quo of both titles - specifically, Bumblebee and Shockwave are Killed Off for Real, Megatron becomes an Autobot, and Galvatron takes command of the Decepticons.
• The Transformers: Windblade: Mini-series following the aftermath of Dark Cybertron as Robots in Disguise heads back to Earth. Consisted of four issues.
• The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye season 2: The second "act" of More than Meets the Eye picks up more or less where it left off, with only a few small changes... some crew members have left the Lost Light, some new ones have joined, and oh yes - MEGATRON is now the ship's captain! Season 2 concluded with issue 57 and a tie-in to the Revolution event.
• The Transformers: Robots in Disguise season 2: With Windblade covering the events on Cybertron, Robots in Disguise returns to Earth for the first time since The Transformers ongoing, following Optimus Prime and his Autobots attempting to track down Alpha Trion on Earth, faced with a human-Decepticon alliance. The series was renamed to simply The Transformers starting with issue 35, to avoid confusion with the Transformers: Robots in Disguise franchise. It concluded with issue 57 and a tie-in to the Revolution event.
• The Transformers: Punishment: A one-shot by John Barber featuring Optimus solving a mystery on Cybertron; it lays seeds for the upcoming Combiner Wars event.
  • The Transformers: Redemption: A sequel one-shot by John Barber that has been described as Mad Max: Fury Road WITH DINOBOTS!
• The Transformers: Drift - Empire of Stone: Another miniseries by Shane McCarthy that focuses on Drift, set after he leaves the Lost Light. The series was criticised for not following up on Drift's character development from More than Meets the Eye, and - quite egregiously - using a character that had already been seeded as important by the Windblade miniseries in a completely incompatible context.
• The Transformers: Combiner Wars: A crossover between The Transformers and volume 2 of Windblade, tying into the toyline of the same name, that grows out of the events of The Transformers; it focuses on Starscream's attempts to use the Enigma of Combination to create Combining Mecha and solidify his power on both Cybertron and the colony world of Caminus. The story covered issues 39 to 42 of the main series, and issues 1 to 4 of Windblade.
• The Transformers: Windblade volume 2: Launching out of Combiner Wars, the second Windblade miniseries focuses once more on Windblade and her allies, and their attempts to win the rediscovered colony worlds to their side before Starscream does. Lasted for seven issues.
• The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers: A five-issue sequel series to Last Stand of the Wreckers by Nick Roche, in which the Wreckers' surviving members - and a few new additions - reform when Prowl is kidnapped by mysterious forces with an interest in Verity Carlo and the Aequitas data slug.
• The Transformers: Titans Return: A crossover event based on the toyline of the same name, made up of a one-shot comic and two issues of each ongoing. It features the return of Sentinel Prime from Megatron Origin, and the appearance of the mysterious Titan Masters.

Era 5: Revolution

After the events of All Hail Optimus, the concluding arc of The Transformers, Optimus has set up a permanant base on Earth, and humanity isn't happy about it. So to deal with him, they bring back a long-defunct organisation: the elite American military unit G.I. Joe! With the Revolution crossover, the IDW Transformers and GI Joe universes, along with most of the other Hasbro properties IDW has licenses for, are merged into one; out of this, their Transformers books have been relaunched, with new focuses, new numbering and new names. Notably, despite the renamed and renumbered titles, the creative teams are not changing - though John Barber is stepping down as an editor, he, Roberts and Scott are continuing to write a title each for Transformers.

• Transformers: Lost Light: Replacing and carrying on from More than Meets the Eye, this series follows Rodimus and crew as they attempt to deal with the aftermath of The Dying of the Light, the MTMTE season 2 finale.
• Optimus Prime: Replacing and carrying on from Robots in Disguise, this series follows Optimus Prime on Earth as he questions his place in the world and deals with the humans who don't want him there. (And yes, there's no "Transformers" in the title.)
• The Transformers: Till All Are One: A followup to the events of the two Windblade miniseries, this series follows Windblade and Starscream as they attempt to outplay each other and navigate the political landscape of Cybertron. Though it debuted before the Revolution crossover, it was not renumbered or renamed as the other ongoing series were.
• G.I. Joe: The 2016 G.I. Joe series isn't just set in the same universe as the Transformers — it includes the Decepticon Skywarp as a member of the G.I. Joe team! (For this reason, it's chronicled on TFWiki.net alongside the other IDW Transformers titles.)
• Revolutionaries: A series by John Barber depicting Ayana Jones, Blackrock and Kup of Robots in Disguise teaming up with Action Man to investigate the mysterious Talisman and explore the universe; it's essentially pure Mythology Gag and Continuity Porn in comic form.
• Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor: Listed below under the "Rom" entry, this crossover miniseries pits the space knight against the Cybertronians, with new character Stardrive — a Cybertronian member of the Solstar Order — caught in the middle. It's written by RID's John Barber and ROM's Christos Gage, with art by MTMTE's Alex Milne.
• Transformers vs. Visionaries: As listed below under Visionaries, this miniseries brings the heroes and villains of Prysmos to Cybertron in the aftermath of the events of First Strike.
• Scarlett's Strike Force: As the sequel to G.I. Joe vol. 5, Scarlett' Strike Force retains Skywarp as a member of the team.

G.I. Joe

G.I.Joe

IDW's G.I. Joe series is the second longest-running of their Hasbro-based series, starting in 2008. A Darker and Edgier reboot of the G.I. Joe franchise that removes several of its sillier traits, this series was mostly masterminded by Chuck Dixon, with input from G.I. Joe alumnus Larry Hama. Though the series ended in 2015, it is being relaunched in 2016 as part of Revolution.

• G.I. Joe: An ongoing series written by Chuck Dixon, that chronicles the beginning of the fight between G.I. Joe and Cobra in IDW continuity. It lasted for 27 issues, published between 2008 and 2011.
• G.I. Joe: Origins: Originally intended as a miniseries but changed into an ongoing due to its popularity, this series - written by G.I. Joe veteran Larry Hama - focuses on the origins the formation of G.I. Joe and the origins of the members of the team. It lasted 23 issues, published between 2008 and 2011.
• G.I. Joe: Cobra: Written by Christos Gage, this is a four issue 2009 miniseries detailing the status quo of Cobra in the IDW continuity, as observed by undercover Joe agent Chuckles. It was followed by a one-shot, G.I. Joe: Cobra Special, detailing the relationship of Tomax and Xamot.
  • G.I. Joe: Cobra II: A follow-up miniseries continuing the story, which was later expanded into an ongoing (without the "II") that lasted 13 issues, from 2010 to 2011.
• G.I. Joe: Infestation: G.I. Joe's tie-in to the Infestation Cross Through.
• G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds: A series of 10 short stories presented through 5 issues, each focusing on a single member of G.I. Joe or Cobra, Hearts & Minds was written by Max Brooks, of World War Z fame.

• G.I. Joe: Cobra Civil War: A "#0" one-shot released as a prelude to the three subsequent ongoings, detailing the aftermath of Cobra Commander's assassination in G.I. Joe: Cobra II.
• G.I. Joe volume 2: A relaunch of the previous ongoing, showing G.I. Joe dealing with the aftermath of Cobra Civil War. It lasted 21 issues from 2011 to 2013.
• G.I. Joe: Cobra volume 2: An ongoing by Mike Costa, following on from his role as co-author on the previous Cobra ongoing. It continues the storyline of the "Cobra civil war", and lasted 21 issues between 2011 to 2013.
• G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes/G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow: An ongoing by Chuck Dixon covering the solo adventures of G.I. Joe's mysterious ninja, and later, his Cobra counterpart. It lasted 21 issues, 2011 to 2013.

• G.I. Joe volume 3: The replacement of the previous ongoing, lasting for 15 issues from 2013 to 2014; this series by Fred Van Lente presented a much-changed status quo, with G.I. Joe's existence out in the open and the heroes as a publicly-promoted team of "celebrity soldiers" under "G.I. Joe" Colton, the man for whom the team was named.
• G.I. Joe: Special Missions: A Chuck Dixon series named after the classic series of the same name and continuing the idea of G.I. Joe as a secretive and shadowy task force through the "Special Missions Unit", which lasted for 14 issues from 2013 to 2014.
• G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files: A continuation of Cobra volume 2 focused on G.I. Joe's special intelligence unit, this series by Mike Costa lasted for nine issues in 2013.

• G.I. Joe: The Fall of G.I. Joe: An ongoing by newcomer Karen Traviss, this cut-short series lasted 8 issues from 2014 to 2015, and involved a subplot of G.I. Joe potentially being shut down; though it surely wasn't the intention at the time, the series' premature end and the story needs of Revolution meant that that ended up being the case.
• Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra: A five-issue 2015 miniseries starring Snake-Eyes as an agent of Cobra.

Notably, according to the Road to Revolution backup stories in IDW's Transformers titles, all of the previous events took place between All Hail Megatron and Robots in Disguise season 2, providing an explanation as to why the team weren't involved in any of the Transformers' appearances on Earth.

• G.I. Joe (2016): Spinning out of Revolution, the simply-named G.I. Joe is a new series by Aubrey Sitterson. Though set in the same continuity as the previous IDW titles, the author has expressed a desire to embrace some of the more fantastical elements of the franchise - and the first step is including the Transformer Skywarp as a member of the relaunched team, which also includes such mainstays as Scarlett, Roadblock, Rock'n'Roll, Quick Kick, Helix, Shipwreck, and Snake Eyes.
• Revolutionaries: With this series, Robots in Disguise cast member Ayana Jones has been brought into the Joe fold as "Mayday", and represents them in the Revolutionaries' globe-trotting adventures.
• Scarlett's Strike Force: Functioning as a successor to both "G.I. Joe" and "M.A.S.K. - Mobile Armored Strike Kommand", Scarlett's Strike Force teams G.I. Joe with M.A.S.K.'s Matt Trakker against a resurgent Cobra and their assortment of villains, like Croc Master, Cesspool, and... the Army Ants? It's written by Aubrey Sitterson and drawn by Clue's Nelson Daniel.

ROM

Rom the Space Knight

A cyborg knight from another world dedicated to protecting other planets from the shapeshifting, alien Dire Wraiths, Rom has now journeyed to Earth to root out the shapeshifters and defend it. He is Rom, lord of the Solstar order! Rom, the Wraithslayer! ROM, THE SPACE KNIGHT! A Continuity Reboot of Marvel's Rom Spaceknight, IDW's ROM strips out the Marvel-created trappings of the story - including the other Spaceknights of Galador, and the specific appearance of the Dire Wraiths - to create a new, simpler continuity. It's being written by Christos Gage and Chris Ryall, two writers with a great passion for the character, who have described the tone as being like Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

• ROM (IDW): An ongoing series by Christos Gage and Chris Ryall, ROM shows the titular Space Knight travelling to Earth on a "routine" mission, only to find that things go wrong a lot faster than expected. This series will cross over with the others in Revolution.
• Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor: Set about 150 years prior to the "present day" of the main series, this miniseries — written by Christos Gage and John Barber, and drawn by Alex Milne — shows how, in the late days of the Cybertronian's war and the early days of the Solstar Order's, the Autobots (including Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee) came into conflict with Rom's Space Knights, with new character Stardrive, a Cybertronian Space Knight, caught in the middle.
• Rom and the Micronauts: A five-issue miniseries that acts as a successor to both "ROM" and "Micronauts"; the book is written by Rom's Christos Gage and illustrated by Action Man's Paolo Villaneli.
• Rom: Dire Wraiths: A three-issue miniseries published after the end of the Hasbro Comic Universe that involved Rom fighting Dire Wraiths during the 1969 moon landing, which also featured reimagined versions of the heroes from Inhumanoids.

Micronauts

Micronauts

In a tiny universe known as Microspace, a cataclysm called the Entropy Storm threatens to destroy everything. As the disaster goes, the twin armies of the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Defense seem intent only on fighting each other to secure power rather than fixing things; so it may be up to a team of unlikely heroes to save everything. A Continuity Reboot of Marvel's Micronauts series, based on the toys by Mego, IDW's Micronauts features an entirely new cast (with the exception of Acroyear, Biotron and Microtron, who have all been reimagined) due to Marvel's ownership of the characters they created. In Revolution, they will cross over to IDW's main universe... where they're about 4 inches tall.

• Micronauts (IDW): An ongoing series by Cullen Bunn, Micronauts is a Guardians of the Galaxy-esque tale of Oziron Rael's Ragtag Bunch of Misfits and their attempt to save their world from the Entropy Cloud and the machinations of Baron Karza. The team consists of Pharoid (Oziron Rael), Acroyear, Space Glider (Phenelo-Phi), Orbital Defender (Larissa), Biotron, and Microtron. The series crossed over with the others in Revolution, and subsequently ended after 11 issues (plus an Annual and Revolution one-shot) to lead into...
• Micronauts: Wrath of Karza, a five-issue miniseries continuing from the Micronauts ongoing, depicting Baron Karza's attack on Earth and the other heroes of the Hasbro Universe.
• Rom and the Micronauts: A five-issue miniseries that acts as a successor to both "ROM" and "Micronauts"; the book is written by Rom's Christos Gage and illustrated by Action Man's Paolo Villaneli.

Action Man

Action Man

Variously described as "the greatest hero of them all" or "the UK's one-bloke answer to G.I. Joe", Action Man is the code name for an operative trained to the highest levels of ability in all fields - he's a master of hand-to-hand and ranged combat, a member of MENSA, a 3-star Michelin chef... and he's also dead. Focusing on the newest Action Man, this series based on Britain's equivalent of G.I. Joe is inspired by the original military rendition of the character rather than the extreme-sports adventurer of the TV show, and is written by John Barber.

• Action Man: After the Heroic Sacrifice of the previous Action Man in the line of duty, a young man named Ian Noble, whose life he saved, is being trained as the new Action Man whilst pursuing clues against Doctor X, the man responsible for his predecessor's death, who he believes to be still alive and active. This series only lasted 4 issues, and ended with its one-shot tie-in to Revolution.
• Revolutionaries: A Spiritual Successor to the miniseries by Barber, that follows Ian — along with his new best friend Kup and his allies Mayday and Blackrock — exploring the planet while investigating the artifact codenamed the Talisman and contesting with Doctor X and Baron Ironblood.

M.A.S.K.

Mobile Armored Strike Kommand

A Younger and Hipper, The Fast and the Furious-inspired take on the M.A.S.K. cartoon, that recasts leader Matt Trakker as a brilliant but troubled youth enrolled in M.A.S.K. boot camp. The series is spinning out of the Revolution crossover, and the organisation is implied to be linked to the technology of the Transformers.

• M.A.S.K.: An ongoing series by Brandon Easton, focusing on Matt Trakker, a member of the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, and his teammates Gloria Baker, Julio Lopez, and Brad Turner, as they contest with the machinations of Miles Mayhem and V.E.N.O.M.. This series will start with a tie-in to Revolution.
• Scarlett's Strike Force: Listed above under "G.I. Joe", Scarlett's Strike Force sees M.A.S.K.'s Matt Trakker join forces with the Joes against Cobra.

Visionaries

Visionaries

Announced at SDCC 2017, the Knights of Prysmos from the Visionaries cartoon will be joining the Hasbro Universe following First Strike. Though few details have been announced, First Strike #0 and various seeds from Revolutionaries imply its story to be linked to the mystery of the Talisman.

• Transformers vs. Visionaries: Written by Mags Visaggio (author of Black Mask's Kim & Kim) and drawn by Fico Ossio (Revolution and Revolutionaries), this five-issue miniseries will show a clash of magic and metal as the Knights of the Magical Light come into conflict with the Transformers.

Jem

Jem and the Holograms

While these titles do exist in the same universe^note Arguably; Word of God is inconsistent, but mostly seems to indicate that a Broad Strokes version of the Jem comics exist in the Hasbro Universe., they won't be part of Revolution for issues of tone compared to the others; however, they have said that references to the titles will be in the other Hasbro titles (for instance, new Action Man Ian Noble has a Misfits poster in his room).

• Jem and the Holograms (IDW): An ongoing series by Kelly Thompson, started before Revolution was announced. Even despite their non-involvement in the other books, they still have their own problems to deal with- like Synergy's Evil Counterpart, SILICA.
• The Misfits: A spinoff of Jem's ongoing, focusing on the titular Misfits, the arch-rivals of Jem and the Holograms.
• Jem Infinte: A crossover between the two Jem series that sees the Holograms and Misfits travel to a parallel universe — one where Synergy's hologram technology has been used to establish a dystopian divide between those who can afford it and those who can't.
• Jem: Dimensions: An anthology series spinning out of Infinite, Dimensions features a rotating cast and two stories per issue.

Clue

As with Jem, Clue did not overlap with other Hasbro Universe titles in any way, but the Word of God says (1◊, 2) it takes place in the same continuity. Clue: Candlestick is a Continuity Reboot and thus doesn't take place within the Hasbro universe.

• Clue (2017)

Pound Puppies

A flashback in Revolutionaries #6 shows that Mike Power had a dog named Smarts, a reference to Lucky Smarts, the protagonist of 2010 Pound Puppies cartoon. Nothing more than a fun Easter egg, right? Well... The reference list at the end of Revolutionaries #8 states that it was not an alternate version of Lucky, but his ancestor, and that he got his last name Smarts (officially acknowledged by Hasbro and mentioned on a toy package, but not in the cartoon) after Mike Power's dog. So, per the Word of God, we also have Pound Puppies in the Hasbro Universe.

• Pound Puppies (2010): The only non-comic entry in IDW's Hasbro Universe (and also the only entry wasn't produced by IDW).

Multi-franchise events

Crossover events

Starting with Revolution, all these properties will take place in the same universe, and will be open to cross over; they apparently will regularly reference each other as part of their storylines.

• Secret Raiders: A two-part backup story and prequel to Revolution in IDW's Transformers titles, showing Scarlett, Joe Colton and Miles Mannheim discussing the history of the Transformers and G.I. Joe in IDW continuity, as well as establishing the background to Action Man, ROM and M.A.S.K.
• Revolution: The crossover event that kickstarts the Hasbro Comic Universe in earnest, Revolution centers on all the various factions becoming involved with the powerful Ore-13 energy source, from all the way back in Infiltration, and coming into conflict with Optimus Prime and his occupying Autobots. It takes the form of a 5-issue miniseries, with tie-in one shots based on The Transformers, More than Meets the Eye, Till All Are One, G.I. Joe, ROM, Micronauts, Action Man, and M.A.S.K.. The G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K, Lost Light, Optimus Prime and Revolutionaries books are launching out of this crossover.
• Revolutionaries: Described as "Marvel Team-Up meets Planetary", Revolutionaries is a Team-Up Series focusing on a team consisting of Kup, Garrison Blackrock, Mayday ^note (a new G.I. Joe codename for Ayana Jones of Robots in Disguise; the codename dates back to the much-maligned G.I. Joe Extreme, and had also been used in the Devil's Due continuity), and Action Man; it is a mystery-focused Team-Up Series focused on the mysterious artifact called the Talisman. The series delves into some of the more obscure and strange corners of the shared universe, bringing together such disparate elements as Sgt. Savage, the Predacons, the Adventure Team, a new Cobra Commander, and the... Hearts of Steel Transformers?! Meanwhile, the heroes will have to contend with Doctor X, Storm Shadow and Baron Ironblood, who want the Talisman for their own purposes.
• Aw Yeah Revolution: A parody miniseries by Art Baltazar that takes a sideways look at the Hasbro Universe, featuring the threat of Baron Karza, who attacks the Earth... because his favourite superhero Snake Eyes comes from there, and he wants to collect him.
• Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor: Listed above under "Rom", this miniseries is set in the past and brings together Transformers such as Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee against Rom and the Space Knights.
• First Strike: An event bringing together the stories of G.I. Joe and Transformers with myriad other franchises caught in the middle, "First Strike" shows the attempted bringing of Earth into the Council of Worlds interrupted by Baron Ironblood and his alliance of villains, with only G.I. Joe capable of stopping them.
• The Transformers: Unicron: The Grand Finale for the universe.

TFWiki.net offers coverage of the Transformers-related parts here, and an IDW Hasbro Wiki has been established to handle everything else.

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Tropes used across the universe:

• Aborted Arc: Quite a few storylines were left hanging from Simon Furman's run on The Transformers, as well as within other authors' series. Several plot points have been picked up by later authors, however, particularly by John Barber.
• Adaptation Personality Change:
  • All over the place, as is standard for an Ultimate Universe approach; it often involves making characters more violent or darker. Special mention goes to Thundercracker, who is actually an aversion - he's an example of the personality traits from the character's original bio being used for the first time in fiction, ever (of course, Bob Budiansky's Thundercracker probably wasn't obsessed with becoming a sitcom writer...)
  • Pharoid, Acroyear and Biotron are only really similar to their Marvel counterparts appearance-wise, as their personalities and backstories belong to Marvel (especially that the original Acroyear might be Star-Lord's father).
• Another Dimension: Microspace.
• Alien Invasion: The Decepticon invasion of Earth, and later the Dire Wraith infiltration. Interestingly, both involve - at first, at least - the aliens infiltrating Earth society.
• Arc Welding: Miles Mannheim/Mayhem, arch enemy of M.A.S.K., is revealed to have been the "Sea Adventurer" from the G.I. Joe Adventure Team, and M.A.S.K.'s transforming vehicles were reverse-engineered from the captured triple-changing Transformer, Blitzwing.
  • The final issue of The Transformers, "White Heat", reveals that Micronus Prime fled their dimension; cut to the Micronauts: Revolution tie-in one-shot, where the Micronauts have journeyed into the heart of the Entropy Storm, only to find Baron Karza got there first (in a case of Year Inside, Hour Outside) and discovered that the energy source they'd been tracking is Micronus' body; he created Microspace.
  • Rom's armor is implied to be formed from Regenesis ore.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: G.I. Joe and the Autobots are all significantly more morally grey this time around.
• Continuity Reboot: Downplayed with Transformers and G.I. Joe, which both had continuations of their original series and versions in other media despite the creation of a new universe for both. Played straight with Jem, M.A.S.K. and Action Man, and particularly ROM and Micronauts, which were best-known for their Marvel comic series.
• Combining Mecha: The Transformers' combiners, of Combiner Wars fame; prominent ones include Monstructor, Devastator, Superion, and Victorion. The Earth Defense Command also has combiners of their own, reverse-engineered from Transformer corpses.
• Composite Character: Miles Mannheim/Mayhem and the G.I. Joe Sea Adventurer. The Action Man from the 1990s looks like the 1995 animated series, but is a member of Team Extreme, inspired by the team from the 2000 series, the IDW version to time has Natalie Poole, a character who was a member of Action Force from the 1995 series.
• Darker and Edgier: Most of the series have a significantly greater degree of violence and more mature storytelling than their predecessors, though the original Rom Spaceknight and Micronauts comics didn't shy away from either.
• Doing In the Wizard: While Transformers involves many fantastical elements, they're generally described pseudo-scientifically. The Dire Wraiths, on the other hand, are explicitly alien magic users.
• Expy Coexistence: Action Man was originally designed as a British version of GI Joe. Now, he's a distinct character in the same universe.
• Fantastic Racism: Most humans tend not to like Transformers, on account of the Decepticon invasion. In fact, most species everywhere tend to dislike Cybertronians for pretty much the same reason.
• Government Agency of Fiction: G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K., obviously. Skywatch in The Transformers and their successor, the Earth Defense Command (who also appear in ROM), as well.
• Grand Finale: The Transformers: Unicron serves as this to the universe as a whole.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: Optimus Prime and the Autobots versus the Earth Defense Command, and later everyone else.
• Humongous Mecha: The Transformers, of course. Micronauts brings us the Biotrons... for a given value of humongous. (When you're only four inches tall, eight inches seems really big.) Meanwhile, back to Transformers, there are the Titans, who stand at a whopping two miles tall.
• Intercontinuity Crossover: New Avengers/Transformers. Infestation is also this, though it's more of a Cross Through; confusingly, it's less "intercontinuity" than it was originally intended to be, due to the combination of the IDW Transformers and G.I. Joe universes.
• Lighter and Softer: Jem and the Holograms- which is why they're staying away from all the action of Revolution.
• Mask of Power: M.A.S.K. uses superpower-granting masks ^note "Why do we call these "masks", by the way? This is a helmet, not a mask." alongside their transforming vehicles.
• One-Gender Race: The Transformers, initially, with the exception of Arcee. This storyline was very controversial amongst the fandom, and was eventually retconned - there are no female Transformers on modern Cybertron; for whatever reason, they're only found on the Lost Colony worlds.
• One-Man Army: The Decepticon Warriors Elite/Phase Sixers, most notably Sixshot and Overlord. The Decepticon Justice Division curb-stomps them easily. Action Man, meanwhile, is a one-man commando squad.
• One Riot, One Ranger: Action Man is a one-man British counterpart to G.I. Joe, deployed in situations where a full team of agents would be impractical.
• Organic Technology: EVERYTHING in the towns the Dire Wraiths have infested, disguised as normal human technology.
• Put on a Bus: Cobra is largely absent from the Revolutions crossover (though Doctor Mindbender shows up assisting Miles Mayhem during the M.A.S.K. one-shot).
• They Look Like Us Now: The Dire Wraiths. Without ROM's detection technology, they're indistinguishable from humans.
• Voluntary Shape Shifting: Dire Wraiths.

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