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Epic Revolution From IDW and Hasbro

by Vince Brusio

What are you supposed to think when explosions chew up the concrete under your feet? Your first thought is (hopefully) to flee. Take cover. Then the next step would be to locate the origin of the chaos. Armed with this information, it’s easier to gauge if you can stay where you are…or leave the country. With IDW Publishing’s Revolution #1 (JUL160451) launching this September, the last thing fans of Transformers, M.A.S.K., ROM, G.I. Joe, and Micronauts will consider is leaving town. There are just too many heavy hitters in this latest brawl to make you even consider a vacation, and series artist Fico Ossio explains containing this amount of raw energy was only one of the many challenges in this groundbreaking crossover.

Revolution #1 (JUL160451) is in comic shops September 21.

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Article ImagePREVIEWSworld: Revolution #1 (JUL160451) intends to celebrate more than a decade of stories by IDW and Hasbro. That’s like saying your hosting a block party for the coast of California. Additionally, Revolution aims to be an unprecedented biweekly event that draws everything together. Did you have to physically train to get ready for this workout? How did you carve up your life to prepare your work schedule for such a massive job?

Fico Ossio: Yes, of course. I do 100-push ups/sit-ups/squats and run 10 km run (6.21 miles) every day. AND I slept without an air conditioner…never. Especially not in summer.

And to work the schedule it was easy: I kissed my wife goodbye: ¨see you in six months,¨ sold my Harley, burned my cellphone, and adopted two cats to keep me company. It´s all about commitment…and coffee. LOTS of coffee.

PREVIEWSworld: Tell us what you’re on point to do for Revolution. What creative chores have you accepted?

Fico Ossio: I´m doing pencils and ink. And I get to do the characters redesigns, for all the G.I. Joes. And I´m having the first crack at the M.A.S.K. vehicles, which is awesome. I used to own all the toys.

I took some liberties with the Transformers, as well as Action Man. It does all serve the purpose to have them all stand together and have a cohesive look.

PREVIEWSworld: With the scale of this series being so huge — and with so much history behind the respective properties — did you find the work to be a little intimidating because of expectations? Or were you like the kid racing down the stairs at full speed knocking things over so you could tear into the Christmas presents?

Fico Ossio: Definitely the kid racing down the stairs! Don´t get me wrong, the pressure to work on such a huge title is very real, and intimidating to say the least. But at the same time I do LOVE that. To get the chance to work with this amazing team on such a defining moment AND with all these characters? How could I not love every moment of it? And the pressure and respect for all the properties also drives everyone to do our best effort to be up for the challenge. I´d choose the spotlight with all the pressure — and risks that come with it — rather than work comfortably safe on a dark corner every day! Especially with this awesome team. The script John and Cullen wrote is fantastic, and Seba is rocking the colors on every page.

PREVIEWSworld: How have you worked with your colleagues to “get on the same page” for this project? Or did you all just take the opposite approach, and set up your own outpost so that no one could compromise your brainstorm? Tell us the mechanics that were involved in how you made something that was part of a greater whole.

Fico Ossio: IDW has the most awesome working environment. Everyone is open to hear all the different creative inputs. So there was no real challenge to get on the same page, we all share the same ideas on what we wanted for this and worked beyond that. Plus we got David to keep us all on point!

PREVIEWSworld: If you could geek for a moment, and put out a tweet that would summarize your excitement for Revolution, what would you type, and who would you want to read it?

Fico Ossio: Well….obviously, I’d go with an image. When I got the news that I was gonna do this… a photograph of 9 year-old me came to mind. It´s a picture of Christmas and I´m tearing the wrap on the ¨Skystriker¨ box. The freak out expression I have on my face pretty much summarizes perfectly or reflects exactly the same excitement I got when David told me the big news. I definitely gotta tweet that picture!

And I would choose the fans, obviously, or I could go all ¨Inception¨ and show that tweet to ¨9 year old me? That would be surreal, or it actually is? I´m still figuring out if that damn top is still spinning at the end!

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