From a 2008 post I had made on IIDB
I cannot say that I have read any of the other critical commentaries on Revelation.What is usually treated as the last word on the subject is the work of Aune, David E.:
Revelation 1-5, World Biblical Commentary 52A. Waco, TX: Word, 1997.
Revelation 6-16, WBC 52B. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998.
Revelation 17-22, WBC 52C. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998.
"Vol. 1 of this commentary features a more than 200 pages introduction covering everything from textual criticism to the language of Revelation in more detail than any other newer commentary to Revelation and more than 350 pages of commentary covering Rev 1-5.
Vol 2. is of approximately the same size. A number of excursuses deals with major subjects e.g. the Nicolaitans. The wealth of material, bibliographies, research summaries, as well as Aune's deep knowledge of ancient literature makes this commentary a must for all serious Revelation students and researchers while it is, in my opinion, of more limited value for homiletic and biblical-theological purposes. It is probably one of the most important commentaries since the commentaries by Bousset, Swete, Beckwith, and Charles, rivalled perhaps only by the commentary by Gregory Beale.
For all its worth, however, some deficiencies may be noticed as well. First and foremost, too often the commentary lacks comments on the text itself and its meaning within Revelation, i.e. the synchronic dimension. The diachronic problems play an immense role, and Professor Aune argues a two-stage composition of Revelation. On a greater diachronic scale, John's use of the Old Testament is poorly treated in spite of the extensive research..."
http://www.revelation-resources.com/200 ... 3-volumes/ [uh oh, link is now dead as a doorknob]
Per a review available at the RBL site, Aune proposes "the first edition of the book was "compiled" about 70 CE (p. cxxiii) while "the second edition" of the book was "completed" in the last decade of the first century."
Per the reviewer, "The first edition [of the Apocalypse] made up a visionary apocalypse emerging directly from a Palestinian Jewish setting, albeit written by a Christian Jew conforming to the evolving canons of Jewish apocalyptic literature in the mid first century. It contained both original and traditional "self-contained units" brought together by a single author in uniquely creative act. A second edition [of the Apocalypse] completed at the end of the first century added the epistolatory framework and reflects maturing Christology of the various Christian communities associated with the Apocalypse."
http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/2315_1492.pdf [another dead link]
You might have to be a SBL member to access the review now. I do not know what happened with vol 3, maybe it had not come out by the time of the Review.
DCH