All Hail Megatron Issues 1 to 6 (Vol 1)

[Lord_Zed]

Okay so Ore 13 is what brought Megatron to Earth, but now there is something else that is keeping him there...

I'm going to stick to my theory about Megatron trying to turn Manhattan into some kind of flying fortress!

Yeah and then he'll turn it into a resort ala Club Con



While I will lament the passing of the previous IDW style, I'm still more than willing to give AHM a whirl, I have a feeling wether it gets the yay or nay from me will depend on just what Megs is up to. Capturing New York seems to be more symbolic than strategic, so unless he's going to try to goad some sort of massive attack (like Galvatron in Rythms of Darkness), I have no idea what he's up to, better not be mindless destruction though, I thought IDW Megs was above that, if not ShockWave better come kick his tail pipe.

[Paulbot]

Hmm fortress, holiday resort... I tend to think of Optimus's body being turned into an alligator and Decepticon taxis ala City of Steel....

[Hereticpoo]

I've never bought a TF comic before AHM #1. Why? Because I coundn't just drop in on the story arc without having to read 20 years worth of comics and countless contradictions. It seemed like too much effort.

So I bought AHM #1, thinking that we'll finally see the ruthless and powerfull leader I always wanted to see in G1. The bonus of being able to read a story from the start is good. I hated when Megatron would say "Decepticons Retreat!!" in G1.

Mr Macarthy has stated that this is a continuation, but, who cares if it isn't?
I'm happy to see Megatron unleashed! He's won the war, there's no need to hide. All he has to do is reap the rewards after he beats humanity (I hope we put up a good fight). I can understand how long time readers and avid fans may not like it, but Hasbro and IDW haven't aimed it at you. They want new readers/demographic/sales, like any profit making company. Hell, they got me.

I like it so far but its still early days. Sure some of the characters have rendered differently from Inf, Esc, and Dev (which I had to buy after reading AHM #1), but never let the truth (or someone else's) get in the way of a good story!

P.S. As I press 'submit' I mentally prepare for the tongue lashings....

[Pulse]

It's getting mighty warm in here...

[GoktimusPrime]

Hereticpoo: Actually TF comics very, very rarely have continuity contradictions. There are a lot of comic lines which occur in different continuities - and this has especially happened since 2003, but they're mostly pretty good in terms of not contradicting their own respective continuity. The G1 and G2 comics were all (mostly) within a single continuity with very few contradictions.

It's absolutely nothing compared to the mountains of contradictions that appear in the G1 cartoon continuity!! PHWOAR! And not just lots, but really openly flagrant and obvious contradictions too! Comic contradictions, when they do seldomly happen, are far more subtle in nature (e.g.: I honestly didn't notice the continuity flubs in the Earthforce Saga when I read it as a kid, whereas a lot of contradictions in the cartoon were immediately obvious to me at the same age).

I can understand that the comics do have a lot of different continuities/universe/realities (and so do the cartoons really - RiD, Armadaverse, Animated etc - all separate canons), but it's not like you have to read every one of them to enjoy the others. For example, I don't read most of the Transformers Vs G.I. Joe comics but that doesn't impact on my reading of other TF comics in the slightest. They're all separately contained continuities that don't effect on each other.

[Hereticpoo]

Hereticpoo: Actually TF comics very, very rarely have continuity contradictions. There are a lot of comic lines which occur in different continuities - and this has especially happened since 2003, but they're mostly pretty good in terms of not contradicting their own respective continuity. The G1 and G2 comics were all (mostly) within a single continuity with very few contradictions.

It's absolutely nothing compared to the mountains of contradictions that appear in the G1 cartoon continuity!! PHWOAR! And not just lots, but really openly flagrant and obvious contradictions too! Comic contradictions, when they do seldomly happen, are far more subtle in nature (e.g.: I honestly didn't notice the continuity flubs in the Earthforce Saga when I read it as a kid, whereas a lot of contradictions in the cartoon were immediately obvious to me at the same age).

I can understand that the comics do have a lot of different continuities/universe/realities (and so do the cartoons really - RiD, Armadaverse, Animated etc - all separate canons), but it's not like you have to read every one of them to enjoy the others. For example, I don't read most of the Transformers Vs G.I. Joe comics but that doesn't impact on my reading of other TF comics in the slightest. They're all separately contained continuities that don't effect on each other.

Touche! Yes, I must admit I don't know anything when it comes to what has come before in comicverse. And the fear of dropping into the comic verse stems from the TV horrors and a small dabbling in the X-Men, Spiderman verse. That whole Marvel verse was so confusing! So I guess my bias attitude towards comics comes from that. (Uncanny X-men. Xcited Xmen, Xmen Macross Frontier, The Amazing Spiderboy, The Apocalypse X adventures of Ratchet and Spider boy)

[Lord_Zed]

Mr Macarthy has stated that this is a continuation, but, who cares if it isn't?
I'm happy to see Megatron unleashed! He's won the war, there's no need to hide. All he has to do is reap the rewards after he beats humanity (I hope we put up a good fight). D

I like the idea of the Decepticons stomping into town to, but it does contradict the previous continuity where the Decepticons would hide from the planets inhabitants not just the Autobots, and the Autobots already knew they were there so there was no point hiding from them. Ofcourse maybe Megs has a good plan or a new weapon to keep humanity in line.

And I hate the way cartoon Megs would always holler "Decepticons retreat!" at the end of every ep to, that's why I'm a TF comic fan.

[Paulbot]

The X-Men comics are my beloved second fandom and yes I admit it's very confusing to come in late, but Marvel do make an effort.

The recent relaunches of Transformers comics have all been pretty much clear slates. Dreamwave ignore everything that came before it. IDW did the same.

But IDW did quickly become a very complicated TF storyline which I enjoyed [continuity nerd alert ] but pity anyone coming in who hasn't read every spotlight and every issue.

If this series appeals to you (and it does to me) and gets other new readers out of people hesistant to read TF comics I'm all for it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Hereticpoo: fwiw Transformers is a pretty tightly-contained story even within the Marvel Universe. Transformers exist on Marvel's Earth-120185 whereas the mainstream Marvel universe occurs on Earth-616. Characters like Death's Head have travelled from Earth-120185 to Earth-616 (courtesy of the Doctor who travels through Time And Relative Dimensions In Space (T.A.R.D.I.S.)). Other characters have never travelled between Earth-120185 to other universes but you can see alternate versions of themselves between the different universes. e.g.: Both Spider-Man and Circuit Breaker participated in the Secret Wars and Secret Wars II on Earth-616 and they have alternate versions of themselves living on Earth-120185, but they are not the same Circuit Breaker and Spider-Man (i.e.: they haven't travelled between Earth-120185 and Earth-616). Although presumably the Secret Wars might've occured on Earth-120185 because Spider-Man is wearing his alien symbiote suit when he appears in Transformers!

The Transformers' encounters with G.I. Joe in G1 and G2 also don't bear any relevance to G.I. Joe. Larry Hama was notorious for refusing to expose himself to any G.I. Joe canon that he didn't write (some have accused him of being a prima donna)... it's possible that G.I. Joe may exist on an Earth that is neither Earth-120185 nor Earth-616, but I personally can't verify that because I just don't know enough about G.I. Joe. Lord Zed?

But IDW did quickly become a very complicated TF storyline which I enjoyed [continuity nerd alert ] but pity anyone coming in who hasn't read every spotlight and every issue.

That's what trade paperback reprints are for!

[Paulbot]

The Transformers' encounters with G.I. Joe in G1 and G2 also don't bear any relevance to G.I. Joe. Larry Hama was notorious for refusing to expose himself to any G.I. Joe canon that he didn't write (some have accused him of being a prima donna)... it's possible that G.I. Joe may exist on an Earth that is neither Earth-120185 nor Earth-616, but I personally can't verify that because I just don't know enough about G.I. Joe. Lord Zed?

Hmm. The Transformers comic explicity tied into the original Marvel US Joe crossover series (although the crossover itself contradicted Transformers), but I never noticed that the Joe comics didn't before.