All Hail Megatron Issues 1 to 6 (Vol 1)

[i_amtrunks]

This is a post from the TAAU boards by Dragontail that cast the series in a brand new light for me. I've always believed that AHM is (and will be ) set in an alternate Universe from the "-tion" and "Maximum Dinobots" stories, and I think that had it been I would have received the story better originally, I may have even figured this out myself rather than needing someone else to point it out to me!

I've been ruminating on this series for a while and, I think, what it comes down to two things:

1) McCarthy is not as good a writer as he wants to be.
2) The series was marketed poorly.

What I take from the most recent issues is that McCarthy's intent was not to give us a "the Decepticons have won; all must quake in fear!" story but, instead, a more introspective piece on what happens once you've achieved your ultimate goal.

Consider... Megatron is now without a goal or objective; he conquered the Autobots but lost Cybertron - he won the war but has nothing to show for it. Fearful of mutiny, he's trying to keep his mechs occupied with "pointless busywork" - smashing humans - and the strain is showing. Contrast that with the Autobots who have lost their leader and their religious artefact; once they get those back, they will have a link to the "purity" of their pre-war past and be restored, psychologically, in order to save the day.

McCarthy is trying to make a point about the essential differences between the Autobot and Decepticon mentalities. Unfortunately in doing so, he's ignoring a lot of character development and a lot of subtleties in personalities (like Megatron caring about more than just Cybertron, as we've seen time and again), his pacing is off, his dialogue is poor, his grasp of the cast is stuck in the cartoon era and he's ignoring/been told to ignore all Furman has set up.

This should have been an out-of-continuity mini-series.

Like I said earlier: I'm starting to enjoy the series more, but only for what it is - an incredibly flawed attempt to execute an interesting concept.

Unless the 2nd half of the story completely throwns this out on it's head, I too think I may be able to enjoy the series much more than I have been.

[Hereticpoo]

I agree that reading it like its in a different dimension makes it alot of fun.
Thats the beauty of the TF universe, you can choose what you want to accept as canon because there are so many different TF universe's.

I believe some of you are being a little harsh on AHM. Its like you're expecting a 120 page comic book series to have the depth of Tolkien's Middle Earth and the characterisation / social analysis of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Dragon Tail says

"What I take from the most recent issues is that McCarthy's intent was not to give us a "the Decepticons have won; all must quake in fear!" story but, instead, a more introspective piece on what happens once you've achieved your ultimate goal.

Consider... Megatron is now without a goal or objective; he conquered the Autobots but lost Cybertron - he won the war but has nothing to show for it. Fearful of mutiny, he's trying to keep his mechs occupied with "pointless busywork" - smashing humans - and the strain is showing. Contrast that with the Autobots who have lost their leader and their religious artefact; once they get those back, they will have a link to the "purity" of their pre-war past and be restored, psychologically, in order to save the day."

Um thats whats S Mac was going for? Quote on Newrama;

"If they were only after raw materials, sure. However this is less about the immediacy of conquest or the acquisition of resources and more about the psychology that underpins the reason for the Decepticons' very existence. Why do they want Earth? Why do they do anything they do to begin with? I'll be answering these questions as we go along. Like I said earlier, this is very, very far from just being a story about a big old fight."

Then Dragontail says S Mac's attempt is a "seriously flawed attempt at an interesting concept."

Dude WTF your critisism is the objective of the comic!

Dragon Tail I do agree that it should have been marketed as a stand alone one off series. That is more a fault of IDW than S Mac. I believe the story may have been 'smoother' and less 'clunky; is total artistic licence was allowed by S Mac. I honestly can't see the clunkiness and poor panel layout, for me its an easy to read comic.

The series is called ALL HAIL MEGATRON. Not the "lets characterise as many bots as we can half hour"

I can understand the critical eye G1 comic fans have for the series, but here's a news flash THE MAJORITY OF TF FANS ARE CASUAL FANS and the only continuity that really stands out to them is the G1 Cartoon. Before I joined this board the G1 comics were a repressed memory of terrible art and confusing stories.This story has been diluted FOR THE MAJORITY OF FANS.

This is a post from the TAAU boards by Dragontail that cast the series in a brand new light for me. I've always believed that AHM is (and will be ) set in an alternate Universe from the "-tion" and "Maximum Dinobots" stories, and I think that had it been I would have received the story better originally, I may have even figured this out myself rather than needing someone else to point it out to me!



Unless the 2nd half of the story completely throwns this out on it's head, I too think I may be able to enjoy the series much more than I have been.

[FFN]

This is one of the times where I can say the MAJORITY OF THE FANS taste in comics blows chunks.

Note: When FFN types in caps, most likely he is taking the piss.

[Hereticpoo]

This is one of the times where I can say the MAJORITY OF THE FANS taste in comics blows chunks.

Yeah what would the majority know. My advise to all the unique, well read, Transformers connoisseurs would be to stop reading AHM, and leave all the mainstream morons who like it to thier undeveloped trash mags.

Its pathetic that people are still saying how much they don't like it, but they are always the first to buy and review or opinionate on it.

I'm going to sit down and enjoy this comic with the rest of the drooling hoards, have fun blogging about something you hate but still purchase

[GoktimusPrime]

Its pathetic that people are still saying how much they don't like it, but they are always the first to buy and review or opinionate on it.

How else are we to know what the comics is like unless we buy it and read it? Unlike Japan, we don't have places like libraries, cafés, restaurants etc. where we can borrow and read comic books for free - so if you're interested in reading the comic you can either:
1/ Wait for someone else to buy it and read it yourself, then if you do like it, hope that it's not sold out otherwise wait for the TPB.
2/ Buy it, read it and form an opinion.

I don't think anyone here is collecting this series expecting to dislike it. I know I bought this series hoping to enjoy it, but finding myself somewhat disappointed. Now that I've started I feel obliged to finish it - read it all the way through and give the story the benefit of the doubt that once I've finished reading it the whole series that it will make sense and be more enjoyable. Who knows, the story might redeem itself in the end... I for one am reserving judgement about this series one way or the other until I finish reading the whole thing.

Thats the beauty of the TF universe, you can choose what you want to accept as canon because there are so many different TF universe's.

Unless official sources specifically state that it is within the same canon, which is what IDW and Shane McCarthy have said about this series on this very board.

I believe some of you are being a little harsh on AHM. Its like you're expecting a 120 page comic book series to have the depth of Tolkien's Middle Earth and the characterisation / social analysis of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Or maybe expecting it to be like other TF comic series that have come before... like G1.

This is one of the times where I can say the MAJORITY OF THE FANS taste in comics blows chunks.

+1 QFT. And I don't agree that a comic has to be "watered down" in order to succeed like this. A lot of Furmans' other series within IDW feature a lot of lesser known characters (like Skram!) yet I wouldn't say that those comics are worse than AHM (I prefer them). I don't know what the sales for those are like compared to AHM though.

AHM will win big bonus points with me though if they continue to make an attempt to make further character development with Thundercracker, something no TF writer has ever done before.

[Hereticpoo]

All good points Gok.

I understand what you're saying about buying the comic to find out if you like it. But we're six issues in. Consider the horse flogged. Its not going to get up now.

Am I the only one on this board that actually likes AHM? I find this thread embarrasing for OTCA because its so negative. Its like Macrossworld!

And the 'its not as good as G1' is so tedious. Nothing is or ever will be as good as G1 because for most of us fans it is an emotionally valuable aspect of all our lives. We are all comparing what we thought was good when we were 8 to what is available now. Our brains have changed (hopefully ). The relativity doesn't match.

Yes official sources say its in the same canon as tion's, official sources also say we went to the moon.

"Roller pass me those gloves"

"Why?"

"I'm going start pushing this sh...stuff...uphill"

How else are we to know what the comics is like unless we buy it and read it? Unlike Japan, we don't have places like libraries, cafés, restaurants etc. where we can borrow and read comic books for free - so if you're interested in reading the comic you can either:
1/ Wait for someone else to buy it and read it yourself, then if you do like it, hope that it's not sold out otherwise wait for the TPB.
2/ Buy it, read it and form an opinion.

I don't think anyone here is collecting this series expecting to dislike it. I know I bought this series hoping to enjoy it, but finding myself somewhat disappointed. Now that I've started I feel obliged to finish it - read it all the way through and give the story the benefit of the doubt that once I've finished reading it the whole series that it will make sense and be more enjoyable. Who knows, the story might redeem itself in the end... I for one am reserving judgement about this series one way or the other until I finish reading the whole thing.


Unless official sources specifically state that it is within the same canon, which is what IDW and Shane McCarthy have said about this series on this very board.


Or maybe expecting it to be like other TF comic series that have come before... like G1.


+1 QFT. And I don't agree that a comic has to be "watered down" in order to succeed like this. A lot of Furmans' other series within IDW feature a lot of lesser known characters (like Skram!) yet I wouldn't say that those comics are worse than AHM (I prefer them). I don't know what the sales for those are like compared to AHM though.

AHM will win big bonus points with me though if they continue to make an attempt to make further character development with Thundercracker, something no TF writer has ever done before.

[i_amtrunks]

I bought the 3rd issue onwards hoping for the story to kick in, and the promised improvement that McCarthy and Tipton assured us that would happen. Now I'm buying them for three reasons:
- I started this series and thus want to finish it, to see if it does get better
- To support IDW so they continue to survive (I like having TF comics to buy), and partially because of all the other great TF comics they have out
- For the art, which for the most part has been great

That being said I still do not hate AHM, I just do not think it is anywhere near as good as it was hyped to be, nor is it as good as any of the other IDW Titles (bar Megatron Origins. ) have been/are.

[STL]

This is a post from the TAAU boards by Dragontail that cast the series in a brand new light for me. I've always believed that AHM is (and will be ) set in an alternate Universe from the "-tion" and "Maximum Dinobots" stories, and I think that had it been I would have received the story better originally, I may have even figured this out myself rather than needing someone else to point it out to me!

Unless the 2nd half of the story completely throwns this out on it's head, I too think I may be able to enjoy the series much more than I have been.

I haven't caught the recent issues but that's a different take on it and thanks for sharing though I do think that AHM is supposed to be a more basic take on things which I have absolutely no qualms with.

Thats the beauty of the TF universe, you can choose what you want to accept as canon because there are so many different TF universe's.

Agreed here absolutely. I operate very similarly. To me, memorising and trying to coalesce together all continuities for a "singular" or "wholesome" universe is a thing of the long distant past. And I think from a fan perspective, its far more enjoyable to accept as canon what you like and not focus on what you don't like. This allows you to really appreciate the strengths of TFs rather than being underwhelmed by the negatives.

I can understand the critical eye G1 comic fans have for the series, but here's a news flash THE MAJORITY OF TF FANS ARE CASUAL FANS and the only continuity that really stands out to them is the G1 Cartoon. Before I joined this board the G1 comics were a repressed memory of terrible art and confusing stories.

heheh, I share ur assessment of the old G1 comics too. Pretty were they not. And touching on your earlier point, that's where I wash out a lot of memories of G1. I loved the Headmasters introduction but I try my best to forget totally about the 1st two years of those comics as they were very forgettable.

Letting go poor continuity or continuity that does not sync up adds to your experience - not detract from it and I think doing that would help a lot of readers, especially the old stagers here.

Yeah what would the majority know. My advise to all the unique, well read, Transformers connoisseurs would be to stop reading AHM, and leave all the mainstream morons who like it to thier undeveloped trash mags.

Its pathetic that people are still saying how much they don't like it, but they are always the first to buy and review or opinionate on it.

I don't agree here. I completely share your frustration with the negativity that seems to emanate across this thread but I think that everyone has a right to complain. Even if they don't like something, they've invested the money and the time into a hobby they care about. That's not to mention the time over the years they've invested in reading/watching TFfiction, trying to piece it altogether. They've made both a financial and time commitment so its only fair that they be able to criticise. If they do not like the current direction they should be allowed to be heard because along with the $$$ and time they've committed, they've made an emotional investment in TFs and that gives them every right to complain.

BUT all that said that does not give them the right to flog a dead horse either. I think its important to temper negativity with acceptance for something that is new or different to what they're used to. This is something that has significantly transformed about the overall comic industry and from everything I've seen across many a TF board, TF comic fans are just not as accomodating or accepting of change. They like to shoot down new writers and new takes very fast. Especailly takes on G1.

The broader comic industry has shifted dramatically. About five to six years ago, I would've counted myself as a heavy continuity loving comic fan. I loved the old school style, disliked decompression, hated sensationalism, and out of the nowhere changes to character development. Marvel Comics in that time has done some serious changes to the way comics are written and the way characters are treated. Continuity is a matter of convenience and no longer a editorial mandate.

I was frustrated and angered as many of my favourite stories and characters continuities were disregarded. And I can say that a lot of the comic fan base was too. You'd go onto a lot of the comic forums and see a LOT of bashing of the new stuff. But one thing I had to learn to accept is that this is a business decision. Marvel Comics, and DC and the rest of the industry, have started to go down that path. Ironically, DC has tried to get back to the continuity driven days and stories but the amount of displeasure about that has been evidenced about that in their declining market share compared to Marvel. Things come and go in comics now, not just in TF comics. I mean, Marvel Comics' Secret Invasion was not really "Secret" if you look at it. Spider-Man's the Others was what now? New Avengers was really "new" Avengers?

Those are just a few examples in the comic industry of how much change has taken place and deviated from what was considered the norm or the classic "feel" of a book. Heck, they're also examples of where the title doesn't live up to the what the comic is actually about. But the point is, there has been a lot that has changed about the business of comics. Companies don't care about continuity b/c it can hinder them and it might just not be financially or legally possible. Such as in the case of following up DW's War Within. That's never going to happen and it'd prevent IDW from progressing with its own vision. Abandoning a continuity of a character or even an entire story is not something new to comics and I think fans need to let it go. Because it only detracts from your enjoyment to dwell on what you don't like. For me things like JMS' Gwen Stacy Spiderman story never happened. They're out there okay but to me I just ignore them completely now rather than mull over the stupidity of the story.

So I think you've made an exceptionally progressive point in terms of not tying continuity to reading as much and to respect what each collector sees as continuty and enjoys.

It is misguided to try and shoehorn continuities together and belittle a series that others enjoy when all it really is, is a matter of preference because in the end, the comic company behind it is making a business decision - not a fictional one. And AHM being a part of continuity was a business decision by IDW here. It was intended to try and avoid alienating the existing fanbase yet at the same it wanted to attract new readers. That in itself has proved to be a confusing and poor business decision.

Those business decisions can be right or wrong but I think it undermines enjoyment to dwell on those. Its better for the fan to take what they like and what they don't like. Any fan can do that but what's important is not to lose sight of what you like and why you like it rather than focusing on what you don't like and then imposing and constantly reminding others about why you feel it is inferior.

This isn't true. For the majority of casual Transformers fans, the main continuity that stands out is not going to be the G1 Cartoon. The G1 cartoon ended twenty years ago. The majority of today's 'casual' Transformers fans would be too young to remember the G1 cartoon and would have grown up on Beast Wars or the 2007 film or Transformers Animated (all of which are better than All Hail Megatron or the G1 cartoon.)

I disagree there completely. I count myself among the young and I know of at least a few others in my age category but to us, G1 is the cartoon and that is what permeates our mind as being the definitive G1. We of course realise how far TF fiction has progressed since but our basic impression of G1 is still based on the cartoon. You have to remember that G1 was replayed on TV up till at least 1995 and was still on VHS for quite a while for many of us.

And what does age have to do with it anyway? Just b/c someone is a younger or older TF fan should not make a difference as to whether they can like or dislike something as G1. Just because a fan has had more experience with G1 does not mean that younger fans have to conform to a standard G1. Experience does not matter. What does matter is that we accord the respect to what everyone enjoys and not be negative and deprecating b/c someone hasn't experienced as much.

[Paulbot]

It is misguided to try and shoehorn continuities together and belittle a series that others enjoy when all it really is, is a matter of preference because in the end, the comic company behind it is making a business decision - not a fictional one. And AHM being a part of continuity was a business decision by IDW here. It was intended to try and avoid alienating the existing fanbase yet at the same it wanted to attract new readers. That in itself has proved to be a confusing and poor business decision.

IDW are the ones who "try and shoehorn continuites together" and yes it was a "confusing and poor business decision".

AHM works as a standalone series. Maximum Dinobots works as the next series of the IDW universe.

Similarly I think Megatron Origin doesn't fit well into the grander IDW universe, but thinking about it this morning maybe it and AHM are there own little cartoon-like universe, which I'm very happy to consider.

[Sky Shadow]

I disagree there completely. I count myself among the young and I know of at least a few others in my age category but to us, G1 is the cartoon and that is what permeates our mind as being the definitive G1. We of course realise how far TF fiction has progressed since but our basic impression of G1 is still based on the cartoon. You have to remember that G1 was replayed on TV up till at least 1995 and was still on VHS for quite a while for many of us.

STL, you are so far from being a 'casual fan' that if a casual fan was lightning and you saw him or her in the distance, it would take you a week to hear the thunder. Nobody on this board is a casual fan. Casual fans are those millions of people who saw the movie and thought it was great and count themselves as a fan, but that's it. Casual fans are those people who go around wearing Autobot t-shirts but don't necessarily know who Trailbreaker or Skids are. I don't like to be gender biased, but I know a lot of girls in particular who loved the movie and have never seen anything else to do with Transformers. All the kids with their eyes glued to Animated on Toasted TV in the mornings are fans. I'm a high school teacher - I have talked to heaps of my students about Transformers and countless numbers of them loved watching Beast Wars and the film, but that's all Transformers is to them.

Some of these casual fans have now branched out into the other media - buying toys, comics, DVDs whatever. But they're not suddenly going to fit into the "news flash" that "[the majority of TF fans are casual fans] and the only continuity that really stands out to them is the G1 Cartoon", which is the statement I was disagreeing with in the first place.