You're leaving out that the Autobots had successfully challenged the Decepticons for millions of years up to that point. Catching one lucky break after all that time to scatter the Autobot forces like that is nothing short of a miracle. Really I find it a shortcoming of the story for the Decepticons to have beaten the Autobots so badly like that.
The Decepticons had a huge intelligence advantage. This would have have been a force multiplier, as they could employ resources sneaky like and more effectively.
"Getting off on it"? What posts are you reading? I'm not saying Megatron would have killed his own troops just to get a kick out of it, I'm saying he had a purpose for it. Sacrificing a few dissenters in favor of reshaping the army into what he intended them to be.
"Getting off on it" would be the wrong words actually. But, Megatron holding a purge to ensure loyalty would be foolish when a political gesture would be cheaper.
Saying Megatron is just going to kill his own guys when there are easier ways to get everyone in the tent is just assuming the same level of writing the cartoon had at its lower points.
Again, the individual motivations are irrelevant here. The simple fact of the matter is these guys wanted a change and were rebelling against Megatron's leadership to accomplish it, and Megatron met the first two with brutal results to end it. My point is that this situation was headed in the same direction.
KIlling one or two guys in a targeted way is much different from sacrificing large numbers of troops in one go.
What has McCarthy said about this by the way?
Normally reading at the store isn't something I do. I usually know what I want to buy beforehand, but I was so disappointed with this series that about halfway through I decided to 'screen' the rest to decide if I really wanted to buy those issues or not. The guys at my LCBS are pretty cool about that, especially with their regular customers like me.
I screen some books. But, as I am committed, by in-store sub, to buying most of what I buy, screening is less an option.
Cue the rant:
My local shop seems to actively dislike TF as a franchise. Ordering to sell-through, effectively meaning all copies he orders go to subs, is a common trick stores use. It is a bad idea in the long-term, but it is common. But, the manager of my local store seems to actively dislike the title to the point he would rather not sell it.
In theory, I have a sub. But, I still have to order every issue one at a time. This rule does not apply with my sub to "Spiderman: Clone Saga" or "Archie". But, with "Transformners", (the one thing I read consistently), I have to order each issue individually.
The reason given is that he does not know when I am going to drop the book, and want warning. Mind you, I have consistently read TF since '02, (such as it came out). And, I have been a subscriber with him for 9 years, and am fully aware that I would be committed to a book for 2 months after I cancelled a sub. Ordering each issue individually from Diamond is effectively the same as me having a sub, except it is more work for both the store and myself.
The store has effectively taken the book I read consistently, and made me a casual customer who has to commit two months in advance. Granted, I still get a discount, but nobody else has to commit one issue at a time 2 months in advance, especially on books they read consistently.
And, I am pretty sure he would not order a book if I forgot to come in and order it. In other words, if I do not get a chance, or simply forget, to order a single issue of a comic from Diamond Previews, he will not order it. He actually did this with AHM volume II. I had to special order it from another, more reliable (if geographically inconvenient), store. He offered to back-order it, but I refused. He blew the sale. (And, he will probably blow it with volume III.) If I miss an issue of TF, I am dropping the book.
This all started when I started dropping books, and really picked up when I dropped "GI Joe". Apparently, he solution to declining sales is to create more work for himself and his customers by *discouraging* sales.
Dom
-maybe he just does not want *my* money?
