All Hail Megatron Discussion thread

[Dominic]

AHM is also my favorite treatment of Thundercracker. His best moment is in the (rather clumsy) flashback in issue 7. But, his exchange with Skywarp in issue 6 was excellent.

Dom

[Onslaught Six]

Forgot about that, too. It's 'great' characterization, seeing Skywarp as the little kid who's been left behind. It really makes you sympathize.

Also, go delete your two extra Maximum Dinobots threads.

[Sparky Prime]

Yawn.... Even reading all 6 issues back to back, I still say the pacing of volume 1 was terrible. 6 issues of the Autobots in self pity trapped on Cybertron and the Decepticons bored on Earth after easily defeating humans. Add on top of that the little regard to the continuity this story is supposed to be set in. I think they could and should have condensed this into 2 issues.

One can only hope volume 2 will be better because volume 1 is pretty much rock bottom in terms of story.

[Dominic]

They will answer the continuity questions with "Maximum Dinobots", and some other bridging book. AHM is too busy with little things like ideas and thematic consistency. We get story about leadership, (Autobots, Decepticons, and even humans), that does more than just show the leader types angsting about cosmic destinies. (Yes Prime, you want to go on living. And we do not want to go on reading about what you want.) McCarthy is actually showing us *why* the leaders are important. We are getting credible scenes with Autobots falling on each other like unsupervised children, and actual....characterization (mixed with relevant ideas even) for the Decepticons.

I anticipate some tedious and awkward moments in some of the bridging stories. But, this story is good enough that I do not care. Yes, it would have worked better as an "Elseworld". But, those tend to do more harm than good in the long run.

Dom
-wants more TF of this quality.

[Sparky Prime]

They will answer the continuity questions with "Maximum Dinobots", and some other bridging book. AHM is too busy with little things like ideas and thematic consistency.

AHM has plenty of continuity issues that it needs to address that wouldn't make sense in MD. Such as why Megatron only now choose to take the Matrix when he had ample opportunities to take it from more than 1 Prime. Not to mention they say that the Matrix is the reason Megatron apparently started the war when that isn't what we see in "Megatron: Origin".

I anticipate some tedious and awkward moments in some of the bridging stories. But, this story is good enough that I do not care.

6 issues is too many to be tedious and awkward with. The first 2 is understandable, 3 is pushing it.

[Onslaught Six]

All we have to go on that "Matrix started the war" comment is what Kup said, and Kup is crazy.

That said, it seems like the kind of offhanded backwards thing 'I' would throw into a story. McCarthy seems to be treating the TF history as more of a legendary mythology with lots of little variances and differences from what's been actually shown before, and sometimes seems like he's going with the idea that the Autobots don't know themselves what started the war or--and here's the big thing--why that even matters anymore. The point is, Megs has it, and that's Bad.

It's just...I frigging hate how all this emphasis is being placed on AHM not quite fitting into continuity. Whether it's by a conscious choice or McCarthy being an idiot or whatever, the story itself is kickass enough that these things don't matter.

It's my Beast Machines argument again. BM took place after an arduous continuity that was (mostly) carefully maintained and plotted, and came in after the fact with something completely different that happened to lead off from that point. BM was awesome, so I could forgive its minor fault in not quite following BW perfectly. And I can do the same for All Hail Megatron.

[Sparky Prime]

All we have to go on that "Matrix started the war" comment is what Kup said, and Kup is crazy.

Not anymore he isn't. And the others didn't disagree with him.

McCarthy seems to be treating the TF history as more of a legendary mythology with lots of little variances and differences from what's been actually shown before,

That's the thing. Furman seemed to be trying to avoid the mystical stuff on his work for IDW (until he was forced to rush the ending of the Dead Universe arc). I've seen many fans complain about the overuse of the Matrix in stories and the amount of mystical stuff. And in an instant McCarthy undoes all that by making the war all about the Matrix.

It's just...I frigging hate how all this emphasis is being placed on AHM not quite fitting into continuity. Whether it's by a conscious choice or McCarthy being an idiot or whatever, the story itself is kickass enough that these things don't matter.

I completely disagree. If you're going to write a story that's supposed to work with a specific continuity, you had better make sure it actually works with that continuity. Otherwise it ends up confusing the reader. Is it in continuity? Isn't it? There is no it 'kinda' is in continuity. Continuity is part of the story. You can't just ignore it.

[Onslaught Six]

All we have to go on that "Matrix started the war" comment is what Kup said, and Kup is crazy.

Not anymore he isn't. And the others didn't disagree with him.

Because Kup would shoot them otherwise! Because Kup is crazy!

Okay, I'm backpedaling, but 'really?' Are we just going to trust the word of one solitary character that This Is What Happened? The TFs have been wrong before.

That's the thing. Furman seemed to be trying to avoid the mystical stuff on his work for IDW (until he was forced to rush the ending of the Dead Universe arc). I've seen many fans complain about the overuse of the Matrix in stories and the amount of mystical stuff. And in an instant McCarthy undoes all that by making the war all about the Matrix.

Well, so far, we haven't actually seen him do much with that concept, just that the war is supposedly over the Matrix, and now Megatron has it. That's 'it.'

I completely disagree. If you're going to write a story that's supposed to work with a specific continuity, you had better make sure it actually works with that continuity. Otherwise it ends up confusing the reader. Is it in continuity? Isn't it? There is no it 'kinda' is in continuity. Continuity is part of the story. You can't just ignore it.

...Why yes, yes you 'can' just ignore it. I am! I went into the book with only vague knowledge about what went on in the IDW continuity beforehand, really. I haven't bought any of the books and have just read summaries and crap. And y'know what? I'm still enjoying the story! It doesn't *have* to fit into the continuity because the base story is good enough that you can ignore that it doesn't fit.

Of course, it helps that I also didn't give a crap about said continuity beforehand. If someone makes a story that's supposed to take place after G2, and then proceeds to make it not actually fit with G2, does that mean the story is crappy? No, it just doesn't fit into continuity anymore. The big thing is that you're having problems separating the idea of AHM from the previous continuity. If you can just *pretend* that maybe AHM is its own standalone thing, then why not?

And there most certainly is a 'kinda' in continuity. For example, the G1 cartoon is 'kinda' in continuity with BW, but certain elements shown in BW prevent the whole of Cartoon G1 being the lead-off point for BW.

[Sparky Prime]

Because Kup would shoot them otherwise! Because Kup is crazy!

Okay, I'm backpedaling, but 'really?' Are we just going to trust the word of one solitary character that This Is What Happened? The TFs have been wrong before.

It's pretty clear from the story in AHM that Kup's recount is supposed to be accurate.

Well, so far, we haven't actually seen him do much with that concept, just that the war is supposedly over the Matrix, and now Megatron has it. That's 'it.'

It still shifts the meaning of the war from a faction unhappy with the political dealings of the planet to a war over a religious artifact. And you can bet Megatron has some plan for the Matrix. Otherwise, what would have been the point of taking it?

...Why yes, yes you 'can' just ignore it. I am! I went into the book with only vague knowledge about what went on in the IDW continuity beforehand, really. I haven't bought any of the books and have just read summaries and crap. And y'know what? I'm still enjoying the story! It doesn't *have* to fit into the continuity because the base story is good enough that you can ignore that it doesn't fit.

That's really more of your own continuity then. It doesn't change the fact AHM is supposed to fit in with the rest of IDW's continuity and as such, it does matter as it is something the writer is supposed to take into consideration when writing a story that is supposed to be in a specific continuity. It doesn't matter how good or bad a story is, if it's supposed to be in a specific continuity, it's supposed to be in that continuity.

And there most certainly is a 'kinda' in continuity. For example, the G1 cartoon is 'kinda' in continuity with BW, but certain elements shown in BW prevent the whole of Cartoon G1 being the lead-off point for BW.

You'll notice I pointed out "specific continuity" earlier. The difference with Beast Wars is that it wasn't set on a specific G1 continuity. It was set on more of a generalized cartoon/comic G1 continuity. AHM on the other hand is specifically supposed to be in continuity with the rest of IDW's G1 comics.

[Onslaught Six]

It's pretty clear from the story in AHM that Kup's recount is supposed to be accurate.

It still shifts the meaning of the war from a faction unhappy with the political dealings of the planet to a war over a religious artifact. And you can bet Megatron has some plan for the Matrix. Otherwise, what would have been the point of taking it?

Whatever, I'm not worried about it. I don't care if it's got the continuity--it's got Thundy being awesome.

That's really more of your own continuity then. It doesn't change the fact AHM is supposed to fit in with the rest of IDW's continuity and as such, it does matter as it is something the writer is supposed to take into consideration when writing a story that is supposed to be in a specific continuity. It doesn't matter how good or bad a story is, if it's supposed to be in a specific continuity, it's supposed to be in that continuity.

...No, it does matter how good the story is. If a story is as good as AHM, I can ignore if it's in continuity or not, especially if I didn't give a crap about the continuity it's trying to fit into.