Okay, to explain.
I tried following the first few [x]-ion series, but Furman's pacing put me off. The issues were not satisfying. They felt like that slowed-down intro to a movie that drags on just a little bit too long for budget purposes, as if they can't afford to show off the movie's special effects in full force. I enjoy the disguise aspect of Transformers, but what I really love is the spectacle. That first cover with Megatron standing in the middle of a panicked city street - the James Raiz cover - I have that on my wall. But did that issue contain Megs standing on a street? Uh, hm, no.
That, unfortunately, summed up my experience to date with IDW's main continuity. I thought Stormbringer excessively gimmicky and uninteresting, it felt like a hook for people who Luv Dem Robuts and Hayte Dem Hyoomuns and very little else.
The Spotlights were really my only pull, since the likes of Shockwave, Kup, Wheelie, and Blurr's stand out as among my favourite TF fiction. Problems arose when Furman felt the need to remove the spotlight and make it a second running series, especially one with an overblown and uninteresting concept. Oh, hooray, a parallel universe full of Threevil Negative Energies.
Thus, the root of my problem. IDW went to two extremes. From 'nothing' TF-wise except subtle hints that Aliens May Be Around to full blown Furmanism with space battles and random alien races and all sorts of silly things. They skipped the standard spectacle where The Transformers are revealed and dealt with by humanity at large.
All Hail Megatron appeals on several different levels. For the fan who's looking for something accessable, it may as well be a continuity reboot, as no prior knowledge is needed. For the fan who's looking for something like the movie, but more GeeWun and retro, it's perfect, as it applies the movie's realistic context and scale to the traditional Transformers characters and designs. For the shameless fanboy looking for something Transformers that's got something new, something old, and something awesome, it's all of the above. It is not, however, for the fan who has read everything simply 'because' it's Transformers, and likes it for the same reason.
Consider that G2 and BM are two of my favourite series also. A lot of the time it's more about keeping a story consistent to itself than it is about continuing what's set out. Personally, I would rather AHM were NOT tied to IDW continuity, as that way more people could enjoy it as a stand-alone item the way I have. It disappointed me slightly that Sunstreaker tied it so specifically to Maximum Dinobots (Damn you, cross-sells!) as I rather liked thinking of it in terms of the same kind of non-specific G1 that slotted into BW.
AHM works as stand-alone, and it does advance its characters within the continuity of the story itself, not so much of the company's storyline. As Dom says, it's better to have a book out there that's good than it is a book that's perfectly in continuity. Transformers has always done this, and we as fans have always patched the holes. See: All of G1, BW-BM, ArmEnerTron, Rebirth vs. HeadMasterVictoryForce, and endless comic debates. That this is no different is no surprise. That this is good, well, it's really just about everything I'd like in a G1-themed TF movie.
So humans are desperate to fight back and going no where. Decepticons rule Earth and are bored, and bickering among themselves. Autobots are trapped on Cybertron with no leader, no direction. Sounds no different than issue 1 to me.
To be fair, we didn't know the humans got nowhere, that the Decepticons were bored and bickering, or where the Autobots were in the first issue.
Well then someone needs to tell them the train left 6 issues ago...
Hey, Astrotrain got a good showing in those first few issues!
Hell, you may as well expect Megatron to become Galvatron in a couple years.
Five Dollars says they do turn a Megatron into a Galvatron at some point.
