All Hail Megatron Discussion thread

[Shockwave]

I'm currently rereading all of AHM and Spotlight. I'm up to issue 2 and was rereading Focus On Decepticons last night which has the interview with McCarthy (Look! I remembered a name!) about the concept of AHM and what it was supposed to be and what he was trying to accomplish with it. He wanted to create a "what's the worst that could happen?" scenario where we would see the Decepticons being as evil as they could be and he also wanted to capture the characters as they were originally meant to be and I think he succeeded.

[Onslaught Six]

Is the second TPB out yet? Not that I have money to buy it.

[Shockwave]

I think so, but I'm not 100% sure. It's been at least a month since I've been to the TPB aisle of a comic shop.

[Onslaught Six]

Apparently came out on the 16th. Oi.

[Sparky Prime]

He wanted to create a "what's the worst that could happen?" scenario where we would see the Decepticons being as evil as they could be and he also wanted to capture the characters as they were originally meant to be and I think he succeeded.

On the "what's the worst that could happen" I'd agree, this story was the worst that could happen, but not so much on the "capturing characters as they were originally meant to be". This story takes the characters outside of their norms given the unique situations they find themselves in. I don't see how that makes them what they're "meant" to be, rather it puts them in a difficult situation that takes certain character traits to an extreme, which isn't how they're "meant" to be at all.

[Onslaught Six]

Thundy Skywarp Soundwave Megatron Starscream Cliffjumper Mirage Ironhidah fuck it I don't care anymore.

[Dominic]

I had to hunt for my copy of Volume II. But, it is out.

I read "Spotlight: Mirage" as either being (optimistically) Mirage having doubts (and possibly being crazy), or (less optimistically) as an alternate universe. Given what I have read of McCarthy, I now assume the former. And, while McCarthy may ignore previous material, it is unlikely that he would ignore his own writing. Hence, I thought there was a chance Mirage might have been the traitor. (And, I am amazed Ironhide did not have any "accidents" after the beating he gave Mirage.)

The status quo for the new on-going looks a great deal like the status quo for the early run of the old Marvel comics, just like it was in '84.


Dom
-is terrible with names in real life, but not with comic creators.

[Onslaught Six]

That would totally make sense if Spotlight: Mirage had been written by McCarthy, except it wasn't.

[BWprowl]

The status quo for the new on-going looks a great deal like the status quo for the early run of the old Marvel comics, just like it was in '84.

An interesting point to bring up, seeing as how the Marvel comics screwed with the status quo *all the time*. Seriously, there were huge stretches of issues where Prime and Megatron disappeared altogether, letting other guys fill in as leader, and others take different roles. That constant state of flux is one reason I really dig the old Marvel comics. It may have been simply a desire to showcase the latest toys, but it still felt like Budiansky and co weren't afraid to really shake things up and let them stay that way for a while.

[Dominic]

Ah, good catch O6. I coulda sworn..... I was likeky mixing it up with "Drift" or "Jazz".


As far as the characters being what they should be goes, the idea is that they are being written as those characters would reasonably be written in a given scenario. The company-man may well decide to blame/be suspicious of the guy who has voiced doubts in the past, especially when the chips are down.

Dom
-still needs to review "Henkei" Mirage.