AHM #11 Preview

Hennessy · Post by **Hennessy** » Thu May 14, 2009 12:02 pm

Preview pages are up

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... firsts.htm

StarscreamX · Post by **StarscreamX** » Thu May 14, 2009 1:26 pm

I never thought I'd say this but I'm actually really happy about what Mccarthy has done here. Yes there's another appearance by that walking endorsement for birthcontrol "Whats his name" Witwicky, the man who makes Ah-Nuld look smart. But I can overlook that because...at last...we've actually been given a Megatron with some actual depth.

His comments here about wanting to bring "Peace" to the galaxy are simmilar to those made by him during Dreamwaves ill fated run. It's an angle that, in my opinion, makes the whole saga far more interesting.

Obviously this is hardly trying to make Megatron a "Hero" in the trraditional sense. That's not likely to happen anywhere outside of Decepticon Dominion. But it gives him a more interesting motivation than just power for powers sake or "Evil" which, let's be honest, is a ridiculous concept anyway.

His comments explain why things escalated so greatly, why the Decepticons went from being a simple insurgent faction on Cybertron to the ravagers of worlds they became. Megatron deliberately created a situation to make his followers as ruthless as possible (Perhaps this also explains his desire to destroy Cybertron? Without even the existence of a home world the Decepticons would be even more desperate and disheartened) but at the same time he's been planning all along to weed out the more vicious and tyranical ones, leaving behind those who fit his vision of what they should be. A peace keeping force that ensures the safety of the universe...by conquering it.

No one's going to suggest that world conquest is a good thing, obviously. But, like villains such as Magneto, Dr Doom or Lex Luthor the fact that Megatron has a noble goal makes him a more intriguing character to read about.

So I REALLY hope that there not planning to kill him off in this series. His comments about the "Future of the Decepticon Empire" have me interested in what comes next after all is said and done.

Post by **Denyer** » Thu May 14, 2009 6:42 pm

Hennessy wrote:

Not even trying to take scale into consideration now, are they?

AndyTurnbull · Post by **AndyTurnbull** » Thu May 14, 2009 6:52 pm

No real surprise that details like that go out the window when the actual mechanics of telling an engaging story are all to f***.

Andy

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu May 14, 2009 6:59 pm

I think the main way this reminds me of Dreamwave is the Shockwaveish "All this stupid shit was actually my plan all along".

StarscreamX · Post by **StarscreamX** » Thu May 14, 2009 10:43 pm

I think the main way this reminds me of Dreamwave is the Shockwaveish "All this stupid shit was actually my plan all along".

Be fair in context it makes sense. Megatron deliberately whipped mankind into a frenzy knowing they'd fight back. Presumably he now plans to leave the more bloodthirsty/psychotic elements of his army to die, leaving behind those who fit his "Purer" ideal of what the new empire should be. I'm going to presume he's done the same thing across the galaxy, and that the worlds targetted have been those that have the power to fight back and do damage to the Decepticons.

Now I might be giving Mccarthy too much credit. But if I'm right it's actually a fairly cunning Xanatos Gambit. Megatrons plan, based on his comments in the preview seems to run as follows.

1: Gather an army of followers
2: Force them into a situation that will bring their most brutal instincts to the surface, insuring victory over the more restrained enemy
3: Engage opponents who have the potential to do us harm in such a way that they will be simmilarly unrestrained but not strong enough to obliterate us completely.
4: Abandon those who are too cruel, sadistic or psychotic to be of use to die, while taking those who share my vision to build a new empire

It may not exactly be Light Yagami level master planning but it's still fairly celever as plans go. Of course there are a thousand random factors that could bollocks it all up but I think Mccarthy knows that and indeed acknowledges it. For example as Megatron is talking about how he's planned for everything we see something about to happen that he clearly hasn't planned for, most likely the arrival of Omega Supreme (Oh the irony! The contrived, ham fisted IRONY!)

It also makes sense of certain moments throughout the series, such as Megatron's apparent disgust when speaking with Deluge, his casual disregard for the lives of some of his followers, the reason why he was stalling on Earth etc. It was, as the Trope goes "All part of his plan".

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Thu May 14, 2009 11:31 pm

So it could all end well. Sort of. Any bets on the human story (spike and his crew) being the fly in what could have been an interesting ointment?

StarscreamX · Post by **StarscreamX** » Fri May 15, 2009 1:36 pm

I really hope they fail in their mission and are dead by the stories end. Their worthless excuses for characters and have all the depth of a shallow pond, if that.

And I sincerely hope that Mccarthy isn't planning one of these ass clowns to be the one to stop the Decepticons. With the Autobots in the story that honour belongs to them. It's called TRANSFORMERS not "Humans".

Post by **Blackjack** » Fri May 15, 2009 1:55 pm

Of course, if McCarthy followed this sort of storyline, it would end pretty well. But I'm actually hoping for the Micromasters on new Cybertron to make an appearance...

Really... I hoped that McCarthy switch to a more global scale. New Cybertron... Nebulos... *sigh*

Red Dave Prime · Post by **Red Dave Prime** » Fri May 15, 2009 2:47 pm

regarding the scale thing - in fairness the first appearance of Devs showed him to be (unrealistically) huge. I dont think thats a mess up, seems quite deliberate. And in fairness, if monstroctur can pick up Prime in one hand then the scale is at least consistent. (I've never liked the way gestalts are shown to be so much bigger then their individual forms would allow - be it IDW or dreamwave. Marvel were a bit more hit and miss)

Post by **Denyer** » Fri May 15, 2009 8:29 pm

StarscreamX wrote:Presumably he now plans to leave the more bloodthirsty/psychotic elements of his army to die,

So his "army" is about a dozen troops?

Post by **zigzagger** » Fri May 15, 2009 8:31 pm

Denyer wrote:So his "army" is about a dozen troops?

Nah, the rest of them are just conveniently hanging out off-panel. But trust the writer, they are there

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri May 15, 2009 9:56 pm

Perhaps his plan is to go to every planet the Decepticons are on and set up exactly the same extended stratergy on each in turn?

StarscreamX · Post by **StarscreamX** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:25 pm

So his "army" is about a dozen troops?

I am guessing he's having trusted commanders on various other worlds that the Decepticons are attacking carry out the same strategy as he personally is overseeing on Earth. It also explains the little bits with Thundercracker showing his distaste at the carnage. He's most likely the kind of Decepticon Megatron wants for the new empire. Not afraid to get his hands dirty but not interested in simple minded thuggery or wanton slaughter.