The Energon Pub

Did I miss something?

I finally got around to buying the All Hail Megatron vol. 1 Trade, and I am confused as heck. Last I read was Revelations, Starscream was still out of commission (I think), Kup was in no good mental state, Sunstreaker was MIA along with Hunter, and various other things are different, including a ton of mode changes...Sideswipe, 'Streaker, and Prowl are classics now, which is cool, but I want to know how it happened. Same goes for Hot Rod being his classic G1 self and the Seekers taking on their MP forms. When did this happen? What happened? Where are the human trio from the last big story arc?

Am I supposed to be this confused, or did I miss a book? Either way, no spoilers please, I just want to know if I need to be looking for another book or if things will be explained in good time as I keep reading.

All Hail Megatron is set 1 year after the end of the Revelations spotlights. But in order to bridge the gap between the 2 series, you will need to read the current Maximum Dinobots books (5 issues). They will tie up all the loose ends that AHM doesn't address.


Also, AHM starts about halfway into the new story. So as you read more issues everything about the current situation will be explained.

They say the mode changes will be explained during the process of the story, this statement is total BS.
If you're looking for a coherent continuation of Revelations, go read Max dinos as AHM is everything but a satisfying continuation.
It retcons a lot of the idw titles that have been published before it. Mc Cartney had no idea what was going on in the comics prior to his series as he wrote it, that's why it leaves you so confused.
Just now starting with one panel in issue 7 the story was sightly rewritten to make some reference to previous titles.

But I think if you conpletely ignor everything that happened prior to it it's kinda interesting as it dose have its moments, from 8 issues I only found like 6 pages I really liked....

Great....that's kind of annoying that they brought in a guy to contine the main series, who had no idea what was going on with the series previously. IDW had a great thing going, a good coherent universe, and now it's all over the place.

Okay, Maximum Dinobots explains things, but I'm guessing it's not out in TPB yet is it? I wonder why they did it that way, if that's the case, since you need to read it to understand how everything happened.

Blah, bothersome. I was so excited for AHM too. Well I did enjoy it, but all the questions in my mind were pretty distracting.

They say AHM: Coda will wrap more things up, it will be another title that sets between the two continuations, to explain things...

Because if you had a continuation that was second only to the original Marvel comics, you really need to publish a series that cuts the continuation to bits...

Firebird wrote:All Hail Megatron is set 1 year after the end of the Revelations spotlights. But in order to bridge the gap between the 2 series, you will need to read the current Maximum Dinobots books (5 issues). They will tie up all the loose ends that AHM doesn't address.

Not quite. Max Dino's ties up some of the loose ends from Devastation that had to be skipped due to revelations being cut short. AHM still does not tie too well into the Furman written series beforehand. That's why the Coda has to be released, to help bridge the massive holes between the two series.

AHM issues 1-6 could have been easily condensed into 2 or fewer issues. AHM did improve for issues 7 and 8 but it seems it is sliding back to mediocrity with issue 9 (when the humans are focused on again).

Why did Revelations have to be cut short? And why didn't Furman continue with the main series?

Werent we told that we would get an explanation on why the alt modes changed (especially the Seekers) in AHM?

AHM is 75% done and nada in regards to that little inconsistency.

kirbenvost wrote:Why did Revelations have to be cut short? And why didn't Furman continue with the main series?

Because the sales for Furman's Transformers comics have been slowly but surely dwindling, Max Dino's is selling in the mid 5000's, not very well at all. Lack of advertising has not helped.

IDW liked McCarthy's pitch for AHM and decided to go with it instead, cutting short Furman's run.

MYoung23 wrote:Werent we told that we would get an explanation on why the alt modes changed (especially the Seekers) in AHM?

AHM is 75% done and nada in regards to that little inconsistency.

We were told we would be given explanations for every inconsistency. We have not, and since so much is to happen in the final 3 issues, I'm thin king that Coda will be used to address the changes in alt modes and other errors, if they are addressed at all.

Whaaa? I didn't know it was so cutthroat. It's kinda lame that they'd just switch writers from an ongoing storyline just because they think they'll get better sales, but I guess that's how things are...

Kinda makes me feel bad I've been waiting for trades, but I don't have the cash or space to buy all the individual issues.

Personally and this is just my opinion, but I couldn't care less about Fermans IDW run. I collected almost the entire marval run and really it was good for it's time but his stuff for IDW, I couldn't get into.

I don't care for yet another reboot after what DW had put out, (complain all you want about Superstar Pat the transman Lee, there was some good spots in DW's run) and it felt that They were trying so hard to do something completely different than DW that (again to me) we got a G1 styled armada redux book. (Ratchet, new to earth palling around with humans while a couple 'cons came after them) and great move with those humans, 'porting them into space.

Yes I know the story because once the trades came out i read them at the local Chapters. Until AHM I only picked up the odd spotlight. Some were good, some stank. AMH, gave us G1 characters acting more or less like they should and actually did something with bits from Furman that made sence.

To recap in furmanism:
Revelations was SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENTS, and it was time for Simon to realize he has REAPED THE WHIRLWIND too many time and that he has to come DOWN TO EARTH, 'cause i found his recent works to be A WHOLE WORLD OF PAIN AND HURT, that is the truth as I see it, and CAN I DO LESS?

I can see that for sure and understand those complaints, I just want to see existing storylines concluded, and changes explained. If Maximum Dinobots mostly does that, then I'll be happy, because I did enjoy AHM, it just threw me for a loop.

I just don't want a reboot of a reboot, you know? I just want one ongoing storyline with fun stories on the side, not "This is our main TF Story...and now for something completely different. Suprise!"

But that's just me.

AHM reads well if you sit down and read _the entire_ IDW run (I'm I'll at the 'mo, so I've had plenty of time). The reasons being due to not having to wait between issues and having your perceptions ruled by fan-debates and the like, I think.

The first 6 issues, when spread over 6 months do nothing but alienate people, yet the conclusion to the story relies on continuity from past series. It works, I think, but only if it was released bi-monthly or as a single trade.

As for plot holes, I wouldn't say they're gaping. To casual readers, many of the robot-mode changes aren't noticable. Prowl in particular, I think. The Seekers are very jarring though. The real hole is being able to exist on Cybertron, or the complete lack of storms and such. This could have at least been addressed by the colourist. Doesn't take much to add a few lightning effects.

So yeah. It's a pretty good series. Would have been nice if the editing team had a clue what they were doing: being able to exist on Cybertron is something that should have jumped out.

Matrix. wrote:AHM reads well if you sit down and read _the entire_ IDW run (I'm I'll at the 'mo, so I've had plenty of time). The reasons being due to not having to wait between issues and having your perceptions ruled by fan-debates and the like, I think.

The first 6 issues, when spread over 6 months do nothing but alienate people, yet the conclusion to the story relies on continuity from past series. It works, I think, but only if it was released bi-monthly or as a single trade.

As for plot holes, I wouldn't say they're gaping. To casual readers, many of the robot-mode changes aren't noticable. Prowl in particular, I think. The Seekers are very jarring though. The real hole is being able to exist on Cybertron, or the complete lack of storms and such. This could have at least been addressed by the colourist. Doesn't take much to add a few lightning effects.

So yeah. It's a pretty good series. Would have been nice if the editing team had a clue what they were doing: being able to exist on Cybertron is something that should have jumped out.

I agree mostly, but Cybertron has been addressed. It's been noted that the planet is slowly repairing itself and becoming inhabitable again.

Marcdachamp wrote:I agree mostly, but Cybertron has been addressed. It's been noted that the planet is slowly repairing itself and becoming inhabitable again.

True.

What's really annoying is the misleading information on the TF wikipedia. Claims that Cybertron magically healed itself in a year, since a year has passed since the previous events.

This isn't true: the Thunderwing incident happened over 40,000 years ago. That's plenty of time for Cybertron to heal.

Matrix. wrote:

Marcdachamp wrote:I agree mostly, but Cybertron has been addressed. It's been noted that the planet is slowly repairing itself and becoming inhabitable again.

True.

What's really annoying is the misleading information on the TF wikipedia. Claims that Cybertron magically healed itself in a year, since a year has passed since the previous events.

This isn't true: the Thunderwing incident happened over 40,000 years ago. That's plenty of time for Cybertron to heal.

The effects of that incident where still present during the Stormbringer arc which took place during Infiltration, meaning a year prior to AHM.

I have honestly LOVED the IDW reboot...I haven't read Maximum Dinos yet but I've read EVERYTHING up to it, and in chronilogical order (with all the spotlights in the appropriate places) and I've enjoyed the whole thing immensely...

I read the first vol (issues 1-6) of AHM and while I didn't understand EVERYTHING, I still enjoyed it and am looking forward to see if they can tie it into the previous storyline in a reasonable way...


The only thing I don't really get about the whole thing is that while it's not uncommon for a series to change writers at various points (often due to dwindling sales, as has been mentioned), it seems like a REALLY strange choice for them to have the new writer's contribution start so far into the future of the current story with a casual nod indicating that the rest will be "filled in" later...That's just baffeling really...They should have either had him pick up where they wanted Furmon to stop...or it should have just been a completely separate "elseworlds" or "What If..." type of story in its own continuity...