All Hail Megatron #2 Review

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:24 pm

Hound wrote: If anything, I think the current squishing of the Revelation arc into 4 spotlights shows us that the pacing was pretty much spot on previously.

Funny, I think that the first two issue of Revelations were the best thus far.

Aside from Infiltration, I still think the pacing crawled at times. Which arc was it that the Ark was crashing, Escalation or Devestation? Whichever one it was, that one kind of plodded too. Of course, IIRC there was a huge delay from the time the Ark crashed to what happened afterwards. Again, four issues for that arc would have been perfect. The whole Brasyna thing too. Four issues, not six.

I guess that's a problem too. The varied tastes of Transfans.

Ryall has gone on record several times as stating he would prefer people to buy the single issues and not wait for trades so it seems a pretty much unfounded statement to say that Furman was writing to a different agenda, especially when he tells you so himself!

Different agenda? They're a comic book company, of course they want you to buy the single issues!

Look, I think Chris and Simon are both stand up guys. My point is, whether conciously or unconsiously, Simon was crafting his story arcs in his head to fit six issues. Remember, Simon was the guy who, if you gave him two pages, could give you meaningful story out of it. Like magic. Now you're asking that same guy to make it fit in six?

Trades are a blessing and a curse. They are a blessing because when arcs do plod along, you can get a much, much better appreciation of things read as a trade. They are a curse because now writers have to conclude an arc in that many issues.

I won't be sticking by AHM if it doesn't pick up soon because I don't feel I should endorse a product that is (so far) massively inferior to anything I have purchased previously.

Oh, I agree, if AHM doesn't pick up in a big way the next two issues, it will in my mind be slower paced than Infiltration.

Which will be absolutely unacceptable, the worst possible decision that could have been made.

But I have faith that Shane and IDW understand this. At least, I hope they understand this.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:24 pm

And War & Peace.

No, wait... you liked that, didn't you?

[EDIT] - That was aimed at Hound!

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:26 pm

Brendocon wrote:And War & Peace.

No, wait... you liked that, didn't you?

[EDIT] - That was aimed at Hound!

Back off him, man, I loved it too. Guess that was aimed at me too

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:33 pm

It was posted before your blahblah showed!

I put the edit in because nobody wants another long and boring (and completely fallacious) Yaya ramble about how DW's v2 was actually not utter rubbish!

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:06 pm

Brendocon wrote:And War & Peace.

No, wait... you liked that, didn't you?

[EDIT] - That was aimed at Hound!

I dunno, I thought War & Peace was ok. Better than the other DW stuff but that isn't really saying much.

I think at the time I was just glad to have a Transformers comic and would have probably accepted anything

Look, I think Chris and Simon are both stand up guys. My point is, whether conciously or unconsiously, Simon was crafting his story arcs in his head to fit six issues. Remember, Simon was the guy who, if you gave him two pages, could give you meaningful story out of it. Like magic. Now you're asking that same guy to make it fit in six?

I think you make a good point here. Although I would point to Spotlight Doubledealer to show how the pacing for Revelation has been ruined due to being squashed to 4 issues.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:11 am

I think we need to bear in mind that revelation is actually 2 6 issues arcs (Revelation and Expansion) squashed into pretty much 4 issues. Thats 4 issues into 12 folks.

If Rev had been the emergence of the the Dead Universe (which would have been nice to flesh the characers behind this supposedly huge threat out) plus oh ****! cliffhanger and then Expansion the eventual resolution then four issues for each would probably have done it.

I think in terms of the other trades - infiltration works... until you follow it with a six month break. Its like a starter, but then the main meal come the next day - if it had gone straight into Escalation i think it would have been great.

I don't think there was much issueage to squeeze out of Escalation and Devestation to be honest - altho the pacing of the Reapers story was rubbish in Escalation.

I think the thing about relying on Simon is also a bit of a misconception - this is actually the first time in almost twenty years he was the lead writer on TFs (he never was at DW) and i think the notion that having a lone voice ona title carries some kind of risk relative to many is not one bourbe out by the history of the industry - the vast majority of best work with any numbers of characters in comics has been done when one writer or writing team have got a lengthy stint on the book, and generally the wrost periods are those with too much editorial mandate or when an established face leaves and the new guy feels the need to stamp his own identity over what has gone before.

That said if you are going to move Simon out of the main picture, maybe continually using relative unknowns is not the way to do it.

In terms of the publicity what i really meant was a 'story so far' publicity push for new readers to get them into the current storyline, rather than chucking the baby out with the bath water and then trying to bring in new readers with a reboot.

And it is a reboot isn't it? Does anyone else seriously think otherwise - a few cheap continity nods doesn't change that intent.

And, controversial, but i'm not sure how much faith i actually have in the DW editorial team these days - i don't think they respond well to criticism, it took lots of prodding to get the statement that the decision was sales driven and they were the people who prescribed this dumbass mini series approach in the first place. Not to mention i think they have a tendancy to hide behind and encourage the more sycophantic elements of the message board whilst misscharacterising the more critcial elements whenever there is a bit of an uproar.

Legion · Post by **Legion** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:11 pm

Best First wrote:i'm not sure how much faith i actually have in the DW editorial team these days

Freudian slip there Besters?

Post by **Best First** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:19 pm

ha!

....

bah

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:27 pm

Well, even if all publicity is good, I'm still savaging AHM in my column, for the five people who read it to feel indignant.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 6:26 pm

Guess the sales figures will tell the tale, as they say.

In a way, they already have. AHM selling under 20,000 copies after that much advertising, after all those kickass Trevor Hutchison covers, is just disappointing to me.

So what you guys think? What's going to save this license?

And is the license truly in any danger? I mean, if you look at the sales figures in that comic sales thread, revenue has been pretty steady from start to present.

I think pandering to the myriad TF fan tastes is the answer. Get a Furman book out there, get a non-Furman book out there, get the new cartoon kiddy series out there, occasionally get Beast Wars out there.

Which actually seems to be the angle IDW is taking.

I have not lost hope on AHM becoming something of substance. I have not lost hope that Maximum Dinobots will tie some loose ends that Simon wished to tie up. And I haven't lost hope that The Thirteen will be something we can enjoy, giving Simon is writing it.

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 6:57 pm

Yaya wrote:Guess the sales figures will tell the tale, as they say.

In a way, they already have. AHM selling under 20,000 copies after that much advertising, after all those kickass Trevor Hutchison covers, is just disappointing to me.

So what you guys think? What's going to save this license?

And is the license truly in any danger? I mean, if you look at the sales figures in that comic sales thread, revenue has been pretty steady from start to present.

I think pandering to the myriad TF fan tastes is the answer. Get a Furman book out there, get a non-Furman book out there, get the new cartoon kiddy series out there, occasionally get Beast Wars out there.

Which actually seems to be the angle IDW is taking.

I have not lost hope on AHM becoming something of substance. I have not lost hope that Maximum Dinobots will tie some loose ends that Simon wished to tie up. And I haven't lost hope that The Thirteen will be something we can enjoy, giving Simon is writing it.

Personally I felt it was working pretty well as it was before.

The 'ations' were the ongoing, we had spin offs like Stormbreaker. The Spotlights enhanced the continuity and there was the odd Beast Wars series.

The spin-offs were the only thing letting the side down - Megatron Origins, Hearts of Steel etc...

It's probably still too early to write it off too, but AHM is very very poor so far.

I don't think pandering to cartoon fans via the comic medium will really attract new readers. Can you imagine your average cartoon fan who is used to a 20 minute dose of entertainment really sticking to a comic book series that will run over the course of a year? I can't...

Manchester Devil · Post by **Manchester Devil** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:26 pm

Correct me if I'm wrong Yaya but didn't Dreamwave try the whole "Have a Furman TF book, have a non-Furman TF book, throw in some spin-offs and we're laughing to the bank" idea? I don't remember that woking out in the end.

In addition to what Besty said about IDW's TF book being the first time Furman being in control but that has been taken from him because IDW appeared to bow to pressure to the cartoon crowd and brought in Shane McCarthy, purely on the basis he wrote some Batman comics.

Speaking for AHM, isn't the 5 page preview of ish 3 just padded to excess or what? Honestly, more stuff happened in the first two (well, three by the time AHM#3 is out - that'll be the preview and issues 1 and 2) books of Infiltration than in the first quarter of Shane's debut TF comic!

Rubbish.

I'd say let Furman goes nuts while he still can, otherwise this is what we'll get and then we'll be in the dark ages. Then the dark age of TF comics happens, I hope Furman's critics are happy at their handywork!

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:40 am

Manchester Devil wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong Yaya but didn't Dreamwave try the whole "Have a Furman TF book, have a non-Furman TF book, throw in some spin-offs and we're laughing to the bank" idea? I don't remember that woking out in the end.

Actually, sales weren't bad at the end and it was a sound strategy. DW sank because of their ridiculously corrupt business practices, courtesy of Pat Lee.

But from a comic sales and revenues generating standpoint, they were doing okay. I mean, they were selling much more than what IDW is selling now.

TF fans are so varied in taste, it just seems like the best way to go. I don't know what other option is left. I mean, I'm not a kid and I don't like the new cartoon stuff, but hey, if it boost sales to maintain the license so that we still get a Spotlight Cyclonus and Harhead, I say go with it.

If there are many fans who don't want Simon, give them somebody else. Fans who didn't like the DW ongoing still had the temporally separated War Within series by Simon. There were some continuity niggles, but it seemed everyone had something they could enjoy. If you were fortunate, you found both to your liking (like myself).

Manchester Devil · Post by **Manchester Devil** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:31 am

That's good and all but Dreamwave were riding of the wave of nostailga when they had the TF licence, and said wave was long gone by the time Pat Lee drove off in his prosche and the subsequent arrival of IDW.

It wasn't like the most of the non-Furman DW books were that good anyway and Furman himself wasn't exactly breaking new ground with WW.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:18 pm

Manchester Devil wrote: It wasn't like the most of the non-Furman DW books were that good anyway and Furman himself wasn't exactly breaking new ground with WW.

Thought fans loved the War Within stuff, actually. I certainly enjoyed it.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:13 pm

it benefitted from the contrast with the main book but i don't think it was SFs best work by a long shot.

Plus a lot ofit was robbed of drama by what we knew to be the case in the modern day.

Manchester Devil · Post by **Manchester Devil** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:08 pm

In addition to what I said earlier, TF books was all what DW were selling up to the point the licence was taken off them. After all, who remembers the short lived DW Megaman comic?

The Last Autobot · Post by **The Last Autobot** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:01 pm

Manchester Devil wrote: After all, who remembers the short lived DW Megaman comic?

I do

But regrettably it had a lot of "unknown man" enemies. Although it was fun.

Manchester Devil · Post by **Manchester Devil** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:56 pm

It was more like "Man robots we made up on the spot".