Megatron Origins #2

[chrisp500]

Just read this today, I've got mixed feelings about this series. While I like the overall plot and the fact that Megatron is turning out to be more than just an evil Spartacus, I think Eric Holmes has a real problem writing dialogue.

A lot of it is overly technical/procedural, like an episode of CSI(which I guess might be enjoyable for some), and so much of it is just monologues or random speech.
I've realised what makes the main IDW continuity so exciting is that they're not just big robots bashing each other about, they actually interact and express themselves.

There were also problems with the spelling/proofreading as in the first issue but the panelling was a lot better than the first one.

Hope this doesn't sound too negative, I actually enjoy this series better than War Within as it seems more realistic and there doesn't seem to be the urge to cram in as many 'bots as possible. Ultimately though it's a pretty good read, just has a few flaws that bring it in a few notches lower than the main IDW stuff.

[Omega Steve]

I agree. The art and dialogue were way too confusing on the first issue, and while this instalment is a big improvement, the problems persist.

I find Milne's pencilling of the battle scenes hard to decipher and there are other (some admittedly minor) irritations, such as where Megatron wins his battle and puts on a new helmet. The signifance of this helmet is not explained (is it a trophy of some kind?) but he has an elaborate crown shaped cranium in one panel, then walnut shaped in the next box, and finally he puts the new hat on.

Also, where was Soundwave hiding? He pops up without warning and its a bit weird. This scene was handled a lot better in Spotlight Soundwave, where he reveals himself to discuss with Bludgeon, I thought. And what does Megs do to Bumper at the end? There's a rip noise, some shocked faces (who half of them are I don't know) and then we've got a severed arm and various fragments. It would've been better to show us the barbaric side of Megs rather than leaving it to the imagination, which fails to make the point effectively.

Some good things: Sentinel Prime being a tough guy/asshole was unexpected. I always thought of him as a peacetime leader ill-equiped to deal with the Decepticon threat, and therefore becomes obsolete in favour of Optimus - who embodies noble Autobot values but is not shabby on the battlefield. Here we have a no-nonsence Sentinel Prime. I'm not sure if I like this new Prime yet, but it should make for a good showdown with Megatron, and by making Sentinel unlikable it means the reader can still root for Megs maybe.

Also liked the little cameos - Scrounge, Blaster, Hun-grrr, Tantrum, Bumper (although I notice he's never named, maybe to respect DW copyright) and even the Empty from The Smelting Pool story.

Bad things: the art is the big one, too confusing in the worst Pat Lee tradition. Also surely Megs isn't getting enough characterisation to justify the title of the book being Megatron's Origin? He showed remourse for a killing in the first issue and I'd have liked to have had some internal dialogue so we know what's in his mind, and how he evolves through the industrial rebellion etc. It's like, one minute he's working the mines and the next he's a badass leader, with little development in between.

[MissingSea]

I agree that this mini-series is overall decent, but the art and lack of proof reading, consitent dialogue and at times confusing ar work are detracting from it as a whole.

Also was that Prowl giving the briefing to the response team (and in the TV images) or Bluestreak/Smokescreen??

The cameos were nice as well. On page 5 I think there's Squakbox (not sure on this one the purple guy looks like the one we saw in Sixshot), Sunstreaker (I'm surprised to see him in the arenas) and to the right of the one who I think is Squakbox looks much like Mindwipe? A couple of pages later I think we see Starscream.

It's interesting that there are (at least ones who look to be) future autobots in the crowds. The easily identifiable ones are Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, but in the same panel where we see them together I think I can spot Cosmos and Nosecone, alongside Skywarp (with Screamer across the aisle??).

I'm not sure about Ratbats' redesign though, I think he worked better as an animal, but at least you can see why he sided with the cons...

I agree that Sentinel Prime does seem like a bit of an arse, but I guess that's because he's never really that much opposition before and has probably gotten a huge ego because of it. It's also interesting to note who composes the response squad - Whirl, Roadbuster, Hound, Warpath, Jazz, Red Alert and Warpath as well as Bumper and Fastback (are those two G2 or just generic cannon fodder?).

There are also nice first appearances for the Constructicons and Buzzsaw.

It was also nice to see the cybertronian modes for several bots (Jazz, Constructicons, Casseticons) and nice to see that they resembled the ones from teh Stormbringer wrap arounds.

Hmm, sorry that seemed like a long list of names .......

Just a quick question, where was Blaster and Scrounge?

[Omega Steve]

It's a case of blink and you'll miss them. I only found Scrounge with some extensive searching after somebody on the IDW boards said he was there.

Scrounge appears on page 14 top left panel, he's pushing a cart or looking in a wheelie bin. On the opposite page the robot who the Constructicons throw in the smelter is the Empty from the Marvel 'Smelting Pool' story.

Blaster is on page 13 seated at a monitor in a control room of some kind. Also, that's Prowl giving the briefing (you can tell from the colouring) and Bumper is a Dreamwave invention so that's presumably why his name doesn't appear in the text, and as for Fastback I've no idea where he's from.

[chrisp500]

Megatron's crown is actually part of his head. The art makes him look like he's putting his helmet on, but actually he's taking it off. Really not sure what the significance of it is though? Also is Worm a bot or just a put-down? The bot that Ratbat calls Worm looks different to the one Meg's is talking to, but they seem to use it more as a name?

I think a lot of the problem with the art is the choice to use dark purple as a major colour. It looks cool as Transformer fuel but the whole colour scheme seems geared around it, making everything in this supposed "Golden Age" look really dark....

I've looked several times, where is Sideswipe? Sunstreaker stands out but I can't find his bro anywhere...

This is just a silly idea, but Fastback looks like he transforms into a kind of jeep, so maybe he's not dead and gets reborn as Outback (and then dies with Kup!)?

[Dr Headache Rushing]

Is it my imagination or is the 'bot that Megs kills at the beginning of the story Cy-kill from the Go-Bots story (the tonka robots released at the same time as the original G1 Transformers)?

It definitely looks very similiar to how I remember this character, although I was never a massive Go Bot fan.

I always remember thinking that a Leader 1 vs. Starscream battle would be interesting :-) Hasbro have owned the copyright for Go-Bots for a while now, do you think this could see a few more of those characters introduced as 'easy kills' in the series?

[chrisp500]

You're right, Dreamwave also had a cameo of CY-Kill being killed by Megatron in a flashback.

I've found Sideswipe, and I think that Transformer in the second screen that Ratbat is watching is maybe Huffer? Also if you read the numbers at the bottom of the blue screen at the top of that page you can see Chris Ryall's name written amongst the numbers

[MissingSea]

chrisp500 said:

I've looked several times, where is Sideswipe? Sunstreaker stands out but I can't find his bro anywhere...

This is just a silly idea, but Fastback looks like he transforms into a kind of jeep, so maybe he's not dead and gets reborn as Outback (and then dies with Kup!)?

Sideswipe is on page 9 in the second panel up, on the righthand side of the panel, he's seated behind Sunstreaker. In that same panel, just behind Sideswipe is who I think is Cosmos, behind him is possibly Nosecone and next to Nosecone is someone who looks very much like Skywarp/Thundercracker, and across the aisle from them looks to be Starscream. Edit: looks like you beat me to it

Fastback reminds me of the simple designs of the old micromasters.

Looking at page 8 it's also just dawned on me that the bot that Ratbat is talking to is Soundwave. What I thought was just a TV screen is his chest... now it makes a bit more sense. Speaking of Soundwave, what readings are off the scale?? Does he have an energy source different to the other TF's (a bit like Shockwave in the marvel comics), if so it would explain why he was able to mass shift in the Spotlight...

[chrisp500]

I thought Bumper was referring to Soundwave's psychic abilities, but you might be right, like a lot of things in this series its not particularly clear....

[rb]

Thanks for the hint on Scrounge, Steve - found him. I like the series so far, my biggest beef is the colouring; it´s kinda too far and the bots often blurr into one another.

[chrisp500]

Is Megatron #3 still coming out this month?

[Omega Steve]

Chris Ryall said it would be another fortnight. By my reckoning it'll be Thursday 6th September. This title seems jinxed to be late.

[MissingSea]

Hopefully it means that the art is getting better, the panels have improved from 1 to 2 so hopefully 3 will be better, along with (fingers crossed) better spell checking. It definately seems jinxed

[sentinelprime2006]

'The cameos were nice as well. On page 5 I think there's Squakbox (not sure on this one the purple guy looks like the one we saw in Sixshot), Sunstreaker (I'm surprised to see him in the arenas) and to the right of the one who I think is Squakbox looks much like Mindwipe? A couple of pages later I think we see Starscream.'

Actually, if you remember back to the first Transformers album in 1984, there was a story in this titled 'State Games' which depicted a young Megatron battling Sunstreaker (who ame off rather badly I have to say!). Also, judging by his and Sideswipes personality traits, it is quite possible that they appeared at them, and perhaps also took part.

[sandhog]

sentinelprime2006 said:

Actually, if you remember back to the first Transformers album in 1984, there was a story in this titled 'State Games' which depicted a young Megatron battling Sunstreaker (who ame off rather badly I have to say!). Also, judging by his and Sideswipes personality traits, it is quite possible that they appeared at them, and perhaps also took part.

You mirrored what I was thinking there. I remember the 1984 annual and there is a story where the illustration is of Megatron standing over a vanquished Sunstreaker. So I wasn't too suprised to see him at the arena in Meg origins. It also reminded me of the fact file on the back of Sunstreakers toybox where it states his function is a warrior. Good to see things staying true to the origins and using that background here

[MissingSea]

Now that you mention it I do kinda remember something like that, but only cos you mention it I have trouble remembering things I did last week so that might explain why I forgot

[krypto]

sentinelprime2006 said:

'The cameos were nice as well. On page 5 I think there's Squakbox (not sure on this one the purple guy looks like the one we saw in Sixshot), Sunstreaker (I'm surprised to see him in the arenas) and to the right of the one who I think is Squakbox looks much like Mindwipe? A couple of pages later I think we see Starscream.'

Actually, if you remember back to the first Transformers album in 1984, there was a story in this titled 'State Games' which depicted a young Megatron battling Sunstreaker (who ame off rather badly I have to say!). Also, judging by his and Sideswipes personality traits, it is quite possible that they appeared at them, and perhaps also took part.

You'll find that State Games was actually in the 2nd UK TF annual. The first two annuals have similar covers (black Backgrounds, Prime and the other Autobots). The first annual definitely wasn't as good as the second (which had the amazing Geoff Senior drawn "Victory" as well as State Games).

[Omega Steve]

Well said Krypto. In fact the first TF annual's stories had very little to do with the established continuity unlike the second year. A synopsis/review of the 1986 annual and State Games is here -
www.oneshallstand.com/1986/annual86.html

[sentinelprime2006]

Thank you for pointing that out for me Krypto The years are so far back that for someone who has a short term memory problem, remembering thatstory was a feat in itself! I'll make sure to brush up on my albums before making a statement again ;)I got slightly confused between the state games story and the one thatshows the beginnings of the war, and shows optimus prime becoming the leader of the autobots.