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Post by sandhog on Sept 28, 2008 12:12:25 GMT
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Post by partholon on Oct 8, 2008 22:57:07 GMT
ive held off on buying AHM 3 untill spotlight sideswipe was available as i like to get two comics at once (so expect an order soon steve ) i quite like AHM but it is a big change in pace for alot of people. ive got faith that shane isnt just giving us a no plot bomb fest and indeed from the first two issues its becoming apparent to me that this is a "shock and awe" exercise to cow the rest of the world. i think for alot of people the problem is its a twelve parter and as such may seem to be going nowhere. look at infiltration. people gave out about the pacing in that and its HALF the length yet when read as a trade it kicked arse. i do feel like simons got jipped for essentially a marketing exercise and as a result so have we fans that stucke with the book but i understand chris's positon, and hey TF needs new writers so im willing to give it a try . so far its not a total trainwreck . the characters are acting the way they should and indeed some lovely touches are on show. i really liked frenzy fingers crossed it only gets better, and hey theres still max dinos !
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Post by Omega Steve on Oct 10, 2008 22:57:54 GMT
Agreed, there should be more going on (especially with the long gaps between issues) but there are some nice touches too. I liked how Astrotrain's locomotive mode finally became useful in #3, some 20 odd years after he first came out. Frenzy was good too.
I think this suggestion of an Autobot betrayer means where about to get some excitment and intrigue, and the covers to 4, 5, & 6 suggest the bots are about to play a greater role. The signs are this will come good, but it'll need to pull its socks up to win over the army of doubters out there. AHM has had a tough reception from some quarters on the IDW boards.
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Post by MissingSea on Oct 13, 2008 17:30:30 GMT
I think this title has improved, all be it in my eyes only slightly. The pacing has improved, but I still have reservations about the direction that McCarthy is taking this. There tends to be more of a lean towards the G1 cartoon, especially with some of the characterisations that have been implemented (e.g. Soundwave returning to his cartoon speech rather than normal). Also someone else on another board pointed out that the covers that have been revealed also lean towards the cartoon affliations (looks like Springer is with his cartoon buddies rather than the Wreckers). To me, while there have been some references to the previous arc, such as the Machination nod, there are major (at least for me) discrepancies, which I really hope will be ironed out.
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Post by Dr Headache Rushing on Oct 16, 2008 12:24:11 GMT
For me the main concern at the moment is that this feels like a completely different continuity to the one that we've been reading about for the last couple of years (has it been that long!?). I really hope to see some tidying up and provision of information detailing how we moved from Simon's *ion universe to the AHM universe which has, as has been pointed out above, a definite G1 cartoon feel to it.
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Post by Omegastoopreme on Oct 17, 2008 6:53:51 GMT
I agree that as yet albeit for a very brief mention to things like the Machination it doent feel like its tying in yet. The most annoying thing for me is that several of the characters looks have gone back to G1 when all the way thru IDW they've had a newer look that we've gotten used to.
Dont get me wrong I'm enjoying it, I'd just lie it to pick the pace up, a lot.
Its feeling a bit like Lost, i.e spending far too long to actually go anywhere, leaving us feeling less hungry for the next issue, and more frustrated that we dont really know whats going on yet.
I do agree though it was nice to have Astrotrain's train mode actually have a use for once. All those years of waiting for an Autobot to be tied to a set of tracks must have been hard lol.
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Post by s2h6 on Oct 21, 2008 11:56:03 GMT
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Post by Dr Headache Rushing on Oct 28, 2008 12:52:16 GMT
Well, just finished AHM4. Good to see the 'bots back on Cybertron, thought the interaction between Jazz, Prowl and Ironhide was excellent, with Jazz quite clearly showing himself to be the king of cool.
However.......... I still feel like nothing has actually happened? And I still can just not relate this to the IDW continuity. The characters look clearly drawn from their G1 cartoon heritage (check out Reflector in AHM3 - gone are Spyglass, Viewfinder and Spectro, back are the three clones all talking at the same time ala the cartoon). The characters also don't appear to act in the same way that they have been in this continuity to date; can this be the same Sunstreaker and Sunswipe that are happy to sit tight whist Ironhide and Cliffjumper check out an alert? Without even complaining?
The final, and most worrying, part of AHM4 for me was the letters page. Now either I'm in the minority with my thoughts on the series so far or these letters are deliberately hand picked to try and convince the readers that most people think the series is kicking ass. I can't believe that all the letters in there are offering their fawning praise for the series and even running down the work that Simon Furman had done so far with the *ion stories. It actually made me quite angry to read!!
Anyway, IDW still have a long way to go to convince me they are pursuing the correct path with this one and they HAVE to start introducing some continuity tie in, just having a characher mention the Machination is hardly enough. Fingers crossed they get this sorted soon.
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Post by s2h6 on Oct 28, 2008 13:04:39 GMT
yeah I'm with you, there still hasn't been a lot that has happened, I mean were only just starting to see the Autobots and their story already looks more promising than the Decepticon's on Earth which has been running non-stop since issue one. I agree with you about the letters page too, couldn't believe the comments on Simon, its starts to make you wonder if there has been some disagreements behind the scenes.
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Post by Omega Steve on Oct 30, 2008 14:21:53 GMT
The final, and most worrying, part of AHM4 for me was the letters page. Now either I'm in the minority with my thoughts on the series so far or these letters are deliberately hand picked to try and convince the readers that most people think the series is kicking ass. I can't believe that all the letters in there are offering their fawning praise for the series and even running down the work that Simon Furman had done so far with the *ion stories. It actually made me quite angry to read!! You know, that had me seething too! What the hell was Denton (or if not him, whoever selects the letters) playing at? It was a cheap shot which seemed designed to persuade people the Furmanverse was rubbish and AHM was miles better. If anything, when you look at the reactions to TF Revelations compared to AHM the opposite is true. I know it's not IDW who writes the letters, it's just the opinions of individual fans, but the company chooses which letters it prints and has got the balance badly wrong here. It seems a shabby way to treat a freelancer who has written for them for three years is due to write more in 2009. Maybe Simon has fallen out of favour with the powers that be? But I can't think why. I've met him in person and seen how he interacts with fans online, and he's a real gent, plus loyal to the franchise and the licence holder too. He's barely said a word against Dreamwave F.F.S. and they didn't pay him! So I reckon he'd be way too discreet to offer his thoughts on the current situation but I'd like to know what he makes of it all. Maybe I can get an interview with him? As for AHM #4. I enjoyed seeing the Autobots back on centre stage. Like drheadache I'd like to see more continuity to what's gone before in the 'ations, but I liked the Wheeljack and Bumblebee bit. It reminded me of the very opening scenes in Arrival from Cybertron the first cartoon. Hot Rod's arrival was a bit of a let down if I'm being truthful. Now we know that he'll be okay whatever happens in Maximum Dinobots so it removes a bit of tension from that series. Plus the preview blurb for the issue says the despairing Autobots are being hunted. I'd hardly say Hot Rod looking for them qualifies. AHM is okay but there could and should be more going on. It's slower than it should be in terms of how much happens each issue. Just think how much plot+action was packed into 11 issues of Target 2006 or Budiansky's Creation Matrix saga.
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Post by Dr Headache Rushing on Oct 31, 2008 12:36:11 GMT
Go for it Steve, I'm sure that Simon would be prepared to do an interview for the site, I've met him too and agree with you about him being a gent. I'm not sure we'd get too much from him that we wouldn't expect though, biting the hand that feeds and all that.
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Post by sandhog on Nov 6, 2008 18:16:34 GMT
Just read my AHM4 today I pretty much agree with what you said Steve; the letters page is shocking IMO just slates Furman, I can understand a bit of jealousy because he is awesome when it comes to Transformers but that "selection" of letters just look spiteful and I think makes IDw look bad more than it harms Furman as was said earlier he still manages to pull of a great story even when his issues are cut down. I liked the nostalgia feel to AHM (I too picked up on the Wheeljack Bumblebee moment which paralleled with the cartoon) but still too slow a pace, I think you can argue the pros and (decepti) cons of the series to death but I just don't feel it is in the same league as what Simon gave before, maybe I am quick to judge but a full 1/3 of the series in now and not a lot going on, I still feel the story hasn't got moving and Revelations was wrapped up in the same number of issues. I thought I might have been harsh looking at issues 1+2 of AHM and judging it but 4 in I feel this comic should offer more bang for the buck! I will see it to the end though as I am just like that ;D
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krypto
Triple Changer
Posts: 194
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Post by krypto on Nov 7, 2008 1:24:06 GMT
Long time - no post.
I've been pretty annoyed with how bloody rubbish AHM has been so far. I thought I'd post here the email I sent to their letter page:
"Issue #4 of All Hail Megatron was something of an improvement, at last some Autobots, albeit so far into the 12 issue storyline that I'd almost given up all hope. Of course the issue wasn't perfect and I have been less than impressed with the first 3 issues. The human storyline is something I have not enjoyed, the dialogue is clunky, the characters are either bland or ridiculous, in short its painful reading. The Decepticons also appear to have regressed to a frankly less than intelligent state and we're yet to get any idea why they've resorted to a frankly boring attack on earth. As a long-term Transformers reader, I expect the Decepticons to do a little more than beat-up some humans and strut about like peacocks. It all seems a bit too juvenile for my liking, I expect something with a bit more punch for a 12 issue series on Transformers.
On top of all that I found it somewhat hard to believe a letter was printed in issue 4 praising "All Hail Megatron" and launching an attack on previous material as "Subpar" and "characterisation all over the place". I could not possibly disagree more. I don't want to waste time dwelling on the past, but I felt that the previous IDW main continuity delivered on many more levels. It brought new looks and origins for many characters, retaining some personality traits - yet not being a slave to past material. It felt fresh, interesting and I felt it was a real rollercoaster ride.
On the other hand AHM seems like an attempt to take Transformers backwards and it suffers immensely for it. The artwork has been good, but I've seen precious little plot to speak of and I'm far from won over with the dialogue. I feel like the "main" Transformers comic has been dumbed down and perhaps its a misconception - but publishing nothing but praise for this new direction gives me real concern. Of course I'm hoping I'm wrong, but this series has a long way to go to win me over.
Marc Graham"
The official IDW forum seems a terrible mess at the minute. Such a pity, for the first 2 years or so I thought IDW was going to herald a long time of stability and quality in TF comics, I'm suprised how things have changed.
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Post by Omega Steve on Nov 8, 2008 0:02:40 GMT
Good to have you back Marc. A well argued letter I'd say, but I don't like your chances of getting it into print... especially if it's the letter chooser as last time.
I decided to re-read all four issues of AHM in one go the other day and I have to say they read a lot better in one sitting. I'm coming to the view that if AHM was the first TF comic from IDW, as opposed to say Infiltration, it would be much more warmly received than it has been. There'd still be the odd concerns about it moving too slow but none of the worries about it conflicting with previous stories.
So now I think this is the nub of it for me. The fact that it conflicts or appears to conflict with the Furman-verse. I don't have a problem with IDW taking things in a new direction, but they shouldn't try to ignore a previous writer's work. Initially I'd given IDW the benefit of the doubt on this, thinking the continuity conflicts would be explained over the course of AHM or Maximum Dinobots, but reading issue #4s letters page and seeing the disrespect afforded to Simon Furman makes me wonder.
A couple of conflicts I want to know are: 1) how is Cybertron now habitable when in Furman stories it was toxic. 2) How are the constructicons able to combine when a year earlier gestalt technology was virtually unheard of. 3) What's happened to all the worlds TFs were battling on? I mean, Earth may have fallen, but its a stretch to think all the other counter-infiltration movements have swiftly collapsed too.
Looking ahead, now we've got the Autobots back in play, all we need is some progress on the Earth front in the form of some infighting or plotting among the cons. I just hope if it is going to be another 'Starscream tries to overthrow Megatron' script, that it's done in an original way.
By the way I contacted AHM's writer Shane McCarthy this week and he was happy to take part in Q&A for the site. I've emailed him a list of questions, and basically put to him the main gripes people have about AHM (continuity conflicts, slowness, etc). Hopefully he won't be put off. I'm really interested to hear what he has to say, and perhaps by tackling the concerns head-on people will have more confidence in IDW's new direction.
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Post by s2h6 on Nov 26, 2008 13:21:05 GMT
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Post by MissingSea on Dec 1, 2008 19:36:52 GMT
Well, just read AHM #5 (thanks Steve )..... well the Autobot plot is moving along more, but as far as I am concerned this is a whole new continuity. This is an improvement on the previous issues, I liked the interaction between Kup & Jazz and how Jazz is some kind of super special ops type. But as I say for me this is a new parallel continuity, as there are now far too many inconsistences in characters and base story. Cybertron is now habitable, there is energon (even though in the ..tion arc there was none/super scarce/only Ore 13). Springer has returned to the cartoon persona acting more like a football jock than a seasoned veteran and leader of the ?missing? Wreckers. They have discovered combining 'tech... er wait what happened to Monstructor and what on earth is the Swarm? Combine this with Spotlight Blurr (and possibly Spotlight Jazz if it's written by Shane 'I lubb G1 Cartoon' McCarthy) and we have complete new continuity... Though as always the art is excellent and I love the arty covers (thanks god it's not the artwork we had for Meg Origin )
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Post by s2h6 on Dec 2, 2008 13:13:42 GMT
Couple of things first he didn't say there was energon on Cybertron he said he took all the energon from the ship and they had been scouting for more. Remember this is a year ahead of the other series and as you said we don't know what happened to Monstructor so it is possible the Decepticons managed to aquire him in the aftermath of the events of Revelations and backwards engineer from him. Remember its the Constructicons who make up Devastator who are meant to be some of the most intelligent engineers so it wouldn't be outside their ability backward engineer captured technology. As for the Swarm it hasn't appeared in IDW until now though I would suggess looking at Marvel's Transformers Generation 2 comics or Wikipedia. And I think its unfair to say about Blurr being a different character as he didn't really feature in this issue and his spotlight was set at the outset of the civil war when Cybertron was still habitable which means he has had plenty of time for his character to change from what we saw in spotlight any way. On the whole the Autobot story is the current best thing about the series now that it has finally started to pick up some pace. With reference to the Swarm it makes you wonder if thats why the Autobots are so weak and how the Decepticons have managed to become so strong in the absence of the Autobot resistance.
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Post by Omega Steve on Dec 6, 2008 15:03:31 GMT
It's worth remembering that Monstructor was one of Jhiaxus' experiments and not created by the mainstream Decepticons. The cons didn't possess combiner technology during the Furman stories but clearly they acquire it in time for AHM. My guess is that the 'betrayal by one of our own' that the Autobots talk about, was one of their ranks giving the combiner tech to the cons. They used it to create Devastator, who did over Optimus. At least that's how it looks to me.
Denton reiterated the other day that AHM is the same continuity as Simon Furman's stuff, and I think we're starting to see how it all fits together. Hopefully Shane will have time to do the Q&A for OneShallStand that I've been setting up and we'll get some more light on it.
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rb
Battlecharger
Posts: 69
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Post by rb on Dec 7, 2008 14:29:37 GMT
Just read #5. While I like the general idea of the series, the lack of pace is still an issue (just compare to how intense Spotlight Sideswipe is) and the continuity. Wasn´t Kup teetering on the verge of deactivation not long ago? On the positive side, Jazz comes of as a major badass.
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Post by Omega Steve on Dec 7, 2008 23:40:39 GMT
The lack of continuity has been a gripe of mine thus far, but I think issue 5 is going some way to resolving those concerns. The depiction of Devastator as a new weapon is wholly consistent with what Simon Furman was writing (in Spotlight Prime etc) and the reverence with which Kup is held, particularly by Springer, rings true to Spotlight Kup. Don't forget AHM is set a year after TF Revelations so Kup will have had time to recover and throw himself back into the war.
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Post by Dr Headache Rushing on Dec 8, 2008 13:12:03 GMT
I agree, the continuity issue both in regards to story and characterisation has been the major spoiler of AHM for me. The pace has been slow but I can tolerate that as long as it feels like it's heading somewhere and the story feels like it is doing just that now. There are still many questions that need to be answered though, hopefully Steve will get the chance if Shane does a Q&A here. The transition from F22's to F15's is one that I really can't get my head around and a personal irritation for me, as a bit of a Reflector fan, is seeing the character revert to the cartoon series type clones. Personally I'd like to hear Shane explain that one away as, to me, Viewfinder, Spectro and Spyglass are far more interesting characters and the possibilities of a stort about how these three robots ended up with a combined alt mode is something that has never been explained.
On the plus side, as has been commented on already, Jazz is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool in issue 5! He's like the Jack Baur of the Autobots :-)
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Post by partholon on Dec 8, 2008 22:46:04 GMT
well ive read 4 and 5 and i have to say its starting to come together better. the thing thats stood out to me now is in hindsight weve got more characterisation from two issues dealing with the bots than the last three dealing with the cons. little things like frenzy aside the most weve got is one conversation with starscream and megatron and some admitedly nice stuff with skywarp and the construticons. its not that whats gone before is bad but it just really highlights how much more effort has gone into characters like jazz and ironhide , hell even cliffjumper, and i cant help thinking we missed an opertunity to do the same with the cons. i mean lets be honest theres tons of comics of them kicking arse but very few concentrating on their characters which is why guys like shockwave, scorponock , galvatron, megatron , soundwave and starscream get all the attention. this is probably why the little scenes with thundercraker and hook have meant more to me as its pretty much some of the only stuff we have of em just conversing with one another. it wouldve been so easy to have at least one or two em em saying to one another (primus, weve actually WON. can you believe it?) but anyway getting back to the comics its good to see jazz FINALLY come into his own and to have an explanation on why his rank is on a par with prowls but he always seem to be the one in the shadow. special ops it seems extends to him stepping up in special circumstances and its good to see him using spy techniques in his leadership (using invisible scouts ) and that while he doesnt look like much he can handle himself with the best of em. that said im kinda annoyed at how much prowls being protrayed as a thingy. he might be our version of cyclops but hes not stupid or incompetant so a little more respect for the guy is due IMO. were starting to get a sense now of whats going on off world as i can see that trap they fell into being replicated across the galaxy and its good to see its acually a tactic to dump them on cybertron (though still not revealed how the first bots got there) It now it seems its devestator thats put prime down and landed megs with the matrix (i kinda groaned when i saw that, no offence but ive been matrixed out the last few years and while i dont mind it if its used in a new way if its just the generic deaus ex machina it has been in recent years i'll be board to tears) and i kinda like that. a year is a good time scale for engineers of hook and scrappers skill to reverse engineer monstructor and while not blatant you can see how that fits into existing continuity the swarm thing threw me too but judging from the next issue pic im laying bets its the insecticons. it certainly fits more than furmans G2 villain. cybertrons habitable status is pretty much the only problem continuity side that i have but to be honest in stormbringer if you were indoors you were able to survive so maybe we can put it down to a lack of any storms at the moment or a shielding system we havent seen yet. all in all ive found that if you read it back to back ala infiltraton its not as bad as it first seemed, hopefully all the other conscerns will be delt with by issue 12. and hey its a GOOD story so far, cant knock that.
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Post by Omegastoopreme on Dec 11, 2008 16:36:24 GMT
Well the jury is now in on AHM 5, it's ok. Plot finally has arrived. I love Kup's Robo Cigar, makes him look like tough old soldier, very Sergeant Rock. Also good to see Jazz being fleshed out for being the tough SOB that he is supposed to be. Almost all continuities list him as being a Special Ops Sabateur type, but very few show this in action. only exception I can think of is in DW Night of the Insecticons when Marissa Fairbourne made a comment about how easy going he was but the files stated he was of an extreme threat level. I.E only someone that good could seem so laid back all the time. I do want to see an Alt mode for Drift. They keep talking about him, nut we've only seen a bot mode, admittedly with swords which is cool, but its about time we saw an Alt mode.
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Post by Omega Steve on Dec 12, 2008 2:29:58 GMT
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Post by Dr Headache Rushing on Dec 12, 2008 13:05:31 GMT
I must have missed something, who the f*ck is Drift?!
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