All Hail Megatron #9 Options

[Total Biscuit]

Thing is though, if all they need is to boost morale, they have Blaster right there.

Seriously, if you need a good rabble rousing speech, from someone who can inspire others and put on a confident upbeat face on things even if he doesn't share those sentiments, 'The Voice' would be the first bot you'd turn to. Especially in light of his recent nearly getting killed by decepticons and comming back from it stronger than ever in his Spotlight.

[chiasaur11]

Thing is though, if all they need is to boost morale, they have Blaster right there.

Seriously, if you need a good rabble rousing speech, from someone who can inspire others and put on a confident upbeat face on things even if he doesn't share those sentiments, 'The Voice' would be the first bot you'd turn to. Especially in light of his recent nearly getting killed by decepticons and comming back from it stronger than ever in his Spotlight.

Gotta agree.

Prime may be able to do a rousing speech, but IDW Prime feels a tad worldweary to pull it off perfect.

Don't get me wrong, The Voice has been through hell too, but he manages to pull A1 quality propaganda speeches anyway.

[Dinogrrl]

Total Biscuit has a good point with the Blaster angle, although having Prime back would be the ultimate morale booster. Thing I don't get is that if Ratchet needed help from Perceptor to fix Prime, why would either he or Kup refuse this, especially with Kup blabbering on about needing Prime so dang bad. Can't Percy take a break from wielding the Gun of Doom and hugging well help? Unless he's not smart anymore, which would be another passel of crap writing to add to this.

I really have beef with this now, as Percy's a personal fav. I admit I squealed like a fangirl at the kickass redesign that Guido pulled and at his first appearance as a sniper - that actually made sense, given his optical abilities. Last issue started to push things over the edge though, what with the Wanted style gun grandstanding, but I still got a bit of a kick out of it. This issue really jumped the shark for me as far as Shane's depiction of Perceptor goes though. He's not the same character, he simply looks the same and bears the same name. There's no way his character would not assist Ratchet when needed, or permanently abandon science. And if it's an attempt at depicting how War Is Hell, Son and screws with people's heads, then he's taken it too far, and fanboyed the crap out of it with the silent sociopath sniper schtick.

I have to echo what was said earlier - the only real reason we have to suspect that this isn't the real Prime is that the alternative is terrible writing. Terrible writing that's actually quite the insult to fans, in that they expect us to buy the magic Prime revival, because hey, it's happened a zillion other times in canon, why not whip out that old chestnut.

You know I want to support Shane and was rooting for him in part because he's a fellow Aussie, and in part because I get tired of the fandom squealing like stuck pigs every time something new gets bandied around. But this issue has me losing faith almost altogether, with the exception of Mirage and Ratchet. So many bits make no sense either within the issue, compared to past issues or the larger IDW universe, especially characterization-wise (and I'm no Furman worshiper either). If Shane's planning some twist with this stuff, then he's doing a poor job of laying it out.

I'm going to have to rethink whether I'm going to bother buying the trades or not. I was looking to pick up the first one yesterday, but then I read this issue, and suspect it's only going to suck more before it's all over. I haven't spent dollar one on this series so far, and may not yet.

[Magnusblitz]

Thing is though, if all they need is to boost morale, they have Blaster right there.

Seriously, if you need a good rabble rousing speech, from someone who can inspire others and put on a confident upbeat face on things even if he doesn't share those sentiments, 'The Voice' would be the first bot you'd turn to. Especially in light of his recent nearly getting killed by decepticons and comming back from it stronger than ever in his Spotlight.

That would require this story being set in IDW continuity and not 1986.

[Cat]

I think Prime HAS to be a fake: otherwise that whole issue falls flat on its face.

'Prime may never recover. Woah he's fine. Dang, I shouldn't be doing this job drunk. Sorry everyone!'

[Total Biscuit]

Prime never really gets hurt, it's just that sometimes he has to sleep off a the effects of a heroism bender.

(Incase 'going out on a bender' doesn't translate for non Brits, it means getting very, very drunk, and has nothing to do with heroic homosexuals, whose effects are vastly different)

This post has been edited by Total Biscuit: Mar 27 2009, 06:32 PM

[Jeysie]

You know... I once posted on the IDW boards that I liked the fact that so far Transformers has managed to stay away from the whole concept of being a monster B-Movie with giant robots fighting each other while stepping on the humans busy running around and screaming and being useless while their planet got trashed.

...yeah.

And then while discussing some of the character changes after the first few issues of AHM and whether they were good or bad things...

IDW Poster: "Besides, it's kind of fun to screw with general perception of a character once in a while. A lot of it's done for shock value and it either works or it doesn't."

Me: "It's fun screwing around with a perception of a character when it's actually still a valid interpretation of the existing character.

I mean by your logic, I could, for instance, decide to create a gun-toting character that operates on instinct and would rather fight first and think later, then give him, say, Perceptor or Skids' names and looks, and call it an "unexpected twist". Or any other similar repurposing that isn't remotely the original character."

(Original Post)

Yeah.

Of course, at this point, I'm hard-pressed to believe this is an actual story. Instead it reads more like a marketing experiment where McCarthy keeps throwing out different types of plot approaches and developments out there to see which ones the audience likes the best. "Hmm. They totally hated that, but liked this other thing, so let's switch to doing this other thing next issue." I'm at a loss for how else to explain the constant mood shuffling, or plot threads getting picked up, dropped, changed, and shuffled around instead of flowing from one to the other properly.

[Detour]

I don't like Perceptor: Man Of Action.

I always liked Perceptor: Man Of Science. That's what made Perceptor cool.
This "new and badass Perceptor" feels like he got a spark transplant with Sureshot or something.

I don't see why Sureshot couldn't have sufficed.

Seriously. Sureshot. His entire gimmick is that he's a badass sniper.
Why couldn't he be there instead of having Perceptor steal his personality.

[Dr Syn]

I don't like Perceptor: Man Of Action.

I always liked Perceptor: Man Of Science. That's what made Perceptor cool.
This "new and badass Perceptor" feels like he got a spark transplant with Sureshot or something.

I don't see why Sureshot couldn't have sufficed.

Seriously. Sureshot. His entire gimmick is that he's a badass sniper.
Why couldn't he be there instead of having Perceptor steal his personality.

Because:

He's too skillful for his chestplate

[chiasaur11]

I don't like Perceptor: Man Of Action.

I always liked Perceptor: Man Of Science. That's what made Perceptor cool.
This "new and badass Perceptor" feels like he got a spark transplant with Sureshot or something.

I don't see why Sureshot couldn't have sufficed.

Seriously. Sureshot. His entire gimmick is that he's a badass sniper.
Why couldn't he be there instead of having Perceptor steal his personality.

Because:

He's too skillful for his chestplate

Perceptor stole his personality...

WITH SCIENCE!

Also, men of science can be actiony and make it work. Look at Walt Simonson doing Reed Richards. Heck, even Stan and Jack had him able to throw a punch that one shotted Blastarr. It's just if the SCIENCE! is ignored we got a problem.

[Database]

You know... I once posted on the IDW boards that I liked the fact that so far Transformers has managed to stay away from the whole concept of being a monster B-Movie with giant robots fighting each other while stepping on the humans busy running around and screaming and being useless while their planet got trashed.

...yeah.

And then while discussing some of the character changes after the first few issues of AHM and whether they were good or bad things...

IDW Poster: "Besides, it's kind of fun to screw with general perception of a character once in a while. A lot of it's done for shock value and it either works or it doesn't."

Me: "It's fun screwing around with a perception of a character when it's actually still a valid interpretation of the existing character.

I mean by your logic, I could, for instance, decide to create a gun-toting character that operates on instinct and would rather fight first and think later, then give him, say, Perceptor or Skids' names and looks, and call it an "unexpected twist". Or any other similar repurposing that isn't remotely the original character."

(Original Post)

Yeah.

Even before McCartney, IDW did that. Look at Arcee. "I'm female, RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!"

[Jeysie]

Yeah, I agree with Detour and Chiasaur.

The first time we saw Percy as a sniper it was kind cool, as the fact that his tech specs say he's got some sharpshooting capabilities tends to get ignored.

Having him *only* be a sniper, though... yeah, it pretty much removes what made him cool instead of just another TF. *points at her user title here with a little cough*

I'm not even going to get started on the rest (like the fact that the only humans I've liked so far in AHM are either dead or being tortured, and I usually like the human characters in TF unlike most TF fans...)

[Blot]

I don't like Perceptor: Man Of Action.

I always liked Perceptor: Man Of Science. That's what made Perceptor cool.
This "new and badass Perceptor" feels like he got a spark transplant with Sureshot or something.

I don't see why Sureshot couldn't have sufficed.

Seriously. Sureshot. His entire gimmick is that he's a badass sniper.
Why couldn't he be there instead of having Perceptor steal his personality.

Sureshot isn't from the first two seasons or the movie, though.

[Cat]

Plus it's kinda weird to turn Wheeljack from a regular soldier into a scientist, and then turn Perceptor from a regular scientist into a soldier (albeit a specialised one)

Why bother?

[Magnusblitz]

Yeah, I have no problem with Perceptor being a sniper in addition to being a scientist. That's expanding the character in a realistic way. When we first saw it (and got the ensuing "that's scary"/"that's awesome" conversation), it was good. But completely replacing his scientist role with sniper? Stupid. The real Perceptor would've immediately pointed out the flaw in Kup's plan to have a sharpshooter set off the bridge demolitions with bullets.

[Bass X0]

Shane still doesn't know how to pace a story well. A good writer doesn't drop bombshells at the end of an issue and then ignores them for a few issues.

I wanted to find out more about the Starscream and his mystery guest as well as more of what Megatron's plans are.

Everything just seems so disjointed.

If Furman had been writing AHM instead, we would have been treated to a better juggling act.

Still only three issues left now. But at this point, most of us are just waiting for it to be over with so we can move on to the next thing than eagerly awaiting the climatic showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron.

[MightyMegs]

But at this point, most of us are just waiting for it to be over with so we can move on to the next thing than eagerly awaiting the climatic showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron.

I can spoil it for you, based on the utter-crapfest this series has been so far... Prime kicks the sh#% out of Megatron while Stan Bush sings 'Touch' in the background. All the other Decepticons get real scared of the Autobots and flee Earth. The humans rejoice, and wonder how they ever got along without these wonderful transforming robots... well, the nice ones anyway.
Epilogue: But, the Autobots don't realize that a new menace has appeared... Unicron! A story told in a way it has only been told four times before! Fall 2009!

[Dys]

Even before McCartney, IDW did that. Look at Arcee. "I'm female, RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!"

"A sweet, kind, and loyal Autobot to her friends, Arcee is also a merciless, lethal warrior to her enemies... But catch one of the Autobots, or worse, a Decepticon, making a disparaging remark about Hot Rod in Arcee's presence and the offender will more often than not find his hydraulic hoses sliced to ribbons before he knows it."

Arcee's original TFU character profile.

Vicious, cutty Arcee is completely random characterisation, pulled from the air... Yep.

Perceptor's characterisation reminds me why I dislike AHM, not only is it going against his previous appearance and role in the same continuity and it's also redundant as the Autobot sniper role would fit Mirage better as he's also a sharpshooter. I won't be surprised if his complete personality shift is explained as a war movie cliché, having a close friend die in his arms during the Decepticon onslaught, despite being a scientist and medic in a long running conflict and undoubtedly seeing the death of countless friends and allies... I mean, it's basically what he's done to poor Sideswipe, only in the other direction.

[Bass X0]

Epilogue: But, the Autobots don't realize that a new menace has appeared... Unicron! A story told in a way it has only been told four times before! Fall 2009!

Written by Shane McCarthy.

Who retcons Galvatron and Cyclonus' origin to have always been created by Unicron.

[Reload]

But at this point, most of us are just waiting for it to be over with so we can move on to the next thing than eagerly awaiting the climatic showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron.

I can spoil it for you, based on the utter-crapfest this series has been so far... Prime kicks the sh#% out of Megatron while Stan Bush sings 'Touch' in the background. All the other Decepticons get real scared of the Autobots and flee Earth. The humans rejoice, and wonder how they ever got along without these wonderful transforming robots... well, the nice ones anyway.
Epilogue: But, the Autobots don't realize that a new menace has appeared... Unicron! A story told in a way it has only been told four times before! Fall 2009!

Realistically...

I'm guessing:

[10]
-Autobots start to fight off the Swarm.
-Starscream + others and Insecticons attempt to overthrow Megatron.
-Spike and the other humans make their way towards Megatron, run into trouble, get helped out by that guy who supposedly got smushed by Astrotrain a while back.

[11]
-Autobots defeat/escape Swarm with help of the real revived Prime.
-Megatron overpowers Starscream and others who try to overthrow him, seemingly victorious.
-Spike shoots Megatron, critically wounding him, allowing Starscream or whatever to defeat him.
-Deus Ex Hunter is explained.

[12]?

----

I'm not convinced that the Cybertron stranded Autobots will return to Earth before the series ends. Other pockets of Autobot resistance (Dinobots, I don't know) will probably be involved.

This post has been edited by Reload: Mar 28 2009, 11:15 AM