All Hail Megatron volume 2 TPB

I take it from reading the discussion that the story didn't work for some of you. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and perhaps having six issues in one volume improves the pacing and ties things together more effectively. I can't say, having not read individual issues. I enjoyed the story very much.

The volume begins with the creation of the Insecticons and the Swarm, and I was happy to see some art by EJ Su, whose art I liked quite a bit in Infiltration and Escalation. Thundercracker is not happy about the experiments used to create the Insecticons and the way the cast-offs are treated. "Our own kind!" he keeps insisting. It's little scenes are reactions like this that make him and others more than just background filler characters. And there are other similar scenes here and there.

The Autobots are on the run, and the way in which they were defeated and sent to Cybertron is explained by Jazz to Kup in a flashback. Devastator is the ace in the hole that he was back in the early G1 days, when he was the only combiner. It's odd that Megatron doesn't just have the Autobots all killed rather than sending them to Cybertron to be eaten by the Swarm though. I'm not sure I buy that, unless he thought they might be needed later. It's an odd choice. Regardless, Prime manages to close the portal, leaving the Autobots alive but trapped. So they're on the run, leaderless and pursued by crazy mutant Insecticons.

It's a rough scene when Ironhide beats up Mirage, convinced that he's the traitor and unwilling to hear him out. Sunstreaker, the actual traitor, stands there and watches, and it's clear this later plays into his decision to confess and end it all, as his consicence gets the better of him. As an aside, it's nice to see the Universe versions of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe used in the story, and also Mirage I believe. I'm not sure if there were others, though I did see Dropshot and Tankor/Octane near the end, which was a nice touch. Sunstreaker's apparent death is the end of a downward spiral for a proud Autobot who was violated badly by humans and who couldn't get past that. His agreement with Starscream sealed the deal, since the dire situation the Autobots find themselves trapped in can be laid directly at his feet. I'm not convinced that he's dead, since he survived the explosion and the fall as shown in issue #14, even if he is in bad shape, but that's neither here nor there. Death is meaningless in comics.

Starscream goes around gathering support for a coup, fully aware that Megatron knows what he's up to. I find the portrayal of Starscream very interesting here. He's ambitious as always, but he also genuinely seems disenchanted with Megatron's leadership and lack of goals, and he seems genuinely to believe in the Decepticon cause rather than simply being out for power. Megatron tells him at one point that he sees Starscream ultimately succeeding in wresting leadership from him one day, and that's enough to rally Starscream behind Megatron against the Autobots. And he refuses to use the opportunity to simply kill Megatron when he's helpless and take his place, saying that leadership must be earned. This seems to be a Starscream that isn't stupid, but recognizes that he's got to have the respect of the troops in order to lead them, and killing an already helpless Megatron isn't likely to get him that respect.

Omega Supreme is one of my favorite figures and characters, so having him show up and save the day was great. His explanation of how he survived the attack sent to finish him off ("I am Omega Supreme") says it all.

One of the themes of this series is the way in which various characters pay for deals with the other side. Sunstreaker is the obvious example, but Thundercracker strays from prevailing dogma and gets shot in the head by Skywarp. Drift is rejected by Thundercracker as a traitor. Ironhide beats Mirage badly because he believes Mirage is a traitor. Both sides are so locked into their causes and beliefs that there's no room for compromise. And considering how long they've been fighting, it's not surprising. But it makes one wonder how peace would ever be possible, assuming the war was ever decisively won by either side. The overall theme of this story seems to explore this idea to some extent, as the Decepticons stagnate without a challenging enemy to fight, and the Autobots fall apart without Prime to rally them, though they are in a terminal situation admittedly.

There's a lot more, but I won't regurgitate the entire plot. Suffice it to say, I'm sorry I missed the issues the first time around. I like the ideas behind the story, and the way in which the characters were used. I'm glad I've been drawn back into reading the comics. Looks like I've missed out on some good stuff.