I Love to Hate You.
Megatron Origin Issue 3. 6th September 2007.
Oh, Senator, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.
After somewhat slouching for the first two parts, the third issue of Megatron Origin gives us the one thing we were all waiting to see in an exploration of the early days of the character, a key foundational stone of everything to come that we’ve never seen the starting point of in fiction before.
Yes, it’s the introduction of the rubsign, as Soundwave goes to attend a secret meeting and has to reveal his “Hidden” (it’s in a big black square on his chest) Decepticon logo before Swerve will let him in.
The in-fiction use of the famous toy gimmick is actually a Dreamwave idea from their second miniseries (where it was used by the Autobot underground, meaning in its original pitch for that company, this would have been an ironic echo), and there as here, it’s a really, really stupid idea to try and do literally and exactly as it was on the toys.
Especially here, where this is actually the first time we’re seeing the final logo, so it’s not as if its had any chance to become a symbol of a secret anarchic cell beforehand.
Oh, Senator, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.
After somewhat slouching for the first two parts, the third issue of Megatron Origin gives us the one thing we were all waiting to see in an exploration of the early days of the character, a key foundational stone of everything to come that we’ve never seen the starting point of in fiction before.
Yes, it’s the introduction of the rubsign, as Soundwave goes to attend a secret meeting and has to reveal his “Hidden” (it’s in a big black square on his chest) Decepticon logo before Swerve will let him in.
The in-fiction use of the famous toy gimmick is actually a Dreamwave idea from their second miniseries (where it was used by the Autobot underground, meaning in its original pitch for that company, this would have been an ironic echo), and there as here, it’s a really, really stupid idea to try and do literally and exactly as it was on the toys.
Especially here, where this is actually the first time we’re seeing the final logo, so it’s not as if its had any chance to become a symbol of a secret anarchic cell beforehand.
He's going to be so embarrassed when he finds out he's been punk'd.
Once inside though, we get the real big iconic first moment I suspect many readers had been waiting for. Megatron starts the scene annoyed at having lost an arm in the last fight (though it’s being replaced by one with a mace attachment), but Soundwave has come to fulfil an off-page promise to provide some fliers, and introduces Skywarp, Thundercracker and...
Starscream.
All of whom must have their rubsigns on their ass as the black secret square isn’t visible on them.
Or anyone but Soundwave come to that. Is it just that someone pranked him?
The Megatron/Starscream relationship is of course one of the key ones in the franchise, and comes with a lot of expectation and assumption to it. So, when Starscream falls to his knees in awe in front of Megatron and pledges undying allegiance in what can only be called a Chris Latta voice, your clearly meant to assume is he’s being completely insincere.
Starscream.
All of whom must have their rubsigns on their ass as the black secret square isn’t visible on them.
Or anyone but Soundwave come to that. Is it just that someone pranked him?
The Megatron/Starscream relationship is of course one of the key ones in the franchise, and comes with a lot of expectation and assumption to it. So, when Starscream falls to his knees in awe in front of Megatron and pledges undying allegiance in what can only be called a Chris Latta voice, your clearly meant to assume is he’s being completely insincere.
Love at first sight.
SPOILERS: He actually is being sincere at this point. If still very Starscream.
How Megatron is inspiring people like this when he’s been a “Huh” guy so far is more of a mystery, but maybe that’s where thinking of what later stories will establish about Megatron before this helps, you can just go with his prior fame giving him a leg-up.
Megatron himself is actually genuinely, and rather sweetly, impressed by the fact the Seekers can fly. With it turning out he has another plan for them rather than doing their best WWF impression. Probably luckily for pretty-boy Starscream.
Meanwhile, we get a surprisingly elaborate state funeral for Bumper and Fastback. Possibly the point is to show how rare Autobot deaths are at this point, but it mainly seems to be to put lots of impossible to reconcile with later stories cameos in the crowd. Orion Pax, Alpha Trion, a white Pax version of Ultra Magnus (probably the easiest to reconcile with later stories if you assume it’s the original Magnus) and Elita One amongst them. Plus, a close up of Bumblebee, Cliffjumper and Hubcap because I guess the Minibots feel Minibot deaths most sadly, though later events will make it unlikely that Hubcap would have been hanging with more senior guys like that.
How Megatron is inspiring people like this when he’s been a “Huh” guy so far is more of a mystery, but maybe that’s where thinking of what later stories will establish about Megatron before this helps, you can just go with his prior fame giving him a leg-up.
Megatron himself is actually genuinely, and rather sweetly, impressed by the fact the Seekers can fly. With it turning out he has another plan for them rather than doing their best WWF impression. Probably luckily for pretty-boy Starscream.
Meanwhile, we get a surprisingly elaborate state funeral for Bumper and Fastback. Possibly the point is to show how rare Autobot deaths are at this point, but it mainly seems to be to put lots of impossible to reconcile with later stories cameos in the crowd. Orion Pax, Alpha Trion, a white Pax version of Ultra Magnus (probably the easiest to reconcile with later stories if you assume it’s the original Magnus) and Elita One amongst them. Plus, a close up of Bumblebee, Cliffjumper and Hubcap because I guess the Minibots feel Minibot deaths most sadly, though later events will make it unlikely that Hubcap would have been hanging with more senior guys like that.
Toy Ironhide Klaxon.
The actual point of the scene is Sentinel Prime’s speech (that varies slightly depending on edition you have, in the original he says tragedy twice), which is simply about how pissed off he is with Megatron and he’s going to get him. So not anything especially new there.
One person not at the state funeral is Senator Decimus from issue 1, which is a lose end I think most readers would have forgotten about at this point (though it probably reads better in trade). Instead, he’s unveiling a statue of himself in honour of himself. With a reference to the “House of Decimus” suggesting something about Cybertronian society that James Roberts will later pick up on.
He barely starts his “To know me is to love me” speech about his statue, as the Seekers come in and rather violently kidnap him, with Starscream continuing to be a delight as he lords it up over the senator.
After a very quick cutaway to Ratbat watching news unfolding and worrying that it has all gone too wrong, it’s time for wrestling night at a “Secret location”, though one that confusingly, has a giant statue that doesn’t look all that different to the Decimus one, but according to the Wiki is meant to be Nova Prime.
There’s some largely irrelevant faff here of Sideswipe trying to discourage Sunstreaker and the Dinobots and Predacons getting psyched up, that is not helped by the worst art and colouring in the issue. Notably I had to, again, use the Wiki to tell me a generic purple and grey guy talking about running on rust to Grimlock is mean to be Snarl.
One person not at the state funeral is Senator Decimus from issue 1, which is a lose end I think most readers would have forgotten about at this point (though it probably reads better in trade). Instead, he’s unveiling a statue of himself in honour of himself. With a reference to the “House of Decimus” suggesting something about Cybertronian society that James Roberts will later pick up on.
He barely starts his “To know me is to love me” speech about his statue, as the Seekers come in and rather violently kidnap him, with Starscream continuing to be a delight as he lords it up over the senator.
After a very quick cutaway to Ratbat watching news unfolding and worrying that it has all gone too wrong, it’s time for wrestling night at a “Secret location”, though one that confusingly, has a giant statue that doesn’t look all that different to the Decimus one, but according to the Wiki is meant to be Nova Prime.
There’s some largely irrelevant faff here of Sideswipe trying to discourage Sunstreaker and the Dinobots and Predacons getting psyched up, that is not helped by the worst art and colouring in the issue. Notably I had to, again, use the Wiki to tell me a generic purple and grey guy talking about running on rust to Grimlock is mean to be Snarl.
"What if we oppressed the Galaxy haha... unless..."
Oddly the most relevant moment, especially in terms of what happens next issue, is Rumble and Frenzy trying to have a moan about having been “Modified” to be partnered with Soundwave, until Megatron punches a wall to shut them up.
Guess the guy really doe have no impulse control.
But the idea the secret origin of the cassettes is Megatron has a kink for ramming tiny guys into Soundwave is both hilarious and would be one of the quieter retcons down the line with the reveal that Soundwave and his kids have always been a team.
As blushing (bloody hell) Starscream asks what the point of having kidnapped the senator is (odd, considering the plans for what happens next must have already been made and he would have to know his role), Megatron leads him out to the only well drawn part of the issue, a double spread of the gathered gladiators and gladiator fans cheering loudly.
Which is where Megatron gives his big speech that in theory shows how fat he’s come from the lowly grunting acting on instinct guy he was one page earlier when he punched that wall.
Guess the guy really doe have no impulse control.
But the idea the secret origin of the cassettes is Megatron has a kink for ramming tiny guys into Soundwave is both hilarious and would be one of the quieter retcons down the line with the reveal that Soundwave and his kids have always been a team.
As blushing (bloody hell) Starscream asks what the point of having kidnapped the senator is (odd, considering the plans for what happens next must have already been made and he would have to know his role), Megatron leads him out to the only well drawn part of the issue, a double spread of the gathered gladiators and gladiator fans cheering loudly.
Which is where Megatron gives his big speech that in theory shows how fat he’s come from the lowly grunting acting on instinct guy he was one page earlier when he punched that wall.
The only well drawn part of the whole issue.
Listing the city states from which everyone has travelled (including the first mention of Tarn since State Games 21 years earlier. But by no means the last...), Megaton does not talk about oppression or the need for change.
Instead, it’s basically “Hey, isn’t killing people great? How about we just leave our badges on and go kill the entire planet?”. Now, he may well be playing to the hidden audience he knows is there, but he certainly convinces everyone involved this is a good idea as he prepares to throw Decimus to them. Which makes me wonder why the series wasted any time on giving a potentially sympathetic backstory to the Decepticons if it wasn’t going to use it in their moment of creation.
This is where the Autobots launch their attack, and in a confusingly drawn couple of pages, Megatron seems both genuinely surprised and determined to kill Decimus or be killed in the attempt. Which, again, SPOILERS, means he really has become a better actor since he couldn’t even stop himself impulsively punching a wall that same afternoon.
He actually achieves neither murder nor his own death, being captured by an inexplicably now black Sentinel Prime. Which was very sporting of him as Megatron’s entire plan SPOILERS depends on not having actually been killed at this point.
After the new Decepticon forces are rounded up and taken to Autobot security (though Soundwave turns out to have diplomatic immunity and gets let go), it quickly becomes apparent the cells are overwhelmed and beyond their limits.
Instead, it’s basically “Hey, isn’t killing people great? How about we just leave our badges on and go kill the entire planet?”. Now, he may well be playing to the hidden audience he knows is there, but he certainly convinces everyone involved this is a good idea as he prepares to throw Decimus to them. Which makes me wonder why the series wasted any time on giving a potentially sympathetic backstory to the Decepticons if it wasn’t going to use it in their moment of creation.
This is where the Autobots launch their attack, and in a confusingly drawn couple of pages, Megatron seems both genuinely surprised and determined to kill Decimus or be killed in the attempt. Which, again, SPOILERS, means he really has become a better actor since he couldn’t even stop himself impulsively punching a wall that same afternoon.
He actually achieves neither murder nor his own death, being captured by an inexplicably now black Sentinel Prime. Which was very sporting of him as Megatron’s entire plan SPOILERS depends on not having actually been killed at this point.
After the new Decepticon forces are rounded up and taken to Autobot security (though Soundwave turns out to have diplomatic immunity and gets let go), it quickly becomes apparent the cells are overwhelmed and beyond their limits.
Prowl turns out to really enjoy processing.
Maybe a whole city stare shouldn’t have just one jail.
This is very like SPOILERS season 4 of Buffy, where the demons are deliberately getting captured so that when the jailbreak occurs, they’ll outnumber the guards. The reverence towards Whedon is probably the most 2007 thing in IDW to date (at this point, no one would have predicted he’d wind up with a much worse reputation than Michael Bay).
In the packed cells, Starscream (who lest we forget loves Megatron so much he was blushing at him earlier) gets out by offering to tell the guards a nebulous everything, and though Megatron tries to have the other inmates kill him (so, SPOILERS, they all have to be in on this or it could go very wrong), he gets out and the issue ends with the Decepticon leader broken by the thought Starscream does indeed know everything.
I’ve not bothered to hide what happens next very much because even at the time it was really obvious this was trying hard to play on our expectations of Starscream, to the point it would have been more of a twist if there was no twist coming. Even allowing that it’s hard to buy that this Megatron could pull off this double and triple bluff game, or at least act well enough to fool anyone.
I do give it credit though, The Dark Knight (which made the “Villain gets deliberately captured for reasons” plot standard and seen in Skyfall, The Avengers and Star Trek Into Darkness amongst way too many others) didn’t come out for another year, so this is ahead of the curve in that respect.
This is very like SPOILERS season 4 of Buffy, where the demons are deliberately getting captured so that when the jailbreak occurs, they’ll outnumber the guards. The reverence towards Whedon is probably the most 2007 thing in IDW to date (at this point, no one would have predicted he’d wind up with a much worse reputation than Michael Bay).
In the packed cells, Starscream (who lest we forget loves Megatron so much he was blushing at him earlier) gets out by offering to tell the guards a nebulous everything, and though Megatron tries to have the other inmates kill him (so, SPOILERS, they all have to be in on this or it could go very wrong), he gets out and the issue ends with the Decepticon leader broken by the thought Starscream does indeed know everything.
I’ve not bothered to hide what happens next very much because even at the time it was really obvious this was trying hard to play on our expectations of Starscream, to the point it would have been more of a twist if there was no twist coming. Even allowing that it’s hard to buy that this Megatron could pull off this double and triple bluff game, or at least act well enough to fool anyone.
I do give it credit though, The Dark Knight (which made the “Villain gets deliberately captured for reasons” plot standard and seen in Skyfall, The Avengers and Star Trek Into Darkness amongst way too many others) didn’t come out for another year, so this is ahead of the curve in that respect.
Et tu, Starscream?
This is easily the best issue so far, almost entirely because of Starscream. He’s fun, something seriously missing from this series and livens up each of his far too brief moments.
The rest is still a muddy mess though, with Megatron himself remaining a poorly defined shallow puddle where little he does makes any sense, especially with his motivation boiled down into “Stabbing good”.
Frankly, I’m more invested in Cybertron’s only just started rubsign industry. How are they going to cope now the Decepticons have gone public? Jobs will be lost, investors will lose their share value, pensions will plummet. Will no one think of that?
Will no one think of me, next week, having to read the third issue of the New Avengers crossover?
SPOTLIGHT: OPTIMUS PRIME
2007
COMMENT
KO-FI
The rest is still a muddy mess though, with Megatron himself remaining a poorly defined shallow puddle where little he does makes any sense, especially with his motivation boiled down into “Stabbing good”.
Frankly, I’m more invested in Cybertron’s only just started rubsign industry. How are they going to cope now the Decepticons have gone public? Jobs will be lost, investors will lose their share value, pensions will plummet. Will no one think of that?
Will no one think of me, next week, having to read the third issue of the New Avengers crossover?
SPOTLIGHT: OPTIMUS PRIME
2007
COMMENT
KO-FI
