August 09, 2007
TF Comics
Yeah, still on my Transformers kick. It's fun watching the old cartoons again (as I managed to download the entire series from the net). Man, they are cheesy with some horrible animation errors, but I'm shocked at how many of the episodes I actually remember. LOL
I've gotten into reading the comics again too. I'm loving the "Megatron: Origins" series by IDW. There's not a lot of backstory on ole Megs, and I have to say, the history they've created for him is quite interesting. He starts off as a heavy tool swinger deep in an obscure mining base. Mines are rapidly being automated to speed up production of energon, so workers are being forced into "unemployment" while members of the Senate and their lackeys line their pockets.
Meg's mine is next on the list for automation. I think it's important to note that as of right now, the Megatron we all know and love isn't himself quite yet. He's just a common laborer and lingering in the lowest regions of the Cybertronian caste system. He's quite reserved, or maybe that's resigned, I really can't quite tell.
Anyway, the Senate calls a meeting with the miners. Naturally, the news that they are losing their jobs, their homes, their place in the world doesn't go over too well with the miners. One mech speaks his mind, only to be brutally destroyed by a Senate guard. This sparks some tempers, naturally. Megs is standing off to the side and he throws his pick axe, damaging the Senator and sparking a riot. When a Senate guard attempts to take Megs out, he fights back. They wrestle with each other and it appears something in Megs snaps. "No," he hisses as the bigger mech grabs his face. "NO!" Then Megs pile drives the bodyguard bot's head into dust.
The other miner mechs start scrapping with the rest of the Senate guard. Off to the side, Megs is staring at the decapitated mech. "What did I do?" he wonders, looking at his 'blood' soaked hands. "No. Nononono." As he looks up from his first victim, he sees the Senate guard as they ready a barrage of weapons on himself and the other miners. "Oh no," he says as he's blasted away.
Megs wakes up on a ship destined for a detention center. Several of the other mechs who survived the massacre blame him for inciting the riot. However, given the fact the are probably going to die, they ask Megs to help them commandeer the ship. At first Megs declines. He tells them, seeming almost confused as well as remorseful, that the killing of the Senate Guard had been unintentional. He has no interest in that sort of thing.
That feeling rapidly changes, however. The prisoners break free and attack the guard. Megs is seen looming in the background behind one of the Senate's minions. With the ship successfully stolen, the group returns to Cyberton. They land in the most wasted, horrific sector and disappear.
So what's an unemployed miner on the run from the law supposed to do with himself? Fight in droid death matches, naturally. Megs finds himself in the battle arena, fighting for his life. Once again, he manages to take down another mech, but this time he hesitates before killing his opponent. He recalls the Senate guard he brutally murdered. But he makes a choice as he hears the words echoed in the battle pit, "...until all are one." And he keeps killing, match after match after match...
Meanwhile, Sentinel Prime and Prowl have heard of these death matches and have been ordered by the Senate to put a stop to them. Megs has made quite the name for himself, staring in dozens of robot snuff films, for lack of a better term. Sentinel Prime calls for Meg's head, and Prowl dispatches recon teams to investigate. There seems to be some discord between Prime and the Senate as well.
Elsewhere, Senator Ratbat learns of these death matches and finds them interesting. Especially the young warrior bot, Megatron.
Later, two of Prime's bots stumble onto the site of the next death match. Quietly the watch as the Construtabots (constructacons) create the arena. Unexpectedly, Megatron shows up way to early for the fight due to some faulty information. Soundwave makes his first appearance, enticing Megs with some new technology in the guise of deadly weapons (his gun, flail, etc., we all know and love). On behalf of Senator Ratbat, Soundwave is there to bribe Megs...but it hasn't been revealed why yet.
Megs notices the two spies watching them. Soundwave uses Lazerbeak and Ravage to flush them out. Megatron promptly smashes the head of one of the "Autobots", forcing his friend to watch. When Soundwave inquires as to why Megs is killing the prisoner, Meg's reply is, "So he knows what I'll do to him if he doesn't give me the information I want." Soundwave is wise not to argue, but the other Autobot calls Megs a psychopath. Just as he's about to get stomped too, Soundwave stops Megs and uses Lazerbeak to mind rape the Autobot, learning of Sentinel's plan for the death matches and for Megs.
Soundwave decides that the "Autobot" is really useless now. Everyone watches in horror (and they do look horrified in the pictures) as Megs rips open the Autobot's chest with his bare hands.
___________
There are two more parts to this story, so I haven't got an entire understanding of what's going on. I do know that the Senate is evil and corrupt, brutally destroying those who defy it and running Cybertron's less fortunate into the ground. Also, while I hesitate to call Megs a reluctant killer, he shows remorse more than once for his acts of violence. I believe Megatron is a product of the Senate's wickedness. Driven underground and backed into a corner, whatever shred of decency he had left is obliterated.
I can sort of understand the battle between him and Optimus a little better now. Both want unity of their people, but what it comes down to is semantics. After millions of years of brutality, Megs only understands that Might Makes Right. Tyranny worked for the Senate, why not him? Prime, on the other hand, believes in freedom and fairness, that all sentient creatures have the right to choose and live without fear. While I agree with Prime's sentiments, I can understand where Megs is coming from. Choice didn't work before, why would it work again?
It'll be interesting to see where IDW takes this story. I've always wondered why Megs was the way he was. In the cartoon, he was just a power hungry cliche on a quest to be the most evil villain. But I imagined there was more to him than just that.
Perhaps I'll scan some pictures from the comic later, but until then, here are some from IDW's other Transformer works (which I might review later):
A time honored theme--Megatron giving Starscream what he deserves.
Verity gets quite the scare when she's exploring a 'deserted' Decepticon bunker:
Starscream amped up on super energon. He's going to take on he world right after finishing Megs off once and for all...yeah right:
One of my favorite characters in the TF world, Sixshot. I'd love to see him in the next movie, but I think his six transformations and the fact he's a one robot army that destroys entire planets would cut the film quite short. Still, he's pretty awesome:
