Megatron Origin issue 2

Megatron's road begins to darken and his future path becomes more clear.

Writer: Eric Holmes Art: Alex Milne (pages 1–11, 20–22); Marcelo Matere (pages 12–19) Colors: Josh Perez Edits: Chris Ryall


 * Original release date: July 25, 2007
 * Characters (In order of appearance): Megatron, His opponent, Clench, Rumble, Frenzy,Senator Ratbat, Soundwave, Prowl, Blades, Sentinel Prime, Bumper, Fastback, Constructicons,  Ravage Laserbeak

Synopsis
Kaon. The Forge. During an underground gladiatorial combat, the escaped convict Megatron fights against a familiar opponent. His enemy displays the remarkable ability to continue fighting once impaled, but is crippled after being run over by Megatron in vehicle mode. For the satisfaction of the ring master and the audience, he executes his opponent. As the crowd cheers at the the death, Megatron removes his helmet, exposing his long metal panels. (ahem).

Meanwhile, Senator Ratbat dismisses the concerns of his meager assistant to attend to more important matters. In privacy, he manipulates world events for personal gain. But a report on the underground combat circuit piques his interest. He sends his servant to handle it.

Megatron rises through the ranks of the illegal gladiatorial bloodsport and eventually finds himself fighting alongside Clench. Megatron takes the opportunity to to, shall we say, better his position in the organization by killing Clench and taking over.

Prowl shows footage of the battle to his team, who are eager to put a stop to the unlawful violence. Sentinel Prime arrives and announces that there's already been several efforts in a plan to catch the delinquents.

Bumper and Fastback stake out a location suspected to be the grounds for the next session of murders. They witness the arrival of the Constructicons who begin to assemble that night's arena, which includes tossing an empty to drown in hot metal. Megatron arrives on the scene and immediately receives a technology and weaponry sales offer from one who introduces himself as Soundwave. The two Autobots witness the transaction and are ambushed by Ravage, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw.

Bumper awakens to see Megatron stomp the life out of Fastback. Next, Soundwave uses Laserbeak to pry data from Bumper's mind. Megatron cancels the battle and expresses satisfaction with Soundwave's servicehe agrees to do business with Soundwave's Master and then kills Bumper.

Quotes
"Finish Him!"
 *  Clench

"'Til all are one!"
 * Spectators at the execution of Cy-Kill

Cameos

 * Megatron's opponent: Cy-Kill from the Go-Bots toy line in a familiar situation for him.
 * Megatron's audience: Skyquake, Starscream, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Spinister, Seawing, Crasher (again from the GoBots), Overlord, Slugslinger
 * Prowl's men: Blades, Roadbuster, Whirl, Hound, Jazz, Red Alert

Items of note

 * The markings on Cy-kill-- err, Megatron's opponent's shoulder possibly represent the number of kills he has.
 * During the first fight, Megatron wears an emblem around his neck that resembles what might become the Decepticon insignia.
 * During the depiction of Megatron's sixth fight, the head of the Vehicon Tankor appears giant in the background for reasons that are unclear.
 * One of the gladiators mentions the departed Betabear. Since he was in a combat arena for robots, we can assume Betabear is a godless killing machine.
 * The new anti-gravity technology which Ratbat learns of is likely responsible for the Decepticons' ability to fly in robot form.
 * The weapons Soundwave which offers to Megatron include the usual energon flail, a Seeker's null-ray and Shockwave's blaster hand.

Covers (3)

 * Cover A: with pencils by Alex Milne and colors by Josh Perez
 * Cover B: with pencils by Marcelo Matere and colors by Andrew Elder
 * Cover RI-A: which is just Cover A only without the colors

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