« The Transformers: All Hail Megatron #3 »
Smirkus Maximus
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	September 17, 2008
Cover date	September 2008
Written by	Shane McCarthy
Art by	Guido Guidi
Colors by	Josh Burcham
Letters by	Neil Uyetake & Chris Mowry
Edits by	Denton J. Tipton
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	All Hail Megatron

The Decepticons finish conquering the United States and bask in victory.

Synopsis

At the platform in one of New York City's subway stations, a crowd of weary and fearful refugees is gathered. A broken man walks in down the stairs, and his young, scared son runs to him asking to go home. The man explains to another refugee that his son doesn't know what's going on—and he reassures his son that they'll be out soon. Right on cue, a train starts coming... specifically, a D62 steam locomotive. Transforming, Astrotrain quickly caves in the subway station, burying the fleeing crowd.

Back at the military base camp in Central Park, General Witwicky continues to receive reports on the situation outside, and orders his troops to take cover from the Decepticon raids by holing up in the residential areas. Reports begin to trickle in of Los Angeles and San Diego being under attack. Noting the effectiveness of the attack so far, and how the Decepticons have built an excellent strike base, Witwicky remarks on how they're facing off against a very impressive military genius. He continues to be updated on the situation, of how anything short of carpet bombing the continental United States would be useless (which naturally isn't an option) and remarks on how the United States Navy has been scuttled. As the assembled command crew remark how dire the situation is, Witwicky is still determined to defend his country... until they get the message that the capital has been taken, and Air Force One has been destroyed and crashed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, leaving him speechless.

As Megatron surveys the carnage and destruction in New York City, Hook reports that the construction of something has begun, but questions the choice of location given the substandard building materials. Megatron reassures him, explaining that the location was one of Earth's greatest cities, and Hook leaves to continue the work. No sooner has he left than Starscream returns, and Megatron questions him on why he isn't fighting with the Seekers. Starscream reassures Megatron of his troops' abilities, and remarks he had business to take care of in Washington, D.C. (presumably something to do with a certain high-security jet). As Megatron cleans his cannon with a flag torn off a hotel building, the two remark on the total victory of the Decepticons everywhere, and how a traitor within the Autobots allowed the Decepticons to make a successful galaxy-wide assault. Megatron praises Starscream's work, telling him that he is the embodiment of the Decepticon ideal. When Starscream comments on the rarity of such praise, Megatron states that of the two of them, he isn't the one incapable of seeing Starscream's strengths.

BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!

Elsewhere in New York, Rumble is blowing up random Volkswagen Beetles and being bored. The Reflector trio agrees, complaining that they aren't the real thing. As the Decepticons walk by, refugees sneak by with supplies, dashing into the subway station where Andy Reid is holed up with his ally. They comment on how well they've organized their camp, and Reid wishes he could get a hold of command. However, he's keeping an eye out for Meg, the girlfriend of his dead friend, DJ, hoping she survived the carnage. He comments on how they have no idea where the enemy robots are from, that they could be man-made or even Martians, and on how they've organized their group with drills. As they talk, a train approaches, and the crowd starts fighting said training at the prospect of a rescue.

Of course, it's just a purple locomotive. And as Reid rounds up the crowd and gets them fleeing, Astrotrain gives an encore performance of his previous act by bringing the tunnel crashing down.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Continuity notes

• Some time has passed between now and issue 1; Witwicky mentions that "in a matter of days" Megatron and co. have secured an excellent staging area.
• In this issue, all three of the Reflector robots are alive and well, even though in Spotlight: Wheelie, Viewfinder is confirmed dead. Shane McCarthy explained this by establishing that Reflector's appearance in Spotlight: Wheelie was taking place later than the events of All Hail Megatron, but this explanation was invalidated much later with the ongoing issue "Space Opera Part 1: The Stars My Destination", in which Wheelie reappears with severe mental disorders that he probably couldn't have developed in just the 2–3 years between All Hail Megatron and the ongoing series. Furthermore, Spyglass remains on Earth at least as late as "New Arrivals, Old Encounters", which takes place mere months before "Space Opera Part 1". John Barber would later resolve this error using time travel.
• Astrotrain has abandoned his body as seen in previous IDW arcs (featuring a realistic, commonplace freight-hauling diesel locomotive form) for a new one that heavily resembles his Classics body, but configured to transform into his original D62 steam locomotive altmode... a form of motive power that hasn't been common in America since the early 1960s, and a specific model of locomotive built and operated solely in Japan, and which would not fit on American railroads, being built to an entirely different gauge of track (in Japan the rails are spaced 3 ft 6in apart as opposed to the American standard of 4 ft 8.5in)...robots in disguise indeed!
• Megatron has stopped smiling like a madman in every shot. Guido Guidi stated that he toned down Megatron's expressions due to Shane McCarthy's input.^[1]
• Shane's idea with Megatron and Starscream here is that Megatron's philosophy means he has to be overthrown and the Decepticons have to move on when he's not there; he views Starscream as the future leader and wants him to get his arse in gear and do better at it.^[2] This could explain Starscream being kept in stasis in Devastation and why he let the troops off for bringing the guy back. Except his first appearance was threatening to kill everyone unless they stood down and showing annoyance for Starscream trying to take over. Urm.
• Andy gets squished by Astrotrain, but this is not stated till next issue.

Errors

• In issue 2, General Witwicky is referred to as "Colonel"; in the recap given on the inside cover in issue 3, he's referred to as a general. In issue 5, he is again referred to as a Colonel, confirming this was an error.
• When Megatron rests his fusion cannon on a building wall, a hatch can be seen on his arm where the cannon attaches. When he tears the flag off the building, that hatch is conspicuously missing.

Trivia

• The Decepticons suddenly attack four cities—Washington, D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles—in the space of two pages. Aside from Air Force One being crashed, we don't see these attacks. Shane would later reveal that Hasbro wouldn't let him show more wholesale destruction or trash any landmarks in case of negative impact on kids.^[3] Why Hasbro approved a "Decepticons trash Earth" series if they don't want the story to show Earth getting trashed is unknown.
• Bridge can tell the difference between a jaguar and a dog.

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Starscream and Megatron back to back; art by Guido Guidi, colors by Josh Burcham.
• Cover B: Communist propaganda style of a Decepticon flag over a ruined Washington D.C. with Starscream above; art and colors by Trevor Hutchison.
• Cover RI: Astrotrain study sketch; art and colors by Guido Guidi.

• 

  Who farted?

• 

  I'm the king of the biggest purple flag in the world!

• 

  I think I'll adjust my alt mode to be an out-of-date train. That'll really fool 'em!

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• All Hail Megatron #4
• Spotlight: Sideswipe
• The Arrival #2
• Legion of the Supernatural series (also in IDWords section)
• Star Trek: Romulans: The Hollow Crown
• G.I. Joe comic
• Ghostbusters: The Other Side
• Barack Obama /John McCain Presidential Material comics (back cover)

Reprints

Other than full or partial collections of All Hail Megatron.

• N/A

References