All Hail Megatron issue 4

	; For the last time, Ironhide, FRENZY IS BLUE! Didn't you read All Hail Megatron #2?!!
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	October 22, 2008
Cover date	October 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

As the Decepticons rampage across Earth, tensions rise among the Autobots on Cybertron.

Synopsis

"All Hail Megatron," aka "Ironhide punches everyone."

Megatron proclaims to his men that Earth is theirs! The Decepticons are told of how they are gods among their race, that all human resistance has fallen, and that the Decepticons have won on every front in the galaxy. The Autobots are beaten!

On Cybertron, Prowl and Ironhide clash over the situation and whether or not Mirage is the one who betrayed them to the Decepticons. Ironhide punches Prowl out when it's suggested that, for all anyone knows, he could be the traitor, and Jazz has to step in to suggest Ironhide takes a walk. Once alone, Prowl and Jazz discuss how bad the situation is, how there's no energon on the planet and they're using all they have to save Optimus Prime, and a mysterious secret no one can know.

Out in the storm-ridden, death-causing wasteland of Cybertron, Bumblebee and Wheeljack are going for a nice drive and finding that Earth car tires don't work well on Cybertron's metal terrain. They suddenly encounter an unknown, shadowy figure, and Wheeljack calls for help with a short pulse that will turn on a console light for 1/100th of a second. Bumblebee thinks nobody would be mad enough to be constantly staring at that light on the off-chance of there being a fight, but he reckoned without Cliffjumper!

Everyone gets theirs!

Ironhide storms off after arguing with Jazz over what the latter's hiding and Mirage's potential treachery, and Cliffjumper gets him to tag along to the potential fight.

Back on Earth, the small group of survivors are arguing, and Bridge has no idea of what to do, but Sarah slaps him and tells him to man up, which miraculously cures him of his angst and makes him take up leadership.

On Cybertron, the shadowy figure is revealed to be Hot Rod. He informs Ironhide and co. that he and another group of Autobots were shot down over Cybertron and they'd almost given up hope of rescue. But his SOS message must've been picked up by Ironhide's group after all, and the group's come to rescue them! ...right?

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Jazz (18) Ironhide (19) Prowl (20) Tracks (21) Mirage (22) Trailbreaker (23) Cliffjumper (24) Sideswipe (25) Sunstreaker (26) Bumblebee (27) Wheeljack (28) Hot Rod (29)	Megatron (1) Starscream (2) Soundwave (3) Bombshell (4) Skywarp (5) Thundercracker (6) Scrapper (7) Blitzwing (8) Astrotrain (9) Hook (10) Kickback (15) Shrapnel (16) Bonecrusher (17)	Hawke (11) Daniel Witwicky (12) Bridge (13) Sarah (14)

Quotes

"The human armies have fallen... Their machines and devices are ours to control... Their weapons are as nothing before our might! Even now, all around us they cower in fear... Crushed... Defeated... And praying for relief. But it will not come. At last, we have succeeded, at last the might of the Decepticon Empire has prevailed. We are glorious in our victory... And united in our cause. You are gods, the mightiest of our race. I cast my eyes upon you... And I am proud. Across the galaxy our brothers share in your success. The last of the outposts have fallen. Nothing has been left standing. My Decepticon brothers... The Autobot resistance is no more."

—Megatron gives a good victory speech

"Look around you, this situation is entirely different, and it's about time you adjusted to that!"
"Well I can't can I?! I guess I just ain't built that way!"
"What? You are built that way! You're part of a race that's specifically designed to be "that way." We adapt to any situation, it's what we do!"

—Prowl and Ironhide get philosophical

"I should have made that corner easy. Our wheels are still configured for Earth terrain, not smooth metal."
"Well, if I had my equipment I could easily create a reactionary bonding polymer that would substantially eradicate any--"
"Do you have your equipment, Wheeljack?"
"No."
"Do you have any equipment?"
"Now you're being rude."

—Bumblebee gets snarky

Wheeljack: "I'm calling for help."
Bumblebee: "Transmissions are impossible. No signal will carry on Cybertron anymore."
Wheeljack: "This is something else I'm trying. A short pulse. A single spike with enough power to activate a rudimentary console light back at base for approximately one hundredth of a second."
Bumblebee: "You're signalling backup with a light pulse of one hundredth of a second?!"
Wheeljack: "It'll work."
Bumblebee: "We've been out here for hours! Who in their right mind is going to stare at a tiny light on the off chance we might need backup?"
Cliffjumper: "Show time."

Notes

Continuity notes

The Autobots are stuck in their Earth forms and are unable to change their alt modes. However inexplicably, a noteworthy few such as Prowl, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are in different bodies from their prior Earth forms. These three closely resemble their recent toys in the Universe line, a change that artist Guido Guidi has revealed was suggested by Hasbro. Sunstreaker's change in bodies was later touched on in Maximum Dinobots #5, taking place before All Hail Megatron.
Though Ironhide is drawn in his Infiltration body, the behind-the-window greebles from his Universe toy are drawn behind his windshield.
Hot Rod has been redesigned; he now resembles his original character model. Like with Sunstreaker, this would later be explained by the end of the Maximum Dinobots miniseries.
First appearances: Kickback makes his proper debut; his first appearance in Megatron Origin #4 is retroactively made an error.

Transformers references

The setup of Bumblebee and Wheeljack out looking for energy on a decimated, energy-drained Cybertron is drawn directly from the opening scenes of the first Transformers cartoon episode, "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1".

Errors

When the issue came out, it was noted that Autobots are happily walking and driving around Cybertron without personal field harmonics, or even mention of them, yet have not died from the cosmic radiation that saturates the planet like they should have. Issue 7 of this series stated that Cybertron had recovered and the storms were gone, but that the radiation on Cybertron makes it very painful to walk around. Unfortunately, the Autobots here make no mention and show no sign of being in pain at all, so the first error's been replaced with another...
Hot Rod continues to hide in the shadows when he's near enough to see clearly it's Bumblebee and Wheeljack from whom he's hiding. He is then surprised to find out it is them when they talk to him.
In the Autobot group shot on page 8, Mirage and Trailbreaker have a funny perspective thing going on: Mirage's upper body is behind Trailbreaker's, but his feet are in front, and neither of them are turning or twisting any part of themselves to accommodate such positioning.

Trivia

Megatron's claiming that Earth has been conquered, rather than just the parts of the United States we've seen them conquering, even though his speech appears to take place just a few hours after last issue. It appeared that wide-scale conquering wasn't important enough to show on-panel if it didn't happen to New York, until issue 5 and 6 showed the rest of the world was still very much not conquered.

Covers (3)

Cover A: Ironhide and Prowl argue while Jazz looks on; art by Guido Guidi and Josh Burcham.
Cover B: Silhouette of Ironhide staring dejectedly on Cybertron; art by Trevor Hutchison.
Cover RI: Colored sketch art of Devastator by Guido Guidi.

Jazz tells me you touched his tailpipe. Well you CAN'T do that. Not NOW. Not EVER!
He's sad because he can't touch his toes...
Devastator want kibble back!