IDW- The greatest Megatron of all time?

    I've had a revelation as of late. In my eyes, the greatest Transformers continuity ever created is that of IDW publishing. It's character designs are G1 but modernised, the characters themselves are so in depth it's outstanding, and the story finally brings to centre stage the "robots in disguise" element, from the infiltration nature of the Decepticons, to the Autobots hiding in vehicle mode to avoid detection from Skywatch, or more recently, other nations. It's also got, in my opinion, the coolest incarnation of  "The Wreckers" seen in Transformers so far, as well as the best imagining of Thunderwing, Galvatron, Nemesis Prime, and has the most original and in depth sub plots and factions I've ever seen from Transformers. (The Machination, the dead universe, Blugeon and his cultists of Thunderwing).
    But, the deal breaker for me? The greatest modernisation of a character? Megatron. And I know, I'm obviously a fanboy, but for those of you who have read anything IDW, you will probablly agree, that the Emperor of Destruction is back. He is portrayed in Megatron: Origins as he always has been in comics, leader of a miners revolt against the corrupt, decandant rulers of Cybertron. He feeds his followers a pure doctrine: take what is rightfully theres, what they have earned. Soon however, this doctrine takes a new doctrine: take what you can, take what you are strong enough too. The strong survive, the weak perish. Peach through tyranny. As well as this character development, Megatron is also shown to be possibly the greatest Megatron ever in terms of combat prowess. He easily dispatches an Ore-13 enhanced Starscream, is shown on multiple occasions to be more capable than even Optimus Prime, (Transformers: Escalation), and inspires fear even into whole detachments of Autobots. (Transformers: Infiltration). Currently, Megatron has had four forms as the story has progressed.

Here we see Megatron's first form, that of an Energon miner turned gladiator. It was he who led the revolt against Senator Decimus and his guards, with the intent on taking what the oppressed workers had rightfully earned. He then swiftly made his first kill, and at first, regreted it. However, after he escaped from a prison ship, and maked his second kill, in an illegal gladiator combat, his philosophy began to arise; that only the strong survive. This version of Megatron usually sported yellow and black hazard stripes, later replaced with red tribal markings.

Megatron's second form was essentally a major update on his first. Soundwave had Megatron outfitted with some of the best weaponary and armour on Cybertron, includind his dreaded Fusion Cannon. Visually, Megatron now had large, extending shoulders, larger tracks on his back, and a host of weapons on his person. His chest is also visually reinforced, and sports the Decepticon insignia, based on the necklace he wore while a gladiator. This body is seen towards the end of Megatron: Origins, and lasts through Stormbringer, then all the way into Transformers: Infiltration, when he first lands on earth.

Towards the start of Transformers: Escalation, we see Megatron adopting what he will use for the bulk of the Transformers storyline, including Devastation and All Hail Megatron, his G1 based pistol mode. Visually, it is allot more complex than anything seen before of this form, and has a visable trigger on the back. However, he still looks allot simpler than when he had a Cybertronnian tank alt mode, with large flat surfaces of his chest and arms. All in all, this couldn't be a better redesign of the original Megatron.

Finally, we are brought to IDW's brand new take on Megatron, best seen on the cover of the upcoming Ongoing Issue 15. We have yet to see this form in the comic itself, but the last we saw of Megatron was him being rebuilt after his near fatal experience on earth at the end of All Hail Megatron. I know allot of people won't like this, as it's the only form so far that doesn't bear much resemblance to G1, but in all honesty, I'm so taken aback by his awe inspiring appearance, I don't think I care. He has the, (although clearly updated to hell), Fusion Cannon, the same bucket head, and as long as he retains what it is to be Megatron, (personallity wise), I don't see why the rest should matter. Hats off to IDW, for having the courage to redesign what many people would argue should stay the same, forever. And hats off for doing it well.