History YMMV / Armageddon2001

* AssPull: The reveal of Monarch's identity didn't make sense, as [[spoiler:Hawk]] was of only average intelligence, had no tech savvy, and was dedicated to chaos over order, all in violation of Monarch's personality. This is because it was changed at the eleventh hour after the story's ending -- with [[spoiler: Captain Atom as Monarch's identity]] -- was leaked. Even worse, DC tried to do damage control by ''also'' cramming the original plan back in via several retcons later on, after no one cared anymore. [[spoiler:Hawk]] is also specifically one of the few heroes with a future where he survives to fight Monarch in hand-to-hand combat in 2001. It all adds up to the nadir of the trope: the ''need'' for a twist that shocks and surprises the audience totally overriding good storytelling.

* HilariousInHindsight: Matthew's malevolent, fascistic daughter is called Karen.
* OvershadowedByControversy: The last-minute switch regarding Monarch's identity after the original planned reveal was leaked is arguably more well-known than the event itself, which is otherwise considered one of the more forgettable of DC's annual events.

** ''Adventures of Superman Annual'' vol. 1 #3 is the only time Superman willingly becomes lovers with Maxima, [[LoveRedeems who is no longer evil]], and it's hinted the two will indeed have children someday. Since Maxima's entire goal is to breed a child with Superman, we never get to see what kind of child the two will have.

** During his review of the comic, [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] suggested that instead of the rewritten ending that was given, Waverider himself could have become Monarch by seeing potential futures of all heroes and, out of paranoia, became the very monster he wanted to stop to prevent from any of them from becoming threats. It ''also'' wouldn't have worked as well as sticking to their guns, but if they were going to hold to the idea that there had to be ''a'' twist no matter what, it would have been a better alternative.
* UncertainAudience: At the best of times, the [[FaceHeelTurn "hero goes crazy and becomes a villain after butchering his supporting cast" plot]] is something beloved by marketeers, who want a shocking hook to sell the story, and writers, who've grown dissatisfied with the "stale" status quo and want a big change, a big shakeup, while being ''despised'' by fans, who feel their emotional investment in the subject matter is being rendered pointless. ''Armageddon 2001'' was positioned to avoid this pitfall by having Monarch's past self confront him, refuse to become him... and then, out of a desire to preserve a leaked "twist," creative zigged instead of zagging, actively having [[spoiler:Hawk]] ''become'' Monarch in the flesh, killing his future self and then climbing into the armor.

** During his review of the comic, [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] suggested that instead of the rewritten ending that was given, Waverider himself could have become Monarch by seeing potential futures of all heroes and, out of paranoia, became the very monster he wanted to stop to prevent from any of them from becoming threats.