Last Stand of the Wreckers #1-5 / TPB

[zigzagger]

Who gets the profile treatment this time round?

Sadly, no one this time around.

Though, a proper Impactor profile does sound mighty tempting. He never got one of those back in the Marvel days did he?

I just wish I could find the damn comic.....

If you haven't tracked one down yet, you might get lucky on February 24th, if not March 1st.

Is it bad that I want to use the term "fanwank" in a positive manner?

Yay for the Operation Volcano reference.

The mission that also happens to be numbered "078/088"? Yep, caught that too.

**blushes**

Yeah, it's a little less subtle if you happen to recognise where the references come from.

[Nevermore]

Who gets the profile treatment this time round?

Nobody.

Burcham promised that issue 3 would make up for that with two profiles.

[Cliffjumper]

Not read the thread because, well.

HOLY **** WAS THAT AN ACTION SEQUENCE IN AN IDW COMIC? Did we take a ****ing break from people standing around monitors saying Big Captilaised Words at each other? Jesus H. Christ.

About the only thing which felt leaden was the Target 2006 issue number reference. Everything else rocked the ****ing casbah, baby.

I'm starting to feel Overlord as an intentionally pigshit-thick bad guy rather than try to take him seriously, which is good - the first one was ambiguous as to whether he was meant to be proper, but it's cleared up here.

Great characterisation all round, though - Snare feels like more of a three-dimensional person than anything IDW have done yet, and the Wreckers are even better.

[Terome]

Agreed on the T:2006 reference, seems a bit indulgent to me. But it's not like it took up much space and it's a very small niggle in what is otherwise an incredibly well put-together comic.

It's amazing how well they nail the voices of all the characters, isn't it? It's an accomplishment of the art as well as the writing, but it translates in my head as sound.

I wonder how long it will be before we get a major Decepticon character in this continuity who is really into Megatron. 90% of the poor commander's life seems to have been spent putting down insurrections of some sort.

It's interesting how, if the clues on the IDW forums are right, this series seems to have both sold out and sold the least of this Bumblebee/ongoing/Wreckers crop.

[Cliffjumper]

I think the Target thing really stood out for me because the issue numbers are just burnt into my brain from sorting scans (Marvel UK issues is also my counting sheep for insomnia, there's a tragic fact for you... only works if you fall asleep before they started the double-bill Transformers stuff)... It just sort of jolted me out of the story for a second, it was like the difference between a character saying an injoke and a character knowing they were saying an injoke.

Looks like they underestimated demand, yeh. Tenner says they double the print runs for the rest of the series and end up with 6-7k unsellable issues. The interesting thing is I'd have Last Stand down as more of a TPB seller than an issue seller. Looks like I'm no better than IDW's editorial team. Well, actually, I don't dress as Optimus Prime in order to prey on small boys.

[Terome]

I wonder if they are going to keep up this trident strategy of the three books. In their way, the other two books - ongoing and Bumblebee - accomplish exactly what they set out to do, but what they do is not something I, personally, particularly want. Bumblebee, I'd argue, is probably the most accomplished of the three from a technical standpoint but the least enjoyable for me to read.

Could IDW sustain three Transformers comics for an extended span on top of the movie output? I kind of hope so. I'd love a helping from Roche and Roberts every month and could happily leave the other two titles to get on with their thing.

And hey, Cliffy, I thought for sure that you'd balk at Verity's antics straight from the Human Sidekick Playbook. Has the shock of a readable comic dampened your ire for Furman's flail at modern youth culture?

[Cliffjumper]

Yeh, I think it's just that there's so much good stuff going on you can give it a pass at something. She's still terrible, but there's actually enough quality to smother her, unlike her role in the initial Furman stuff. It helps that there are Transformers with personalities in this one.

[Halfshell]

I think the Target thing really stood out for me because the issue numbers are just burnt into my brain from sorting scans

See, I didn't even notice it until it was brought up in this thread.

But then number-related stuff just tends to pass me by. I just parse it as "bunchanumbers" unless somebody actually points it out.

Yeh, I think it's just that there's so much good stuff going on you can give it a pass at something. She's still terrible, but there's actually enough quality to smother her, unlike her role in the initial Furman stuff. It helps that there are Transformers with personalities in this one.

Yep. When she's the focal point of the story (or the writer's desperately trying to make us care about her), is when she grates. If she's just sort of there and there's a plot going on around her, it's permissable.

[Cliffjumper]

Mmm, it's amazing what you can overlook in a comic where stuff actually happens. If I had to sum up Wreckers in one word it'd be "fun".

The biggest problem is that it makes it all the more galling so long's been wasted. It's absolute proof that action books aren't mindless, burning a thousand pro-Dead Furmanverse strawmen like an automatic strawman burner. It's proof that you can establish stuff ARGH BONUS TRACK ATTACK **** OFF **** OFF is different while also telling a story, you don't need convoluted scenes of people standing around monitors talking at each other about The Device or The Organisation.

As for claims by Schmidt in the other thread that this book is inaccessible... I'd argue with that. I'm not entirely sure how much of IDW I've read; I think it's everything, but most of it was so vapid and po-faced it got overwritten by Baldios, Gods' Girls and Dad's Army. So I can remember basically nothing beyond "Wreckers still tough", "Ultra Magnus - SPACE DETECTIVE" and "Decepticons are ****ing rubbish". I can follow this with no problems. I'm not entirely sure what Alexis is doing hanging around with Magnus beyond trying to justify ninety-odd pages of introduction for a character who thus far has turned out to be completely pointless, but on the other hand it's so engrossing I really couldn't give a shit.


Oh, and I remember Ramjet straying from the three established Decepticon character types (grandoise plotting leader/slimy 2IC/sadistic thug) and getting killed for his trouble.

[Terome]

The Device or The Organisation.

I'm sorry, The Device and The Organisation have never existed, you must surely be mistaken. Hey, look - Seaspray!

[Warcry]

As for claims by Schmidt in the other thread that this book is inaccessible... I'd argue with that.

Keep in mind that the definition for 'accessible' in Transformers stuff these days apparently is "has the 1984 cast and/or reminds people of the Bay movies". You would expect things like self-contained storylines and character arcs to factor in, but apparently not.

I read this the other day and really liked it. Roche and Roberts are doing a great job fleshing out the newbie Wreckers, to the point where I'm hoping that it's established characters like Perceptor or Kup who end up as designated cannon fodder -- the new guys are just so likable. It's nice to see Snare get a bit of depth too. One of the things that I was worried about from the first issue was that we wouldn't get to know any of the lower-ranked 'Cons because Overlord would steal the stage with his sadistic Giant Ham act.

It was nice to see that Sixshot wasn't the only Phase Six killing machine, although that leaves me to wonder just where Trypticon fits into things. Up until now I had sort of assumed that he would have fit into the same niche, but now I'm left wondering exactly what he's for. Unlike the Autobots, one assumes that the Decepticons wouldn't leave one of their biggest killing machines sitting alone on an asteroid (hello, Metroplex and Omega Supreme...).

The best thing about this series so far, IMO, is that Roche and Roberts have done a much better job of pacing things out. The talk-heavy scenes have a lot more dialogue crammed into each panel than something like AHM, which helps them fit more action into each issue. But more importantly, it also means that the cinematic scenes (like the half-page of 'Cons trying to shoot down the Wreckers' landing pods, or the first-page shot of Overlord) actually have an impact because they stand out from everything around them.

Roche needs a bit of practice drawing humans, though. Half the time Verity looks like a normal person and the other half she looks like she's got some sort of hideous facial deformity.

[Cliffjumper]

The other option is to just not draw Jubilee in at all. I'm not against humans in TF comics per se, I've just yet to find one I didn't want to die.


Actually, that's hyperbole, I always kinda liked Buster, especially when he got sort-of ****ed up and written off. The Spike thing weirdly worked out alright there for Marvel. For some reason I always give TF cartoon humans a lot more leeway, possibly because the cartoons have generally been rubbish anyway.

[Terome]

It was nice to see that Sixshot wasn't the only Phase Six killing machine, although that leaves me to wonder just where Trypticon fits into things. Up until now I had sort of assumed that he would have fit into the same niche, but now I'm left wondering exactly what he's for. Unlike the Autobots, one assumes that the Decepticons wouldn't leave one of their biggest killing machines sitting alone on an asteroid (hello, Metroplex and Omega Supreme...).

It made me feel quite sorry for Sixshot, really. He started out so eager, but after how ever many years of nuking planets - long enough in the job for Kup to get lost and then forgotten about - he seems to have become incredibly bored and unfulfilled. He must have killed really an awful lot of people in between present day and this flashback.

I wonder if he's the only Phase Sixer left, or if Overlord and Black Shadow were replaced. If Black Shadow hasn't buggered off by now, he'll be a good bet for first place in the Only Useful Decepticon Still Loyal To Megatron race.
I hope so much that Schmidt doesn't get to Trypticon first. I have a horrible feeling that he's going to be used in a dull follow-up to the equally dull Spotlight: Metroplex.

Roche and Roberts are doing a great job fleshing out the newbie Wreckers, to the point where I'm hoping that it's established characters like Perceptor or Kup who end up as designated cannon fodder

To my eye, Pyro has a big, red bullseye painted on his face. Ironfist is too useful as an exposition-machine. At least I hope that is the case. But yeah, I hope some of the Names go down for the count. And that Snare lives to be interesting for another day. (I wouldn't put it past R&R to roll out a bilateral Survivors-like team after this...)

[Terome]

Cliffjumper: I always kinda liked Buster

I'm not sure that I can remember much about Buster's personality. The only thing that comes to me is that he was said to be a good student. I never believed that, myself. Not sure why. Just smelled like bullshit.

[Cliffjumper]

Yeh, Pyro does feel a little like "The Other One". Guzzle's the (wannabe?) hardcase, Ironfist is the fanboy (with a bullseye on him so big it'd be obvious to kill him off, surely?), Rotorstorm's the cocky guy, Pyro's just sort of there when the others need someone to bounce off.

Impactor's not going to make it off-planet either. Not sure he'll die, but he won't be leaving on a shuttle with the others. Terrific design, though - please God Hasbro make one of those. I'll start buying ROTF jets, anything, just do it.

EDIT: @ Terome... it wasn't so much his personality as the way after the first arc or so he started reacting a bit realistically - largely traumatised, often kept out of the way of the whole thing. While we did get a lot of irritating humans in the Marvel comic, it was possibly the better alternative to the cartoon Spike style character who hung around with the Autobots and taught them about dinosaurs and love and Chinese New Year.

[Terome]

Yeh, Pyro does feel a little like "The Other One". Guzzle's the (wannabe?) hardcase, Ironfist is the fanboy (with a bullseye on him so big it'd be obvious to kill him off, surely?), Rotorstorm's the cocky guy, Pyro's just sort of there when the others need someone to bounce off.

He's also in danger of exhausting his one joke by next issue...

EDIT: @Cliffjumper... The only annoying thing I think I can remember about Buster is the abuse of his reader-identification status when he repeatedly mistook the Boltax simulation thingy as the real thing while cracking wise with Starscream. I've probably only read that issue once or twice and I'm still able to get frustrated at the memory of it.

He definitely gets points for the trauma though. Jazz nearly incinerating his father in front of him was frankly a bad enough start that I wonder he was able to concentrate at all by the end of the tenth issue.

[Warcry]

It made me feel quite sorry for Sixshot, really. He started out so eager, but after how ever many years of nuking planets - long enough in the job for Kup to get lost and then forgotten about - he seems to have become incredibly bored and unfulfilled. He must have killed really an awful lot of people in between present day and this flashback.

It's been a long while since I read Sixshot's spotlight, but the impression that I got was that he loved his work and sunk into nihilistic depression in the months- or years-long lulls between glassing one planet and getting called to the next one. He certainly seemed to be having a ball in the Metroplex spotlight. Alas, despite appearing in eight or nine issues so far we've yet to see him do his actual job so far. Singlehandedly destroying the outpost in Metroplex is probably the closest he's come, but there's still a long way to go from there before you hit "obliterating all life on a planet".

I hope so much that Schmidt doesn't get to Trypticon first. I have a horrible feeling that he's going to be used in a dull follow-up to the equally dull Spotlight: Metroplex.

That would follow, considering how Schmidt went to such lengths to retcon in the Galvatron-Cyclonus-Scourge trio with an army of Sweeps. I could totally see him wanting to revive the 'classic' Sunbow Metroplex/Trypticon rivalry.

IMO, a big problem with using Trypticon in any significant capacity is that Furman stole a good chunk of his personality (unstoppable killing machine who's a bit bored of it all) and grafted it onto Sixshot. A decent writer could take the basic building blocks and go in a different direction, but I don't have that confidence in most of IDW's writers at the moment.

To my eye, Pyro has a big, red bullseye painted on his face. Ironfist is too useful as an exposition-machine. At least I hope that is the case. But yeah, I hope some of the Names go down for the count. And that Snare lives to be interesting for another day. (I wouldn't put it past R&R to roll out a bilateral Survivors-like team after this...)

At this point I could see either Pyro or Guzzle biting it. Rotorstorm and Ironfist both seem to be getting built up a bit more (Ironfist with his mysterious fainting spells, Rotorstorm with his show of cockiness that seems to be hiding a much more vulnerable person on the inside). Pyro and Guzzle so far have gotten less attention, like enjoyable but ultimately disposable guest stars.

[Terome]

It's been a long while since I read Sixshot's spotlight, but the impression that I got was that he loved his work and sunk into nihilistic depression in the months- or years-long lulls between glassing one planet and getting called to the next one. He certainly seemed to be having a ball in the Metroplex spotlight.

Oh yeah, that reading does seem to make a bit more sense, which is why it is suspect.

I could totally see him wanting to revive the 'classic' Sunbow Metroplex/Trypticon rivalry.

Despite my complaints, I would pay good money to see 22 pages of Trypticon getting thrown into a lake whenever he tried to do anything.

Pyro and Guzzle so far have gotten less attention, like enjoyable but ultimately disposable guest stars.

It might just be getting late, but I'd be sad to see any of the newbies die. I feel so good for them that they are getting some attention. Not like poor Manta Ray. He just got shot in the face by EVIL DECEPTICON DRIFT in the preview of his four issue long Alex Milne-drawn miniseries. At least we can count on Pyro and Guzzle's inevitable snuffings to not be so devastatingly humiliating.

[Halfshell]

Not like poor Manta Ray. He just got shot in the face by EVIL DECEPTICON DRIFT

I thought he got killed by Nemesis Prime in Revelation?

Can I put in a pre-emptive shout for the psychically-linked Jumpstarters finishing the series as Rack n Ruin?

[EDIT] And I think we know which character to blame when the Taj Mahal mysteriously vanishes in the ongoing.

[Terome]

I thought he got killed by Nemesis Prime in Revelation?

Word on the forum street is that I was totally wrong!

Can I put in a pre-emptive shout for the psychically-linked Jumpstarters finishing the series as Rack n Ruin?

Seems like a safe bet. Cor, they'll have to buy a whole new set of jumpers.