The Energon Pub

I read the first issue for the second time last night and I gotta say that story is really growing on me. I love the idea of a special ops team within the autobot force. The story looks like it's going be pretty brutal based on the blood bath on Garrus 9...or should it be hydro fluid bath?? The only thing that made me cringe was Ultra Magnus' little lacky...anybody else irritated that Verity is back?

Best IDW comic so far.

I love to see Verity again, it is good to see that IDW didn't forget where they started the TF comic brand.

Couldn't see Impactor coming...

The first issue gets 15++/10 by me, can't wait for the next issue.

wow, a preview thread and a review thread. It's been a long time since i've seen that here.

this issue must be actually all-round win. Hee hee. Nick Roche, idw's secret weapon....

What is it about Kup that just makes a story better? He's one of my favorites right behind Jetfire and a great addition to the wreckers. Weird as it may sound he's definitely the first autbot I'd like to talk to. Now I'm a bit of a TF newbie, has anyone ever heard of Overlord before? What's his reputation and is he another Starscream? You know...always plotting against Megatron behind his back.

Hello Seibertronians, First Gen here with a (hopefully) better late than never review of one of the most anticipated comic books to be brought to us by IDW Publishing, Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers #1!

Our story begins 3 years in the past from the current story arc, Transformers Ongoing, in the Autobot Pennitentiary Garrus-9. Under seige by Decepticon attack, Fortress Maximus and the few Autobots who are left to fend off the attack, fall to Overlord and his destructive onslaught. From there we get taken back and forth through time, witnessing the induction of new "Wreckers", the reappearance by a very influential human from the Autobots past, a Decepticon manhunt and ending with an "explosive" finale that will have you second guessing.

Story: Written by Nick Roche and James Roberts, with the script being done by Nick Roche as well, Last Stand of the Wreckers is a serious, comedic and sometimes dark comedic treat that is sure to please. From the showmanship and brass rule of fan favorite Decepticon Overlord to the servo busting between the Wreckers, the story flows very well despite the time displacement that occurs throughout the comic. The story and mood of Last Stand is a stark contrast to the serious nature of Transformers Ongoing, offering light and dark humor amidst well timed action. Seeming to take page from Transformers Animated at one point and even throwing a Star Trek joke in there, Last Stand is setting itself up to be an instant classic.



Art: Aside from writing and scripting, Nick Roche also took on penciling and inking duties for Last Stand. G1 fans will be pleased to see that, like the story, Nick took the book in a more traditional direction, giving us familiar faces and throwing a couple obscure ones in there for good measure. Nick also made sure that the art fit the scenario, giving us some great comedic facial expressions, one ala Blitzwing from TF Animated (along with some chin-tastic hints), and hard, edgy battle scenes that capture the horror of battle well. Hardcore fans and casual readers alike will definitaly enjoy the visuals provided. The colors on the panels are very well balanced and background imaging is present on most pages, giving you the feeling of being there rather than just Bots and Cons standing in emptiness.

One of the most pleasing things about the book is the way Nick did the namedropping within the script, negating the need for "nametags" like we've seen in Ongoing. If you are a casual reader that only picks up a book every so often, you'll be fine reading Last Stand. The book even includes a More Than Meets The Eye type profile in the back for one of the "new" Wreckers, giving you more background on the seldom seen bots.

Overall this book delivers on all levels. It was fun to read, great to look at and is shaping up to be a great addition to the Transformers Universe. If you haven't gotten the book, I highly recommend that you do. Last Stand starts with a bang, ends with a bigger bang and will keep you on your toes to the last panel.



TRANSFORMERS: Last Stand of the Wreckers
Written by: Nick Roche and James Roberts
Script by: Nick Roche
Pencils by: Nick Roche
Inks by: Nick Roche and John Wycough
Colors by: Josh Burcham
Letters by: Neil Uyetake
Associate Editor: Denton J. Tipton
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Keep your optics locked, right here at Seibertron.com, your Ultimate Transformers Resource!

I personally enjoyed the inclusion of the Turbomasters and Predators.

Though I didn't see no Stalker ... *shakes fist angrily*

Burn wrote:Though I didn't see no Stalker ... *shakes fist angrily*

He is there, on the fifth page, Overlord says to him: "Is this everyone?"

Stronghold wrote:has anyone ever heard of Overlord before? What's his reputation and is he another Starscream? You know...always plotting against Megatron behind his back.

He is one of the main villains of Masterforce, but his toy is what makes him awesome: double powermaster, duocon and baseformer in one. Oh, and European/Japanese exclusive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v58-XV6mOpQ

Chaoslock wrote:

Burn wrote:Though I didn't see no Stalker ... *shakes fist angrily*

He is there, on the fifth page, Overlord says to him: "Is this everyone?"

I stand corrected!

Goddamn it IDW. You managed to turn me off of buying your comics with Spotlight:Nightbeat, and then continued to stop me from buying them with stuff like Drift and the All Hail Megatron mess. And now you're releasing a good story that shows love and respect for characters from the "missing" years of Transformers (including Rotorstorm and Ironfist, two personal favourites of mine) while I'm out of the country and can't buy your comics. Goddamn it IDW.

Overlord!! Thought it was too good to be true, but there he is. Nick Roche is my new hero.

Overlord, while an overall awesome toy, and an 'interesting' Masterforce character, as I said before in an other thread, seems a bit off.

TO answer the above question, no he in the past was nothing like Starscream, he actually had power in the cartoon and was the leader, but the crappy thing was, he was 'humanoid alien' run, and had no real robotic personality of his own. Of course, this is my unofficial poor quality copy of Masterforce interpretation of him. His European version bio makes him out to be more of a weapons manufacturer and leader of his own militia if I remember the bio correctly. Something like that. NO other real fiction on him previously, although he may have made an appearance in the Japanese comic, I am unsure what the story tells of him.

Looking forward to the next issue. Want Pyro to get more active!!!! Really enjoying Ironfist's interesting character so far.

Also of note, there is a profile/ bio for new Wrecker, European exclusive Autobot flyer Rotorstorm, so if we are lucky, we may get a bio/profile for IDW's Overlord as well. I just hope this is not a one series and done appearance, the Autobots can retake Garrus-9 when this is over, but I want Overlord to get imprisoned, or to escape.

Fun read.

Is Ironfist a Euro G2 Lightformer? In my copy of J.E. Alvarez's "The Unofficial Guide to Japanese and International Transformers," he's listed as "Ironhide." Or is Ironfist a Euro G2 Powermaster (also listed as "Ironhide" - both are Hummers in vehicle mode but are 2 totally different molds)?

Of course, Alvarez misspelled "Predacon" repeatedly in one of his other TF guides, so perhaps I should take his book with a grain of salt.

txex97 wrote:Is Ironfist a Euro G2 Lightformer? In my copy of J.E. Alvarez's "The Unofficial Guide to Japanese and International Transformers," he's listed as "Ironhide." Or is Ironfist a Euro G2 Powermaster (also listed as "Ironhide" - both are Hummers in vehicle mode but are 2 totally different molds)?

Of course, Alvarez misspelled "Predacon" repeatedly in one of his other TF guides, so perhaps I should take his book with a grain of salt.

Yes, he was a Lightformer.

txex97 wrote:Is Ironfist a Euro G2 Lightformer? In my copy of J.E. Alvarez's "The Unofficial Guide to Japanese and International Transformers," he's listed as "Ironhide." Or is Ironfist a Euro G2 Powermaster (also listed as "Ironhide" - both are Hummers in vehicle mode but are 2 totally different molds)?

Of course, Alvarez misspelled "Predacon" repeatedly in one of his other TF guides, so perhaps I should take his book with a grain of salt.

Ironfist is a G1 Lightformer, part of the last series of G1 Transformers. (some people refer to that period of G1 as G1.5 because a lot of figures from that year, in Europe, ended up in G2 packaging the next year so technically he's G1 and G2). The Ironhide to which you are referring is a G2 Power Master that came out in 1995.

Makes you wonder ... if Hasbro has so much love for a barely known character like Drift to the point they make a figure for him, why haven't they shown the same love for Impactor who's been a bigger part of TF comic lore?

I was a bit dissappointed. I was looking forward to a gritty, dirty hard core robot fighting book. The Decepticon part definitely delivered on that part. Overlord as sort of a Caligula type Roman Emperor, ruling over his subjects while keep them happy with games, was a very interesting take on the character. I also liked seeing Kick-Off living through his background as a captive of the Decepticons.

On the other hand the scenes with the Autobots were a letdown. Instead of a crew of veterans going into a tough mission we get a bunch of goofy rookies who have cannon fodder written all over them. Someone mentioned the lack of nameplates and I found this issue definitely needed them. Characters popped in and out all over and them being all relatively obscure made it difficult to realize who was talking to who. Then we have some confusion over who is actually leading the team. Its Magnus now apparently? And Springer is ahead of Kup?

Really though, none of that stuff ruined the book for me. I can even overlook all of those things. There were 2 major things that brought the book down for me though. First, the inclusion of Verity, fulfilling that age old trope of 'human sidekick/mascot.' I never liked her in the first place and now throwing her in as a 'Wrecker' running around in her underwear with 'robot hands' and goofing around with the new recruits irritated the heck out of me. Why do we have to have a human thrown in? The other major thing I had against it was the inclusion of Impactor. I have never liked the character. What everyone seems to feel about Drift, I feel for Impactor. The way he came in at the end, apparently blowing up a ship single handedly and they way everyone gasped and moaned that it was him, it already feels like he is going to be built up into something huge. If thats the case then I have to call out all of the people who dumped on Drift as I see little difference between him and how it looks like Impactor will be portrayed in this way.

That said, I still enjoyed it, I was just hoping for a lot more. The artwork was good and the scenes on Garrus 9 were fantastic. I'm very excited to see some new characters, especially Overlord. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Devastron wrote:I was a bit dissappointed. I was looking forward to a gritty, dirty hard core robot fighting book.

In other words, you were looking for a one shot as opposed to a five issue series.

Devastron wrote:On the other hand the scenes with the Autobots were a letdown. Instead of a crew of veterans going into a tough mission we get a bunch of goofy rookies who have cannon fodder written all over them. Someone mentioned the lack of nameplates and I found this issue definitely needed them. Characters popped in and out all over and them being all relatively obscure made it difficult to realize who was talking to who. Then we have some confusion over who is actually leading the team. Its Magnus now apparently? And Springer is ahead of Kup?

As far as I know, Springer has always been in charge and over Kup when it comes to the Wreckers. I thought the story was scripted well enough and the namedropping let you know who was who right away. But thats me, I don't like signs cluttering up panels.

Devastron wrote:Really though, none of that stuff ruined the book for me. I can even overlook all of those things. There were 2 major things that brought the book down for me though. First, the inclusion of Verity, fulfilling that age old trope of 'human sidekick/mascot.' I never liked her in the first place and now throwing her in as a 'Wrecker' running around in her underwear with 'robot hands' and goofing around with the new recruits irritated the heck out of me. Why do we have to have a human thrown in? The other major thing I had against it was the inclusion of Impactor. I have never liked the character. What everyone seems to feel about Drift, I feel for Impactor. The way he came in at the end, apparently blowing up a ship single handedly and they way everyone gasped and moaned that it was him, it already feels like he is going to be built up into something huge. If thats the case then I have to call out all of the people who dumped on Drift as I see little difference between him and how it looks like Impactor will be portrayed in this way.

Really?! I thought Verity coming back was a nice throwback to the -Tion series and showed continuity. Of course her wardrobe could have been better but still. And if not Impactor, than who? I think it's refreshing that IDW is trying to incorporate obscure TF's to add to the continuity, instead of recycling the same 5 bots and cons over and over again. As far as Drift, well, no comment.

Devastron wrote:That said, I still enjoyed it, I was just hoping for a lot more. The artwork was good and the scenes on Garrus 9 were fantastic. I'm very excited to see some new characters, especially Overlord. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Yeah, seems like you were looking for one shot quality.

First Gen wrote:

Devastron wrote:I was a bit dissappointed. I was looking forward to a gritty, dirty hard core robot fighting book.

In other words, you were looking for a one shot as opposed to a five issue series.

Devastron wrote:On the other hand the scenes with the Autobots were a letdown. Instead of a crew of veterans going into a tough mission we get a bunch of goofy rookies who have cannon fodder written all over them. Someone mentioned the lack of nameplates and I found this issue definitely needed them. Characters popped in and out all over and them being all relatively obscure made it difficult to realize who was talking to who. Then we have some confusion over who is actually leading the team. Its Magnus now apparently? And Springer is ahead of Kup?

As far as I know, Springer has always been in charge and over Kup when it comes to the Wreckers. I thought the story was scripted well enough and the namedropping let you know who was who right away. But thats me, I don't like signs cluttering up panels.

Devastron wrote:Really though, none of that stuff ruined the book for me. I can even overlook all of those things. There were 2 major things that brought the book down for me though. First, the inclusion of Verity, fulfilling that age old trope of 'human sidekick/mascot.' I never liked her in the first place and now throwing her in as a 'Wrecker' running around in her underwear with 'robot hands' and goofing around with the new recruits irritated the heck out of me. Why do we have to have a human thrown in? The other major thing I had against it was the inclusion of Impactor. I have never liked the character. What everyone seems to feel about Drift, I feel for Impactor. The way he came in at the end, apparently blowing up a ship single handedly and they way everyone gasped and moaned that it was him, it already feels like he is going to be built up into something huge. If thats the case then I have to call out all of the people who dumped on Drift as I see little difference between him and how it looks like Impactor will be portrayed in this way.

Really?! I thought Verity coming back was a nice throwback to the -Tion series and showed continuity. Of course her wardrobe could have been better but still. And if not Impactor, than who? I think it's refreshing that IDW is trying to incorporate obscure TF's to add to the continuity, instead of recycling the same 5 bots and cons over and over again. As far as Drift, well, no comment.

Devastron wrote:That said, I still enjoyed it, I was just hoping for a lot more. The artwork was good and the scenes on Garrus 9 were fantastic. I'm very excited to see some new characters, especially Overlord. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Yeah, seems like you were looking for one shot quality.

The War Within wasn't a one shot. Stormbringer wasn't a one shot. Both of those were more what I was looking for. I just wanted Transformer vs Transformer in a brutal fashio, or at least the promise of it. The whole push of the book has felt like it would be like that, and maybe it will be. I don't expect the first issue to be non stop action, it is supposed to be set up, but this isn't the set up I was hoping for. It was good, just not the home run I was hoping for.

As for who is in charge, I guess its supposed to be Springer, but in AHM Kup clearly outranked him. Then there is the fact that they are flying around in Ultra Magnus's ship, so does that mean he is in charge? I suppose Springer is leader of the Wreckers and they are just hitching a ride on Magnus's ship? Seems odd since Magnus was established as pretty much a loner in the previous books. I guess Kup just took a demotion.

I hate Verity and the other two humans that were in the -ation books. I was glad that their roles were gradually reduced as time went by. Thats just my personal opinion, I am tired of the required human sidekick and I was hoping these comics were past that point.

I would have preferred almost anyone to Impactor. They already introduced a whole load of characters new to American continuity, why not grab another one? He could have used one the Turbomasters to match up with the Predators, or maybe Metalhawk to give some nice symmetry with Overlord on the con side. Instead we get Impactor recycled. Sure he has history with the Wreckers, but looking at the rest of the team using former Wreckers doesn't seem to be a big deal. Seeing someone like Metalhawk or Thunderclash would have gotten me more interested then seeing an old UK comic only character dusted off and used again.

Devastron wrote:

First Gen wrote:

Devastron wrote:I was a bit dissappointed. I was looking forward to a gritty, dirty hard core robot fighting book.

In other words, you were looking for a one shot as opposed to a five issue series.

Devastron wrote:On the other hand the scenes with the Autobots were a letdown. Instead of a crew of veterans going into a tough mission we get a bunch of goofy rookies who have cannon fodder written all over them. Someone mentioned the lack of nameplates and I found this issue definitely needed them. Characters popped in and out all over and them being all relatively obscure made it difficult to realize who was talking to who. Then we have some confusion over who is actually leading the team. Its Magnus now apparently? And Springer is ahead of Kup?

As far as I know, Springer has always been in charge and over Kup when it comes to the Wreckers. I thought the story was scripted well enough and the namedropping let you know who was who right away. But thats me, I don't like signs cluttering up panels.

Devastron wrote:Really though, none of that stuff ruined the book for me. I can even overlook all of those things. There were 2 major things that brought the book down for me though. First, the inclusion of Verity, fulfilling that age old trope of 'human sidekick/mascot.' I never liked her in the first place and now throwing her in as a 'Wrecker' running around in her underwear with 'robot hands' and goofing around with the new recruits irritated the heck out of me. Why do we have to have a human thrown in? The other major thing I had against it was the inclusion of Impactor. I have never liked the character. What everyone seems to feel about Drift, I feel for Impactor. The way he came in at the end, apparently blowing up a ship single handedly and they way everyone gasped and moaned that it was him, it already feels like he is going to be built up into something huge. If thats the case then I have to call out all of the people who dumped on Drift as I see little difference between him and how it looks like Impactor will be portrayed in this way.

Really?! I thought Verity coming back was a nice throwback to the -Tion series and showed continuity. Of course her wardrobe could have been better but still. And if not Impactor, than who? I think it's refreshing that IDW is trying to incorporate obscure TF's to add to the continuity, instead of recycling the same 5 bots and cons over and over again. As far as Drift, well, no comment.

Devastron wrote:That said, I still enjoyed it, I was just hoping for a lot more. The artwork was good and the scenes on Garrus 9 were fantastic. I'm very excited to see some new characters, especially Overlord. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Yeah, seems like you were looking for one shot quality.

The War Within wasn't a one shot. Stormbringer wasn't a one shot. Both of those were more what I was looking for. I just wanted Transformer vs Transformer in a brutal fashio, or at least the promise of it. The whole push of the book has felt like it would be like that, and maybe it will be. I don't expect the first issue to be non stop action, it is supposed to be set up, but this isn't the set up I was hoping for. It was good, just not the home run I was hoping for.

As for who is in charge, I guess its supposed to be Springer, but in AHM Kup clearly outranked him. Then there is the fact that they are flying around in Ultra Magnus's ship, so does that mean he is in charge? I suppose Springer is leader of the Wreckers and they are just hitching a ride on Magnus's ship? Seems odd since Magnus was established as pretty much a loner in the previous books. I guess Kup just took a demotion.

I hate Verity and the other two humans that were in the -ation books. I was glad that their roles were gradually reduced as time went by. Thats just my personal opinion, I am tired of the required human sidekick and I was hoping these comics were past that point.

I would have preferred almost anyone to Impactor. They already introduced a whole load of characters new to American continuity, why not grab another one? He could have used one the Turbomasters to match up with the Predators, or maybe Metalhawk to give some nice symmetry with Overlord on the con side. Instead we get Impactor recycled. Sure he has history with the Wreckers, but looking at the rest of the team using former Wreckers doesn't seem to be a big deal. Seeing someone like Metalhawk or Thunderclash would have gotten me more interested then seeing an old UK comic only character dusted off and used again.

Personally, i think you are going to be a tad bit disappointed by the whole series. From what you say it seems like you are looking for a dark gritty 'ultimates' style bot on bot war/battle series. It appears what we are going to get will be a Marvel uk style mission with tons of casualties and one-liner filled action sequences in a continuation of the idw -ations setting. I just think what you want will be a little more serious than what we will get.

But i do think there are very reasonable explanations for some of the details you object to that aren't square pegs forced into a round hole. For instance the idea of the wreckers using Magnus' ship. We already know that the autobots are so low on resources MacGyver would be in trouble. so having the wreckers using Magnus as the local loop bus isn't such a bad stretch. Also a good way to bring him back in as he does actually seem like one bot that wouldn't have been attacked given his status. I mean the tyrest accord can't have been all autobot doing. Winning factions don't usually agree to such things without reason.

And the whole kup thing, like jazz in AHM, is probably a priority thing. Kup probably took charge because he has experiance and AHM was a pinch moment. But whether kup is a better leader, the wreckers have always been about getting your hands dirty, and springer is the character better suited to, and more enthusiastic about, the hands on approach. Tactics vs. action.

But Impactor, well i must disagree. He has always been pure win. And as roche is an irish-man, what else can you expect. as the original and only 'real' (spring and magnus both had doubts that would rival rodimus) leader of the wreckers, all i can say is, "he only blew up 1 ship?".

it just me or is anyone else getting a certain Joker vibe when it comes to overlord's character and by joker yeah i mean the one portrayed by mark hamil in the dcau continuity

damn if this version of overlord doesn't give me the creeps

I don't see how Impactor is being set up as a Drift-like character. In the original UK TF comic he was portrayed as more of a veteran hard-ass than as a "kewl-as-all-get-out-can-kick-all-your-ninja-asses-in-epic-fail-style" character like Fail. Sorry, I mean Drift.

And in this series it doesn't look like it'll follow his old UK portrayal either. There he was a war hero but here he's spent "deca-cycles behind bars" which makes me think that he's going to be a bit of a violence merchant with a meanstreak who may sacrifice himself (dammit, again??) in the end for the greater good.

I really hope he doesn't sacrifice himself, though i could accept an "my life's been over for X-long, just happy to die a wrecker," but really, hope he never revels in guilt. The introduction screams, "i was in jail cause i don't give a damn about the system," and these wreckers have been portrayed as the rule breakers.I would be so much happier with a "somebody had to do it, and being on the run is better than being in jail," ending for him much more. Or they could have some fun and just kill him and watch springer scream....

Calvatron wrote:Or they could have some fun and just kill him and watch springer scream....

LMAO!! Oh, that's just evil!

Wreckers was wonderful! I loved the characters too. It was cool to see how Nick took "new" guys like Overlord, Ironfist and Rotorstorm, and brought them to life. I'm lazy, so I wouldn't have minded name tags, but after reading the issue front to back twice I felt like I really knew everyone anyway. Not just their names, but their personalities!

Thinking ahead - I bet the Wreckers will have some unexpected help from a few disgrunteled Decepticons when they get to Garus-9. Overlord either doesn't know, or doesn't care that clearly not everyone there considers him some sort of supercool entertainer/liberator. I'm feeling the creep thing from him a bit, what's with the offer for KickOff to come to his quarters and choose his reward?

Impactor is a bit of a question mark for me too. For no specific reason, I get the feeling that Impactor will be changed or different some how in a bad way. Like when he came back as a "zombie" in the UK comics. Not feeling zombie, but I bet this Impactor won't be the Bot Springer remembers.

Overall, I still can't figure out which I liked more, the writing or the artwork. I'm amazed that they both came from the same guy too. Primus bless Nick Roche for this book.