Revisitation 86: First Stand of the Wreckers.

10/8/2022

Happy TFN weekend!

Which means you get a longer wait till the next one, but that's lucky as it's a big one, so don't be a Dipstick and read my thoughts on the comic where we meet the first Transformers nerd, Last Stand of the Wreckers Issue 1!

Plus, an Addendum on the Mosaic: Dead Men's Boots!

6 Comments

Snowkatt

11/8/2022 06:52:33 pm

I loath the movies and the possibility that Last Stand was done to jack up the profile of The Wreckers for the third movie, honestly does nothing for me one way or the other.
The two version are so different it doesn't even matter.

Off course, Last Stand being as highly regarded as it is, not only has to do with its obscure characters getting the spotlight, but first and foremost because of its quality writing.

...Fancy that, good writing actually helps selling comics.
Who would have thought ?
Certainly not whoever was keeping Costa on for 31 dreary months.

But lets be honest though, this series is fanwank.
It pushes all the right buttons that makes fans giddy.

But fanwank of the good kind.
It doesn't over stay its welcome it doesnt become uncomfortable or unbreakable
Nor is it so dense only fans can find an entry into it.

It's a quick paced rollercoaster of a story line, that old and new fans can both enjoy.
While older fans pick up on all the "wink wink nudge nudge" references without bogging everything down.
( Capping it off with Impactors return to prominence in a way he never had before.)

The Guzzle and Kup storyline sadly going nowhere is one of its glaring weakneses though.
All this set up and it just fizzle out.
But that doesnt's take away from the incredibly tight story telling world building and generally pulling everything together

Compared to the boring turgid sludge of the Costa main series or the confused mess of the Bumblebee series both of which drag on and go nowhere.
At least Bumblebee is only 4 issues

Makes you wonder why it took IDW two years to realize what they had here.

Dan Peretti link

13/8/2022 08:10:39 pm

I'll address your question about how the last page landed for people who didn't know Impactor before this...it meant absolutely nothing. I got the hardcover cheap just a few years ago without having read any of it before, so I was going to read the whole thing even if it wasn't that good, but the first issue was strong enough to keep me intrigued even though the ending wasn't interesting. I knew I was supposed to know who that guy was, and that he was somehow important, but it didn't work at all. I've seen this happen in other Transformers comics--maybe most recently was an issue of the Wreckers: Tread and Circuits where they did the same thing. It made me stop reading everything IDW did with Transformers.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I never read the UK comics before, but I'm a fan of good storytelling, and Roche kept me interested even though the last page was a dud.

Stuart

14/8/2022 02:16:51 am

That is really interesting to hear, and sounds about what I'd expect from a non Impactor knower. Thanks.

LiamKav

16/8/2022 12:02:37 am

Pulling off a surprise return without leaving unaware people cold is an extremely tricky thing to pull off, especially with an obscure character. Mention them and make it obvious that they are important, or don't mention them and potentially leave new readers cold?

I'm trying to think of moments where I have genuinly been caught off guard. I think Doctor Who did it well in Doomsday, because the episode was already selling itself as "the Cybermen are back and invading!" and "this is the end of Rose travelling with the Doctor", so we weren't expecting the additional "oh and BTW Daleks are here!", especially because it violates the normal storytelling rules of "baddies stick to their own stories". But I doubt there's anyone who is even vaguely aware of Doctor Who who DOESN'T know who the Daleks are.

The other time was the return of the John Simms' Master in Capaldi's last couple of episodes. Even though I knew he was coming back. I was honestly completely caught off guard by his disguise, even though lots of people found it extremely obvious. And again, as that whole series had a subplot about the Master/Missy, odss were a lot greater that people would be aware of an older Master.

LiamKav

16/8/2022 12:05:01 am

Thinking about it, the Master's return in series 3 was also quite well done. We've established that the Doctor is the last of the Time Lords, then drop hints that there might be another. Then we have an episode where the Doctor disguises himself as a human with a fob watch, and make it a big mid-season two parter. So when we see an apparent human with a fob watch and start hearing voices, we can put two and two together.

I guess the twist is whether you know specifically who the Master is, but even if you don't you get "oh shit there's another Time Lord and he's acting evil and the Doctor is terrified" to let you know that this is a Big Deal.

Llama God

16/8/2022 11:29:02 pm

Well. Here we are then. The second of the stones that Roche would occasionally cast into IDW's waters, sending ripples that would change everything... eventually.

For me, personally, this is an important issue because I was *so close* to giving up with IDW's Transformers comics. I didn't want to, but that was out of sheer bloody-mindedness. I'd once had all of the Marvel UK comics from issue 7 onwards, until I sold them all at a car boot sale in my teens in a fit of madness, when I thought I should be too old for this sort of thing. (How little did I know back then.) I later regretted that decision, of course. So I bought all of the Dreamwave issues, and all of the IDW issues so that wouldn't happen again. But by the gods, they'd been testing me with most things from All Hail Megatron onwards.

And then this hit. And nothing was ever the same again.

Except when we go back to the ongoing.

Anyway.

This is good. This is really good. I don't think I can elaborate on what you've already said, except to say that it's really, really good. There are characters that immediately take your attention. The story is one that moves at a good speed and which promises entertainment. And then are many comments dropped which suggest a much wider world and context, and which show that thought has gone into this. This is very good writing.

And the art is also exceptional. Dynamic, expressive and always interesting. Typical Roche, basically.

The only odd point for this issue for me, really, was that Impactor introduction. Although I knew who Impactor was, it was also a little jarring. Because we had indeed not had a major comics-only character reappear in any meaningful way by this point. And I wasn't sure what to make of it at the time, or what it was going to mean. Which I guess was meant to be the hook, but it wasn't needed, since I was already hooked and reeled in at least 10 pages before this. So it was more of an "Eh?" moment than an "Oh my god!" moment. But still easily better than any of the other, recent issue-ending cliffhangers, so certainly not something to complain about either.

So yes, finally, we're back on track again. And I know there's much, much more sub-standard content to come. But right now, things seem much better.

Revisitation 86: First Stand of the Wreckers.

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