When I was Younger, just a Bad Little Kid, My Mamma Noticed Funny Things I did, Like Shootin’ Puppies with a BB Gun.
Last Stand of the Wreckers Issue 3. March 24th 2010.
Well, I thought it was funny.
One notable thing about Last Stand of the Wreckers was that it had a bespoke advertising campaign the two miniseries running alongside it didn’t. Each issue had a full-page promo selling you on something like Ironfist’s nerdery. These were probably driven by a committed to getting every bit of milage he could out of work he was proud of Nick Roche, and the one for this issue promised that a Wrecker would die. So, the idea that this was a series about doomed redshirts was definitely not meant to be a surprise.
But before we get to the death, we get a nice soft opening flashback to two years ago, that is largely to serve the purpose of continuity by explaining why none of the more notable prisoners at Garrus 9 have shown up.
So, we have Overlord reassembling Shockwave on a promise that if the scientist switches off his kill switch (as messed over Sixshot), he’ll give him a ship that he and his “Hand-picked crew” (i.e.: anyone else who doesn’t appear) can leave in.
Thankfully, the writers don’t leave it quite that dry, as Shockwave points out all the torture and open graves are nothing but an act in provocation, to get Megatron’s attention. Which makes Overlord pause slightly (and point out having one eye makes Shockwave see things in unusual ways), but he’s far more positive in response to the point that he’s not the first phase sixer to bait Megatron. Because he only needs to be the last.
Well, I thought it was funny.
One notable thing about Last Stand of the Wreckers was that it had a bespoke advertising campaign the two miniseries running alongside it didn’t. Each issue had a full-page promo selling you on something like Ironfist’s nerdery. These were probably driven by a committed to getting every bit of milage he could out of work he was proud of Nick Roche, and the one for this issue promised that a Wrecker would die. So, the idea that this was a series about doomed redshirts was definitely not meant to be a surprise.
But before we get to the death, we get a nice soft opening flashback to two years ago, that is largely to serve the purpose of continuity by explaining why none of the more notable prisoners at Garrus 9 have shown up.
So, we have Overlord reassembling Shockwave on a promise that if the scientist switches off his kill switch (as messed over Sixshot), he’ll give him a ship that he and his “Hand-picked crew” (i.e.: anyone else who doesn’t appear) can leave in.
Thankfully, the writers don’t leave it quite that dry, as Shockwave points out all the torture and open graves are nothing but an act in provocation, to get Megatron’s attention. Which makes Overlord pause slightly (and point out having one eye makes Shockwave see things in unusual ways), but he’s far more positive in response to the point that he’s not the first phase sixer to bait Megatron. Because he only needs to be the last.
Heady days.
Which feels inspired by the infamous IRA quote to Margret Thatcher, “We only need to be lucky once.”
In the present, it’s worth noting at this point that, in order to stay on schedule, Guido Guidi has come aboard to do half of issues 3 and 4. Whilst there is a difference between him and Roche, their styles are actually close enough to mesh pretty well, and considering it must have been last second work, Guidi, once again, shows himself as one of the unsung heroes of IDW, more than matching Roche’s high standards.
It also feels very much like the writers, having not been too happy with having to drag out the arrival on Garrus 9 and its affect on the pacing, have decided to do an all- out action issue to pep things up. But rather than just have everyone fight, they’ve worked out a couple of interesting gimmicks to make it feel like more than just punching.
So as Springer’s team fight their way through a crowd of Decepticons, we have narration from Fisitron’s “Unofficial Wreckers’ Training Manual” and its rules of being a Wrecker. With every rule then immediately contradicted by the action on the page.
So, rule 1 is “Stick together” (Kup: We’ve lost the others!”), rule 3 is “Don’t make it personal” (Impactor: “It’s payback time!”) and rule 4 is “Always focus on the positives” (Springer: This is bad!”).
In the present, it’s worth noting at this point that, in order to stay on schedule, Guido Guidi has come aboard to do half of issues 3 and 4. Whilst there is a difference between him and Roche, their styles are actually close enough to mesh pretty well, and considering it must have been last second work, Guidi, once again, shows himself as one of the unsung heroes of IDW, more than matching Roche’s high standards.
It also feels very much like the writers, having not been too happy with having to drag out the arrival on Garrus 9 and its affect on the pacing, have decided to do an all- out action issue to pep things up. But rather than just have everyone fight, they’ve worked out a couple of interesting gimmicks to make it feel like more than just punching.
So as Springer’s team fight their way through a crowd of Decepticons, we have narration from Fisitron’s “Unofficial Wreckers’ Training Manual” and its rules of being a Wrecker. With every rule then immediately contradicted by the action on the page.
So, rule 1 is “Stick together” (Kup: We’ve lost the others!”), rule 3 is “Don’t make it personal” (Impactor: “It’s payback time!”) and rule 4 is “Always focus on the positives” (Springer: This is bad!”).
When you get to hour 9 in the queue.
Now this is a very simple gag, and sensibly they only do it for the start and end of the issue, but it also immediately forefronts that Ironfist really has no idea what it is to be a Wrecker, and by placing it over contradictory moments, plays into the idea that he is an unreliable narrator.
Over at team Perceptor, Overlord is deeply unimpressed at the intruders being Autobots… sorry, Wreckers (“You all make the same whimpering sound when you die”) rather than sent by Megatron.
But Rotorstorm is ready with a surprise, saying Overlord hasn’t counted on one thing… “Wreckers combine!”.
With a very awkward pause before he sheepishly says he thought it was funny.
Over at team Perceptor, Overlord is deeply unimpressed at the intruders being Autobots… sorry, Wreckers (“You all make the same whimpering sound when you die”) rather than sent by Megatron.
But Rotorstorm is ready with a surprise, saying Overlord hasn’t counted on one thing… “Wreckers combine!”.
With a very awkward pause before he sheepishly says he thought it was funny.
The words that will be on Nick Roche's tombstone.
Surprisingly though, Overlord loves a good meta gag, and starts laughing at the joke, making Rotorstorm relieved that he has a sense of humour.
Then Overlord shoots him through the head.
Covering everyone in viscera.
Now, this whole sequence requires the reader to roll with some very strange behaviour from everyone, notably that the trained commandos just stand there long enough for awkward puns and that Overlord also politely waits for this scene to play out.
But it’s still very funny and dark and nicely subverts the sort of death for a Wrecker readers might have been expecting and is probably one of the most famous moments in the entire series and certainly played a part in the both the (hideous) Wreckers combiner that followed from Hasbro, and Rotorstorm designer Andy Couzens finding his original art of the character very popular at the last TFN.
Then Overlord shoots him through the head.
Covering everyone in viscera.
Now, this whole sequence requires the reader to roll with some very strange behaviour from everyone, notably that the trained commandos just stand there long enough for awkward puns and that Overlord also politely waits for this scene to play out.
But it’s still very funny and dark and nicely subverts the sort of death for a Wrecker readers might have been expecting and is probably one of the most famous moments in the entire series and certainly played a part in the both the (hideous) Wreckers combiner that followed from Hasbro, and Rotorstorm designer Andy Couzens finding his original art of the character very popular at the last TFN.
The lightpiping on the toy is amazing.
We then have some fairly rapid intercutting between the two teams. First, Springer sends Guzzle and Kup to go get the “Help” they’ve discussed previously as an injured Twin Twist drills down to the floor below (his transforming causing similar pain in both him and Topspin), where, after taking out a guard, they find the body of Kick-Off, killed by Overlord’s “Reward” of getting to make a choice (Impactor doesn’t know what the choice the winners get is, but Kick-Off clearly made the wrong one), before an alarm sets off a defensive system which knocks them all out.
During all this, a very pissed Perceptor has Pyro place Verity safely in his chest to protect her, whilst leading the others to make Overlord “Pay”. Which goes badly, and when Overlord hears about the other team, “the more famous ones, presumably”, he goes on the tanoy and tells the Decepticons to “Please attend carefully”.
During all this, a very pissed Perceptor has Pyro place Verity safely in his chest to protect her, whilst leading the others to make Overlord “Pay”. Which goes badly, and when Overlord hears about the other team, “the more famous ones, presumably”, he goes on the tanoy and tells the Decepticons to “Please attend carefully”.
He has chosen poorly.
Which is apparently James Roberts leaning into his mental image of John Simm playing Overlord as it’s a Master line from The Sound of Drums. However, Doctor Who fans are almost certainly more likely to be hearing the first Master to use that line, Anthony Ainley.
Over some shots of desolate Autobot prisoners in their cells (and remember these guys for later), Overlord cheerfully announces that any Decepticon who brings him the head of a Wrecker gets to leave. So, the hunt is on, though Perceptor is at least able to buy some extra time by exploding the pod (and its extra fuel they naively brought with them) they arrived in.
An advantage they don’t get to put too much advantage as Ironfist, for reasons that will become very apparent, reacts extremely badly to seeing someone being shot in the head and has a breakdown about the violence he’s just seen.
Saving lives, dramatic rescues… that’s what he was expecting. Not brutal death. What’s wrong with just having adventures?
Over some shots of desolate Autobot prisoners in their cells (and remember these guys for later), Overlord cheerfully announces that any Decepticon who brings him the head of a Wrecker gets to leave. So, the hunt is on, though Perceptor is at least able to buy some extra time by exploding the pod (and its extra fuel they naively brought with them) they arrived in.
An advantage they don’t get to put too much advantage as Ironfist, for reasons that will become very apparent, reacts extremely badly to seeing someone being shot in the head and has a breakdown about the violence he’s just seen.
Saving lives, dramatic rescues… that’s what he was expecting. Not brutal death. What’s wrong with just having adventures?
Can't wait for these guys to be rescued.
Now, Ironfist does have extenuating circumstances, but I don’t have a huge amount of sympathy for someone who can be that into military history and think it’s all nice romps. No one spends years reading about the SAS because they think they’re a lovely bunny like team of heroes. If there’s a critic of nerds who are into army stuff, it doesn’t quite understand them.
So, I’m more with Topspin, who has clearly had enough and snaps, demanding to know how this idiot who had blackouts even got on the team when only Guzzle, Pyro and Rotorstorm got voted in, Ironfist was forced on them. And when he talks about how this isn’t role-play, people die in “Stupid, pointless ways”, which is the moment Ironfist really snaps, snarling “Don’t you dare talk to me about death!”
There’s a whole lot to unpack with this scene, most of which will only become apparent later, but it really shows the fraying of the edges everyone is suffering, so it’s probably lucky Perceptor (and I can’t remember how much he knows and therefore how much he’s changing the topic to stop something being said that shouldn’t be) insists that they need to get on with the mission and grieve later.
Also being careful about what they’re saying is Guzzle as he and Kup go down into the lowest levels, casually responding to Kup’s “You’re no use to anyone if you die durin’ a rescue attempt” with “That happened to some good friends of mine, they were killed trying to save another ‘bot’s tailpipe.”
So, I’m more with Topspin, who has clearly had enough and snaps, demanding to know how this idiot who had blackouts even got on the team when only Guzzle, Pyro and Rotorstorm got voted in, Ironfist was forced on them. And when he talks about how this isn’t role-play, people die in “Stupid, pointless ways”, which is the moment Ironfist really snaps, snarling “Don’t you dare talk to me about death!”
There’s a whole lot to unpack with this scene, most of which will only become apparent later, but it really shows the fraying of the edges everyone is suffering, so it’s probably lucky Perceptor (and I can’t remember how much he knows and therefore how much he’s changing the topic to stop something being said that shouldn’t be) insists that they need to get on with the mission and grieve later.
Also being careful about what they’re saying is Guzzle as he and Kup go down into the lowest levels, casually responding to Kup’s “You’re no use to anyone if you die durin’ a rescue attempt” with “That happened to some good friends of mine, they were killed trying to save another ‘bot’s tailpipe.”
He prefers the novlisation ending to Dark of the Moon as well.
With a handy * to remind us this means Spotlight: Kup, followed by a very sinister close-up of Guzzle as he answers, “Hope the guy was worth it” with “Depends who you ask”.
As I’ve alluded to from having to talk about the extras alongside the series, this is the big dropped ball of the series, setting up an antagonism that never gets mentioned again. Which is a result of the fact that originally, Kup, Springer and Perceptor were all slated to die in different drafts. But Kup was saved because IDW had plans for him (more on that when we get there), Springer by the arbitrary fact he was the favourite character of the guy at Hasbro who has to approve these things, and Perceptor by the authors changing their minds.
This is the only one where the setup—Guzzle being out for revenge for his dead friends—actually still noticeably made it into the comic though. At the time, this was very annoying, but with the benefit of hindsight and knowing this plot will eventually get its payoff, it’s much less of an issue these days, it just works best if you’re reading the trilogy all in one go.
As Perceptor’s team make their way to their destination, Pyro decides if he was to be a Prime, it would be Expositionimus Prime, as he prompts Topspin to explain why he and Twin Twist are sharing pain, which turns out to be that they share a branched spark, each experiencing everything the other does. With a big question over what happens when one dies.
As I’ve alluded to from having to talk about the extras alongside the series, this is the big dropped ball of the series, setting up an antagonism that never gets mentioned again. Which is a result of the fact that originally, Kup, Springer and Perceptor were all slated to die in different drafts. But Kup was saved because IDW had plans for him (more on that when we get there), Springer by the arbitrary fact he was the favourite character of the guy at Hasbro who has to approve these things, and Perceptor by the authors changing their minds.
This is the only one where the setup—Guzzle being out for revenge for his dead friends—actually still noticeably made it into the comic though. At the time, this was very annoying, but with the benefit of hindsight and knowing this plot will eventually get its payoff, it’s much less of an issue these days, it just works best if you’re reading the trilogy all in one go.
As Perceptor’s team make their way to their destination, Pyro decides if he was to be a Prime, it would be Expositionimus Prime, as he prompts Topspin to explain why he and Twin Twist are sharing pain, which turns out to be that they share a branched spark, each experiencing everything the other does. With a big question over what happens when one dies.
There’s the loveliest little character detail in here of Topspin never having wanted to be a Wrecker, he was happy being a cartographer. But when you’re living through everything your brother is doing (including hunting down “Squadron X”, there’s a name to remember), you might as well sign up as well.
This is followed by the only real straight up not based on violence comedy moment of the issue, as Pyro suddenly remembers Verity is in his chest, letting her out after he’s failed to hear her desperate banging, moaning that humans “Don’t bend that way!” and worrying that she’s cracked a rib.
Well, maybe it’s based a little on violence.
That Pyro isn’t quite Optimus is shown by him being annoyed to the point of asking what Prime sees in humans, like a child who was excited to have been given a pet until the reality of looking after them sinks in.
Verity gets a rejoinder in that Rotorstorm didn’t look all that much sturdier than a human at the end there… before actually apologising for mouthing-off when scared, which is something early Verity would never have done, so she’s definitely grown of the years.
This is followed by the only real straight up not based on violence comedy moment of the issue, as Pyro suddenly remembers Verity is in his chest, letting her out after he’s failed to hear her desperate banging, moaning that humans “Don’t bend that way!” and worrying that she’s cracked a rib.
Well, maybe it’s based a little on violence.
That Pyro isn’t quite Optimus is shown by him being annoyed to the point of asking what Prime sees in humans, like a child who was excited to have been given a pet until the reality of looking after them sinks in.
Verity gets a rejoinder in that Rotorstorm didn’t look all that much sturdier than a human at the end there… before actually apologising for mouthing-off when scared, which is something early Verity would never have done, so she’s definitely grown of the years.
This comedy beat is necessary to counter what comes next as they arrive at the door to Aequitas (and everyone is so keen to ask “Who” this is, that it feels a bit too obvious it’s not going to be a person), and find Fortress Maximus, dead-eyed and with his head plugged into the door, acting as a living, tortured, lockpick, running millions of combinations through the keypad a second.
In an issue where a guy gets shot through the head, this manages to be the most shocking, horrific image and sets up an awful lot of what Fortress Maximus will be after this with one panel.
Luckily, Perceptor knows the entry codes and gets everyone inside to present them with Aequitas, to which introductions are not needed.
The wait for the reveal is not the cliff-hanger however, as the link between Jumpstarters is used to shift from Topspin’s POV to Twin Twist’s in a very clever transition.
Twin Twist, and the rest of Springer’s team, are strapped in chairs with the Decepticon Stalker looming large. Twin Twist has his mouth forced open by a vice as Stalker come in with something sharp and pointy, advising him it’s “Time for your check-up, now open wide and say your prayers…”
In an issue where a guy gets shot through the head, this manages to be the most shocking, horrific image and sets up an awful lot of what Fortress Maximus will be after this with one panel.
Luckily, Perceptor knows the entry codes and gets everyone inside to present them with Aequitas, to which introductions are not needed.
The wait for the reveal is not the cliff-hanger however, as the link between Jumpstarters is used to shift from Topspin’s POV to Twin Twist’s in a very clever transition.
Twin Twist, and the rest of Springer’s team, are strapped in chairs with the Decepticon Stalker looming large. Twin Twist has his mouth forced open by a vice as Stalker come in with something sharp and pointy, advising him it’s “Time for your check-up, now open wide and say your prayers…”
He really did get the axe.
So, turns out Transformers have dentists.
The issue ends on shot outside the room, the former Spark Extraction Chamber, with the second world changed by graffiti to “Extinction”, as a scream rings out alongside Fisitron’s sixth and final rule of being a Wrecker “Never, ever show any sign of weakness” …
My main thought when starting to write this was, as largely an action issue, I’d breeze through it. Instead, I’ve written basically the same amount as for issue 2, and that’s because amidst all the extremely well-done action, there are character beats and questions and themes that still run throughout. It’s doing a lot between the weird brain bullets and buckets of energon.
I may have come down a little harsh on Ironfist (especially knowing what’s coming), but the character work here is excellent, with both writers really working incredibly well in sync. Later collaborations between IDW writers will tend to be more “Writer A does their characters and writer B does theirs” creating a more obvious divide between voices that just isn’t present here.
The issue ends on shot outside the room, the former Spark Extraction Chamber, with the second world changed by graffiti to “Extinction”, as a scream rings out alongside Fisitron’s sixth and final rule of being a Wrecker “Never, ever show any sign of weakness” …
My main thought when starting to write this was, as largely an action issue, I’d breeze through it. Instead, I’ve written basically the same amount as for issue 2, and that’s because amidst all the extremely well-done action, there are character beats and questions and themes that still run throughout. It’s doing a lot between the weird brain bullets and buckets of energon.
I may have come down a little harsh on Ironfist (especially knowing what’s coming), but the character work here is excellent, with both writers really working incredibly well in sync. Later collaborations between IDW writers will tend to be more “Writer A does their characters and writer B does theirs” creating a more obvious divide between voices that just isn’t present here.
"And I get off on the pain I inflict"
One thing that James Roberts will be especially good at down the line is writing stories that work even better on a reread once you know the entire thing, and that’s evident this early, with several small seemingly inconsequential moments that will be given extra weight the second and third time around.
This is top storytelling from a creative team (which we shouldn’t forget also includes Guido Guidi at this point) chomping at the bit to explore ideas and taking a gleeful joy in getting to play with all these obscure toys.
The only real question you might have asked at the time is, can they catch all the balls that have been thrown in the air in the final two issues?
Of course, to help, there’s even more hardback extras to discuss…
BUMBLEBEE ISSUE 4
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
This is top storytelling from a creative team (which we shouldn’t forget also includes Guido Guidi at this point) chomping at the bit to explore ideas and taking a gleeful joy in getting to play with all these obscure toys.
The only real question you might have asked at the time is, can they catch all the balls that have been thrown in the air in the final two issues?
Of course, to help, there’s even more hardback extras to discuss…
BUMBLEBEE ISSUE 4
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
