content warnings for: robo gore, body horror, and war crimes
Title: Last Stand of the Wreckers
Author(s): Nick Roche, James Roberts
Artist: Nick Roche
Last Stand of the Wreckers (or simply "lsotw") is a five issue mini-series focusing on the Autobot special ops unit, the Wreckers, and their mission to liberate Garrus-9, a prison planet that fell to the decidedly non-existent mercies of Overlord, a nigh-invincible Decepticon deserter. And on top of liberating the prison and rescuing the Autobots trapped there, they need to secure something called Aequitas.
[set of panels, three stacked, all with a blood red background: first; a victorious Overlord holds up a defeated Fortress Maximus, warden of g9, saying "Like this...Let us play a game. I will turn Fortress Maximus over to you. All you have to do is try not to kill him." Second; all silhouette, Fort Max is thrown to grasping prisoner hands as an off panel Overlord says "Catch." Third; Overlord looks away as pink energon - robot blood - splatters from off panel, and says "I think I'm going to like it here."]
Down a few members, due to other mainstays being otherwise preoccupied, the active Wreckers (leader Springer; war hero Kup; brothers Topspin and Twin Twist; scientist-turned-sniper Perceptor [or Percy]) bring in members from their reserves (Optimus Prime wannabe Pyro; ace pilot Rotorstorm; Guzzle who I honestly don't remember much about; and the fanboy Ironfist) to bolster their numbers, and give them a sliver more of a chance of them making it out alive and with the mission accomplished. A human stowaway, Verity, and ex-Wrecker leader Impactor end up tagging along. Things go south almost immediately, when Wreckers' ships go down after an attack from the Decepticons and from then on it's a fight to the end. The odds are stacked against them, but that's when the Wreckers are sent in- when the odds of success are next to zero.
[here's a panel of Percy hanging, upside down, out of the damanged hull of his team's ship to shoot attacking Decepticons out of the sky]
This comic was...pretty phenomenal. I'd already read More Than Meets the Eye (by James Roberts), but with its references to this story and the general attitude of the fandom at large, I knew it was inevitable I was going to read this. It is a story apparently adored by fans, and it's really not all that hard to see why. Even ignoring the fact it came out when reception for the franchise was low, and the storylines were iffy at best. I read a single issue of All Hail Megatron (issue 15, because I love Percy) and, quite honestly, that's all I need in my life of that.
While More Than Meets the Eye is at its core a dramedy, Last Stand is a war story. You can remove practically all the parts relating to them being alien robots in a Forever War, save for a few parts that don't make sense outside of its context (Fort Max's fate and Topsin & Twin Twist's overlapping nervous system come to mind), and the story remains unchanged. I'm hesitant to call it "dark and gritty" because of the connotation of that meaning "it takes itself way too seriously," but it is more grounded than I'd gotten used to with More Than Meets the Eye.
Most of the humor in the story is undercut by the gravity of the situation the characters are in, like when Rotorstorm says "Wreckers combine!" when his team finds themselves in audience with Overlord. And promptly gets shot in the head, covering the others in robot blood and gore. I am not posting panels of the gore because despite them being robots it's still a bit extreme. There is a lot of body horror present, besides.
[The flaming endoskeleton of Overlord hulks over an off-panel Verity, and says, "Look at you. All brittle bones and ligaments and red, red ventricles, so sticky-soft and bendable... I wonder what sound you'll make when I pop your seams? You and your dead friends have ruined everything. What would happen if he was to arrive now? How could I best Megatron when I am reduced to this?"]
Recommend If: You're looking for a SciFi war story that looks into the realities of war vs the sanitized version those not involved get. Its a war horror story, with an underlying theme of hope. HOWEVER I do not recommend this comic for those who do not like stories with unhappy endings. The heroes in this lose. They secure Aequitas, but it's just to cover up war crimes; they rescue Fort Max, but every other Autobot prisoner had been killed; they defeat Overlord, but he was repaired by Autobot command and is still on the loose.
LGBT Rep: So like, the Transformers IDW comics are structured in a way that it's safe to assume "gay until proven otherwise" due to the characters being of a single gender race. However, as far as confirmed gay characters go, Last Stand only has Prowl present, and only for a handful of pages. On top of that, Prowl. Kind of sucks, honestly. He isn't a good person. So while he is far and away not the only gay character in this franchise, he is the only one present here (unless Percy is confirmed gay at some point, since he's the next most likely).
