Comic Review...

Cover "A" by Nick Roche



Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers #3 (of 5)

Writers: Nick Roche and James Roberts
Artists: Nick Roche and Guido Guidi

(covers by Nick Roche and Trevor Hutchison)


Summary: Two years ago, Shockwave is repaired on Garrus-9. Overlord allows him to leave if he will give him access to the anti-virus for the Achilles virus Megatron had him implant (whatever that is and was meant to do). In the present, the Wreckers fight for their lives against a legion of Decepticons. Nearby, in the Pit, Overlord confronts the other team of Wreckers... Rotorstorm makes a joke and is promptly shot in the head by Overlord. They attack Overlord but it is futile because he's so bad-ass and invincible. Elsewhere, Springer's team kill Treadshot and escape their pursuers for the moment. They also find Kick Off's body there...as they discuss it, they're trapped and stunned unconscious. Guzzle, Pyro and others head through the prison and eventually locate Aequitas. On the way there, Ironfist freaks out, man--he didn't sign on for this! He wanted adventures and fun--not life and death! Not horrific death like Rotorstorm's--Top Spin tells him to buck up, man! People die stupid deaths all the time! They open Aequitas' prison and enter it's cell--we are not privy to what they see however. Elsewhere, Twin Twist is tortured by Stalker, while his team lay deactivated all around him in the Spark Extraction Chamber...

Comments: Some fans seem to love this series (for some reason). For me, it's a mixed bag. The pacing isn't bad--things are actually happening, which is more then I can say for many of IDW's previous efforts. The artwork is reasonably good--but I wish Nick could draw all of it. I like his art style but when it gets mixed in with Guidi or somebody else's it ends up not being it's best. Another thing that is really getting on my nerves is the killing of characters I like... I think I know how they arrived at this. They figured they could take European exclusive characters that Americans have never seen--thus giving them a spotlight of sorts--and make them expendable too (since we don't know about nor care about them anyway). But they're not really European exclusive--they came out in Japan first and also came out in Canada. I do know these characters and do like at least some of them. So far the writers have killed off Skyquake (anyone who's read BOP knows he got put in the stories on the Decepticon ship as much as possible), Rotorstorm and also Treadshot (I'm kind of indifferent about Kick Off). I also realize they can't please everyone all the time but they (IDW) have managed to kill (then unkill) Sunstreaker, Ironhide and Thundercracker thus far. If people can play favorites with them then why not with these guys too? I also think the way Rotorstorm was dispensed with was stupid...at least give him a decent death. Why not have killed Guzzle off--he sucks anyway! :) I knew the whole Ironfist thing was coming--the whole "I can't deal with this!" and someone snapping back about life and death and how serious things are in a war (as if Ironfist wouldn't already know that! They've been at war for millennia for goodness sake!) Just who or what is "Aequitas"--and why should we care? I think a better ending would've been a full page reveal of Aequitas then get to the torture stuff next issue (it's a more dynamic ending, imo. Unless, of course, there's nothing exciting about this character--in which case they couldn't do that). I also like that Shockwave is apparently free to cause havoc once more (what was the point of the virus thing? Just an excuse to get him in the story?) A mixed bag...

Mildly recommended.