Wreckers: Tread and Circuits (2021)
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:52 pm
Tread and Circuits #1:
When IDW rebooted the TF license in 2019, it was inevitable that there would be a new Wreckers series.
The Wreckers first appeared in 1986, in "Target: 2006". And, while "Target: 2006" may be unduly praised, the Wreckers were a significant contribution to the intellectual property of "Transformers", outlasting the changes that "Target: 2006 allowed at the editorial level at Marvel UK.
The relaunch of the Wreckers at BotCon 2001 seemed to capture the spirit and tone of the original team. Rather than being a cleanly regimented team that looked like a product assortment, the Wreckers were messy, consisting of obscure characters that the creative team could use because nobody else was. In other words, the Wreckers looked like they were fished out of most kids' toy boxes. (How many kids had a complete gestalt team or more than a few of the cars that anybody gave a damn about? Not as many as kids who had a Jumpstarter or 2, and maybe a TripleChanger.) And, no kid could ever get the whole team, because some long-standing members were never made as toys. (Hasbro has still never released proper figures of Xarron and Rack'nRuin.)
The BotCon relaunch was derailed in 2002, when Glen Hallit (remember him?) used the idea that nobody was safe to kill off any characters that were not made as convention exclusive toys.
In 2008, IDW relaunched the Wreckers, keeping the randomly assembled characters and properly employing the idea that nobody was safe, and applied that to a comic that forced all but the most stubborn to show that Transformers had grown beyong nostalgia-based longevity. Editorial fecklessness at IDW let to a lackluster conclusion. But, the 2008 "Last Stand of the Wreckers" is a masterpiece.
Fun Publications attempted a Wreckers series in 2015, which was mercifully curtailed by Fun Publications losing the TF license shortly after.
"Tread and Circuits" appears to be an attempt at splitting the difference between the original Wreckers and the Fun Publications Wreckers. The team looks like a shelf of random figures that a collector would have (because the comics have not been consistently aimed at kids for 15+ years), with a member or 2 that nobody is going to have without customizing. And, it attempts the "zany" banter of the Fun Publications series (itself a failed attempt at mimicking the tone of "Last Stand").
It is better than Fun Publications' offering, but (thus far) not even approaching what "Last Stand" was. And, at this point, it is impossible to recapture what the Wreckers were in "Target: 2006".
If this were an ongoing, I would probably not bother. But, I am willing to give a limited series more of a chance.
When IDW rebooted the TF license in 2019, it was inevitable that there would be a new Wreckers series.
The Wreckers first appeared in 1986, in "Target: 2006". And, while "Target: 2006" may be unduly praised, the Wreckers were a significant contribution to the intellectual property of "Transformers", outlasting the changes that "Target: 2006 allowed at the editorial level at Marvel UK.
The relaunch of the Wreckers at BotCon 2001 seemed to capture the spirit and tone of the original team. Rather than being a cleanly regimented team that looked like a product assortment, the Wreckers were messy, consisting of obscure characters that the creative team could use because nobody else was. In other words, the Wreckers looked like they were fished out of most kids' toy boxes. (How many kids had a complete gestalt team or more than a few of the cars that anybody gave a damn about? Not as many as kids who had a Jumpstarter or 2, and maybe a TripleChanger.) And, no kid could ever get the whole team, because some long-standing members were never made as toys. (Hasbro has still never released proper figures of Xarron and Rack'nRuin.)
The BotCon relaunch was derailed in 2002, when Glen Hallit (remember him?) used the idea that nobody was safe to kill off any characters that were not made as convention exclusive toys.
In 2008, IDW relaunched the Wreckers, keeping the randomly assembled characters and properly employing the idea that nobody was safe, and applied that to a comic that forced all but the most stubborn to show that Transformers had grown beyong nostalgia-based longevity. Editorial fecklessness at IDW let to a lackluster conclusion. But, the 2008 "Last Stand of the Wreckers" is a masterpiece.
Fun Publications attempted a Wreckers series in 2015, which was mercifully curtailed by Fun Publications losing the TF license shortly after.
"Tread and Circuits" appears to be an attempt at splitting the difference between the original Wreckers and the Fun Publications Wreckers. The team looks like a shelf of random figures that a collector would have (because the comics have not been consistently aimed at kids for 15+ years), with a member or 2 that nobody is going to have without customizing. And, it attempts the "zany" banter of the Fun Publications series (itself a failed attempt at mimicking the tone of "Last Stand").
It is better than Fun Publications' offering, but (thus far) not even approaching what "Last Stand" was. And, at this point, it is impossible to recapture what the Wreckers were in "Target: 2006".
If this were an ongoing, I would probably not bother. But, I am willing to give a limited series more of a chance.