Last Bot Standing

The modern comics universe has had such a different take on G1, one that's significantly represented by the Generations toys, so they share a forum. A modern take on a Real Cybertronian Hero. Currently starring Generations toys, IDW "The Transformers" comics, MTMTE, TF vs GI Joe, and Windblade. Oh wait, and now Skybound, wheee!
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Dominic
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issue 3

Post by Dominic »

Issue 3:

My problems with this series are mostly technical.

The art is everything that has been wrong with IDW over the years, being heavily stylized to the point that it is not always clear which characters are doing what. And, the same "stylistic" choices extend to the lettering. (Some of the dialogue is obnoxiously difficult to read. This is inexcusable in a licensed book from a publisher that markets itself as artistically competent.)

The premise itself works. Cybertronians have been consistently depicted as a rapacious and greedy species. This is an "end of the line" story, and it makes sense for Roche to build off of that, with Cybertronians having degenerated to the point of eating anything and everything, existing at near famine levels despite being near-extinct. (Steeljaw and his crew are the equivalent of a civilization that makes no distinction between pets and livestock, and still cannot keep itself fed or otherwise manage resources.)

With more polish and time (rather than being rushed out as the license expires), this could have been excellent. Instead, it will be remembered as a missed opportunity.
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andersonh1
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Re: Last Bot Standing

Post by andersonh1 »

Last Bot Standing #4 - Rodimus is pretty much the only remaining functional Transformer in the universe at the end of this. Lots of death, lots of destruction, everyone else but him gets slaughtered or rendered comatose. I'm not sure what the point of this story was, in all honesty. To question the value of Transformers or Transformers fiction? To show that it was all for nothing, all the fighting and struggles and heroic efforts to save lives, and in the end, genocide was the only answer? I don't know, I'll be curious to see what Nick Roche has to say about this series down the line, if he discusses it, and see what he was trying to say. Maybe he just felt down about the license ending at IDW and wrote a depressing story? Who knows?
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Dominic
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Re: Last Bot Standing

Post by Dominic »

I wanted to like this. I really did. I hoped that it would tap in to the best of what IDW had done. Roche is the guy who had the "Frank Miller moment" with "Last Stand of the Wreckers".

Instead, it leaned in on the worst of IDW. Loose, overly emotive, story telling. Awful art. And, lettering so bad that I could barely read some of the dialogue. (Letting and breakdowns need to be invisible, or stellar. If either is bad enough to be noticed, there is a problem.)


The point of the story was that it was supposed to be an ending. It was the logical extension of what the Transformers have been shown to be through most of IDW (and much of the franchise's content). They are giant robots from space, with bad tempers and big appetites. Transformers/Cybertronians have been shown as a fallen civilization. This story showed them at their most ravenous, stripped of any moral compass.

I like the idea. But, the execution was lacking, especially as IDW's send-off for a license that they held longer than anyone else.

The best thing that IDW has done in the last 2~3 years has been "Shattered Glass". Consistently good writing *and* art. Everything else had one or the other, with some overlap (mostly in "Galaxies" and earliest part of Ruckley's run). But, this, missed on both points.
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