Last Stand of the Wreckers #4

The WRECKERS have found Aequitas, and things have suddenly become a whole lot more complicated! As the AUTOBOTS’ special ops team stands on the brink of dissolution as the fatalities mount, PERCEPTOR realizes that drastic action is called for—but having come this far, who among his teammates is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice?

When IDW Publishing announced the Last Stand of the Wreckers mini-series, fans immediately noticed the ominous phrase in the title and realized that the story would be very dark. The mini-series has continued to meet all of those expectations thus far and then some. Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 continues to build upon the excitement from the first three issues, but stands as something even more. The ante has been upped: More non-stop action, multiple deaths on all sides, secrets revealed, and a look back at some more familiar faces!

As Issue #3 ended, Perceptor, Topspin, Pyro, Ironfist, and Verity have found Aequitas while Kup and Guzzle head into the depths of Garrus-9 to find a non-specified prisoner. Twin Twist was being tortured by Stalker, with Impactor and Springer bound and looking on in horror. Issue #4 picks up right where we left off as the identity of Aequitas is revealed as is the name of the prisoner that Kup and Guzzle were looking for. Stalker, meanwhile, continues his torture session.

By now, readers have been brought back up to speed on many of the Wreckers and their history. In Issue #4, Roche and Roberts delve deeper into the past and purposes of Pyro and Ironfist. Ironfist’s back story then becomes very important in the story. Beyond the back story, the writers have done a nice job at keeping the readers guessing. The storylines appeared to indicate certain revelations and characters were to be introduced, but the end result was different than expected. Although readers were keen on identify what the word “Aequitas” stands for, almost all predictions on the identity were incorrect. Many readers have correctly guessed the identity of the prisoner that Kup and Guzzle were headed towards, but what they found there was not what they expected to find. A flashback also features some more familiar faces from the Wreckers team as well as gives a small storyline to some of the most obscure characters in Transformers comic history.

As the mini-series is headed towards an end, the writers’ managing of the story has been top-notch. While keeping up the action that has intrigued readers, the story is headed towards an ending with revelation of key storyline points and the identity of Overlord’s mission. Although there is still much yet to come in the final issue, you can already feel like the story is starting to wrap up into the neat bow.

Like with the last issue, there were many contributors to the art in the issue. Guido Guidi assisted Nick Roche with the pencils, while both Guido and Andrew Griffith were on inks. On the colors end, Josh Burcham was back to solo duty. Regardless of the multiple hands involved in art duties, they managed to again pull off an issue that contained art that was visually consistent. Panels containing action sequences tend to be cluttered, but the job on inks and colors make those details clearly distinguishable. And you want larger panel money-shots? They’re back, after being absent in Issue #3.

The staff on this mini-series keep doing it. With every issue, they have topped the effort made beforehand. As the Wreckers make their last stand in the fifth and final issue, almost as intriguing is if Roche and Roberts can make the last issue of Last Stand their best effort in a stellar mini-series.

Overall Rating: 5

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