LAST ISSUE OF THE LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS

Ready to get Wrecked one last time?

TRANSFORMERS: LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS #5 punches your comic shop in the bollocks tomorrow, the 19th of May ( it donkey-punches the rest of the world on Thursday 20th) and it marks the end of a truly phenomenal chunk of my professional life. THANK YOU to all those who picked up each issue, supported it, blogged and posted about it, created fan banners and generally made the world Wreckers Aware. The feedback James, Josh (and the wrest of the Wrecking Crew) have received over the last few months has just been tackle-ticklingly terrific. We realise that not everyone that wanted to managed to get on the Wreckers bus, so for those of you who know that something special happened but just didn't manage to get Wrecked-up, the TPB collection of LSOTW hits in August, and all being well (and the planets at IDW Editorial aligning) we'll give you a jam-packed, exclusive-thronged package filled with the 5 issues, plus a ton of supplementary fun. Servos crossed...

So, to accompany the release of #5, let me link you to an interview I did with Sohaib Awan on his EXCELLENT "Fictional Frontiers" pop culture-based radio show/podcast. It was from a while back, so I think I'm still talking up the coming issues, but there might be some stuff you've not heard. Plus, check out some of the other Fictional Frontiers shows on tap there. There's something for every geek. For me talking Wreckers, click here

Also, by now, The first four issues of Wreckers are available on iTunes with the IDW app. And what's more, I'm told that you can get in on the action with yer PSP too.


Go here and press the magic buttons that put the comic I made onto your pocket game box, yeah?

So that's it. On behalf of Andy, Denton, Carlos, Chris, Joana, Waki, Andrew, Guido, Josh, James and myself, thanks for taking this series to your fuel pumps. I don't know if anything I work on will be this well-received again, so I'll enjoy the buzz while it lasts. If you want more, drop a line to the Eds at IDW, or send a note to letters@idwpublishing.com, and hopefully James and I will return very soon.

Wreck and Rule.


Last Stand of the Wankers. Photo by Whittle

You've Been Nicked

LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS #3 OUT THIS WEEK

HUGE thanks to the super-talented, and uber-hunky Chris Mowry for putting this poster together for us.

Last Stand of The Wreckers #3 is released March 24th in North America and on the 25th everywhere else. And if you missed the first two issues...

LES WRECKERS DIGITALES

Graham Thomson of The Hub (http://www.the-hub.co.uk/) puts it better than I ever could:

"The first two issues of the critically-acclaimed IDW mini-series "Transformers: The Last Stand of the Wreckers" by James Roberts and Nick Roche are now available to download to your iPhone/iPod/iPad* for just £1.19 per issue!

You can download the IDW Transformers Comics app for free via iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/transformers-comics/id335638555?mt=8 and from there buy/download individual issues directly to your device.

Each comic can be viewed either as one-panel-per screen (by holding your device sideways) or one-page-per-screen (by holding your device upright).

And you can even take screen captures of any page/panel for use as wallpaper on your device. Just imagine looking at a screen of beautiful Nick Roche artwork every time someone sends you a message, Facebook update or Tweet!

£1.19 really is exceptional value for a RochertsTM product. Other Transformers comics are available via the App for the same price, but clearly aren't as good value.

So, if you have an iPhone/iPod/iPad* or are a pirate with an iPatch, then do your bit today to support James and Nick and cement a long and utopian future of RochertsTM Transformers comics for our children, their children, and their licensed bio-engineered offspring!

*iPad coming 3 April 2010."

Wreckers: A-where? A-here.

Stand fast, Wrecktums. And thanks for maintaining optimum vigilance in my absence. I never stopped being Wreckers aware; it's just the Wreckers I was aware of were the ones that still needed to be drawn in #5. (A part of me dies with every death I must draw...)

So here's a round-up:

WIKI-WAW

More robot dreams (electric sheep optional) coming true as the Transformers Wiwi site Wrecked itself, like, right up. Click here to see how those wonderful folk Wreckerised the logo and slapped in their entry on those Wrecker guys as there featured article for the duration of WAW. Guys, I dunno which of you wonderful motherfolkers are responsible, but mahoosive thanks. Seriously.

TFI TFORMERS

ANOTHER site has roofied this half-assed idea, toaken it home, done unspeakable things to it, and taken polaroids. High fives and over-egged ass-grabs at TFormers.com. They've thrown up a nice hoo-rah call to arms to whip all the uneducated into a lather. They're also responsible for THE innovation of the 21st century, the movement to Wreck A Friend (WAF. Wonderful, wonderful stuff outta those guys. Get on it!

ME TUBES ARE WRECKED

WAW has even infiltrated Youtube! Infamy at last! They don't let just anyone on there, y'know?

A wonderful chap I only know as Peaugh (but who writes for Fangoria Comics) up-chucked a great video of him saying nice (like, RIDICULOUSLY nice) things about Last Stand of The Wreckers. Thanks so, so much man, that's really cool to hear. What's even coler, is that he came across LSotW inkbot, John 'Waki' Wycough (Where, we're unsure. His house? The changing room in the local swimming baths?) and grabbed some incredible pieces of original inked Last Stand artwork for himself. He has my two favourite pages in the whole series in his collection now. Swine. He also managed to grab the page from #1 with the first appearance of the now universally beloved Wrookies. So click til ya can't!

DOWN UNDERLORD

Our Antipodean friends (Yes, we're friends now) are doing their bit here, generally being smug with their masses of Wrecker toy photos. All iterations of Wrecker are accounted for, and it's enjealousing to see all those toys from yesteryear that you'll never own. Well, not for me. I have them all.

LAST STAND OF THE RUSTING CARCASS

And lastly in our round up, here's a...mental website which I'm glad is on our side! Carcass is the man in charge, and his sit features a very Impactful piece of art from the glorious Marcelo Matere. Gotta be worth the trip for that, kids?

And that's it for now! Remember the point of it all: Last Stand of The Wreckers #2 is out pretty much everywhere, except where it isn't - and it'll be out there tomorrow. Or the next day. Just don't give up! You can track it down if you Dare!

I hate myself.

But I love YOU.

Don't be Wary: Be Aware.

You've Been Nicked

Wrecker Awareness Week Continues

Thank you, you valiant fools, for getting behind WAW. This stirring campaign was even frontpaged on The Allspark, which is surely a more auspicious honour than getting pixelspace from USA Today. I'm looking into organising a telethon, with phones manned by the guy who played Emirate Xaaron in the comics and the bloke who turned the piano in Target: 2006. Even toying with a 'Make #2 a Sell-out, and I'll spare Character X in the finale!'offer (I'm not really.)

But the important thing is the AWARENESS, people. I'm assured that in the places that have yet to receive it, Wreckers #2 will be available next New Comic Day. So that's next Wednesday in the States and Thursday over these parts. Tell people why they need to get on board this bus (reprints of #1 are available, sisters) and that the mass-dissection of #2, which people - and not just my Mam - say is better than #1, can begin once EVERYONE has their copy next week.

We, the cool kids, know how good this is. So let's make the party even bigger. Educate the Ignorant. Or something equally cozy.

Something else to be aware of: there's no profile in this issue. Sad, isn't it? But there are TWO in #3. And they won't be republished anywhere else, not even in the Trade collection of LSotW. So the monthly format is the way to get your Wrecker fix.

Feel free to circulate the Ironfist Awareness Appeal image in my previous post. Use it as your signature or banner on the boards you visit. Hell, print it out and stick it in your local comic shop. And let's make this a yearly event, eh? Even if the sequel isn't out by then. (What?)

David Willis' really quite excellent Shortpacked! is highlighting the cause with a Wrecker A Day for Wreckers Awarness Week (WAD4WAW) so Roche Bless Him.

The lovely Liz (Jeysie) has shown Rotorstorm the love he pours on himself by featuring him in her own forum sig:


And Andrew, who posts as Jhiaxus on the Ozformers board has captured documentary footage of The Last Stand of The Wreckers:







So be aware - be WRECKER aware. If the comic's not out now, then it will be next week. And there's lots of lovely people (specifically oneshallstand.com) online that will happily assist you.

You've Been Nicked

Wreckers Awareness Week

So when we last spoke, we were discussing the good fortunes of Last Stand of The Wreckers #1. Little did I know that said comic was destined to sell out. Like, everywhere. Guys, thank you SO much for making this series more of a personal milestone than it already was. And screw buying it - thanks for enjoying it as much as you all seemed to. A reprint of #1 (featuring a spoiler-heavy cover...) is now out and about. I think I can say that if you're a fan of a good story well-told, whether you like TFs or not, you'll get something out of this series. It ties in and compliments the ongoing IDW Transformers saga, but you don't need to know anything other than what appears in our 22-page installments to pick up on what's happening in this series. So if you're a lapsed robot-comic fan who wants one last hurrah with Springer, Kup, and yeah...even Impactor, then track #1 down if you haven't already.

Now, #2 of Wreckers is unleashed, and at this stage that should apply worldwide. Due to a horrific road accident last week, not all of IDW's stock reached their destinations. Two truck drivers were injured severely in the incident, so thoughts and prayers aimed directly at them, people. But one of the minor upshots of this was that there's been some confusion about when and where the second installment of Last Stand can be located. It's out there now, Wrecktums, so seek it out. I have declared the next seven days Wreckers Awareness Week, and would like to give over a few moments of this blog for a very important message.



So spread the word (as you've been doing all along, you wonderful creatures)to the Transformers and comic message boards you populate and let them know that the Last Stand continues apace. Some are saying #2 is better than #1, so that's a lovely upswing we'd like to continue. There seems to be a real buzz of grassroots support for this book, and YOU guys can't all be wrong. So hopefully we can get some new readers (Or G-9 Deniers as they should be labelled) hooked.

A snuggly bonus of all this Wreckage is that the fantasmic Shortpacked webcomic, the go-to barometer for all that's gud with geeks, gave a little shout-out, so much did they enjoy our Last Stand. David Willis: (author of said strip) just because I haven't gotten around to drawing a comic telling you how solidly I believe you to rock, doesn't mean I don't think it. Thank you, sir.

(The next edition of Shortpacked features clothing that I would insist on wearing to my next BotCon.)

I'd like to leave you with a load of spine-buffingly Wrecktastic banners and sigs that the Cool Kids have put together in support of the book. Most of these are culled from the IDW boards, with a nice one nicked from the Allspark. All are credited to their creators, with huge love and thanks from me and the Wrecking Crew. Keep 'em up, and keep smearing them about, like casserole on an actress.



By Martin Fisher

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By HdE

This one's from Wingus of The Allspark:







By Daniel W





By Bludgeon





By Rycochet













By Thunderwing







By Zhgingaah

You've Been Nicked.

What an Impact...

Well, Wrecktums, it's been a dream-like 24 hours. As well as having my first Transformers #1 released since the one I vommed into an exercise book in 1986 (It was a Christmas issue, and featured a giant fan-made Decepticon city garage called Cargantua - I WISH I still had that level of creativity) I was able to share the honour with the fantastic creative of team of Tommy Colourlips (Josh Burcham) and Billy Inkhole (Waki 'John' Wycough) and Guernseyan ubermench, Damien Sparkes' best mate, James Roberts. James has wanted to have a crack at TFs pretty much as long as I have, and rightly so: He am a best. Add to this the viral internet psychosis which has given us all the thumbs up our apertures could handle, then things couldn't get much better. But I like to push my luck.

So I headed down to Forbidden Planet Dublin, where the wonderful Kevin who operates the Palace of Pulp (and assorted TV/film merchandise) has kindly agreed to run a massive Wreckers promo. Firstly, he led me behind his gaping wizard's curtain to sign all the copies of Last Stand of the Wreckers in the shop.


Jesus, I look rough...

And man, are there a lot of copies! Kevin kindly expanded his order to accommodate the big demand there seems to be for this series. So this was a huge deal for me personally. When I was 15 (and as we all know, that's the age when we're all borderline special needs, and 100% deluded) I self-published a comic called Captain Ireland (BIG step down from Cargantua, right ladies?)and persuaded the lovely FP people to stock my little photocopied nonsense. And since then, I've always associated getting the thumbs up from the city's biggest comic shop with 'making it' somehow. So it really was a special moment to sit silently with the comic I've given WAAAY too much of my life to, with my best girl Whittle beside me, and enjoy defacing every copy of Wreckers in the shop. Basically, if you buy your copy from Forbidden Planet, it's got traces of my DNA on it whether you want it or not. One copy in particular will actually make you pregnant. So the hunt is on!

A slightly more desirable offer is the one I mentioned in my previous post(below): Buy a copy of Last Stand from FP, and you'll enter into a draw to win an original Springer sketch. To push this aspect of the event, the crew in The Planet have controversially eschewed their sacred alphabetical order scheme and place Wreckers at eye-level! Van der Valk!



They've placed the framed drawing on display and everything, having to remove a Tommy Lee Edwards and Cameron Stewart sketch to accommodate the robotic awesomeness! Swivel, TLE! Spin on it, Stewart-o!

And there's evidence of my whorish nature in the front window of that most Forbidden of Planets. Look at 'im! Springer wants so badly to shove Hal Jordon's ring right on his finger!



Essentially what I'm saying is, no matter where you are in the country (Ireland that is), Forbidden Planet will look after you on The Wreckers front. And I've had good word that sales are brisk, m'fwends. So contact 'em, and be in witha chance to get a free drawing outta me. They do mail orders too, so no excuses. Correct?

On the subject of sales, reports all over say that this book has legs, with a couple of establishments in the UK down to their last couple of copies. Which is bonkers. So, y'know, I'm grateful for the attention, just like a dope-fiend cheerleader with daddy-issues. And I'll be soo nice to you...

BANNERMEN

Just wanted to steal some artwork off some addled-gentlemen who live on the internet. First of all, the pornographically talented Trever Hitchinson, who does variant covers on Wreckers, and is probably responsible for 78% of the sales so far, has made a Photoshop document of the Wreckers logo available for folk to create their own LSotW banners, artwork, promo-tugs or t-shirts. It looks like this:



And is available here: trevhutch.deviantart.com/journal

The Best of the Rest I've come across on an internette are -

This one from Rycochet:


This is the best thing Shaun Knowler has ever done:



And this heartfelt treat from the brazenly-gifted Matthew C Adams:



I confess that without knowing this next one is something I've wanted to see for a LONG time. It comes from Kup Kollaborator Kris Karter. The man's barely human, but all-genius:



And is this the first LSotW-based fanfiction? I tell the now that it is canon, and nothing will ever be done to contradict that. From the home of...just horrible jokes like this one, Andy Turnbull must surely apologise for this:



Go to weirdwithoutend.com for more of Andu's predominantly TF-themed funnies. Re-nick-ulous.

That's it; Feel free to send comments and crits and cwestions here. Buy Last Stand of the Wreckers at Forbidden Planet Dublin if you can, DEFINITELY go to eclecticmicks.com where they're all fucking showing me up at my own game and listen to me browbeat you more at thecomiccast.com.

I will never top that page 22 again in my career...

You've Been Nicked

Do Ya Wanna Get Wrecked...?

IT'S A DIRTY JOB BUT SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO IT

So here it is, the run-up to the brain-flayingly anticipated launch of LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS, my reason for living for the last six months, as well as my reason for almost expiring, and DEFINITELY my reason for not spending time here. But where to start? Hmmm? You wanna win an original sketch of Springer by me?



Course ya do. Then buy a copy of Last Stand of The Wreckers #1 at Forbidden Planet Dublin. Every copy bought enters you into a raffle to win this grey-tone pic of ol' Springybits himself. Poster below:



I'm gonna sneak into the good 'ol FP on delivery day and scrawl a signature on each and every copy, so for signed comics, you know where to go kids! And a big thanks to Kevin and Jay at Forbidden Planet for wrangling this.

'COS WE'RE OUT TO SAVE THE WORLD - YEAH!

The Eclectic Micks are a bunch of Irish comic book artists who run a daily sketchblog. But all this week, the site has been transformed (I wonder if anyone will get that...?) to ECLECTIC WRECKS! Yep, each day, instead of crafting career-enchancing chances to make it big in the comics industry, the boys on the blog are sullying themselves by drawing a Wrecker A DAY! First up is Stephen 'Angel/The A-Team' Mooney with his sweet as a well-meaned love-thrust colour sketch of that Springer guy. Go to eclecticmicks.blogspot.com for a daily dose of damn fine drawings, and please leave a comment. The guys are going above and beyond drawing these guys for me, so send 'em your love. And tomorrow on the blog, 28 Days Later artist Declan Shalvey draws Kup. I wonder what possible overlap there could be there...

ABOUT THE WARS YOU'RE FIGHTING - GEE, THAT LOOKS LIKE FUN!

Done with reading about me talking about Wreckers? Well as of tomorrow evening, The Comic Cast (thecomiccast.com) will have a podcast available for you, your ears, and whatver other bits of the anatomy you feel I'd fit snugly into. Liam from the CC had a chat with me last week, so come and listen to what I have to say. Followed by buying my comic. Did I say that that's important?




A text interview is also available at the wonderful Transformers Ireland Online site, specifically at http://tfio.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=staffaves&thread=716&page=1. Sign up, log in and say hi. It's a very informal and fun place to talk ro-bollocks with like-minded fools.

YEAH, YOU BET WE CARE A LOT

And I need to take a second to thank the Wrecking Crew: James Roberts, my co-writer and Duocon partner; Josh 'Josh' Burcham, colour ninja and heart of the Wreckers; and John 'Waki' Wycough, ink fiend who's helping out on a very tough gig. And Denton, Andy and Carlos, our editors deserve a mighty mention for pulling this thing together.

So folks, go make Last Stand of The Wreckers a success. We've seen the hype online, and we've listened to what everyone has to say. This is a book for Transformers fans BY Transformers fans. I know that not everyone has stuck around at the IDW party over recent times, but good golly: big, honking robots in a story about a space prison-break? You can surely give this a twirl! This is the rigid filling for your empty holes, Transpeople! It's dark, it's scary, it's funny, it's tragic, and #1 features at least one decapitation!

That not all? God, you're like my mother. Alright then: every issue (bar #2 - oops!) contains EXCLUSIVE supplementary material that will NOT be reprinted in the trade paperback collection - there'll be all-new extra material for that. So for background goodies put together by James, Josh and myself, the monthly Wreckers series is the only place to be.

IT'S A DIRTY SONG BUT SOMEONE'S GOTTA SING IT NOW

Theme to 'Last Stand of The Wreckers'. Says everything the characters and creators want to say.



WRECK 'n' RULE.

BACK TO BLOG

I've come back. Let's start straightening this mess out. New Year, New Me, New Posts.

First of all, an update on the commissions and prints situation: Yikes. I believe I mailed most of you last year updating you on my personal circumstances, but if not, mucho sorries. The bottom line is, I'm still up for (and actually looking forward to doing these commissions if you can wait past March. Yes, I realise that's a ridiculous length of time to hang on for a measly robo-drawing or print. So with that, anyone looking for a money-back refundio, holler, and I will also make that so. And everyone who's waiting, wants to wait, or is ready for the refund, gets a free, humble, total and utter apology for the delay. I won't be offering commissions again after this misstep, I fear.

Okay, stick with the blog, kids. It's about to get Wrecked...

You've Been Nicked