Transformers: Last Bot Standing

Transformers: Last Bot Standing #1-4

by Nick Roche, E.J. Su (Illustrator)

The war for Cybertron is over. But when a self-exiled hero awakens to a world under invasion, he realizes the war from Cybertron will never end.

The planet Donnokt sits on the edge of the universe, far away from all the stars that are flickering and fading out. It is a world on the precipice of revolution—industrialization—taking its first steps into the realms of the mechanical. When Visitors arrive on this far edge of nowhere, they threaten to reveal the secret Rodimus has given up his life to protect. With carnivorous mechanical lifeforms threatening its inhabitants’ very existence, Donnokt will never be the same again. But its protector has one last job to can he rid the world of the Visitors or will someone else be the Last Bot Standing?

Collects the complete four-issue series.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Adventure, Comic Book

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great graphic novel that used Transformers to reflect very real world problems of energy scarcity and climate change. It also showed a very interesting portrayal of an older grizzled Rodimus who kicked ass and was not afraid to do what was right even at the cost of his own species existence. Rodimus has always been my favorite Transformer, and to see him be the very last one and end off this timeline was very special

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to skip around, I rarely do that for a comic unless it’s really not my cup of tea- this was really a pain to read.

The good
1. Interesting “elseworld” style story, new planet and creatures
2. Using living creatures as fuel, feels really violent for a transformers story but a dark twist

The bad
1. The designs are iffy, lots of choices I did not like
2. Creating names for characters from this other planet and giving them all annoying names
3. The art style is too cartoonish for this story

[Erik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soooooooooooooooo …….it should not have been this confusing but it was

[alpacaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars because it's Hod Rod and I like him 😄

This is really poor from Nick Roche.

[HowardtheDuck95 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid space western. And an extremely fitting epitaph for the end of the IDW era of transformers. A story about the end of things, and the necessity of endings. And how all endings are beginnings for something new. It brings together all the contemplative anti-war and redemptive themes of their take on the Transformers quite nicely. It would always be Hot Rod, wouldn’t it? And it’s fitting the first IDW transformers artist, EJ Su, and it’s most notable, Nick Roche, are behind this tale. Their words and linework are gorgeous.

That said, the pages where the blue word bubbles are against the night sky…not the brightest idea.

Grab this book while you can. Till All Are One.

[Jarred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and unique story. It doesn’t get bogged down with cameos and massive numbers of transformers, but instead focuses on a western themed epilogue to the transformers comic universe. Themes to focus on when the good guy has to make the hard choice… are they still the good guy when they have to do bad things? It’s worth a read if you’ve ever enjoyed transformers and want a thoughtful take on wrapping up their universe.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦

Transformers: Last Bot Standing
2022
Comics
Rating: 3.5/5

Transformers: Last Bot Standing is a bold and emotional epilogue to the decades-long saga of Cybertron’s war-torn legacy. Set in a distant, desolate future where the Transformers are all but extinct, the story follows a lone weathered and haunted robot, as he grapples with what it means to be the last of his kind.

The story takes risks, especially abandoning the team structure. It’s far more introspective than action-packed, choosing to focus on legacy, responsibility, and the cost of endless war. I appreciated the reflective tone, though some may find the story’s pacing slow or the emotional beats a bit heavy-handed at times.

The central figure is an interesting choice, far removed from previous interpretations, he’s now a reluctant myth trudging through the remnants of a galaxy that’s moved on. His character arc, tinged with guilt and the need for redemption, is the heart of the series, and it largely works.

The supporting characters feel underdeveloped, and the limited issue count restricts the story’s ability to fully explore its themes or secondary plots. There’s a sense that Last Bot Standing is bursting with potential that doesn’t entirely get the space it needs to breathe. Still, for a finale that aims to put an ending to a long series, Transformers: Last Bot Standing is a worthy and emotionally resonant conclusion. It doesn’t always hit, but it swings wildly and connects most of the time.

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[Aidan]

Was pretty disappointed given my love for Nick Roche and EJ Su. This pales in comparison to their work from 2005-2015, and reads more like an all ages adventure with a weird nihilistic streak when I expected a more character driven story akin to Roche’s spotlight and Wreckers work. The coloring wasn’t to my liking and the art felt pretty toneless. Considering this is the last IDW Transformers story, it’s unfortunate that it suffers from having not nearly enough transformers. I couldn’t care less about the Shib the elf(?)’s conflict, which takes place in a cliche old western town filled with cliche old western characters, and a flat, morally upright and inept Shib, who reads like an author insert for the below ten crowd. While a child-oriented tone is not immediately bad, Roche attempts to engage with far more serious themes that get very little exploration beyond Rodimus repeating them over and over again. The same goes for Rodimus’s motivation; I don’t understand why he wants to kill all Transformers because I never see how he got to that place; the antics of the Decpticons here are far less heinous than whats been seen by either Decepticons or Autobots previously. What’s made Rodimus so murderously cynical? We’ll never know, because the book wanted to spend 4 issues on Shib in danger as opposed to telling us the story of Rodimus, leaving me with little to care about. The third and fourth issues here are messy from a visual storytelling standpoint, with one moment making it appear as if Rodimus inexplicably teleported from town into a mine shaft. Tough to see Roche’s last Transformers work for the near future go out like this.

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like "The Last Ronin" this is a story where we see the last battle of not only a character but of a franchise. The last bot shows the last autobot our should I say cybertronian trying to fade away and leave the war behind them. Unfortunately the war has a way of catching up to them. It's a very entertaining comic.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not like everything in this story, but there is a lot to love. Rodimus's motivations are very confusing and portrayed in a non-heroic way, but the message is ultimately a good one. Very Transformers. Much meme. So topical. Wow.

[Soundwave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of depressing.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fell flat on concept, for me.
The haiku was cool and unexpected, though.

2.5/5

[Carola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rodimus is my favourite, this review is biased.

[KJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5?

[Iain Hawkes · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Copy-pasted from the Escapist)

Ever read/play/watch something that makes you feel dumber for having done so? This is it.

I'll cut to the chase - the premise, as revealed eventually, is that the Autobots and Decepticons have spent so much time fighting each other that entire civilizations (including humanity) have been wiped out, entire star systems so that entire swathes of the night sky are now bereft of stars (so, I assume this war has been taking place over thousands of years at the least, given how light travels?). So on the far edge of the galaxy/universe/whatever, the "last bot" (Rodimus) is revealed as the Decepticons come to the planet, who've altered themselves to use carbon as a fuel source rather than energon. Which means time for din-dins on the "pseudo-human-but-not-quite-pointy-ears" aliens present, who are in the equivalent of the 19th century Old West.

The graphic novel tries to inject a series of gravitas - Decepticons and Autobots are nearly extinct, Rodimus insists it's time for them to end, the Decepticons refuse, and if that means harvesting sapient species and ruining more worlds, so be it. TL, DR, Rodimus wins, the Decepticons are wiped out, he remains in stasis as the planet continues to develop.

The comic's clearly trying for gravitas with well-worn sci-fi tropes, but it just doesn't work here. Part of the reason might be is that Transformers is inherently a silly franchise, and while you can certainly do more mature takes than others (which is true of pretty much every IP), it doesn't work here. It's not moving, it comes off as a kid playing with their toys trying to inject pathos into their made up story, but failing. Not that I've ever really been a Transformers fan, but whatever the case, the comic just didn't do it for me.