Comic Book / The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers

Be all our sins dismembered.

The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers is a 5-issue miniseries from IDW Publishing, released on November 2015. It is a Sequel Series to 2010's runaway hit The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers. Original artist and co-writer Nick Roche and original colorist Josh Burcham are returning from that series.

When notorious and ever-scheming Autobot commander Prowl is kidnapped, he finds himself alone, having driven away his allies with his manipulations. Desperate, he turns to his last resort; The Wreckers! Unfortunately for him, the few surviving Wreckers are broken after their final, brutal mission on Garrus 9. Now they're just a bunch of thugs, vigilantes, cripples, and old soldiers idling about. Can the Wreckers reform into the heroes they once were for this last job?

New characters can be found on Last Stand's character sheet.

A finale to the Wreckers saga The Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers was released in 2018.

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Tropes:

• Adaptational Villainy: A lot of the members of Mayhem are characters that, in other continuities, were flat out heroes, largely due to being Autobots or Maximals. Here though, they're Bomb-Throwing Anarchists who, while neutral, are still willing to go to extremes in the name of exposing the crimes of the Cybertronians. Some like Claw Jaw are even willing to laugh in sadistic glee over the Wreckers being subjected to the Noisemaze, something that annoys Hubcap enough to remotely deactivate his immunity and amplify the effects of the Noisemaze, getting him killed just so he'll shut up.
• And I Must Scream: After Mesothulas bombed a neutral city to help bolster the Autobot military Prowl shoved him into the Noisemaze and shut the gate behind him, leaving Mesothulas to be tortured by the room for centuries. This is part of the reason Mesothulas kidnapped Prowl once he got out.
• Artificial Human: Or Cybertronian in this case, with Ostaros aka Springer.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Roadbuster was a fairly minor character in Last Stand, only playing a big part in one of the epilogue short stories. Here he's more important to the plot, as he's one of the few active Wreckers remaining.
  • Hubcap has been a very minor recurring character in IDW, being a security guard during Sentinel Prime's time, and being Pipes's pen pal before Pipes's death in MTMTE. Here he's been upgraded to a major character.
• The Atoner: Impactor has become one, seeking to escape his brushes with bloodlust and atone for his actions on Pova.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Mayhems' transport, Tidal Wave. He's huge and likely powerful, but also cumbersome, a massive target, and his transformation cog glitches up mid-transformation on account of Stakeout getting caught in it.
• Badass in Distress: The plot involves Prowl being kidnapped and the Wreckers being called on to help.
• Bears Are Bad News: A polar bear menaces Verity. Stakeout kicks it in the face. It soon turns out to be Polar Claw.
• Blackmail: What Verity planned to do to Prowl with the back-up Aequitas slug.
• Blood Knight: Guzzle already enjoyed fighting a little too much, but since the events of Last Stand he's gotten worse; he shows incredible pleasure in violence and landed himself in trouble due to losing control and gunning down a group of surrendering Decepticons.
• Big Bad: Mesothulas (now calling himself Tarantulas), the person who kidnapped Prowl for unknown reasons.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Wreckers save Prowl, beat Tarantulas, and destroy the Noisemaze once and for all. Verity's illness has been cured, Impactor joins Mayhem in order to expose the crimes of Cybertron's government, and everyone seems ready to move on with their lives. However Stakeout, Guzzle, Hubcap, and Roadbuster are all dead, Tarantulas may have escaped, Debris Station is in ruins, and Verity and Springer somberly note that they may not have long before they get dragged back into the destructive Wrecker lifestyle.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: Mayhem, an organization backed by Mesothulas who want to expose the dirty secrets of Cybertron's government.
• Broken Ace: The surviving Wreckers as a whole have become this after G9, especially Verity.
• The Bus Came Back: Springer, Impactor, Verity, and Roadbuster are reappearing, among others. On a plot level, the backup Aequitas slug Verity got from Ironfist returns after being in limbo after Last Stand.
• Chekhov's Gun: The preemptive graves for the Wreckers at Debris shown in issue 1. Impactor's contains the original door to the Noisemaze.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Roadbuster viciously beats Claw Jaw into helping the Wreckers get to the Noisemaze. Springer is suitably unnerved.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Verity still has the backup Aequitas slug she got from Ironfist in the epilogue short stories only found on the Hardcover version of LSTOW.
  • Prowl is missing his right eye, which was punched out during a fistfight between him and Optimus Prime back in Combiner Wars.
  • Kup's rescue is brought back, along with Prowl's mind-jacking of him, as told in the The Transformers: All Hail Megatron codas.
  • The Mayhem team seems to be using the same technology the Dynobots used in the Spotlight: Shockwave comic.
  • Mesothulas is noted to have invented both Aequitas and spark-extraction, devices that were major plot points in previous IDW comics.
  • In the climax, Guzzle finally attempts to take revenge on Prowl and Kup for the deaths of his friends in Spotlight: Kup, as he was implied to be planning to do in Last Stand. It doesn't go well.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Mesothulas in comparison to Overlord. Overlord was a Nigh-Invulnerable Decepticon Super-Soldier with an obsessive rivalry toward Megatron. Mesothulas is a brilliant neutral scientist with obsessive love for Prowl and later Springer. The contrast is even more noticeable in The Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers.
• Darker and Edgier: Downplayed. Last Stand was an already dark story, but Sins stands out because of its bleakness. Last Stand had more violence, more major character death, and a far more monstrous villain; but Sins focuses much more on trauma and corruption in the Autobot ranks. The moral dilemmas are emphasized with Prowl having killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people in a False Flag Operation, Impactor coldly executing Hubcap and Guzzle for what they've done, and the delusion-fueled abusive treatment Roadbuster gave to his cadets to the point of killing some. Even the openings have different tones, with the optimism of Last Stand emphasized by the reds and action of the prison attack while Sins brings in a much more pessimistic opening with the use of blues and the cold.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Prowl's gets expanded upon; he used to work with Mesothulas as a wetworks operative, performing dodgy missions for the perceived greater good, until Mesothulas bombed a city to help bolster the Autobot military. Prowl was so disgusted that he trapped Mesothulas in the Noisemaze before covering up his involvement.
• Deconstruction: Of the Well-Intentioned Extremist archetype with Prowl. Just about all of the Autobots make clear they're only rescuing Prowl because the information he's sitting on could be enough to get the Decepticons to re-ignite the Great War, not because they like him.
• Dirty Coward: An incredibly tragic example; as Verity admits, to her own shame, she wasn't actually blackmailing Prowl to get justice for Ironfist's death, but to save her own skin by pressuring Prowl into treating her illness.
• Disability Immunity: Verity, as an unaugmented human, has much weaker sensory perception than the average Cybertronian. This makes her uneffected by the Noisemaze, so she's able to lead the other Wreckers out.
• The Dog Bites Back: The reason Prowl is turning to the Wreckers to save him; the Autobots have gotten fed up with his manipulative behavior and aren't putting any real effort into rescuing him.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Roadbuster used to be one, treating his cadets very harshly. And also sacrificing them to Mortilus.
• Dynamic Entry: Stakeout is introduced dropkicking a polar bear to save Verity.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Stakeout appeared in vehicle mode at the very end of Last Stand of the Wreckers in his role as Verity's protector.
• The End... Or Is It?: Though Tarantulas is defeated, the final panel shows a tiny spider hanging from Springer's wheel...
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Mesothulas/Tarantulas viewed the artificially-born Cybertronian he made, Ostaros, as his son and greatest achievement. When Prowl states that Ostaros is dead, Tarantulas is sent into a grief-filled rage. Then when Tarantulas realizes that Springer is actually Ostaros, he immediately drops everything and dashes off to try and reunite with Springer, giving the Wreckers the opening they need.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Even the more dodgy Wreckers are openly disgusted when they learn how Prowl hijacked Kup's mind and used him.
  • Prowl himself had a case of this in the backstory; Mesothulas blew up a city to frame the Decepticons for a war crime and sway public opinion back to the Autobots. Prowl was so horrified that he shoved Mesothulas into the Noisemaze and never looked back.
• Eye Scream: Prowl's first physical appearance features a closeup of his still-missing eye.
• Face–Heel Turn: Carnivac used to be an enforcer of the Tyrest Accord like Ultra Magnus and Stakeout, but eventually became disillusioned with his work and defected to the Decepticons.
• Facial Horror: To save Prowl and Kup, Impactor is forced to fire his harpoon at Guzzle's head, which leads to Guzzle's face getting graphically blown to bits.
• Foregone Conclusion: This miniseries takes place between The Transformers, Vol. 2 #44 and #45, so we know that Arcee, Kup, and Prowl will make it through. Everyone else is free game though.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When Stakeout kicks the polar bear attacking Verity, it gets up and runs away instead of getting its chest caved in like one would expect. Because it's not an actual bear.
  • Mesothulas keeps Prowl in a giant web, cackles insanely, and he's named after a suborder of spider. The fact that he turns out to be called Tarantulas now is barely a spoiler.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Guzzle rips Polar Claw in half pretty graphically.
• Handicapped Badass: After the events of Last Stand, Springer is in a coma on life-support, being cared for by Roadbuster. Kup manages to pull him out of it with a Rousing Speech.
• Hearing Voices: Roadbuster used to be a Mortilus worshipper and would hallucinate hearing Mortilus speaking to him. Tarantulas exploited this to gather test subjects by making Roadbuster think that "Mortilus" wanted him to sacrifice his cadets to an altar in the wilderness.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Prowl and Hubcap agree to set aside their feud and not create a Cycle of Revenge... but Impactor isn't having it and shoots Hubcap dead for his treachery.
• Heroic BSoD: When Kup is given back his memories of how he unknowingly killed a team sent to rescue him, he breaks down
• Heroic Sacrifice: Stakeout jumps into Tidal Wave's transformation gears to keep Tidal Wave from devastating the Wreckers in robot mode, fatally mangling himself in the process.
• Honor Before Reason: Against all logic, Prowl runs back into the Maze and rescues Springer, because that's what a wrecker would do.
• Ignored Epiphany: Lampshaded. Mesothulas notes how Prowl goes through periods where his conscience causes him to try and change, only to slide right back into being a manipulator.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Hubcap feels like nobody notices or cares about him and is desperate to be seen as somebody. This desperation is part of the reason he started working for Tarantulas; he was promised upgrades and a chance to be a hero by exposing Prowl's crimes.
• I'm a Humanitarian: In quite possibly one of the most disturbing moments in the whole comic, Guzzle, after killing Polar Claw, proceeds to literally drink Polar Claw's bodily fluids.
• In Name Only: The group "Mayhem" is derived from the Decepticon group, the "Mayhem Attack Squad". Whereas the latter was a Decepticon kill squad with very little standards to their name, the former is an otherwise neutral group that, while filled with knight templars, would rather expose the war crimes and atrocities committed by the rest of the Cybertronian race. This is best exemplified by their leader and membership.
  • In the original Marvel comics, Carnivac was a member until he defected out of disgust for the lengths they went, and frequently opposed the group alongside Catilla and Springer. Here, he's an ex-student of Ultra Magnus, and regularly came to blows with Springer over the actions of Mayhem being against what Ultra Magnus taught him.
  • Whereas the Mayhem Attack Squad was solely comprised of Decepticons, such as Bludgeon, Octopunch, Needlenose, and Spinister, Mayhem is comprised of transplanted Autobots, Decepticons, and Maximals, all changed to be neutrals, such as Leobreaker, Tidal Wave, and Stampy.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Tidal Wave. The massive base of the Mayhems is also a massive weenie. He's a big target who can't transform properly, and his attempts to help just make him look pathetic.
• Insult Backfire: After the Wreckers learn about the mind control protocols Prowl planted in Kup:
  Springer: You're a monster, Prowl.
  Prowl: Noted.
• It's All My Fault: When they get plugged into Impetus, Springer and Arcee admit that they blame themselves for all the terrible things that have happened to them and their friends. Especially tragic as some of the "crimes" they admit to weren't actually their fault; Springer hates himself for a crime Impactor committed and Arcee Victim Blames herself for Jhiaxus performing experiments on her.
• It's Personal: Arcee doesn't alert High Command about Prowl's kidnapping because she wants to confront him herself after their falling out.
  • Prowl's kidnapper, Mesothulas, insists he has bigger plans than revenge, but it's pretty clear that part of his motivation is getting back at Prowl for locking him in the Noisemaze.
• Karma Houdini: Hubcap works for Mesothulas because of a case of this; Roadbuster abused him and other cadets due to his delusional Mortilus worship. He was caught plainly in the act, but Prowl owed Impactor a favor and pulled some strings so Roadbuster only went through the bare minimum of psychiatric leave.
• Lack of Empathy: Mesothulas's reaction to detonating a bomb in a neutral city and killing hundreds? "Did the bomb work right? Cool!".
  • Continues to be a problem for Prowl, who views others as tools to be manipulated. There's some evidence he's getting better, as he implies he would have helped Verity with her illness if she had asked, sees the logic in Hubcaps speech about how if he keeps doing atrocities for the "greater good" it won't be long before this all happens again, and he risks his life to save Springer at the end, despite it being illogical to do so.
• Lethal Harmless Powers: Hubcap uses his mastery of communications and signal controlling to explode Claw Jaw's head.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: The Positive Reinforcement Prison, one of the devices Mesothulas holds Prowl in, is designed to keep prisoners docile by giving them a fantasy based on their greatest wishes. When put in it, Prowl sees Optimus forgiving him, Cybertron as a paradise world, and everyone finally telling him that he did the right thing.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Since Springer is actually Ostaros, given his identity and false memories by Prowl, Tarantulas is technically Springer's father. Once he realizes it, Tarantulas attempts to tell Springer this, but the Noisemaze's collapse prevents him from doing so.
• Mad Scientist: A particularly dark version with Mesothulas; he was a wetworks operative who used his mad inventions to commit war crimes in order to aid the Autobots from behind the scenes. He also built Aequitas and the spark-extraction technology.
• Make Me Wanna Shout: Carnivac's Outlier power- his howl can painfully force a Cybertronian to shift mode- in the event the target has more than two modes he can apparently choose which one they're forced to change to.
• Mauve Shirt: Stakeout.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Prowl's feelings towards the wetworks he and Mesothulas did together.
• Mythology Gag:
  • When Guzzle rips Polar Claw open, green liquid spills out that makes Guzzle act even worse. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to guess the liquid is related to Angolmois.
  • In issue 3, Mesothulas refers to a process of "attaining the maximal", obviously referencing the Maximals, the Beast Wars's version of the Autobots.
  • In issue 2, a Juxtaposed Halves Shot of Prowl's head and the Autobot sigil makes up two-panels. A reference to the Prowl toy's head being the visual basis for the Autobot insignia back when the franchise was created.
• Noble Demon:
  • Carnivac and the Mayhems mean well and are merely motivated by a belief that Cybertron's government is lying to the populace. Mesothulas doesn't appear to have such noble intentions.
  • Prowl sees himself as this (YMMV on whether he has a point), as his fantasy in the Positive Reinforcement Prison shows that he truly believes that Cybertron would be a paradise if everyone listened to him. However, he also doesn't deny it when the Wreckers call him a monster.
    Prowl: Noted.
• No Endor Holocaust: Done deliberately; dropkicking a bear would likely end with lots of bear gibs stuck to Stakeout's leg. Unless the bear was actually Polar Claw in disguise...
• Pet the Dog: When Hubcap dies, Prowl is legitimately upset and calls out Impactor for doing something so callous.
• Plot-Induced Illness: Verity is suffering from some sort of illness that gives her intense stomach pains, coughing fits, and leaves her much less physically capable than usual. She was exposed to radiation and poisoned by Aequitas when the Wreckers turned it on in Last Stand.
• Putting the Band Back Together: What Prowl hopes to do to save himself from his captors. It's probably not going to go well, not least of all because there's barely a band left to regather.
• Psycho Party Member: Guzzle has become this thanks to his increasingly worse instability. It backfires in the climax, as he ends up attempting to kill Prowl and Kup out of revenge for friends who died rescuing Kup years ago, forcing Impactor to kill Guzzle.
• Religion of Evil: Roadbuster used to be a worshipper of Mortilus, the Cybertronian god of death. Tarantulas exploited this to trick him into abusing his own cadets and sacrificing them to "Mortilus"... actually an false voice signal Tarantulas used to speak to Roadbuster.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Mesothulas cures Verity's illness. Not out of kindness, but rather just to show up Prowl one more time by doing something Prowl couldn't.
• Robotic Reveal: The animals harassing the Wreckers turn out to be the Mayhems in their alternate modes, disguised to get close to Verity and the Aequitas slug.
• Saved by Canon: Arcee and Kup at the least will survive the events of the series, since they're main characters in The Transformers, Vol. 2, an issue of which showed them returning from what went down in this series.
  • Prowl will also be okay as the end of The Transformers, Vol. 2 #50 shows.
• Secretly Dying: Verity is dying of radiation poisoning from being exposed to Aequitas. She was blackmailing Prowl to try and strongarm a cure out of him.
• Sequel Series: To The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers.
• Sensory Abuse: The Noisemaze, which Mesothulas is using to hold Prowl and keep out intruders.
• Serial Escalation: Impetus is Aequitas taken up to eleven. Whereas Aequitas determines guilt after a trial like a jury, Impetus cuts the knot and proves guilt by forcing people to admit their crimes.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Out of the surviving Wreckers, Verity has clearly been handling the events on G9 the worst; just look at her in the page image.
  • Springer is revealed to be suffering flashbacks to Overlord mutilating his face on Garrus-9, a fact that he's hiding from the other Wreckers to look strong.
• Sixth Ranger: Hubcap, Stakeout, and Arcee join the surviving Wreckers in their mission.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: Hubcap turns out to be working for Mesothulas/Tarantulas, though his motives are well-intentioned.
• Slowly Slipping Into Evil: While Impactor continues to do questionable, if somewhat justifiable stuff, every time he swings further and further away from being a good guy.
• Stalker with a Crush: Tarantulas is completely obsessed with Prowl, going so far as to kidnap Prowl and threaten to destroy him if Prowl refused to join his side.
  Prowl: "What more do you want?!"
  Tarantulas: "I want you. I want us."
• Stay with Me Until I Die: Stakeout asks this of Carnivac in his last moments. Carnivac obliges.
• That Man Is Dead: Mesothulas considers his name to be meaningless now. He prefers to be called Tarantulas.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Hubcap gives two to Prowl in issue #4.
  Hubcap: It hit me hard. Roadbuster—released after completing minimum rehab. On your orders. As a personal favor to Impactor. Who owes someone like Impactor a favor that big? Were the lives he ruined—ended—worth so little? Do you know what it's like to be drilled by him? And I mean "know," Prowl. Not "Skim-read a datatrack."
  (later)
  Don't undermine me—don't diminish me. I won't have it. I was forged scared, Prowl. I'm scared now. But what you do—everything about you—is wrong. And it takes brave people—people like me and Verity—to let the world know what you really are.
• This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Humorously subverted. Hubcap is a communications expert and is able to track Cybertronian body signatures. He gets brought along partly because this situation seems tailor made for him to be useful, only for the Wreckers to discover the Mayhems are using bio-disguises to cover their signatures, rendering Hubcap's tracking useless again. Roadbuster lampshades this:
  Hubcap: Without visual contact, they, um, might as well be invisible.
  Roadbuster: What's the actual point of you?
  • (But then it becomes less funny when it turns out Hubcap has a very different role altogether.)
• We Used to Be Friends: Arcee's feelings towards Prowl.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Springer is not happy when he sees the current state the Wreckers are in, especially when he sees Roadbuster beating information out of the unarmed Claw Jaw.
• Worth Living For: Hearing Kup bark orders at him once again and giving him a mission causes Springer to finally snap out of his coma.
• Your Head Asplode: Claw Jaw gets his head exploded by Hubcap redirecting a massive amount of signals from the Noisemaze into his head at once. Later Roadbuster gets his head blown up by Tarantulas shrinking and expanding inside it.

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