Once a month for five months, God finds time to bless our planet with his holy ejaculate.  This is month four, and so today the latest issue of Last Stand of the Wreckers is now splashed warmly across our faces.

Sure, the immediate highlight of the issue is a single panel (spoilers) that packs more fanwankery into itself than should be physically possible.  But something more subtle I'd like to bring up, nospoilery-like, is this: Transformers are robots.  They lose arms, they lose heads, they suffer all sorts of damage.  I'm kinda numb to the idea.  But, man, in Last Stand of the Wreckers, when physical damage happens, I wince.  It's gross.  It looks painful.  It takes an emotional toll.

This is probably due to both the writing and the art.  I think of the characters as real beings, not only due to the strong characterization, but also in the way in which they are drawn.  They don't look like a pile of boxes being maneuvered around by the artist like a marionette.  They're singular entities.  And, man, if they get an ouchie, you can tell by the look on their faces.

I really like that.

And, man, Last Stand of the Wreckers really is an orgy of violence.  It's crude and dark and terrible.  Many Transformers stories attempt this, but most feel hollow.   This does not.  That's a feat in itself, above and beyond the easy geeky cameos.