Transformers, Vol. 10: Last Stand [Paperback]

Well... no, not really. After reading these stories, it's easy to see why Bob Budiansky finally stepped down and UK creative mastermind Simon Furman was brought in to replace him. Put simply, this volume represents the absolute low point of the US comic (but not the lowest point of the Titan books series, for reasons I'll come to later).

Budiansky had written rather questionable stories before and, to give him credit, he created the backbone of the Transformers' Marvel continuity, devised the personalities and characters of the bulk of the G1 characters and, in his early days, came up with some rather brilliant storylines, but this book features a full four issue run of weak, skippable stories. When Furman started work, things picked up immediately. The final story here, issue 55's 'The Interplanetary Wrestling Match', is so far beneath the quality of the following issue's 'Back from the Dead' to be laughable.

The first story in this book, 'The Man in the Machine', lulls the reader into false hopes as it's actually excellent, investigating the consequences of Spike Witwicky's decision, now his brother has been rescued, to sever his connection to Fortress Maximus. As he finds out, it's not as easy as he'd like. And nor should it be, as Maximus is just as alive as his human companion and shouldn't just be left to rust. It is a theme which Simon Furman would explore in his stories, both in the remainder of the first run of comics and in 'Generation 2', and it opens 'Last Stand' on a high which unfortunately descends - sharply.

Starting with an admittedly neat parody of the Cantina scene from 'Star Wars', 'Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?' pits Cloudburst and Landmine against some mechanical cannibals (hence their name), and 'Recipe for Disaster' continues this and pits them against a race of (giant) female warriors. 'King Con' (as far as it goes, a pretty good story - even if it is just a King Kong parody) and 'The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship' introduce the Micromasters, and the writer feels that the best way to do this is to turn one of them into a wrestler... a long, long way down from the stories he had come up with in his early days - were the likes of 'Prime Time' and 'The Smelting Pool' only written a couple of years previously? To a new reader of the comic these stories could be quite enjoyable - it's easy to see the Mecannibals could entertain, for instance (And indeed they would in Simon Furman's 'Out to Lunch'), the stories are certainly no worse than most of the cartoon episodes and they do reflect the increasingly 'innovative' toy line - but for those of us who have read the infinitely more mature early stories - and the UK ones - they are a travesty.

This volume is rescued by the presence of the first story, and the background material created for it which edges it above the other low-point, 'Treason' in desireability. Whereas in previous volumes the extras stretched, maybe, to an introduction or a couple of sketches, here the extras actually warrant a mention - we get a chart to show how the incorrectly-ordered Titan series fits together, a covers gallery for the hardback editions, Bob Budiansky's ideas for the Creation Matrix, his sketch of a Mecannibal, his pencil artwork for 'The Intergalactic Wrestling Championship', and his treatment for 'Transformers: New Generation' - his take on the story of the Action Masters, and very interesting in showing his ideas in contrast to what Simon Furman did later on. Oh, and an advert for the forthcoming 'Aspects of Evil'.

So - a two star book, elevated to three because of the first story, the extra material and its 'must have' status to complete the collection (although, apart maybe from the opening story, there's nothing here which is in any way relevant to what came later). From the stories in 'Breakdown' onward, the US comic had been coasting somewhat, with a few stories standing out (particularly the 'Headmasters' series) while most of the rest were largely below par. The UK comic of that same period was striding far, far ahead in scope, ambition and enthusiasm, and now its writer was coming aboard and putting his other job on the backburner, the US title would soon eclipse it. The darkest hour does indeed come just before the dawn...

Ultimately, 'Big Broadcast' has been left out, but that doesn't really improve the book all that much. Things open badly, with 'Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom', pitting the Autobots' ally against the Decepticons' new hypnotic car wash. Yes, really. Events take a slight upturn with 'Used Autobots', only to descend again, sharply, with 'Child's Play' and 'Spacehikers', starring Blaster and a rather unlikeable group of young children. The closing 'Toy Soldiers' is easily the best story here, but that's not saying much...

Bob Budianski had a habit of focussing on the human supporting characters at the expense of the robot stars, and here he reaches his nadir. The children introduced here are obviously intended to be role models for the readers, which shows the age range the author was aiming for (five to ten year olds), seemingly uninterested in engaging the more mature readership Simon Furman had in mind in the UK comic. Possibly the lowest point - Wheeljack providing a SPACE SUIT for a TEDDY BEAR.

Who do I recommend this book to, then? Not those who wish to remember their childhood through rose-tinted glasses, and especially not to new fans. Not to today's five-to-ten year olds, who would find the children here to be naive and immature. Only to longstanding Transformers fans who have continued to read these very stories through the years and wish to own them in one volume, like myself...