The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers

The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers is a 5-issue limited series from IDW Publishing, set in the 2005 IDW continuity, and a sequel series to 2010's The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers. The first issue was released in November 2015.

«	The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers issues:	»
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Overview

When Prowl goes missing, nobody gives a monkey's ass about him - but the dark secrets he holds, if revealed, could potentially re-ignite the war. The only clue is a threatening message sent to Prowl by Verity Carlo and the only thing the manipulator told anyone was to hire Springer if he's ever missing. When Springer is revived, a new ad-hoc Wreckers team is assembled and finds themselves facing the Chimeracon revolutionaries of Mayhem, a traitor in their own ranks, Prowl's forgotten ally...

...and their own sins and mistakes.

Production

After Last Stand of the Wreckers, Roche submitted a pitch for a miniseries called Spy Games which would have followed a group of 'superpowered' Autobots on a covert mission. While the story was approved it was never published. However enough elements from it (such as Tarantulas and the Noisemaze) would end up in Sins of The Wreckers, that the writers describes it as a "de facto first pass at the story".

The first outline for the series proper contained several characters who would be cut from later plot revisions. Among them were a new team of Wreckers who had been assembled by Prowl to act as a sleeper cell, as well as a 'reward' to Arcee for her loyalty to him. Hubcap was the only one from this group to make it into the final story, with other potential members of this group including Gripper, Skyjack,Skyhammer and Scorch (the trade contains an exert describing their personalities but with their names redacted). The group was dropped due to space concerns and for retreading material already covered in Last Stand of The Wreckers.

Sky Garry was at one point planned to be the Wrecker's main form of transportation. He would have been a moaner who resented being treated as a glorified transport. During the story he would have fought Tidal Wave (who ended up inheriting his personality in the final series.)

Another character who lasted longer was the former Decepticon sharpshooter Carrion. After his unit was blamed for the destruction of the neutral city of Carpessa, he would have become disillusioned with the Decepticon cause and started taking part in Neutral rescue operations. By the time of the story, he has become so flagrantly anti-Deception that he punishes himself by "permanently running footage on his VDU of Decepticon wartime atrocities, specifically the Carpessa incident over and over again". While genuinely remorsefully, he's pompous and demands to be called The Penitent. When hooked up to the Impetus device, he would have confessed to killing eight Wreckers in his former life.

Creative team

Nick Roche returns as the series artist and writer, and Josh Burcham reprises his role as colorist.

Collections

• The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers (August 24, 2016) ISBN 1631406698 / ISBN 978-1631406690
  • Collects Sins of the Wreckers #1–5.
  • As with the previous Wreckers collection, this one is chock full of extras. Bonus material includes:
    • Alternate covers.
    • Details on Josh Burcham's coloring process.
    • Noisemaze Logic: Various story commentary and ideas that were not used.
    • Something Naughty: artists' character sketches with commentary by Nick Roche.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Wreckers Saga (July 4, 2018) ISBN 1684052211 / ISBN 978-1684052219
  • Collects Last Stand of the Wreckers #1–5, Sins of the Wreckers #1–5, and Requiem of the Wreckers.
  • Bonus material includes all of the covers, the 11-page prose story "Bullets", the Transformers: Mosaic: "Dead Men's Boots", the 2-page comic "Escape", the 5-page prose story "Zero Point", the 1-page comic "In Word and Deed", and profiles for Rotorstorm, Pyro, Guzzle, Ironfist, Impactor, Snare and Overlord.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 69: Sins of the Wreckers (September 18, 2019)
  • Collects Sins of the Wreckers #1–5, and The Transformers Holiday Special.
  • Bonus material includes a cover gallery and introduction by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 10 (January 1, 2020) ISBN 1684055849 / ISBN 978-1684055845
  • Collects Windblade (2015) issues #6–7, The Transformers (2012) issues #44–45, Combiner Hunters #1, Sins of the Wreckers issues #1–5, More than Meets the Eye issues #45–47 & #48–49, The Transformers Holiday Special: "Choose Me" & "The Thirteenth Day of Christmas".
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: Best of the Beasts (July 13, 2022)
  • Collects The Gathering #4, Windblade (2015) #6, Synergy: "Of Flying and Falling", Beast Wars #9: "Thicker Skin", and Sins of the Wreckers #3.
  • Also includes a reprint of the "Optimus Primal vs Megatron!" toy pack-in comic.
  • One-shot format.

• 
  Sins of the Wreckers – cover art by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham
• 
  The Wreckers Saga – cover art by Nick Roche
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 69: Sins of the Wreckers – cover art by Don Figueroa and Nick Roche
• 
  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 10 – cover art by Marcelo Matere
• 
  Best of the Beasts – cover art by James Biggie

Notes

• The look of the Chimeracons was taken from Jack Lawrence's Beast Wars Transmasters UK fancomics (with permission from Lawrence). Back there, done before the show made it to the British Isles, Lawrence had the Beasties 'rip' through their flesh, which hangs off them in robot form.