Comics Reviews: Lost Light

[Paulbot]

Issue 1, December 2016

The comic that was More Than Meets The Eye is now Lost Light.

New number one to help sales, new name to help identify the book I guess.

Same writer (James Roberts), new artist (Jack Lawrence, although apparently Alex Milne will return in an alternating role).

Same cast, with several newcomers being established in #1, both original creations and existing G1 characters (including one that is surely the Headmaster character although I can't seem to find others that agree with me yet).

Strangely enough, no actual Lost Light (the spaceship) in this issue.

It picks up pretty much straight after the last (non crossover related) issue of MTMTE and I'm glad of it. The two part Titans Return story and the Revolution one-shot felt throw away to me.

The new artist does an alright job, but I do miss Milne's pencils - they felt as much a key part of the old book as Robert's writing.

As a #1 it doesn't do such a great job as a jumping on point, even with new POV characters and a several page "story so far" to try and help. There's a lot of dense backstory to this series. Which is part of what I love about it, but if you're not already on the ride I'm not sure this would convince you.

[Paulbot]

So not many comments here about the new series....

I must admit that while I thought i liked issue 1, I was in no rush to get issue 2 when it came out, and when I did get it I found it still a bit lacking in a certain something. Can't just be the art can it?

But I did get #3 day of release and thought it was great. There's a particularly well pulled off comedic moment (in both writing and art), there's good world-building, and there's elements of the long game paying off and being set up. Kind of feels like the series is back on track.

[FatalityPitt]

So not many comments here about the new series....


Yeah, I confess, I only read the Optimus Prime series by John Barber. Is there a thread for it?

I don't read Lost Light because I got into IDW Transformers too late. It'd take me a million ant years to catch up on everything that's happened in MTMTE.

I'm liking the Optimus Prime series so far. It paints Optimus in a different light from what we traditionally get. It shows Optimus Prime as a flawed leader with his own insecurities. If you read issue #4 (came out this week), it shows him making a bad decisions, and it results in a real scrap-fest (not to give anything away...). The art is clean and crisp without being "cartoon-ish" (far from it actually). I like it.

EDIT: An ant year is equal to 12 human hours (http://www.answers.com/Q/How_long_is_a_ant_year?#slide=2).

[i_amtrunks]

I'll admit that the last event and rebranding was my opportunity to jump off (the event was awful, made Dark Cybertron seem palatable) so I am now going trade only.

I'll keep up on the wiki when I can be bothered but for now IDW have lost a fan due to their terrible and irrelevant events that forced unnecessary changes.

I hope the writing stays good for when I get the trade nine months down the road, I've enjoyed the last nearly 60 issues and want to support the series but no longer have the time to get to the comic store and as stated, knowing itll be only another 6-12 months before changes are forced upon the series to include ROM or GIJoe or something else I couldn't care less about.

[Paulbot]

I don't know about the other series, as I wait for those, but Lost Light has completely ignored the Revolution crossover and the Titans Return crossover - all three 'final' issues of MTMTE that were related easily skipped. I think with the time between "on topic" stories they did however break momentum from the end of the last Arc and this one, but it's starting to get back on track (with nary a mention of Headmasters, Spaceknights, Masks or Joes!)

And I completely understand jumping off points due to crossovers and unnecessary status quo upheavals - those have made me drop of actively buying X-Men titles twice.

And yes FatalitlyPitt catching up on MTMTE would take a long while (lots of issues and dense writing) but I'd say it's worth it!

[GoktimusPrime]

On the plus side, the writing has really improved lately with no spelling errors in recent issues. Grammar still needs improvement though. (-_-)

Thoughts about the latest issue:

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS AHEAD






What is up with Rung's alt mode? :confused: This brings up all sorts of questions, such as...
Why does it look different from his "ornamental mode (http://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/1/1a/MTMTE22_Rung%27s_alternate_mode.jpg)" as seen in #22? Have the Functionists rebuilt him with that mode? Nine-of-Twelve mentioned that the Functionists have repeatedly disassembled and reassembled Rung but were unable to determine what his alt mode is used for. It seems illogical for Rung to have been subjugated to all the horrors that he's undergone at the hands of the Functionists if he had a useful alt mode this whole time. I suspect that Rung may have been forcibly modified to suit the Functionists' propaganda, and also so that they may have a machine that can finally allow them to break into Vector Sigma's chamber. And surprise, there's Luna 2. :p

It's really interesting (yet simultaneously frustrating) how each answer brings more questions. ;)

[philby]

Yeah, I confess, I only read the Optimus Prime series by John Barber. Is there a thread for it?

I don't read Lost Light because I got into IDW Transformers too late. It'd take me a million ant years to catch up on everything that's happened in MTMTE.

I'm liking the Optimus Prime series so far. It paints Optimus in a different light from what we traditionally get. It shows Optimus Prime as a flawed leader with his own insecurities. If you read issue #4 (came out this week), it shows him making a bad decisions, and it results in a real scrap-fest (not to give anything away...). The art is clean and crisp without being "cartoon-ish" (far from it actually). I like it.

EDIT: An ant year is equal to 12 human hours (http://www.answers.com/Q/How_long_is_a_ant_year?#slide=2).

hmm this most recent issue of optimus kinda annoyed me a bit. i mean how many times do we need to see him holding the matrix and 'reflecting' on what it means and what is being a prime...pretty sure we've seen it a few times already...

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'll admit that the last event and rebranding was my opportunity to jump off (the event was awful, made Dark Cybertron seem palatable) so I am now going trade only.



I'm doing the same with these new kick offs. Plenty of places to read the comics online for free until the trade paperbacks come out. For me its more the hassle of getting the individual comics and the fact Ive got hundreds and hundreds of the buggers and they are too hard to keep organized.

[Paulbot]

I've got to stop reading any comments about Lost Light online. I saw speculation/theories that the latest issue is suggesting might have been correct - and would have been better without the fan guessing it months earlier TBH!

[GoktimusPrime]

I won't spoil it by telling everyone what Rung's secret is, but I can tell you what the secret isn't, and it's his alt mode. The big reveal has nothing to do with his transformation whatsoever. All hail the useless one.

[i_amtrunks]

I'm more interested in the Lug and Anode reveal. Surely it's a red herring or something because it seems like wasted characterisation so far, it has to have some point of importance down the line. That's what I love about Roberts, you never take anything at face value.

The Rung reveal was interesting and not what I expected. How it plays into what we have seen in the old MtMtE stuff will be interesting.

[GoktimusPrime]

The Lug reveal blew my freakin' mind! :eek: M.Night-Shyamalam'd!

[Paulbot]

I won't spoil it by telling everyone what Rung's secret is, but I can tell you what the secret isn't, and it's his alt mode. The big reveal has nothing to do with his transformation whatsoever. All hail the useless one.

Well not necessarily. I took it that we found out the his alt mode is a photonic crystal creator. He can also do it in robot mode but I presume it's just more efficient/controled when in alt mode.


The Lug reveal blew my freakin' mind! :eek: M.Night-Shyamalam'd!

That was an example of what I'd seen guessed earlier so I'd been looking out for it.

[GoktimusPrime]

Pax per sympathīam. :)

[i_amtrunks]

Who was left behind in issue 6 was not who I would have ever picked, I expected lots more stories to involve them or be about them.

I know we will be meeting this parralel universe again someday (as long as Roberts is in control) so I'm sure they'll be seen again...

[SMHFConvoy]

I'm more interested in the Lug and Anode reveal. Surely it's a red herring or something because it seems like wasted characterisation so far, it has to have some point of importance down the line. That's what I love about Roberts, you never take anything at face value.

The Rung reveal was interesting and not what I expected. How it plays into what we have seen in the old MtMtE stuff will be interesting.

I feel that Anode and Rung unique talents will come into play later

[Jinto]

Tailgate! :eek: :(

When/if Cyclonus ever finds out what happened maybe he will kill Whirl in the end after all.

[SMHFConvoy]

Tailgate! :eek: :(

When/if Cyclonus ever finds out what happened maybe he will kill Whirl in the end after all.

Whirl was acting in Cyclonus' best interests though, also I don't believe that we've seen the last of Tailgate

[Paulbot]

We’re a little light on commentary of the recent books but I’m sure people are reading at different rates.

Today’s new issue was a bit disappointing to me in that it rushed through several climatic events without enough time to breathe. It’s the first issue that felt to me like the series cancellation has forced a rushed ending... although there’s still a five parter left so maybe it won’t be completely rushed.

[i_amtrunks]

We’re a little light on commentary of the recent books but I’m sure people are reading at different rates.

Today’s new issue was a bit disappointing to me in that it rushed through several climatic events without enough time to breathe. It’s the first issue that felt to me like the series cancellation has forced a rushed ending... although there’s still a five parter left so maybe it won’t be completely rushed.

The Unicron announcement has killed lost light, they have had to rush through things and make massive shortcuts to make all the ends meet. All the architect and Tyrest stuff feels forced and tacked on now rather than flowing into the story from what we would’ve seen in other stories buildings to it.

It’s still the best book IDW have out as Prime is affected even more so by the forced rush to fit in Unicron (even though it does not have the extra long arc planning lost light has) and Unicron is just meh from story to art to timing.

On a side note, I did enjoy the pic of Rodimus coming out of the flames, and the end of Getaway was not what I was expecting.

[SMHFConvoy]

Whirl was acting in Cyclonus' best interests though, also I don't believe that we've seen the last of Tailgate

I owe myself a coke ;)

[Paulbot]

There's some big spoilers for this week's issue (and previews for the remaining issues will probably give it away too) but it's only been out 24 hours so I won't mention them, but I loved this issue.

I'm happy to see Jack Lawrence back on art (Scorponok has his proper hands back!) and the colouring, although still Joana Lafuente, felt back in MTMTE/LL style. On the last point maybe it's just because a certain character is in their classic look.

It has raised my hopes for the final four issues that the book will go out strong.

[i_amtrunks]

There's some big spoilers for this week's issue (and previews for the remaining issues will probably give it away too) but it's only been out 24 hours so I won't mention them, but I loved this issue.

I'm happy to see Jack Lawrence back on art (Scorponok has his proper hands back!) and the colouring, although still Joana Lafuente, felt back in MTMTE/LL style. On the last point maybe it's just because a certain character is in their classic look.

It has raised my hopes for the final four issues that the book will go out strong.

Could not agree more with all of this. It is like reading the original MtMtE again. I expected the last page reveal, but not with these circumstances, a character who was terminated was anti climatic just like Star Sabre and i hope we get some more information about the architect, it seems like a biiiiig stretch for that to be who it is.

Also you would've thought the Lost Lighters would have bee more cautious around Sundar, what with their history.

[Paulbot]

Surprise release of the latest issue via the IDW website today. Might get pulled down though? Anyway I bought and read it and yeah try to avoid spoilers if you can if you're waiting for the local comic shop or comixology to release it.

[i_amtrunks]

Haven’t found the early release but now I am even more intrigued!

[Paulbot]

IDW pulled it after maybe 12 hours of it being available for sale from their website. Same with the latest issue of Optimus Prime.

Be on the look out as some people will probably still be posting spoilers about the issue on social media and other forums before next week. I don't even think the usual ibooks/full preview pages have come out yet for the issue.

[i_amtrunks]

IDW pulled it after maybe 12 hours of it being available for sale from their website. Same with the latest issue of Optimus Prime.

Be on the look out as some people will probably still be posting spoilers about the issue on social media and other forums before next week. I don't even think the usual ibooks/full preview pages have come out yet for the issue.

No fear for spoilers unless I go looking, I have no social media!

Wonder who messed up the dates this time, but good to know they shouldn’t be delayed again.

[i_amtrunks]

Surprise release of the latest issue via the IDW website today. Might get pulled down though? Anyway I bought and read it and yeah try to avoid spoilers if you can if you're waiting for the local comic shop or comixology to release it.

Oh that son of a b****! That last page reveal is just too much. I love it.

Don't know where this going, I know this cannot be the actual end intended for MtMtE/Lost Light, but it is an awesome ending to the series, especially after how little I cared for all the functionist stuff right at the beginning.

Also really enjoyed Megatron taking on a Ratchet role and what his fusion cannon turns into.

I wonder if the five bots the Magnificence keeps asking for are the new god bodies?

[Paulbot]

The last pages have been killer on this book of late. The last page of #17 (Nautica opening the locked door) made me laugh out loud on the train with delight and surprise. The last page of #21 (who's ringing) made me really happy. And this issue's last page plus the other elements of the reveal mean we have to reconsider all of MTMTE and LL which is amazing.

The misdirection has been great but I can see it could be infuriating to some. I love how the last issue set up a threat that was clearly hinting at Unicron only to show that the monster at the end of the book was an old friend who could easily be that monster and then this issue double downs and no that's not the monster and it's not Unicron either but his complete opposite - sort of. That was one of the things that I hadn't seen in a preview (still not sure if previews went out for #22 to keep that hidden).

[STL]

I've just written some very spoilery things about Lost Light #22

https://stlplaybox.tumblr.com/post/177018244251/22-reasons-why

Hope you guys enjoy.

[GoktimusPrime]

Can't really discuss the ending without dropping what has got to be one of the biggest spoilers in Transformers canonical history... but PHWOAR! :o

Totally did not see that coming.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Ya gots to say this about it - you get whiplash from the amount of twists they chuck in! :eek: :D


And to think, at one point I was finding TF comics a bit dull because it was always just 'Bot vs Con'.

Can't wait for issue 23!

[i_amtrunks]

I really wish that Lost Light could have stood alone from this absolute mess that is occurring to the IDW-verse to wipe clean all the stupid, useless and down right wasteful crossovers with the failure that was the Hasbro forced shared universe.

Lost Light just had possibly 20+ issues of content, ideas and revelations crammed into a single issue. It is a dense read and yet still enjoyable, but why could we have not had this given to us over a longer period of time and to let us savour the revelations as they are revealed.

Art is fantastic, the "Primus" shots are gorgeous and the way that Rung is drawn throughout is just glorious. The story just races from info dump to info dump due to the requirements of ending all running Transformers series. Yet somehow, it is all still digestable and makes sense with what we have been drip fed for the last couple of years.

On the flip side, and to not waste my time reviving a long dead Optimus Prime review thread, the Optimus Prime and Unicron issues that released at the same time as Lost Light were boring, confusing messes that looked very ordinary. I find myself just not caring at all, it feels like a massive waste after the build up we got in Prime that was starting to redeem the otherwise very boring series, but now, ever since Unicron, it has been nigh unreadable and lacking any flow in both story and art.

In short: Lost Light will be missed. Prime and Unicron should never have begun.

[GoktimusPrime]

The writing/editorial quality is all over the shop with the latest issues. Unicron #4 was devoid of any glaring errors, which was (pleasantly) surprising coming from something written by John Barber. So this gave me hope. Then Lost Light had a few errors which was a surprise (although not unheard of). And then Optimus Prime... my god... every 2nd or 3rd page had errors. It's as if Mariotte and Barber decided to brutally murder the English language and then dress inappropriately at its funeral. They also butchered French, just for fun I suppose. *sigh*

And yeah, this whole insistence on a shared Hasbro universe has got to be one of the most intrusive things I've seen. Is this mandate coming from IDW or Hasbro? :confused: Admittedly I don't pay attention to other toy lines, but I haven't noticed any new GI Joe, Micronauts, MASK, Visionaries (etc.) toys on shelves. Is Hasbro planning on reviving these toylines? Otherwise what's the damn (or as IDW would say, "damm") point of all this?!? :confused:

[i_amtrunks]

And yeah, this whole insistence on a shared Hasbro universe has got to be one of the most intrusive things I've seen. Is this mandate coming from IDW or Hasbro? :confused: Admittedly I don't pay attention to other toy lines, but I haven't noticed any new GI Joe, Micronauts, MASK, Visionaries (etc.) toys on shelves. Is Hasbro planning on reviving these toylines? Otherwise what's the damn (or as IDW would say, "damm") point of all this?!? :confused:

Only Hasbro to blame there. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the Visionaries, Rom, GIJoe hadve come back in their own series in the shared universe but each series was introduced alongside the transformers, each time dragging the otherwise solid transformers series down to the other licenses level of boring and unimportance. Each time it was Cybertron or a character suffering to introduce these crossover series that never amounted to anything than footnotes in the main series issues that were easily ignored. Killing Kup, taking Ironhide and Skywarp were just wastes of those characters for no return.

If anything I feel as though all the crossovers just mangled and made for confusing scenarios with characters and other underlying problems and sped up the demise of this ten year old universe.

Thankfully Lost Light has only been affected by the quicker than anticipated demise that has seen reveals and information from many issues condensed into six or so. While irritating I am sure, at least Roberts has been able to rewrite his main story and character arcs to fit in the condensed timeline and still hit the main beats.

Personally I am looking forward to the last few issues and seeing how he wraps most of the plot points up, while at the same time pretending that the whole thing isn’t ending once Lost Light concludes. Let’s face it, Prime has been unreadable the last six or so issues, it’s all over the shop and Unicron is just a hard, boring slog to read that makes Dark Cybertron seem well foreshadowed, complex and enjoyable...

What we can take from the transformers series since they announced Unicron is “Shockwave did it” and leave it at that.

[GoktimusPrime]

Only Hasbro to blame there.
But... but... wwwhhhhhyyy?!? :confused:

At least with G1 Transformers x GI Joe Crossovers it was because they were co-promoting existing toys. The GI Joe toys that we saw in both the G1 and G2 crossovers were on shelves at the same time as the Transformers who appeared in those issues. e.g. GI Joe Ninja Force Snake-Eyes was the current Snake-Eyes figure when Generation 2 was out.

And as weird as the Star Wars and Marvel Crossover toys were, these toys were released at or close to the same time that Star Wars media and Marvel comics were out. These Crossover TFs shared shelf space with regular Star Wars and Marvel toys. And even when IDW and Marvel teamed up for the Avengers/Transformers crossover, it happened while Transformers and Marvel toys were currently in production.

But seriously, unless Hasbro's planning on reviving all of these long-dead 80s toy series, then what's the damn point of crossing them over with Transformers? And even if they are, still what's the point? It makes it feel like Hasbro doesn't have faith in these other toy lines that they have to ride on the coattails of Transformers' success in order to get their own momentum running. And the problem with doing that is that it ends up bogging down Transformers. The GI Joe Crossovers with Transformers during G1 were limited. Even Cobra Commander's cameo in the G1 cartoon was just for one episode, and Marissa Fairborne's relationship with Flint and Lady Jaye was only ever implied (and later confirmed many years later). But it was something very subtle and never really played on during Season 3. Fans have always known it due to the shared surname as Flint and also because we did hear Flint's voice (Bill Ratner) when Marissa is confronted with the illusion of her father aboard the Quintesson ship. Note that Ratner did not play any of the Transformers - he was brought about that episode for the express purpose of voicing Marissa's father.

But I digress... I just don't see the purpose of shoehorning all of these other properties into the Transformers universe unless there's product to market (speaking from Hasbro's POV as a toy company - obviously from a story POV it makes even less sense).

[i_amtrunks]

Issue #24.... oh the feels...

I am going to miss this series from next month, not sure IDW can get another series this good for a while after the reboot, MtMtE / Lost Light would not have worked without all the previous IDW work, making Cybertron not be the be all and end all of Transformers fiction.

Only one confirmed death but I wonder if anyone else didn't make it. I also wonder if they may use something they made inert here to help out in the Unicron event?

[TaZZerath]

Issue #24.... oh the feels...

I am going to miss this series from next month, not sure IDW can get another series this good for a while after the reboot, MtMtE / Lost Light would not have worked without all the previous IDW work, making Cybertron not be the be all and end all of Transformers fiction.

Only one confirmed death but I wonder if anyone else didn't make it. I also wonder if they may use something they made inert here to help out in the Unicron event?

I'm with you on this one. Feels are all over the place. The pacing on #24 was really good and at times really tense. There was still humorous moments and one particularly pointed moment with Megatron I won't spoil here (it was actually pointed out from a user on Seibertron and i was like "ohhhhh lord they're spot on with that comment").

Its been a long, slightly bumpy but otherwise enjoyable journey but the end destination is in sight :(

[KELPIE]

Well...

.... Let me know when we can start talking about this.

[SMHFConvoy]

But... but... wwwhhhhhyyy?!? :confused:

To me it came across as an exercise of Hasbro trying to grow their other brands using the globally recognised TF property, IMHO if IDW hadn't made the First Strike crossover event and Visionaries Vs Transformers, instead restricting the two story arcs to the Revolutionaries series it may have been more palatable.

The relaunch next year is no guarantee that it won't become a shared universe again, just a better planned one because IDW will anticipate a mandate from Hasbro.

[i_amtrunks]

Well...

.... Let me know when we can start talking about this.

Let's do this. Thoughts as I read, trying to remain spoiler free for the next few days.

Story so far page: Brilliant.
No, nono, nonononononon, Frak, yup I didn't misread that, not even the Drift stuff. This better be a joke.
Lap of honour... gold.
Wait, when is this set??? Does this mean that all the Optimus and Unicron garbage truly was a useless waste of time???
At least we get another 113 reference.
Man they made Brainstorm look oooooold.
See ya Megs.
Poor Rung.
More Magnus getting them off improbability charges was ace, but then the next few pages... wow.
I need a post Lost Light Whirl series.
Funeralbot???
Dag Nammit, the feels.
YAAAAAAAYYY!
Now I'm empty.

Goodbye series that changed Transformers for the better and was a comically mis-under-read title. Not just for Transformers but as a medium as a whole.

You can't strike this kind of gold twice, I think I may be done with Transformers comics for a very long time now, nothing will come close to what MtMtE through The Lost Light were. Especially considering that for most of it's series life it blew away all other titles.

[KELPIE]

To me it came across as an exercise of Hasbro trying to grow their other brands using the globally recognised TF property
Actually, it was Chris Ryall from IDW who took the idea to Hasbro. In part because they wanted to try and increase readership and because he wanted to bring ROM back.

The relaunch next year is no guarantee that it won't become a shared universe again, just a better planned one because IDW will anticipate a mandate from Hasbro.
This is the sadist part for me. If it's a shared universe again, I'm out. If they do it stand alone AND a shared universe without Transformers I probably buy everything. Your move IDW.


Let's do this.

<snip>

Goodbye series that changed Transformers for the better and was a comically mis-under-read title. Not just for Transformers but as a medium as a whole.

You can't strike this kind of gold twice, I think I may be done with Transformers comics for a very long time now, nothing will come close to what MtMtE through The Lost Light were. Especially considering that for most of it's series life it blew away all other titles.

I thought it was a satisfactory ending, however I really did feel the claustrophobia of having 18 issues condensed into 6.

I've read the issue 3 times now, I didn't like it the first time, was sad the second time enjoyed it the 3rd time.

A lot of the emotions come from the knowledge that MTMTE/LL has now ended and less to do with the contents of the issue.

If I can boil it down, I'd say it was a very BBC style ending.

I'll now pass this on to a friend of mine who reads comics but hasn't read anything Transformers and I'll probably read through the whole thing again.

I'm angry at IDW for not letting this thing come to it's natural conclusion but I'm happy with what what Roberts was able to do in such a short space of time.

As for discussing actual plot points and events, I'll give it the weekend for everyone to catch up :)

[GoktimusPrime]

I found the non-linear narrative hard to follow, although granted that I read this late at night after a long and rather tiring day. :/ Pretty neat ending. :)

Noticed 1 misspelling and 1 grammatical error.

[SMHFConvoy]

I found the non-linear narrative hard to follow, although granted that I read this late at night after a long and rather tiring day. :/ Pretty neat ending. :)

Noticed 1 misspelling and 1 grammatical error.

I don't have my tablet with comixology on it with me but Jack Lawrence did attempt to visually seperate past/ future, it's just that it was too subtle to notice upon first reading.

[SMHFConvoy]

This is the sadist part for me. If it's a shared universe again, I'm out. If they do it stand alone AND a shared universe without Transformers I probably buy everything. Your move IDW.

@kelpie, it's not really IDW's call to make, it's Hasbro's.

[KELPIE]

@kelpie, it's not really IDW's call to make, it's Hasbro's.

Except it was Chris Ryall who pushed for the shared universe in the first place. Once the seed was planted Hasbro went along with it.

There's currently "A Real American Hero" chugging along on its own. No reason why there can't be a stand alone TF series on the side if they decide they need a shared convoluted mess.