Lost Light discussion

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Auntie Slag
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Lost Light #21

Post by Auntie Slag »

Blimey, four issues to go. This one is the start of the final arc, I think, and everything is moving at a lightning pace and I don't like it. No spoilers... but there's things happening in this issue that would have been spread over two or three issues back when MTMTE was new. I wish the writer had the time and space to end this in the way he wants to, it would be quite different.

Or maybe I'm wrong and he's totally cool with it. But I'd rather he pad it out with text stories at the back like he did once or twice before than have this final going full-pelt into the great beyond!
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"It's not until you're an adult you appreciate how awesome a dog is. Your dreams start dying, somebody cheats on you, bankers f*** up your pension. Then you come home and that dog's looking at you and he's like, 'Dude, you're awesome!'” - Bill Burr

“I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.” - David Bowie
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Lost Light #22

Post by Auntie Slag »

Lorks-a-Lordy this is like watching the final few hundred metres of a race. Everything is happening in double-quick time, seemingly shocking stuff bounds onto the panel, and is resolved a few panels on.

Most important of all, why aren’t BBC Breakfast’s Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty talking about this issue? It’s a damn sight more interesting that a lot of what they’ve reported today. I mean the ending is... please you have to read it, I don’t want to spoiler it; its a big one!

I read somewhere there’s in fact only two issues to go, the last one will be an epilogue or something (I’m still hoping for heroic 26-page song & dance number).

It still feels like James has been royally shafted, the story needs more issues to breathe. I’m starting to feel miffed about the number of things that may never get properly addressed.

And if he ever finds what happened in this issue; Red Alert’s gonna s***!

Edit Hey, we can swear now! Ok, just because we can doesn’t mean that we should /Ian Malcolm
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"It's not until you're an adult you appreciate how awesome a dog is. Your dreams start dying, somebody cheats on you, bankers f*** up your pension. Then you come home and that dog's looking at you and he's like, 'Dude, you're awesome!'” - Bill Burr

“I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.” - David Bowie
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Bloody hell! I only downloaded #19 a week ago...! Where are all these coming from?!
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Gouki
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Post by Gouki »

Skyquake87 wrote:Bloody hell! I only downloaded #19 a week ago...! Where are all these coming from?!
IDW's inability to manage a schedule properly?
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Post by inflatable dalek »

I think they're rushing to keep up with Unicron so the inevitable surprise appearance of the Lost Light crew at one point will sync up properly.

22 was a very good issue.
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Red Dave Prime
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Post by Red Dave Prime »

Feels like its going out on a high, albeit rushed. I very much enjoyed the last few issues and issue 22 was very good. Going out in style, When Lost Light 25 hits I think I'll be done with TF comics. It wasnt perfect but MTMTE to LL has been hugely enjoyable and I'm not sure anyone will be let top it (I only see more Hasbro interruptions). It's no surprise that this series is at its best when left alone and at its worst when it has to re-gel with the other series (and now franchises)
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Post by Auntie Slag »

Got to agree with you there, Dave. LSotW brought me back to comics and made me give MTMTE a try, however the other Transformers comics aren't much to write home about.

Its been a merry old time. From Megatron: Origin to the end of Lost Light; good clean family fun (apart from people getting sawn in half, torn in half, obliterated, turned inside out, mashed, brains torn out, heads smashed in etc).
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"It's not until you're an adult you appreciate how awesome a dog is. Your dreams start dying, somebody cheats on you, bankers f*** up your pension. Then you come home and that dog's looking at you and he's like, 'Dude, you're awesome!'” - Bill Burr

“I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.” - David Bowie
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Post by Skyquake87 »

Got caught up with #20 - 22. Lots of stuff happening!!! And all of it very good. I'm impressed that Roberts has focused on getting his key ideas out there, which keeps the story nice and tight, despite clearly being incredibly rushed by the forced ending to IDWs Transformers comics. Rodimus has really stood out in these last few issues and I liked his big speech/ realization that his team isn't just his small crew of regulars, but everyone. Aww give us a hug Rodimus. Loved the lovely panels with the Red Scraplets and Whirl in whatever issue that was. Art has been great throughout too.

I'll be sad when this is all over. There are too few comics these days that I've enjoyed, and IDWs Transformers was all over the shop until LSOTW and the arrival of MTMTE and RID. It's a shame Hasbro are pulling the plug, but I've at least greatly enjoyed these stores and will fondly re-read these in the same way I do the old Marvel stuff.

Looking forward to the next couple of issues. Hope they don't all die. Again.
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Red Dave Prime
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Lost Light - The End - SPOILERS

Post by Red Dave Prime »

OK, issue 24 has dropped and many of the big threads have been finished. Done. Dusted. We have a wrap up coming in issue 5 and then thats it.

Rather than having individual issue threads for the last few issues, thought this might work for issues 23 to 25.

Obviously if you are behind I recommend you stop reading in case of spoilers.



So without going into issue 24, which overall I thought was very good, I thought I'd start with my overall feelings on the final arc (crucible) which begin back in issue 19. It's been a rollercoster of an arc covering probably 3-4 arcs. For my reckoning there would have been an arc covering Scorponok and the Grand Architect reveal, another arc covering the guiding hand, another possible to cover the magnificence/ warren/ omega guardians. All leading into the final battle against fake Primus and the Functionist universe. And there was also the true reveal of Cybertronia and the Knights quest (although I feel that would have fed into one of the other) and So what might have stretched over 20-24 issues (3-4 issues per arc) we get in the space of 6. Thanks IDW.

Although... there's no doubt that the fast paced issues havent actually been too bad. There's been the odd jump in plot explanation but more or less everything has kinda wrapped up well. Maybe not everyone will like where Roberts took things but he does seem to have covered the main points so that it all makes some sense. The Warren/ Magnificence thing was the only one that felt to me that it should have been edited out. There wasn't enough time for it and while it doesn't break things it was the weakest bit of the plot and could have been written around.

I've always felt Roberts work, for better or worse, was very reminiscent to Joss Whedons work in terms of both Tone and plot telling. A strong focus on humour, a solid core of characters who jump between both hero and villain and a general preference for the big picture over individual story. But it really hits home for the crucible arc. There's shades of Angel season 5 where the last few episodes of the final series effectively covered much of what was planned for season 6. There's the feeling of going out while still keeping the feel of things very intact, similar to serentiy, as the series simple ignored the Unicron stuff. And of course, we end the series in a big apolyptic manner where bright lights from old baubbles save the day against a seemingly unbeatable force (A-la Buffy)

The Call-backs have been impressive and I'd love a large interview with roberts as to what was always planned (hint hint Podcast Maximus) because it does see that he paid off just about everything.

Overall the Lost Light Saga has covered 57 issues in MTMTE, a MTTE annual, the revolution one shot, there was also the crossover issues for Dark Cybertron (technically this kind of adds on another 6 issues I think), 25 issues of Lost Light along with it's own annual and 2 of the spotlights (Trailcutter and Hoist). Roughly 87 issues (93 if we count the DC stuff) have passed and for me, it has been an overall brilliant epic. Not every issue was perfect nor every arc but I think it is a fantastic body of work. There's also the argument to be made that the roberts era can include LSOTW, as well as Chaos Theory 1 & 2. even if f Roberts never writes again I think he would stand as the best TF comics writer. I genuinely found so many of his issues to be fantastic.

Over to anyone else who wants to write some stuff.
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Post by Denyer »

Working out better than the IDW handling of Furman's Revelations/MD exit. Wasn't feeling LL for the first arc or two but this one has turned it around even if ludicrously rushed.

It would take something really ****ing amazing to follow IDW into a reboot, though, and I don't think they've got it in them.

Roberts definitely stands with Furman and Budiansky in defining TFs in comics, not being immune to wandering but a lengthy run of moving the concepts and franchise forwards.

Haven't found the identity politics stuff particularly interesting or controversial; representation does matter and it pisses off a lot of idiots, so largely a win -- I like that things have generally remained with TFs being all sorts of metaphors but still alien.

Looked back on, Rung was very smartly seeded. And I hope might have reformed by next issue. I really like that the 'gods' are essentially just high tech levels, and the memory wiping (although I really hate quick-fix things almost as much as alt-universes or time travel) just about works if you look sideways at it. Also a TMUK throwback, IIRC.

It did and does deserve less compressed exploration, and I hope many of the ideas will be incorporated into future media. It's likely to stand as a high point in the same way that the other two creators mentioned gave us foundational content that built on each other and others.

Unfortunately I don't think Raymond T was able to record the TFN LL panel, but basically there'd have been more of everything but the overall arc went roughly to plan.
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Red Dave Prime
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Post by Red Dave Prime »

Working out better than the IDW handling of Furman's Revelations/MD exit. Wasn't feeling LL for the first arc or two but this one has turned it around even if ludicrously rushed.
The first arc isn't quite as bad if you can read it all in one go - but yes, I found Lost light begun in a very clunky manner.

I also don't think Furmans finish is quite so bad. Maximum Dinos is fun enough, The revelations stuff gets messy but its not awful, awful. Certainly the first part of spotlight cyclonus was excellent to start it off. I think the hard head spotlight also stands up. I reckon devastation and the awful reapers stuff did the damage there.
It would take something really ****ing amazing to follow IDW into a reboot, though, and I don't think they've got it in them.
Even if we take Roberts out of the equation. I think Barber has covered so much stuff that IDW will need a really fresh approach to the next launch. What that is... I dunno.
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Post by Denyer »

https://twitter.com/AllsparkNews/status ... 5029063682

Notes from the panel. Including this bit I'd forgotten;

"LL #12 once featured a cutaway to the events of Target: 2006 in a different universe, setting up the fact that a character connected to Primus was jumping between universes, battled Omega Supreme in Marvel universe."
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Post by inflatable dalek »

I did a lot of fist in the air moments in 24. Especially the whole Matrix opening sequence, it was just perfect.
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Post by Skyquake87 »

^Agreed. I got teared up reading that! Which hasn't happened reading a comic for a very long time. It was Whirl that got me :)

I've started picking up the trades for MTMTE/ LL and it's nice going back to the start and reading this all through. Probably not much I can say that others haven't, but James Roberts has been brilliant. There hasn't been much I haven't enjoyed - just the editorial mandate of the Lost Light relaunch, which has very much felt like an interference that wasn't necessary - and I've absolutely loved the fleshing out of the social side of Transformers, and the dips into history - Shadowplay still remains a chilling favourite -and the characters. Most of all, this is what I'll miss. I loved their interactions and relationships. Fantastic stuff. And props, of course, to Alex Milne who has been a huge part of what made the whole shebang what it was.

Next Issue : Unicron, so presumably everyone dies. Yaaaaay
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Post by inflatable dalek »

A mild heads up that Lost Light 25 is actually the last chronological IDW story, and thus has spoilers for Unicron (mostly mild, though the biggest is there's an after for it to be set during).

It's also very good.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
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Post by Denyer »

Felt that one considerably more than the issues that came before it.

Oh well, that's it for TF comics then.
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Post by Auntie Slag »

So Ravage, Mirage, Trailcutter... these three are properly 100% dead? Megatron never got to see his best buddy again, AND he lost Terminus in the war of the Functionist universe?

Also, is there going to be a big explanation by Roberts at some point to answer all of the loose threads, like Spinister's amazing medical abilities along with his lack of memory?

Magnus' love of music and whether it ties in with Tarn etc.

Whatever became of Delta Magnus and crew? Hound was part of The Primal Vanguard and he never mentioned what happened to DM, did he?

And so many other things.

I loved Whirl's ending, although how he gets blown apart in the previous issue and is back together like nothing happened in this one is typical of the compression larks that IDW put on this title. I know they're a business and they have to make money but its annoyed me so much that they suck the big emotional impact moments out of the title and made everything go at a breakneck pace.

Screw them (or rather economics) right in the ear.
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"It's not until you're an adult you appreciate how awesome a dog is. Your dreams start dying, somebody cheats on you, bankers f*** up your pension. Then you come home and that dog's looking at you and he's like, 'Dude, you're awesome!'” - Bill Burr

“I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.” - David Bowie
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Post by Auntie Slag »

Ooh, and didn’t Chromedome do some Mnemosurgery on Rewind waaaay back before the Lost Light left Cybertron in search of the Knights? That line Chromedome said to First Aid: “... he’s allergic to ultraviolet light”, which is the only thing that shows up needle marks in the neck.

He also mentioned he was allergic to Crude Energon, which laser pointers and memory sticks shouldn’t be because that’s all they were given, apart from Rewind.

Maybe this has all been explained and I’ve forgotten. Maybe I’ve got three needle points in my neck. These thoughts are six years old. Presumably Chromedome did the same to Red?
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Post by inflatable dalek »

The surgery was an abandoned plot, though in practical terms we can just assume it was a red herring.
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Post by Auntie Slag »

I saw the one hour Instagram video James Roberts did the other day answering people’s lingering MTMTE/LL questions. I LOVED the reveal about Rewind 1 and what was to happen after Chromedome blew up the slow cell that Rewind was trapped in with Overlord.

I loved the sick deviousness of Chromedome and that he really did have an (intended) ulterior motive linking to Rewind’s supposed allergy to ultra-violet light.

Fair enough that Roberts said he planted all the seeds for this plot, he was ready to use it but then decided against it because he’d gone off the idea by that point, but wow all the same. I would have loved to see it play out in the comics, what a nail-biter that would have been, so awesome. And how can Prowl stand by Ultra Magnus knowing full well what he’d sanctioned against his spark brother?

There were plenty of questions that never made it into this Q&A which left me rather miffed. The amount of muppets online who chose to waste time with ‘Is Chromedome a toppy or a bottomy’ rather than pose interesting questions made me sad.

Check it out if you’ve got the time free (I thought the Chromedome/Rewind story was perhaps the only good bit of the hour, but I’m a crotchety bastard and this aspect of the story was delicious. I love hating and loving Chromedome at the same time). Just look up j.roberts332 on Instagram and you should find it :smokin:

[Edit] I was remembering the first MTMTE issue again; the scene in Prowl’s office where he’s trying to convince Chromedome not to leave on the Lost Light with Rodimus and co. There they are both aware of the horror they’ve done to Rewind and nothing is said. And Chromedome is soooo close to Rewind, its great. I wish the whole saga got made.
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