iTunes Preview for IDW Transformers Lost Light 2

Bounti76 wrote:The story seems good, but Lawrence's art is reminding me (unfavorably) of Corin Howell. Goofy, cartoony facial expressions, and though characters are distinctive, none seem imposing or threatening. Twelve of Twelve (?) reminds me of Professor Princess from Animated. Just not a good style for this book, I'm afraid.

Shockwave 8 wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:The story seems good, but Lawrence's art is reminding me (unfavorably) of Corin Howell. Goofy, cartoony facial expressions, and though characters are distinctive, none seem imposing or threatening. Twelve of Twelve (?) reminds me of Professor Princess from Animated. Just not a good style for this book, I'm afraid.

I agree completely. Lawerance isn't terrible, but I still think Milne should have stayed as the main artist. I love his art, and it is far better suited to Lost Light.

Other than that, though, I really do like Lost Light. So far it looks as though it could be just as good as MTMTE. I am curious as to whether the "Geobomb" was actually what it seemed, or if it (or Rung) is part of the reason why the crew was transported to another universe.
Also, Lug tells Anode that she "made the pretty one with the sword collapse in front of his Conjunx Endura." Does this mean that Ratchet and Drift are now a couple? Did I miss something, or is this new?

Ironhidensh wrote:Let's all take a moment and realize just how much ass Megatron is going to kick in this functionist universe. He may be playing nice at the moment, but c'mon, its freaking Megatron in a freaking functionist universe. Ass will be smashed, and it shall be awesome.

ricemazter wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:Let's all take a moment and realize just how much ass Megatron is going to kick in this functionist universe. He may be playing nice at the moment, but c'mon, its freaking Megatron in a freaking functionist universe. Ass will be smashed, and it shall be awesome.

I really, really hope you're right. I really enjoyed Megatron unleashed at the end of DotL, until his character arc faltered. I've been thinking a lot about MTMTE, LL, Roberts' writing in general, and I really hope this story doesn't go in a certain direction. From the beginning, I got the sense that Robert's doesn't really like having Megatron around. He's never really been interested in developing him from my perspective. Mostly, he acts like Ultra Magnus, only with fewer jokes at his expense.

Off the bat, I was kind of annoyed with LL because it immediately seems to be moving off on a tangent with the functionist universe. We just got through a major arc. There was a mutiny, people died, etc, and I think that these things should be much more immediate concerns from a story perspective instead of moving on to the next thing. So, why are we in the functionist universe, practically speaking I mean?

When the main cast first landed on the Necrobot's planet, we learned that Megatron wasn't too keen on dying in the near future. His story arc has basically been wrapped up. He seems to have suppressed his violent urges, his best friend and greatest influence is back in his life, he's happier now than he has been for a long time. So what does he still have left to do?

Suddenly, he's in a new universe along with his best buddy. A universe sorely in need of Megatron's revolutionary touch. Since Robert's doesn't seem to care for Megatron too much, I can totally see Roberts leaving Megatron behind, so that the rest of Team Rodimus can continue having adventures without him.

I super hope that doesn't happen.

Ironhidensh wrote:Let's all take a moment and realize just how much ass Megatron is going to kick in this functionist universe. He may be playing nice at the moment, but c'mon, its freaking Megatron in a freaking functionist universe. Ass will be smashed, and it shall be awesome.

Kurona wrote:I'm wondering where they'll get a ship from once they somehow escape from the functionist universe. I'm hoping that's how they'll re-introduce First Aid (plus Mirage and the protectobots). I miss him so much

Blozor wrote:

Kurona wrote:I'm wondering where they'll get a ship from once they somehow escape from the functionist universe. I'm hoping that's how they'll re-introduce First Aid (plus Mirage and the protectobots). I miss him so much

I do recall a particularly tortured version of Rung being alive in that universe, and I have a sort of hunch about his...purpose...that I'm keeping under my hat for the time being.

The #LostLight 2 iTunes preview is really distorted. I looked at it and felt bilious. The actual thing will be fine. Look at Megatron...

Bounti76 wrote:The story seems good, but Lawrence's art is reminding me (unfavorably) of Corin Howell. Goofy, cartoony facial expressions, and though characters are distinctive, none seem imposing or threatening. Twelve of Twelve (?) reminds me of Professor Princess from Animated. Just not a good style for this book, I'm afraid.

Quint wrote:Another anti-Lawrence rant:

The art is a significant backward step for the title.

Just as TF comics were emerging from the stigma of cutesy toy adverts for kids, we get this pseudo-super deformed regression.

Is there beef between Roberts and Milne? There seemed to be some undercurrent of perceived attrition in the last Milne interview I read (possibly on this site). Then there's his demotion to co-lead artist and the way they (didn't) tell him.

Swallow your pride IDW / Roberts and get Milne back in as the lead.

At the very least, get Lawrence to buck his ideas up; remind him that the mean age in this title's demographic is 20 years older than his style suggests!

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:I'm not sure about beef between Milne and Roberts, but Milne found out he was not primary artist via Twitter and IDW didn't tell him he was being demoted. Twitter suggests IDW was supposed to tell Milne and didn't, and Roberts assumed he knew as he announced Lawrence coming on and drawing the first story arc.

partholon wrote:
i was willing to put up with crap art when no one wanted to draw the book and i was still guaranteed a furman story in the 90s , but these days i expect faaaar more.

william-james88 wrote:I didnt know where else to ask but, do we know what Ravage's alt mode is in IDW before he died? I know he was a casette early on but did he become a memory stick like Rewind later?

(W) James Roberts (A) Jack Lawrence (CA) Nelson Daniel, Alex Milne
Orders, kind gestures and pleas for mercy-all things that WHIRL finds it very easy to ignore. Right now, he wishes he could turn a blind eye to the freshly resuscitated monster who-somewhat inconveniently-is determined to beat him to death. Meanwhile-a long way away-one of the Transformers Universe's longest-running mysteries is about to be solved...

itscramtastic wrote:Figured I'd throw it out there, was anyone else able to pick up Lost Light #2 on the IDW app the other day? I did, and it downloaded to my iPhone, but when I tried to access it on the iPad it said "Release on 2/1"

Whoops.

Pretty good stuff though. I'm digging this storyline.

Randomhero wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:Figured I'd throw it out there, was anyone else able to pick up Lost Light #2 on the IDW app the other day? I did, and it downloaded to my iPhone, but when I tried to access it on the iPad it said "Release on 2/1"

Whoops.

Pretty good stuff though. I'm digging this storyline.

I did. I stated it a couple days ago it showed up for a probably 15-30 minutes Tuesday night.

Transformers sometimes get a bad rap, but historically, the breeding ground for great storytelling in the world of Autobots and Decepticons has been in comic books. Bob Budiansky and Simon Furman conceived the lion’s share of what have become the basic cornerstones of the Transformers universe through Marvel’s Transformers comic in the ’80s and ’90s.

The current Transformers comics are produced by IDW, and while every series they’re currently producing is at the very least good, there’s one that stands head and shoulders above the rest: James Roberts’ Transformers: Lost Light.

Originally titled More Than Meets The Eye, the recently rebranded series tells the story of a ragtag group of post-war Cybertronians ostensibly on a mission to find the mythic Knights of Cybertron. That’s not what the book is really about though; it’s a story of freedom, redemption, romance, and family. It is equal parts hilarious and terrifying. It’s the best fiction ever associated with the franchise, and it’s not even a close race.

.....

13. DEVELOPMENT OF D-LIST CHARACTERS INTO FAN FAVORITES

Remember when you were a kid, desperately scouring Toys ‘R’ Us for the newest Grimlock or Starscream figures only to find shelves overflowing with the mediocre toy of some character you’d never heard of? The affectionate term coined for such toys is “pegwarmers.” The Lost Light is practically overflowing with pegwarmers.

Part of Roberts’ genius early on was making a conscious decision not to lean too heavily on the established icons of the Transformers mythos. A lot of those characters are compelling, but they have decades worth of storytelling baggage and expectations. Taking obscure, little-loved characters that had largely been ignored by the pre-existing fiction and grafting complex, surprising personalities onto them provided the crew of the Lost Light with a genuine breath of fresh air.

There’s Tailgate, a diminutive, endlessly enthusiastic Autobot who accidentally slept through the entire war; Brainstorm, an absolute genius inventor who is just a bit too amoral to be wearing that Autobot insignia; and Skids, a highly skilled theoretician with some alarming holes in his memory. It’s a sprawling, eclectic cast, though a few characters definitely stand out from the rest…

.....

7. THE SCAVENGERS

Imagine you’re a soldier in a universe spanning war that’s been going on for millions of years. You’re not a good soldier; there’s a decent chance you’re among the very worst. You’re in such a remote part of the universe that when the war ends, nobody bothers to tell you. You eventually figure out you’re on your own, and you were on the losing side of the war. What do you do?

That’s the scenario that faces the Scavengers, a group of absolutely anonymous Decepticon grunts. They have exactly one thing in common with the nightmarish Overlord: they have no real loyalty to Megatron or the Decepticon cause. They’re just trying to survive by whatever means necessary, dodging the gaze of more serious Decepticon outfits, and taking on surprising allies, like the brain-damaged Autobot warrior Grimlock. The book only periodically visits these Decepticon counterparts to the main cast, but the characters are just as fully realized and compelling as the crew of the Lost Light.

.....

5. THE REVOLUTIONARY ARTWORK

While James Roberts rightly fields the majority of the praise for the book’s success, Lost Light wouldn’t be what it is without its stable of artists. The book was launched with the sublime Nick Roche on pencils, and Jack Lawrence has recently taken the reins to great effect, but Roberts’ true partner in this endeavor has been Alex Milne.

Milne got his start working on Transformers during the infamous period when Dreamwave held the license, ghosting for that company’s owner and self-proclaimed “superstar” artist, Pat Lee. If anything positive came out of the embarrassing, litigious Dreamwave debacle, it was Milne. His work brims with painstaking detail, and no one has ever had the ability to infuse life into robots the way he can. He has the uncanny ability to let his characters emote without ever veering into cartoonish excess. The book is as defined by his visual flair as it is Roberts’ meticulous plotting. His future on the title is, at the moment, a bit unclear, but it’s difficult to imagine reading these characters for an extended period of time without his influence.

Deadput wrote:Part of why it was great was because of Alex Milne's amazing art but with him mostly gone besides filling in for an issue for another series it becomes less enjoyable when they get sub par in comparisons artists that have a different tone.

lowman_x wrote:

Deadput wrote:Part of why it was great was because of Alex Milne's amazing art but with him mostly gone besides filling in for an issue for another series it becomes less enjoyable when they get sub par in comparisons artists that have a different tone.

I have to agree with you there. I enjoy Lawrence's work, but the style is a real step-in-a-too-cartoony-direction for my tastes, especially after Milne's detailed stuff. I could see Lawrence teaming with Sara on Til All Are One and really gelling with that book's vibe and look and really doing well there, but it's throwing me off a bit in Lost Light.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

lowman_x wrote:

Deadput wrote:Part of why it was great was because of Alex Milne's amazing art but with him mostly gone besides filling in for an issue for another series it becomes less enjoyable when they get sub par in comparisons artists that have a different tone.

I have to agree with you there. I enjoy Lawrence's work, but the style is a real step-in-a-too-cartoony-direction for my tastes, especially after Milne's detailed stuff. I could see Lawrence teaming with Sara on Til All Are One and really gelling with that book's vibe and look and really doing well there, but it's throwing me off a bit in Lost Light.

It's an issue with me too. The art is what is throwing me off the book and making it not as enjoyable.

ricemazter wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

lowman_x wrote:

Deadput wrote:Part of why it was great was because of Alex Milne's amazing art but with him mostly gone besides filling in for an issue for another series it becomes less enjoyable when they get sub par in comparisons artists that have a different tone.

I have to agree with you there. I enjoy Lawrence's work, but the style is a real step-in-a-too-cartoony-direction for my tastes, especially after Milne's detailed stuff. I could see Lawrence teaming with Sara on Til All Are One and really gelling with that book's vibe and look and really doing well there, but it's throwing me off a bit in Lost Light.

It's an issue with me too. The art is what is throwing me off the book and making it not as enjoyable.

Honestly, I think Alex Milne spoiled us rotten in terms of art, which makes it really hard to accept any substitutes. One thing I do appreciate is that LL isn't trying to emulate Milne the way some other artists tended to, but he was almost too good.

This might be a good opportunity to see if Robert's story telling can do most of the legwork, without relying on something beautiful to look at constantly.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:
But Milne will be coming back. He and Lawrence are going every other story arc, so we'll get him back again in a few months

lowman_x wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:
But Milne will be coming back. He and Lawrence are going every other story arc, so we'll get him back again in a few months

Is that confirmed?

WreckerJack wrote:I hope Milne is in good health. I remember a while back he was pushing himself too hard for a while. I really do enjoy his artwork.

Va'al wrote:

lowman_x wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:
But Milne will be coming back. He and Lawrence are going every other story arc, so we'll get him back again in a few months

Is that confirmed?

Yes and no, differing sources, no hard confirmation. It just gets cloudier the further we go along.

1984forever wrote:15)snippity a lot of negativity

1984forever wrote:15) What's so interesting about peace time? It's been done already. G1 season 3 ended the war, and it wasn't that great then either.

12) Chromedome and Rewind = canon slashfic.

11) Hated Whirl ever since my parents got him for me with a bunch of cooler TFs like Grapple and Hoist for Christmas '85. I would have preferred getting 2 Hoists instead of them wasting money on Whirl. Just a stupid looking cornball character. Doesn't even look like a real Transformer.

10) Roberts couldn't get Bluestreak, so he re-purposed Swerve into Bluestreak and threw his tech specs out the window. Swerve is a Bluestreak KO.

Eight (keeps coming out as an emoji so i have to spell it) We didn't get enough of Overlord.

7) We didn't get enough of the Scavengers either.

6) Characters are too chatty.

Rodimus and Co. find themselves in a dangerous place. Even more dangerous than on a planet that exploded from the inside. That’s already pretty dangerous. But where they are now? Oh boy.

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!
Variant cover by Joana Lafuente!

15) What's so interesting about peace time? It's been done already. G1 season 3 ended the war, and it wasn't that great then either.

14) Worst version of Rodimus ever. He doesn't have the maturity or the strength to be Rodimus Prime. He's too girly looking and immature to even be Hot Rod.

13) Transformers is not all about Grimlock and Starscream, but it's not all about Tailgate and Brainstorm either. 5 years worth of Roberts relentlessly focusing on the same characters = Stale.

12) Chromedome and Rewind = canon slashfic.

11) Hated Whirl ever since my parents got him for me with a bunch of cooler TFs like Grapple and Hoist for Christmas '85. I would have preferred getting 2 Hoists instead of them wasting money on Whirl. Just a stupid looking cornball character. Doesn't even look like a real Transformer.

10) Roberts couldn't get Bluestreak, so he re-purposed Swerve into Bluestreak and threw his tech specs out the window. Swerve is a Bluestreak KO.

9) MTMTE turned Ultra Magnus into a fraud.

Eight (keeps coming out as an emoji so i have to spell it) We didn't get enough of Overlord.

7) We didn't get enough of the Scavengers either.

6) Characters are too chatty.

5) Milne's alt-modes are the worst.

4) I don't like how IDW handled Shockwave at all.

3) Can't decide now if it's Milne's alt-modes that are the worst, or if it's Roberts world building.

2) DJD. Worst conclusion ever.

1) Megatron's redemption. So a guy murders your friends and acquaintances over a period of several years, and then one day you decide to go on a cruise with him? Does that make sense?

Ironhidensh wrote:If ever there was a time for Megatron to cry havoc, and let loose the dogs of war....... Well, this is it.


If you can't tell, I really want to see some functionist get a healthy dose of flaming fusion cannon.

1984forever wrote:15) What's so interesting about peace time? It's been done already. G1 season 3 ended the war, and it wasn't that great then either.

14) Worst version of Rodimus ever. He doesn't have the maturity or the strength to be Rodimus Prime. He's too girly looking and immature to even be Hot Rod.

12) Chromedome and Rewind = canon slashfic.

11) Hated Whirl ever since my parents got him for me with a bunch of cooler TFs like Grapple and Hoist for Christmas '85. I would have preferred getting 2 Hoists instead of them wasting money on Whirl. Just a stupid looking cornball character. Doesn't even look like a real Transformer.

6) Characters are too chatty.

1) Megatron's redemption. So a guy murders your friends and acquaintances over a period of several years, and then one day you decide to go on a cruise with him? Does that make sense?