The Energon Pub

[Tigertrack]

Coffins or life support escape pods? I agree, I'm liking this more than anything I read early on in LL.

[Rodimus Prime]

Do you think if the crew of The Lost Light was smaller, the stories in MTMTE and now LL would have been better (faster pace and more streamlined)? Or since the stories focus only on a select few characters at a time, aside from the main guys, it doesn't matter?

[Kurona]

On that contrary, personally I've found MTMTE to be proof that a fairly large cast of characters can not only be done but can be done very, very well. I can't think of a single story bar maybe Dissolution that would have benefited from a smaller cast.

[ArmadaPrime]

The whole dissonance of coffins being sold in a cheery market is I think going to be very much a reflection of how this story will play out. Bear in mind that the preview for the TPB called Troja Major a planet where grief is used as currency, and there's plenty of that going around...
What I'm more interested in though is Nautica's eyepatch. I'd not really clocked till now why I find it so weird, but with the flashback panel on the same page it's more obvious. At the end of MTMTE, despite the facial injuries she still had two eyes. Now, it seems the cosmetic damage has been fixed but she's got a patch over the eye? Perhaps just a permanent reminder of what she went through, or perhaps there's more than meets the eye? eh? anyone? to it than we think.

[Kurona]

The whole dissonance of coffins being sold in a cheery market is I think going to be very much a reflection of how this story will play out. Bear in mind that the preview for the TPB called Troja Major a planet where grief is used as currency, and there's plenty of that going around...

Suddenly the TPB's cover of Nautica with a spectral image of Skids behind her makes a lot more sense...

[D-Maximal_Primal]

I have come to really like Tramonato's art and I can't wait to see the full issue

[breacher]

Does anyone else think that the entire "Lost Light" series has been boring lately? I'm kind of just getting tired of reading it. (spoilers ahead if you aren't caught up) They freakin killed skids. My favorite character. They locked Tailgate into a tube for 6 million years. WTF. Why? An aside from their escapades on functionalist cybertron, there really hasnt been much action other than a few exceptions.

[Kurona]

Months before the return of both characters in Issue #10 of IDW's Lost Light, series artist Jack Lawrence has taken to his Twitter and posted a couple of sketches for the Autobots First Aid and Getaway! Check 'em out below and tell us what you think of Lawrence's depiction of the two in the forums.

[Big Grim]

Like em. First Aid's foot and calf area look huge but eh. He's a robot. Generally speaking, I dig Lawrence's art style. It started good and has improved over time as well.

[WreckerJack]

Hmmm. So that is what First Aid would look like as a titan master.

[Shockwave 8]

Well, Getaway looks almost perfect, which I'm surprised at, considering that's the first time I've thought that about any of Lawrence's art. On the other hand, First Aid's proportions are beyond ridiculous. I've always disliked the more animated styles, but a 'bot's feet and calves should not be the size of the rest of his body put together. It's a shame, too, being as the rest of First Aid's detail looks pretty good.

[ArmadaPrime]

Oh golly am I glad to have First Aid back in town, I sure have missed my boy. I do share apprehensions about the amount of LEG but then again, he also won't have a giant disembodied head nor will Getaway have an invisible elbow (...probably), it could just be Lawrence getting some practice of the detail by blowing it up a bit. Equally, could be a slight redesign, will have to wait till we see it on page.
Thinking about it, aren't all the protectobots en route to the LL? I don't think they ended up losing the ability to combine, so there just might be hope for a truly righteous beatdown on Getaway.

[Quint]

So, then. Rodimus Prime is pretty much front and centre of the next Transformers toy range later this year; in fact there appears to be several versions of him planned for release across 3 waves.

Despite Roberts' frustrations with his players being dragged into enforced cross overs, the Protectobots still contrived to join the Combiner Wars (from which they're still to return).

With all this in mind - is it nailed-on certain that IDW Rodders will be getting an upgrade? And if so, will he be leaving the Lost Light (comic) in order to effect this?

[Va'al]

As we first reported here, current IDW Publishing artist on Transformers: Lost Light Jack Lawrence has created his own series 'bible' to aid in references, designs and the such on the comics ongoing series. And now, you can own that same 40-page compendium too! According to Lawrence, the first batch should be available at TFNation next month, but stay tuned for more updates.

[ScottyP]

So, then. Rodimus Prime is pretty much front and centre of the next Transformers toy range later this year; in fact there appears to be several versions of him planned for release across 3 waves.

Despite Roberts' frustrations with his players being dragged into enforced cross overs, the Protectobots still contrived to join the Combiner Wars (from which they're still to return).

With all this in mind - is it nailed-on certain that IDW Rodders will be getting an upgrade? And if so, will he be leaving the Lost Light (comic) in order to effect this?

I don't think it's certain by any means. I'd go so far as to say it's unlikely. Outside of a very short arc with Sentinel and a one-shot with Trypticon, what impact did the Titans Return toy line have on IDW? Some token Mindwipe appearances in AHO?

[ArmadaPrime]

Outside of a very short arc with Sentinel and a one-shot with Trypticon, what impact did the Titans Return toy line have on IDW? Some token Mindwipe appearances in AHO?

A fun little arc with Fort Max and a fantastic new take on Cerebros that we probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise (Part of the Sentinel arc granted, but my point is that it did more good than harm)

[Kurona]

I'd really hate for Rodimus to get his POTP design. A unique, character-reflecting excellent design thrown out the window for the sake of geewun. Not my cup of tea

[ricemazter]

So, then. Rodimus Prime is pretty much front and centre of the next Transformers toy range later this year; in fact there appears to be several versions of him planned for release across 3 waves.

Despite Roberts' frustrations with his players being dragged into enforced cross overs, the Protectobots still contrived to join the Combiner Wars (from which they're still to return).

With all this in mind - is it nailed-on certain that IDW Rodders will be getting an upgrade? And if so, will he be leaving the Lost Light (comic) in order to effect this?

My fear is that this version of Hot Rod will actually become a prime. I really can't stand him, and I think the best possible thing would be for someone to give him a blow to his ego, preferably by someone else becoming a prime instead of him. Heck, by this point Drift probably deserves the distinction more than Hot Rod.

[Va'al]

Directly from IDW Publishing, we have the full preview of this week's comics releases for the Hasbro Universe! Next up is a look at Wednesday's Transformers: Lost Light #8, with some new story material, as we follow Nautica, Anode, Lug and more to a new planet. Check it out below, and head back to Seibertron.com for our review later this week!

Transformers: Lost Light #8
James Roberts (w) • Jack Lawrence (a & c)
THE HUNT IS ON! Ever lost something and spent forever looking for it? Try visiting Troja Major, the lost property capital of the universe. Just bear in mind that it's better known by another name: the Howling Town. And the Autobots are about to find out why.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Don’t miss the Megatron cover by Mondo artist Tom Whalen, part of our Tom Whalen Cover Month!
Variant cover by Alex Milne!

[Randomhero]

Nautica: I'd like everyone to meet my friend, The Collecto- I mean The Curator! Yes! The Curator! Absolutely not the collector!

[ricemazter]

Wait, does that imply that Cyclonus is rich? How does anyone in this series make money when all they do is hang around a ship? Are they getting paid for being crew members? How much is Hot Rod making as captain compared to everyone else? I'll bet it's a lot.

[Randomhero]

Wait, does that imply that Cyclonus is rich? How does anyone in this series make money when all they do is hang around a ship? Are they getting paid for being crew members? How much is Hot Rod making as captain compared to everyone else? I'll bet it's a lot.

Issue 13 MTMTE, tailgate said cyclonus is a billionaire because he owned real-estate before leaving on the Ark 6 million years ago.

[WreckerJack]

I am interested to read this issue. I did wonder about Velocity and Nautica. I think I am behind an issue or two to be honest, there were a few lack luster ones so my friends have been less hyped. My GF will usually get exited when she gets them from iTunes but I have not heard a peep from her about Lost Light in a while.

[Va'al]

Back on Track
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
THE HUNT IS ON! Ever lost something and spent forever looking for it? Try visiting Troja Major, the lost property capital of the universe. Just bear in mind that it's better known by another name: the Howling Town. And the Autobots are about to find out why.

...

Story

I was reminded by other comics staff that we've had a number of voices already on reviews this far, for the new iteration of Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye, but mine was not the one that has appeared yet for Lost Light. It's probably time then, right? Back to the story?

JRo I swear..

One of the issues I've had with the series, much like its predecessor, is the use of the medium of comics as a serialised narrative - they read really well as a collected trade (read volume 1 in one sitting, believe me), but sometimes take odd steps as single issues. This book, however, does not do that, and in fact plays the field extremely well as a morsel of a wider story yet to happen, and previous ones being closed or at least addressed.

The Quest! It is Back!

As we know, James Roberts takes his time on the series to get to know the characters, and characters here are a very important part of the plot: what we discover about Nautica and Velocity, their interactions prior to the Lost Light, wouldn't have made sense while Megatron was still in the picture - but what he does well here is to not sacrifice plot for character development, at all.

Casual Character Trivia

And in terms of highlights, this book has fallen into the category of what Transformers comics can do now, from a socio-political perspective, in terms of identity, representation, and delving further into human issues while using sad gay (can we finally change this to queer?) robots in space. And yes, I'm talking about Anode and Lug, and what we learn about both of them.


Art

After a full arc and a breather, we see a different artist taking charge of a very important issue, plot wise among the rest, and Priscilla Tramontano has some excellent leads in terms of visual continuity with Lawrence's art, while still keeping very much to her own style and approach to the characters.

including Krombopolous Michael, from Rick and Morty

With a change from the usual, Joana Lafuente joins Tramontano on colours, perhaps also aiding in the continuity, but also providing an extremely vibrant and diverse cast of organic presences on Troja Major, taking the best pages out of Lucas' books and making the marketplace as cantina-esque (but well lit) as she can.

Also, sir, are you a Dire Wraith?

In a universe where several characters are identifiable by their speech patters, and those speech patterns are to be made visible, a letterer like Tom B. Long makes sure that we can glean more from the page that you might read at first glance, while also enjoying the sounds of the new setting! Meanwhile, the cover for this review's thumbnail is the variant art by Alex Milne and Josh Perez, very much about the grief aspect of it all, but also more pertaining to the plot of the issue than you might think... All other covers can be found in our database entry right here, including Roche/Burcham, Tom Whalen, and the main Lawrence/Lafuente

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

What do you know? We're back looking for the Knights of Cybertron! For real! As I said above, the overarching plot is not sidelined for the characters or subplots, but rather the two work well together in the issue, and we get to find out more about The Quest that started all those 50+ issues ago under another title altogether - but what we find may not be what we were looking for, especially if it was answers.

:smile:

That said, my allusions towards the scene featuring Anode and Lug warrants a couple extra words here, while still wanting to leave it to readers to appreciate: it has some nice callbacks to the last Optimus Prime issue, and Sideswipe's understanding of the new reality; it has a well-developed approach to the issue at hand, sign of good research on the team's behalf; it helps sediment

. ½ out of

[Bounti76]

I love the new/old character that Lug and Anode meet! Even if Anode still does rub me the wrong way. And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this issue feature more fembots than male 'bots? At least until the last few pages?