The Energon Pub

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I don't see what the problem is with them, I like them. Though its going to be interesting to see if they have any part to play in the unicron saga...and I'm still getting mazinger vibes from those giants.

The second in from the left looks oddly familiar.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

While I still like Milne far better, I have grown to like Lawrences art. Just took about a year. But I say that to say this: I love Drift's face on page 4, with the frown then the fried shock look.

I too appreciate the lightning rod joke

[ScottyP]

[ZeroWolf]

A good review, and it's nice to see that answers are finally being given and that we're getting (another) origin story

[Va'al]

My favourite Ratchet panel from the issue, which I felt was also commenting on Optimus Prime 17-18.

[Targetmaster Kup]

My shop didn't get this one OP#18 but got a note that if they get them, not to sell them until next week!

[ScottyP]

My shop didn't get this one OP#18 but got a note that if they get them, not to sell them until next week!

Yeah it's weird all around. We anticipated only seeing OP 17's release this week. Somewhere along the line, LL 17 and OP 18 also got printed and shipped to go out this week. They are out digitally everywhere, some shops didn't get them, some did and are holding them, others did and have sold/are selling copies. Kinda irritating as a print reader to have to make another run to the store, but no huge deal. Might just pick up my paper copies on FCBD at this point, I hate to make the shop hold stuff though :/

[Va'al]

We know that the current IDW Publishing Transformers universe (including the various Hasbro branches now part of the same narrative world) will be coming to an end as of Unicron: Darkest Hour #6 - which will coincide with the conclusion of both current ongoing series Optimus Prime and Lost Light, too. The writer of the latter, James Roberts, part of the current identity of the IDW Transformersverse (Phase 2, in any case) with John Barber and Mairghread Scott, has casually thrown out on his Twitter account that his stay with Transformers will also be taking a break, as there are no plans as of yet to be involved with the reboot.

Several fans have been following Roberts' work thus far, and appreciated what More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light have done for the Transformers franchise, and after also losing (as far as we know) Mairghread Scott, this is a fairly big factor going forward after September. Join the discussion in the Energon Pub, and let us know your thoughts on the news!

Haha! This has never happened before: “Are you the Transformers guy?” in the local Waitrose. Not for much longer, mate.

Me and Transformers are taking a break after LL#25.

[Ironhidensh]

Yeah, I think transformers an myself will be taking break as well. Well, from the comics. I'm just thoroughly uninterested in starting over.

I'm 38. I'm too old for comics anyway.

[YoungPrime]

I'm just too old for the inconsistency and disappointment. I honestly think that TF could use a reboot (one with an actual war going on between Bots and Con's) but with Robert's making it clear that he won't be a part of this reboot (the only reason I'm really sticking around now) I'm not sure that I'll be a part of it either.

[WreckerJack]

Jro was great with MTMTE but he didn't do such a good job with LL. I stopped after too much politics was put into them. Comics are supposed to be an escape from the every day grind, if I wanted a reminder of what goes on in the news I'd watch the news. Part of me is bummed because when he wrote with people that helped him have direction like in MTMTE the comics were great! It just seems he goes too far into his own stuff without someone to tell him to ease up.

I will miss the way he did write the characters though. He made them very complex and interesting. Beyond just good guys and bad guys and that was super refreshing. I think fans will remember him most for that.

[Windsweeper]

Well this is disappointing. Roberts has been great these past 6 years.

Hopefully Maighread Scott, Simon Furman and Nick Roche will return.

I wish Barber was the one taking the break.

[Rodimus Prime]

Yes! Yes! Yes! Praise Primus!

It's 2 years overdue. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

I'm kinda disappointed to see Mairghread Scott go.

[Randomhero]

Well this is disappointing. Roberts has been great these past 6 years.

Hopefully Maighread Scott, Simon Furman and Nick Roche will return.

I wish Barber was the one taking the break.

Dude, we got close to 30 years of Furman. We don’t need more comics of Grimlock,Thunderwing, Bludgeon, and Scorponok.

[ZeroWolf]

In a sense I'm a bit upset he's not helping to shape the reboot but at the same time I think it's good he's recognising that it's time to take a break, try other things and recharge his batteries.

While some are ecstatic that he's leaving (looking at you RP ) remember he's the devil you know, he can easily be replaced with worst. Or of course he will need replaced with someone good.

Personally I think the next best writers will come from the unknowns, certainly can't see any writers leaving the big two or image to come write transformers. I mean there's a bit of stigma, with some seeing nothing more than toys hitting each other (before going back to read about a guy dressed in a bat costume beating up madmen)

@whoever mentioned the war- I think it's more than likely were going back to that period, just because that's the toyline that hasbro will be selling. I just hope theyll do something new this time round to spice up the war otherwise it'll just repeat what's already been done. That's why sometimes it's good to end the war and explore what comes after, maybe a new group of disgruntled bots and cons team up to start the generation 2 wars

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Well this is disappointing. Roberts has been great these past 6 years.

Hopefully Maighread Scott, Simon Furman and Nick Roche will return.

I wish Barber was the one taking the break.

Dude, we got close to 30 years of Furman. We don’t need more comics of Grimlock,Thunderwing, Bludgeon, and Scorponok.

Don't forget Galvatron too

Personally I'd say we don't need more comics focused on Optimus Prime and Megatron, yet some people would throw a fit if that happened.

Simon Furman is to Transformers what Chris Claremont was to X-Men IE The Main name behind the world building of the series. While it would be cute to try and pitch in one of the IDW writer's names under that title, they just don't have the decades of TF experience.

That said, if they are going to a full reboot, then yes, every main writer from the previous continuity has to go. It goes hand in hand with sweeping away the canon of the books: including those who wrote them.

Full reboot means just that. Yet the bizarre idea some people have that reboot=sunbow aren't really being realistic either. Which previous TF continuity reboot exactly replicated G1, right back to 1984? Beast Wars? Car Robots? Unicron Trilogy? Dreamwave? Animated? Prime? Rescue Bots? IDWverse?

Something to think about.

[Randomhero]

heres an idea, lets welcome new writers instead of just wanting old ones that will probably just use their favorites agaan and again. thats how we got people like Scott, Roche Roberts and Barber. IDW found fans that had writing backgrounds and gave them the opportunity of a lifetime.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Exactly. Out with the old, in with the new.

[ZeroWolf]

heres an idea, lets welcome new writers instead of just wanting old ones that will probably just use their favorites agaan and again. thats how we got people like Scott, Roche Roberts and Barber. IDW found fans that had writing backgrounds and gave them the opportunity of a lifetime.

I would give it a go if offered but I fear other fans wouldn't like my ideas of having all four main factions fighting it out for supremacy...I would change a lot though and that's something the fandom gets split apart on

[Randomhero]

the thing is i dont have a problem with writers staying on, leaving or taking a break. but to say that is sucks Roberts is leaving or wanting Scott back its kinda pointless when theyre not continuing or returning to the universe they have been on. its a new universe. if roberts stayed youre not gonna keepo getting Mneumosurgeon Chromdome and his spouse Rewind. youre not gonna get Cyclonus and Tailgate. no witty british Brainstorm, no atheist Ratchet bickering with zealous Drift, no DJD. i can keep going on with examples but i think you get the point.

the last thing i want is the same writers writing the same way and not doing anything new in ways. like Regeneration One. a book i loved at the start and hated by the end because it wasnt Furman ending the Marvel universe it was Furman finishing all his unused IDW stuff when they took him off the IDW-verse. Soundwave VS Blaster, thats IDW not Marvel, Omega Supreme VS monstructor, IDW, not Marvel. Scorponok using alien tech to become super smart and try and take over the cybertronain race in his image. straight what he was planning in the -ation series and Maxmum Dinobots. Evil anyti-matrix trying to consume everything. HEY GUESS WHAT? THAT WAS THE ORIGINAL PLOT OF NOVA PRIME AND THE DEAD UNIVERSE. he took all his plans from what he was working on and cramed them into regeneration one instead of giving that series a real pay off.

that is what we get when we allow Furman to continue writing transformers or anyone else. they take what they did somewhere else and shoehorn it in against whats established already. sorry i went on a tangent but its what it is and what happened when they brought back the marvel TF universe.

its going to be a new universe for a reason. yes their will be homages, references and subtle easter eggs because its transformers but its going to be all new because thats what Hasbro and IDW want, if they wanted the same stuff by the same people than the universe woudln't be closing. Im not gonna say ending because that just sounds bad. you say “ending” and people are constantly saying Unicron is killing everyone where as i think the universe will have a happy ending because thats what it deserves.

[ZeroWolf]

Wait, so all that stuff in reg1, that was all his unused idw ideas? I never knew that...I'd also argue that he rehashed his own g2 plot at the end of it bringing Jihaxus in.

[Randomhero]

Wait, so all that stuff in reg1, that was all his unused idw ideas? I never knew that...I'd also argue that he rehashed his own g2 plot at the end of it bringing Jihaxus in.

Oh dude just look at RegenOne. It’s just filled with all his unfinished stories from when he was pulled off writing the main universe. So many plots were just jammed into RegenOne that weren’t set up from the old marvel series. The first volume with Megatron was gold but once we got Scorponok it’s all his old ideas like the stuff I mentioned with Bludgeon, Galvatron and Grimlock as icing.

He was doing it with IDW at the start too with his old unused Dreamwave stories too.

Nothing was more of a let down than when when RegenOne was announced and Furman said he finally gets to pull out his old scripts he never got to do when marvel canceled it and said these are the stories he always planned and in the final issue of RegenOne it opened with him admitting “These are not the stories I originally had’”

Yeah dude, we could tell.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Even I noticed that and I've only really read G1 through the TF part-work. The characterisations from G1 to ReG1 couldn't be any further apart. With exception to Prime and Megatron/Ratchet, who were more or less unchanged.

[Randomhero]

the biggest and most important thing i take from james leaving is that Lost Light will officially conclude. Meaning it will have an ending.

When James first announced Lost Light will go to issue 25 he also said maybe another iteration will continue after. With this news we know that this story has a conclusion. hopefully its a satisfying one. theres not too many real open plot threads left dangling that we know. From the synopsis for future issues and the latest issue we know the crew has finally met the scavengers and we know theyre either at or getting to cyberutopia and will run into the crew and getaway. we also know that they are going to come face to face with a sparkeater army which from Drifts vision means Pharma is coming back. I'm still calling it that the sparkeater army is the Lost Light crew that mutinied. Getaway sold them out and gave them to whoever for his own place in what he believes will be Primehood.

Things we dont know yet is First Aid, Riptide and Thunderclash. When will they be converging probably soon. Same with Fort Max and his team.

the big one though that hasnt come back is Tyrest. He still has a role to play and has connections with the Grand Architect and Cog faction.

Sadly i hope but i dont know is that will the crew finally make it home? will they meet back with optimus and Cybertron (or whats left)by the last issue? I hope. personally i really wanna see the this continuity end with Grimlock finally reuniting with the other Dinobots.

Dont know about Megatron though. doesnt seem like theres room or time for him which is a huge let down but he did get his second chance thats kinda his conclusion i guess.

...ya know for someone who’s awaiting trial for the murder of billions and billions of life across the galaxy. And I love Autobot Megatron but letting him off that way wasn’t a satisfying ending to that first story of LL

[SureShot18]

I’m disappointed to see Roberts go but it makes sense. I hope he can tie up his story satisfyingly come September, it would definitely soften the loss. At this point I’m probably not going to check out the reboot, when it comes, unless I hear really good things. I still remain optimistic that it can be good but I’m just not interested.