The Energon Pub

[ZeroWolf]

So, wait a second. If Rung can self heal, does that mean that Alt universe Rung could have self healed at some point and still on Cybertron?

Possibly Though that's unless Rung can choose to not heal himself.

[Randomhero]

So, wait a second. If Rung can self heal, does that mean that Alt universe Rung could have self healed at some point and still on Cybertron?

Possibly Though that's unless Rung can choose to not heal himself.

He didn’t know he was Primes. Rung said he’s only self healing under the realization last issue the council listed rung as one of bots in megatrons circle they killed so it’s possible he did survive and was killed later but he’s dead.

THAT SAID...

Remember back in season 2 in MTMTE whrn rewind said they “lost” Rung?! That still hasn’t come back.

Probably won’t though. Ya know..three issues left lol

[ScottyP]

While Transformers fans won't be able to experience IDW Publishing's Transformers: Lost Light #23 until next Wednesday, Previews has posted the Geoff Senior "B" cover for the series' 24th issue. Anyone familiar with Lost Light author James Roberts will not be surprised by the homage on this cover, featuring Autobot psychiatrist Rung!



This is, of course, inspired by the cover to Marvel UK's The Transformers #113, an issue notable for introducing the world to Death's Head as he tracks down a bounty posted by Autobot leader Rodimus Prime.



You'll be able to pick this cover up from your local comic shop on September 26th, 2018*

*(scheduled publication date as of this writing and is subject to change)

[Carnivius_Prime]

Well, Senior's drawing style is great as usual but that character can't even come close to reproducing the awesomeness of the Rodimus Prime cover which I had two copies of when I was a kid. I had my reserved copy as per usual every Saturday and then I loved the cover so much I went back to the newsagents later on in the day and bought another just to stick the cover on my wall. Which I tended to do whether the issue suggested it (like anniversary issues with wrap-around covers) or not.

[william-james88]

great work from Senior!

[Agent 53]

I wonder if the symbolism here was intentional
To elaborate I recall reading once that one depiction of Primus used the design of Rodimus as a starting point (If I'm right his astral plane form)
Now we have Rung, who was confirmed to be Primus last issue, drawn to adopt the same pose Rodimus once had on a cover.
Coincidence? I think not!

[Randomhero]

I wonder if the symbolism here was intentional
To elaborate I recall reading once that one depiction of Primus used the design of Rodimus as a starting point (If I'm right his astral plane form)
Now we have Rung, who was confirmed to be Primus last issue, drawn to adopt the same pose Rodimus once had on a cover.
Coincidence? I think not!

Well it’s Geoff Senior. He likes to homage his old covers so yes.

[Ishin Ookami]

So, wait a second. If Rung can self heal, does that mean that Alt universe Rung could have self healed at some point and still on Cybertron?

Possibly Though that's unless Rung can choose to not heal himself.

He didn’t know he was Primes. Rung said he’s only self healing under the realization last issue the council listed rung as one of bots in megatrons circle they killed so it’s possible he did survive and was killed later but he’s dead.

THAT SAID...

Remember back in season 2 in MTMTE whrn rewind said they “lost” Rung?! That still hasn’t come back.

Probably won’t though. Ya know..three issues left lol

Not quite correct, since Rung was able to self heal after being shot in the head way back in MTMTE season 1 and another incident is mentioned with a crashed ship prior to that.

So basically, it could very well be that alt-universe rung is somewhere on Cybertron right now just laying low. That the death the council mentioned was Rung being blown up by the moon back in Lost Light #6.

[Va'al]

A Tale of Two Primuseses
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
The final battle is here! Bots will live, bots will die, and the craziness can only increase! We’re halfway through a finale six years in the making! And if you’ve ever loved a bot, you won’t want to miss this.

don't blink

Story
We return this month and issue to a one voiced review, though still informed by a modicum of staff discussion to feed into a more balanced overview of the story being told for this number of Lost Light, as we get ever closer to the finale of the entire ..thing. Read on below, crusadercons!

a sample reaction

First thing to come up: my misgivings from the previous issue are not erased, and they still inform my base reading of any of the stories told in this narrative thread - however, there are some moments and developments in this issue specifically that seem to put in discussion those very same issues I tried to raise myself in terms of legitimisation.

if true

Though the expected ups and downs in terms of tone that characterises a lot of James Roberts' writing on the series is present, the general pacing and overall tone does not seem to fall into too many juxtaposed moments, egged on by the sense of urgency that is palpable even just in the silent opening pages of the issue, and some of the major interactions among the cast.

see below

The characters, of course, placed in this framework each get their moment to shine, or at least glimmer, with some chilling one liners, some moments that mark out the 'ending' feeling of book, and some Spinisters along for the ride, but few contributions feel forced or irrelevant to the story and pacing.

Art

Jack Lawrence is doing some incredible work on this issue in particular, and at this point I am no longer able to praise him enough and to say that 'this issue is the best one in his development on the series' - as that just seems to be the case with each new issue he works on the interiors. But just the opening, in its silent scripting, should prove my point enough.

he wacc

The colours that Joana Lafuente once more provides are pretty excellent too, with the shades changing between external and internal scenes, and some truly spectacular shimmering work displayed in some pivotal moments in flashbacks and present day scenes, especially with the Functionist Primus attack.

Technicolo(u)r spacesplosions

Furtis Candango and Tom B Long are doing some pretty spectacular work, already from the title page onwards, and they're clearly having all the fun that they can outside of the silent pages: the fontwork is exciting, and more of it sneaks into conversations with loud audiences than previously, too.

All the covers, as usual, can be found in our Vector Sigma Database entry here, though the one spotlighted in the thumbnail is the Geoff Senior / Josh Burcham variant featuring Pharma and Tyrest, which may or may not directly relate to the story itself.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Reading this issue alongside Optimus Prime #23, or indeed Unicron #4, is interesting, as the pacing seems to be very similar for all three, though the two ongoings are the ones with the most parallels (planet formers doing damage, fast pacing with significant moments on practically each page, lots of threads reaching a conclusion) - and in some ways, Lost Light has a more tonally streamlined, due to its established ensemble cast by now, than OP.

now kiss i guess

There is some material that feels like a late addition to the story, admittedly, but it works relatively well with how a certain progression of a subplot (so far) was handled, and sets up well the coming two issues without detracting too much from the Guiding Hand storyline. What's more, the book is visually stunning, and I can't not repeat this - I will be really interested in looking at how the trade works with the alternating artists at this stage, but what we're getting so far is magnificent.

. out of

[william-james88]

Did anyone think that bit where Nickel destroys the magnificence to be an homage to that Mr Hyde vs alien battle in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol 2?

Also, I must say, I am quite happy that even though the 13 turned out to be fake/not real, there are still gods within this TF universe. I have always liked the religious aspect and themes in Transformers so I am glad it was not all taken down.

[ZeroWolf]

Actually I'm happy that the gods that were introduced first were the real ones, it seemed like they were going to be supplanted by the Primes. Is there a reason these reviews haven't been front paged?

[Ishin Ookami]

I liked it. I think things moved a bit too fast, I'd have liked to see major events like pharma and tyrist killing eachother and nikel crushing the posessed magnificence spaced out a bit more. That was definitely rushed as was the introduction of the idea of the Omega Guardians and the explanation as too just what the warren is

That said, i'm eager to see how this all ends. Does anyone know why this issue wasn't two weeks apart from the last one? And are we returning to that schedule again or do we wait until November to see how this all wraps up?

[Randomhero]

I’ve not sure how I feel about this finale now. This is so rushed it’s really taking me out of the series. It’s “here’s the main villain! Nope never mind! Here’s the main villain! Never mind here’s the real villain! NOPE! Nevermind! HERE IS THE MAIN VILLAIN!

I really don’t know how to feel right now. I love the last issue but this is just like I’ve said before about MTMTE/LL. Once it gets closer to the end of of a story it’s just “okay wrap it up wrap it up wrap it up!”

It was great to get all issues this week but after reading them last night I felt like “...bleh!” Not strong issues the start the month.

[william-james88]

Just to be sure, Pharma was NOT Adaptus in hiding right? Every other god was hiding within another character because they had forgotten who they were, but adaptus never forgot right?

And yes, this all feels rushed. Does the reveal of the omega guardians gel well with what we learn of them in the Unicron series?

[Randomhero]

Just to be sure, Pharma was NOT Adaptus in hiding right? Every other god was hiding within another character because they had forgotten who they were, but adaptus never forgot right?

And yes, this all feels rushed. Does the reveal of the omega guardians gel well with what we learn of them in the Unicron series?

Adaptus took Pharmas body and put himself in it for...reasons. Still no explanation for that.

Adaptus never forgot because he was on Luna one when he fired his mind gun on Cybertron so he wasn’t affected by it. He did it intentionally so they’d forget and he could plan

And those are different guardians. The cybertronian ones arnt the same ones as the ones here. They probably should have just called the ones OP/unicron omega Sentinels ...

[william-james88]

And those are different guardians. The cybertronian ones arnt the same ones as the ones here. They probably should have just called the ones OP/unicron omega Sentinels ...

What what?! So who the hell are these guys in the magnificence? When were they previously referenced?

[ScottyP]

And those are different guardians. The cybertronian ones arnt the same ones as the ones here. They probably should have just called the ones OP/unicron omega Sentinels ...

What what?! So who the hell are these guys in the magnificence? When were they previously referenced?

Spotlight: Doubledealer/the "Revelation" arc of Spotlights, then sporadically thereafter.

Does anyone know why this issue wasn't two weeks apart from the last one? And are we returning to that schedule again or do we wait until November to see how this all wraps up?

They claimed way back when the end was announced that it'd be bi-weekly through June, July, and August with a September wrap up. Then Barber came in as EIC and (likely wisely) punted to October and spaced things out once August hit.

That said, for Lost Light in particular, it looks like three weeks to 24, then another three thereafter to 25. That could change again, of course!

[ZeroWolf]

Out of curiosity but shouldn't these reviews be front paged?

[Randomhero]

And those are different guardians. The cybertronian ones arnt the same ones as the ones here. They probably should have just called the ones OP/unicron omega Sentinels ...

What what?! So who the hell are these guys in the magnificence? When were they previously referenced?

Yes from spotlight hotrod and reference by the dude on troja major said these guys were aliens that evolved and theft their bodies. They’re the golem looking dudes from earlier in this story. At least that’s why I’m getting from

The cybertronian ones must have been by Shockwave since they come from the 13 era.

I’m 99.9% sure they’re separate

According to LL these guys built merderi and that place predates the knights of Cybertron era

[Rodimus Prime]

I still think there's a chance for Rodimus and Megatron to end up in at least conjunx amica, if not conjunx endura, considering some of the other characters' development in the past.

Also, this is most likely just wishful thinking on my part, because it has been said that LL will have nothing to do with Unicron, but I would love it if LL #25 and OP #25 came before Unicron #6 and it would end with Functionist Primus/Cybertron arriving just in time to fight Unicron and have them both be destroyed in the battle, thus ending the entire IDW universe with all 3 books intertwined and coming to one single definite conclusion.

[Randomhero]

I still think there's a chance for Rodimus and Megatron to end up in at least conjunx amica, if not conjunx endura, considering some of the other characters' development in the past.

Also, this is most likely just wishful thinking on my part, because it has been said that LL will have nothing to do with Unicron, but I would love it if LL #25 and OP #25 came before Unicron #6 and it would end with Functionist Primus/Cybertron arriving just in time to fight Unicron and have them both be destroyed in the battle, thus ending the entire IDW universe with all 3 books intertwined and coming to one single definite conclusion.

They don’t. Lost light is almost 2 years behind the main books and Barber already announced Optimus Prime 25 takes place after Unicron 6 and acts as an epilogue to the IDW- Verse.

[ZeroWolf]

You know I was beginning to think I'd imagined what barber said about op 25. I've parroted it but no one was paying me any attention.

[Randomhero]

The more I think about this issue and the over all story of amost 7 years of MTMTE/LL the more disappointed I am.

The main villain of this entire saga turns out to be villains not even from this universe. It’s an alternate version of characters from this one and all I can say is “oh hum”

The grand architect was established all the way back in MTMTE 7. Rung was established in the ongoing and I like everything with Rung. I kinda hate everything else.

I’m not saying this because I liked my theory that the grand architect was the functionalists. I was right I. Some aspect that’s play a role but I’m happy I was wrong. I’m just not satisfied that everything comes down to a group that wasn’t really established till last year. They were introduced a few years ago but weren’t a threat to anyone of the cast till last year.

It kinda feels like this came about because megatron was brought on and I think maybe the original outcome was suppose to be the IDW-verse functionalist council. Just my thought.

[william-james88]

You know I was beginning to think I'd imagined what barber said about op 25. I've parroted it but no one was paying me any attention.

It is news to me, but granted i have not been in the optimus threads since I wasnt reading it until now.

[ZeroWolf]

I wonder how that would have worked if it was the intention. Though there's the possibility that the functionist council may have been introduced more as a threat a lot earlier if megs hadn't been there.