A Tale of Two Primuseses
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisThe 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 blinkWe 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 reactionFirst 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 trueThough 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 belowThe 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.
ArtJack 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 waccThe 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 spacesplosionsFurtis 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.
ThoughtsSpoilerish aheadReading 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 guessThere 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.
Though that's unless Rung can choose to not heal himself.
Which I tended to do whether the issue suggested it (like anniversary issues with wrap-around covers) or not.
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