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[Blozor]

And especially not god damn Optimus Prime who is slowly becoming even more like scum and that really should never be the case, he is a worse Optimus then people think Bayverse Prime is, you also don't need most of the Autobots to be immoral to question Prime there are other ways you can have characters question him.

I kinda find it interesting that, as Megatron tries so hard to do good, Optimus Prime is finding his principles more compromised. Their roles are reversing--a little abruptly for Megatron, but far slower and more nuanced, more natural, for Prime.

[Deadput]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the Autobots having a dark side. In war there’s so such thing as pure good vs pure evil. Hell, during WWII the allied sides tried some weird stuff during the war. Trying to make incendiary bat to bomb japan, trying to paint dogs with glow in the dark paint and releasing them in Japan as a form of psychological warfare etc.

I do however think Roberts does maybe emphasize too much on the bad sides of the Autobots though.

This is not real life though it's a fictional comic meant for entertainment if I wanted a realistic war I would go watch all of the depressing and soul killing documentations about all the human wars

It's bloody boring now just like how unoriginal it is that every other Prime besides Optimus (And in IDW he's just barley better) is evil which kinda makes the Primes a plot whole since their apparently supposed to be the "greatest" of them all.

I loved stories like Last Stand of The Wreckers but in that story the darkness of the story served a purpose and we loved it so much for plenty of reasons one of them being how refreshing it was to see a darker take of the Transformers but IDW has taken that aspect and run it into the ground and made it the only thing the IDW universe is anymore.

The Darkness of a story should only be occasional and not the whole thing, remember how horrifying it was to see Blurr's fate in Transformers Animated even if it was retconned later? That would not have been as effective if the story wasn't so light hearted most of the time before hand.

Dark chocolate is a snack not a whole meal if that makes any sense.

[Deadput]

And especially not god damn Optimus Prime who is slowly becoming even more like scum and that really should never be the case, he is a worse Optimus then people think Bayverse Prime is, you also don't need most of the Autobots to be immoral to question Prime there are other ways you can have characters question him.

I kinda find it interesting that, as Megatron tries so hard to do good, Optimus Prime is finding his principles more compromised. Their roles are reversing--a little abruptly for Megatron, but far slower and more nuanced, more natural, for Prime.

The concept of the idea is a good one but the execution on the other hand is not that great.

Overall Optimus Prime in idw has been at his best when he's not Optimus Prime but the two times he was Orion Pax.

[ebonyleopard]

This may be one of the biggest spoiler previews I've seen to date. Come on guys, you can do better than this. The Riptide moment was the big one of the previous issue, to spoil it like this.....

[Va'al]

This may be one of the biggest spoiler previews I've seen to date. Come on guys, you can do better than this. The Riptide moment was the big one of the previous issue, to spoil it like this.....

The previews are indeed a giant spoiler for the trade readers, rather than month-to-month followers, that much is true. However, that has also always been the case.

[Va'al]

After the Twincast Podcast Mainframes episode in which we spent over an hour talking about a number of elements present in IDW Publishing's Transformers: Lost Light #11.. the full preview for the final chapter in the Mutineers' Trilogy (LOst Light #12) already negates at least three of our major speculation points!

You can check out the preview below, and let us know what you think of the arc so far in the Energon Pub discussion boards.

Transformers: Lost Light #12—Cover A: Jack Lawrence
James Roberts (w) • Jack Lawrence (a & c)
NO TURNING BACK! Getaway has crossed one too many lines and made one too many enemies. Hunted down on his own ship, the master manipulator has one last trick of his sleeve—something so shocking, so audacious, that it would put the most evil Decepticon to shame. No one is safe as the Mutineers Trilogy reaches its jaw-dropping climax.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Variant cover by Livio Ramondelli!

[avarathriul]

so excited

[Va'al]

Go Away
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
NO TURNING BACK! Getaway has crossed one too many lines and made one too many enemies. Hunted down on his own ship, the master manipulator has one last trick of his sleeve—something so shocking, so audacious, that it would put the most evil Decepticon to shame. No one is safe as the Mutineers Trilogy reaches its jaw-dropping climax.

Self-awareness is good, I guess..?

Story

This week, we return to the Lost Light, and look at the ever-eventful continuations of the horrors contained within the mind, actions and direct respondents of one ship's new self-appointed captain. Welcome back to Getaway, Atomizer, and the Plotters' Club in the conclusion to the Mutineers' Trilogy - Lost Light #12. And, I feel the need to proceed with caution here, as I have yet to make my mind up about the issue. Bear with me.

I'm getting there

Looking at the things that work, then: the interlude and the main story, taken as their own beasts, are good frames within which the two threads operate, with a connection (or several, but one in particular) that is as obvious as it is likely to miss with everything else happening. They also both nicely set-up some more world-work that we are bound to see soon. Also, First Aid continues to delight, and the action sequences are, on the whole, placed down nicely.

well paced; painful, but well paced

Which leads me to the main concern: pacing. I've discussed this with staff, and there are wildly differing views, of no help at all, that the sequences are running to fast, too disconnected, and trying to gather together too many yarns and making a big knot out of them than a tapestry. There is undoubtedly a lot going on in the issue, and I feel like you can take that one way or another entirely, without necessarily discrediting the opposite view.

...basically

The better comments to reconcile the two parts of my appreciation for the book do not find their place in this review, for the simple reason that they are entirely based on the latter part of the book, and I do not wish to simply discuss plot. My concerns with pacing remain, however, and I will add a couple of extra, more potentially spoilery notes in the section at the end of this piece.


Art

The art on the issue is in the hands of two different artists, for a very specific in-plot reason too: Jack Lawrence on the main frame, and Andrew Griffith on the interlude section featuring the return of a fair number of characters. And where the first has no real criticisms from me, the latter's linework felt oddly out of place, compared to track record: it may have been just an issue of time, it may be the contrast between two very different styles, but it stood out in not the most positive of ways - that said, the layouts are excellent, and the scenes do play out well, the issue is almost entirely with the details.

I'm not sure why

Lending fuel to the idea that there may have been a time-constraint element to the issue's production, there are three colourists to look at for the art: Joana Lafuente, Priscilla Tramontano, JP Bove. The major contrast is only really to be found in the interlude vs main story, but even there something wasn't entirely in sync between lines and colours, and perhaps a darker palette on the Lost Light scenes may have helped consolidate some of the moments we're witnessing - though the hangar scenes looked really quite apt.

it's the little things

The lettering by Tom B. Long has some really nice moments, scattered through the book, that play with the more humorous moments (dark humour, at that) and the more action-heavy scenes, and never feel out of place - the dialogue is heavy, not helping with the density of the script, but placing flows well in the panels. The cover I thought most worked for this review is the Alex Milne/Josh Perez moment of frustrated anger (nicely cut at the thigh, too), but the other two main variants are definitely worth their presence, and the Ramondelli Megatron companion to the Optimus Prime one in a previous comic is nice enough as an RI. You can, of course, see them all in our database entry here.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

I haven't shied away in previous reviews and general comments on the series (and this arc specifically) from expressing my dislike of how plots are created and made to work - especially with some of the character build-ups (except for First Aid and Atomizer), and the over-the-top rounding off of Getaway after issue #10. That said, and as ScottyP reminded me in the email discussion we had, liking or disliking the story valid criticism is not.

Sums it up for me

I, personally, cannot say I enjoyed the issue that much at all, but I recognise that point as extremely valid. So here is my critical thought on the issue: it is dense, definitely so, and the pacing is very very rushed but that may be exactly what it is supposed to do - except.. the problems with the visual side of things drag this down further for me, and I really want to know what happened.

The action-packed sequences on the Lost Light mirror the action of the interlude, with two different feelings of horror and frustration, seen from two very different perspectives, but not well executed enough to fully land, for me. As a whole, where this is most definitely not a book for an entry level reader, longtime followers may equally react very well or very poorly to the story, depending on your interest in the wider picture versus the more immediate character and plot work of the arc. Your Mileage May (Very Much) Vary.

. ½ out of

Bonus content: Official Music Recommendations

[Bounti76]

I was MAJORLY disappointed in this story. Mostly for all the grisly murders that took place. I mean, come ON. Mirage is bisected, Rook and nearly all the Protectobots are gunned down and likely dead. So that means Defensor is essentially dead. My favorite combiner shows up for all of two seconds and is taken out like a cheap tin can by mother-effing Star Saber? I have to agree with you somewhat on the story being dense. The thing is, it didn't need to be. I really could have done without the interlude. The art does look rushed, and the entire interlude takes away from what could have been a more dramatic death for Defensor and the Protectobots. They could have fought back, or at least have been seen doing so, but instead, what we get is the Bad News Bears version of the Decepticons (Scavengers) being oh so goofy and hiiiiilaaaaarious. It does a disservice to those killed to make their deaths so quick and cheap.

Honestly, I think this may be my jumping off point for Lost Light. It's going for shock value and plot-driven arcs over actual character development. When Skids died, it meant something. It felt devastating. The deaths in this issue felt cheap, tacky and gory, to a point. Nautica was ruined as a character for me after her actions on Troja Major. Anode's introduction was annoying as hell, and while she has vaguely mellowed as a character and become less annoying, she still grates on my nerves. There's nothing redeeming about this book anymore. I wish IDW had kept TAAO instead of this off-the-rails mess that is being passed off as a "fan-favorite". I'm going to unsubscribe right now.

[Va'al]

I don't mind the violence or the gore - that was not my issue, at all.
It's not the first time we see it, for example, and as I say in the review, not liking how violent it is does not mean the story is bad.

On the density, yes. That was not well done, in my opinion.

But the biggest offender, to me, personally? Riptide's 'you're too dumb to be affected by this weapon'. It felt like a cheap shot, and not entirely sure where it fits with the otherwise flawed but empathetic messages of the book.

[Allenspurs]

I stopped reading this title about 6 issues ago and at least the last 10 I read before giving up were a painfu slog at best. Glad I stopped before this rag dumps all over the memory of what a geat comic this once was.

[Bounti76]

I don't mind the violence or the gore - that was not my issue, at all.
It's not the first time we see it, for example, and as I say in the review, not liking how violent it is does not mean the story is bad.

On the density, yes. That was not well done, in my opinion.

But the biggest offender, to me, personally? Riptide's 'you're too dumb to be affected by this weapon'. It felt like a cheap shot, and not entirely sure where it fits with the otherwise flawed but empathetic messages of the book.

While I agree with you on the cheap shot towards Riptide, I feel like the whole "reintroduce the Protectobots/Defensor and Mirage, only to slaughter them two issues later to move the plot forward" was the cheapest of shots. This story (and sadly, now this book) just has soured me on wanting to read Roberts' work again. He cheapens characters' deaths for shock value and plot points.

And another thing, why the HELL would Star Saber help Getaway with ANYTHING, seeing as how Getaway was locked up by Tyrest at one point?

[Randomhero]

I’m sorry Riptide you’re too stupid for a nudge gun...HOWEVER you are smart enough to wake someone up from a complex memeory looped Induced coma.

This was awful

[ricemazter]

I don't mind the violence or the gore - that was not my issue, at all.
It's not the first time we see it, for example, and as I say in the review, not liking how violent it is does not mean the story is bad.

On the density, yes. That was not well done, in my opinion.

But the biggest offender, to me, personally? Riptide's 'you're too dumb to be affected by this weapon'. It felt like a cheap shot, and not entirely sure where it fits with the otherwise flawed but empathetic messages of the book.

While I agree with you on the cheap shot towards Riptide, I feel like the whole "reintroduce the Protectobots/Defensor and Mirage, only to slaughter them two issues later to move the plot forward" was the cheapest of shots. This story (and sadly, now this book) just has soured me on wanting to read Roberts' work again. He cheapens characters' deaths for shock value and plot points.

And another thing, why the HELL would Star Saber help Getaway with ANYTHING, seeing as how Getaway was locked up by Tyrest at one point?

I haven't read the issue yet, and forgive me if someone's already said this, but I'm going to take a stab at where this series was going (I was almost dead on with how the first volume ended, so let's see if I can go two for two).

Are we just going to have the magnificence bring everyone back to life here? I can help but notice since issue 11 that a whole lotta crew members are dead with the only thing left of them being their brains.

Will Rodimus and Co. return to find the crew butchered while Nautica exclaims that she knows of a way to fix things?
Based on what I'm hearing here, mirage and the protectobots probably won't come back, though. If they do, they definitely won't be able to combine. Defender was too big of a writing corner, it seems. Is first aid still alive?

[Va'al]

And another thing, why the HELL would Star Saber help Getaway with ANYTHING, seeing as how Getaway was locked up by Tyrest at one point?

That one has an answer in the panel with the shuttle's arrival, and one I'm happy to accept.

[Ironhidensh]

So I may have more thoughts to share later, after more processing and a re-read or two, but as for initial feelings?

This is the worst IDW comic issue I have read to date. The nicest thing I can say is major disappointment.

[Randomhero]

So I may have more thoughts to share later, after more processing and a re-read or two, but as for initial feelings?

This is the worst IDW comic issue I have read to date. The nicest thing I can say is major disappointment.

Yup! Pretty f&$@ing much.

Nothing sickened me more than when someone last month said on the previous issue on here or another site (I think it was tfw2005) “I didn’t like this issue but its James roberts and he can’t do wrong so I’m still giving it a positive review and recommendation.”

Disgusting.

[Randomhero]

Hey I got a idea: let’s use the corpse of our friend who died 5 years ago who conveniently turns into a leg instead of Mirage who is also a Combiner and can turn to a leg. Yea he lets use Ambulon when though when Devastator used Scrappers corpse they were hindered greatly by using a cadaver as a limb.


CONTINUITY! Who gives a ****!

[Va'al]

Hey I got a idea: let’s use the corpse of our friend who died 5 years ago who conveniently turns into a leg instead of Mirage who is also a Combiner and can turn to a leg. Yea he lets use Ambulon when though when Devastator used Scrappers corpse they were hindered greatly by using a cadaver as a limb.


CONTINUITY! Who gives a ****!

Scotty has some really good thoughts on that point, so I'll wait for him to comment to agree.
Again, this is not the first time it has happened, and may be worked into something very interesting about how Combiners work.

[Nexus Knight]

CONTINUITY! Who gives a- !

Actually, this feels out of place for Roberts. I'm not going to give my own thoughts about the story, but I want to point out that Roberts really hasn't had a problem with continuity before. He takes obscure stuff and makes them interesting, which is why (up to the Mutineers Trilogy) I respect him as a writer. Which makes the flop in how the dead limb works a bit puzzling to me.

[ScottyP]

I have some company over so therefore very little time to post, but really quick:

• I really really liked this issue!
• I disagree with all of you that have posted in various ways - see above though.
• The pacing, starting with 10, is like an accelerating train. A few pages into this, it's going full speed. How many folks complained about how slow the series was and how nothing was going on in some of the issues related to the quest? Well, here you go, this is pretty huge to the quest - but now you're complaining about everything else. Temper expectations, enjoy the ride!

[Randomhero]

CONTINUITY! Who gives a- !

Actually, this feels out of place for Roberts. I'm not going to give my own thoughts about the story, but I want to point out that Roberts really hasn't had a problem with continuity before. He takes obscure stuff and makes them interesting, which is why (up to the Mutineers Trilogy) I respect him as a writer. Which makes the flop in how the dead limb works a bit puzzling to me.

Oh like hell its out of place. Whenever someone catches it he admits and says he’ll fix it for the Trade.

Flywheels Devine search for the Necrobot. That was Misfire

Calling Impactor a point one percenter. Only constructed cold bits were tried by Aquitus

Several interactions with thunderclash that are impossible due to him in a coma.

Hellbat in this very issue part of Liokaiser even though he’s dead.

Mirage being ignored as a Combiner in this issue and using Ambulon

Duplicate Magnus bring inflicted with Nanocons except the same nanocons we’re dead and we’re only resurrected because Metrotitans scream. That lost Light wasn’t near that planet and if it was the other lost light would start to disappear

[Va'al]

Well, here you go, this is pretty huge to the quest - but now you're complaining about everything else. Temper expectations, enjoy the ride![/list]

That was my issue: I was unable to enjoy the ride, despite the quest being practically complete, due to everything else happening.

I think, I really do, that a four-parter may have served the intention (mind you, the one I'm reading into the book) of the plots much better than just three.

[Randomhero]

I have some company over so therefore very little time to post, but really quick:

• I really really liked this issue!
• I disagree with all of you that have posted in various ways - see above though.
• The pacing, starting with 10, is like an accelerating train. A few pages into this, it's going full speed. How many folks complained about how slow the series was and how nothing was going on in some of the issues related to the quest? Well, here you go, this is pretty huge to the quest - but now you're complaining about everything else. Temper expectations, enjoy the ride!

Yeah all it took was piss poor writing, ignoring continuity, the crew being brainwashed with others dying and tortured and a captain doing it all to be right.

Yeah great story.

It was nice to see Star saber was also just outside Cyberutopia to get picked up. There’s another for continuity

[D-Maximal_Primal]

When the review was being written, I had plenty of thoughts for both Va'al and Scotty as to why this was a bad issue, and I'll share here too, because I really did find this to be very bad.

First up: This story went way too far into showing how horrible a character Roberts has made Getaway, and it is not in a good way. And it's a trend for the trilogy.

Also, really, they kill Rook in his sleep and then kill the rest of Defensor when he forms up almost immediately? And then Atomizer when he decides he's done? This whole story has gone so far that there isn't a realistic way it can be fixed. The memory adjustment thing while killing crew members thing has destroyed the trilogy for me. It's a story that has tried to go too big with not good material.

To add to this: Rook. Roberts has proven to be good at making new or rarely used characters really good characters, and here poor Rook gets killed in his sleep with almost no chance to be developed as a character

And then a 2nd, more detailed sort of thoughts that uses plenty of thoughts from previous comments.

Pacing: I did not like it. The first 5 pages of the issue seen in the full preview had almost nothing to do with the rest of the issue, things progressed so quickly. The part with Rook was really the only place I can say it felt the page used the amount of content it needed to. I don't see your character moments Scotty: some characters went so fast we never got any moments. Atomizer and Riptide were the only ones that we saw anything from, which is really disappointing. And the whole end scene with the Protectobots and Star Saber felt very wrong. The body count was there, but it was poorly set up and poorly done. That may be the thing I hate most about the issue.

the Ambulon thing was surprising, but I felt wholly unnecessary. Mirage was a combiner limb, he should have been able to do that just as well. And how does Getaway know they combine anyway? That part was weird that he would know that.

Star Saber was a surprise, but really though? I thought wherever Tyrest went, he would end up going too. We have to get those 2 and Pharma back for the book to finish, but this didn't feel like the way to bring him in. Also, I was very irritated with the fact he smashed a combiner with almost no effort while cutting Mirage to pieces. That section was one of the most rushed and badly done.

Setup for the Scavengers issue, ok, but it felt like a random addition. And Liokaiser? How?

Density: I feel like issue 12 of LL and issue 13 of OP were opposites: OP13 was how you do lots on content well, LL12 was how you do it badly.

In summary: felt rushed at the wrong moments, very little in the way of characters, very poor choices for events to unfold in my opinion, art was questionable (Lawrence was doing good, but I felt his art slipped this issue, as Griffith's did for a rare once), and it didn't fit with the story so far. Not to mention it is a month behind now? And the actual events going on here: Last issue was in line with ex-RiD 50/51, so the story is still really lagging behind, not to mention now they are jumping back in time with this Warren thing. Oh, and Getaway is not a good character. Roberts has made him awful, and not in a good way in the slightest.

Final Summation thought
I have been very critical of the series, that is true, sometimes excessively so. But I'm not happy with it compared to the mtmte title. It feels less focused, and pieces don't feel as good. The highlight of the series for me so far is the reveal of Scorponok at the end of issue 9. About this time in seasons 1 and 2, we had an amazing story, the shadow play and time travel stories, and this did not live up to those midseason hits. I'm feeling disappointed in the book, and it keeps frustrating me.

I'm also afraid of us reaching a marvel G1 moment where the end of/certain mcguffin from the story revives all the dead, making their deaths meaningless. And with the latest 3 issues and getaways issues killing large numbers of the crew and constantly editing minds, I think the story has started down a rabbit hole it can't dig itself out of without being bad. Which i don't want it to. I love the premise, but lost light has lost they mtmte touch