Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13

Wednesday, January 24th, 2018 1:29PM CST

Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Va'al Views: 23,415

Topic Options: View Discussion · Sign in or Join to reply

Tenterhooks
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
CABIN FEVER! Crammed into a dead Decepticon astropod that's ten sizes too small, the displaced crew of the Lost Light face their most serious threat yet: each other. As tensions rise and tempers fray, only one Autobot is arrogant enough to think he can save the day. Enter Rodimus, expert mediator.

Sure.

Story

We've had the last story arc be fairly brutal, in both setting, execution (heh) and consequences, so it is only natural - as these series appear to do - to have a breather issue to regain both a setting (the shuttle/pod), a cast (the Lost Light crew), and a handle of the various storylines that had temporarily, and seemingly, been put on pause.

Ten, for one, is disappoint

If you will, and if we accept the TV series comparisons for James Roberts' writing, this is a bottle issue. And what that means is that we have ample space for character work rather than plot (and that is both good a bad) but it does not cancel the plot elements that are very much there (believe us, there are MANY THINGS addressed between the lines), if embedded in the character interactions.

Example A

Most of all, perhaps, we get to see more of Cyclonus, his growth, development and positioning among the crew (with some impressive Whirl, Magnus, and Chromedome moments), in light of whatever may or may not have happened to Tailgate from last time we saw him and Fangry. Does buried mean dead? And how dead? Comics dead? Or is something else at play, again?

Example B

I have more thoughts on how the situation is being handled, below, but I wanted to also mention the attempts (and I mean attempt) at a lighter tone for most of the issue, counterbalancing the heavier parts of the story, with Swerve and Anode playing off each other, but at the same time - I felt - clashing with the overall feeling of the issue. As I said, more below.

Art

Alex Milne returns from Shining Armor back to the Lost Light crew, and what I found most impressive was the incredible similarity in some of the beats that regular artist Jack Lawrence brings to the series usually. Some of the expressions with Ratchet, especially, and it was a delight to see reinterpretations of previous designs and personal takes on specific characters like Anode and Lug.

Grinch Smirk!

That similarity, however, is not entirely to be found in the lineart - but rather pretty much distilled to perfection in Joana Lafuente's colours. The continuity and cohesion, for lack of better terms, that her colours bring to the two different styles of art, is something to behold. Plus, we get all the usual amazingness as well.

...and a fantastic cloak.

Roberts' scripts are never not dialogue/text heavy, and a good letterer is the best thing the comics needs for the flow to work well - but also pepper in some clues and hints at situations, possibilities, eventualities, and silent, blank spaces. And for that, Tom B. Long is what is needed.

As for the covers, there are several variants to be found accompanying the issue, from the Milne artist edition used in the thumbnail of this story, to the Roch / Burcham take on the lighter thread of the book, via JN Wiedle's Rodimus spotlight, and the main, regular, Cyclonus-centric Lawrence / Lafuente piece - to check them all out, head to our database!

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

There is a dangling cliffhanger at the very end that might leave several readers fairly surprised, if not speechless, but I felt like the journey it took to get to it was only half as enjoyable as I wanted it to be. Forced interactions in combined spaces have been done in this series previously, and this one had a strong running thread that was - again, for me - too undercut at times, even in its own seriousness.

Shout out to the MVP

In addition, the apparent suspension of a lot of plots that are still to be resolved will rub many the wrong way, but more is happening than it first looks (it definitely took a pointer for me to spot some moving parts I had missed, too). To add an even more positive spin, the issue will probably appeal more to readers closer to older stories in the series, but has more than enough material to also not completely shut out new readers, with fewer reference material to work with. So exactly a good, average issue, with some wins and some not-as-much.

(Added note: my biggest problem with the book, I'll admit, is one line of dialogue, towards the second part of the issue, about a specific relationship, and how I really do not like how and where, and regarding whom, it was deployed. I'll leave that for the discussion boards, though.)

out of

Credit(s): IDW

News Search

Got Transformers News? Let us know here!

Most Recent Transformers News

Transformers #15, Hot Wheels Optimus Prime, SS Swoop, SDCC Death's Head + more @ Seibertron Store

Posted 8 hours ago

Pre-order Links for all New Age of the Prime Transformers Toys and Sonic X Over Set

Posted 1 day ago

First Look at Optimus Prime Cab solo Release in 2025 Hot Wheels Mainline

Posted 3 days ago

Official Images for Age of the Primes and Sonic Crossover Reveals

Posted 5 days ago

Holiday Sale, Sectaurs, SDCC Death's Head, new Transformers and more at the Seibertron Store

Posted 6 days ago

More Images and Reveals from Cybertron Con: Star Convoy, Heatwave, Sky Byte, Prima, Solus and More

Posted 7 days ago

First Look at Extra Kibble that comes with AOTP Silverbolt to make Superion Frame and More

Posted 7 days ago

First Look at Art for Solus Prime, G2 Grimlock, Wasp and More from Age of the Primes

Posted 7 days ago

Click here to post your comment about this news story!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933507)
Posted by Burn on January 24th, 2018 @ 2:11pm CST

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:And I fully agree with Burn on Cyclonus and Whirl. They have truly been the best characters of the book, and seeing them develop over time, it's awesome. They are 2 of my favorites from the overall IDW-verse, and really transformers in general

And it's been a slow development as well, which makes it odd that I enjoy it, given my hatred for how these books will set up a plot then leave it for years at a time and then expect us to remember "oh yeah that happened (5 years ago)!" but this ... I don't want to call it a relationship or even a friendship, doesn't get touched on for ages at a time.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933516)
Posted by Va'al on January 24th, 2018 @ 2:48pm CST

Very shortly after the release of issue #13 in the ongoing comic book series from IDW Publishing, Transformers: Lost Light, we have a short preview courtesy of the publisher themselves of the following chapter in the series - issue #14!

We return to the Scavengers, wherever they ended up, Grimlock, and most probably Commander Nickel too. Check out synopsis and preview pages below, with art in the issue by both Brendan Cahill and Sara Pitre Durocher, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub.

MACGUFFIN QUEST! The Scavengers have never had it so good. The war is a receding memory, their patchy service records have been forgotten, and the five of them can roam the galaxy as they please. All’s well that ends well? Not quite. Because unbeknownst to Krok and Co., their next adventure… will be their last.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933518)
Posted by Hotconvoy on January 24th, 2018 @ 3:13pm CST

Whaaaaat tarn has a face?! :michaelbay:

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933521)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on January 24th, 2018 @ 3:21pm CST

Hotconvoy wrote:Whaaaaat tarn has a face?!

Yeah, we saw it back in MTMTE #55.

I really hope that Howlback line isn't just a throwaway. She's a favorite of mine and I would love to see more trans characters.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933523)
Posted by ricemazter on January 24th, 2018 @ 3:24pm CST

I find it incredibly silly that Roberts spent so much time misleading the audience that Tarn was Roller, only for him to look exactly like Roller without his mask.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933532)
Posted by Randomhero on January 24th, 2018 @ 4:02pm CST

ricemazter wrote:I find it incredibly silly that Roberts spent so much time misleading the audience that Tarn was Roller, only for him to look exactly like Roller without his mask.

He has a generic face. It’s not Rollers face it’s a face. And of course he mislead everyone. If you got harassed on social media for years by people saying ‘ITS ROLLER I KNOW IT!’ Who’d blame him.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933536)
Posted by Randomhero on January 24th, 2018 @ 4:21pm CST

Hmmmm someone should probaly have reminded the creative team Skullgrin and Bombburst are dead and didn’t look like that in IDW...unless it’s Dauros and Blood...

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933553)
Posted by ricemazter on January 24th, 2018 @ 5:45pm CST

Randomhero wrote:
ricemazter wrote:I find it incredibly silly that Roberts spent so much time misleading the audience that Tarn was Roller, only for him to look exactly like Roller without his mask.

He has a generic face. It’s not Rollers face it’s a face. And of course he mislead everyone. If you got harassed on social media for years by people saying ‘ITS ROLLER I KNOW IT!’ Who’d blame him.

It's not really the face, it's the entire head shape. Large circles on the side, piece of the forehead apparatus swept back over the circles similarly, forehead slopes the same way, the helmet meets the face at the same spots, and the chin has a similar protuberance. It also doesn't help that they virtually have the same body type.

It's very distracting to me.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933558)
Posted by Tigertrack on January 24th, 2018 @ 6:21pm CST

This preview has got me, but mainly because I want to see someone stick it to the DJD, and I know they don't, even if I wish Shockwave would and probably could, although Shockwave himself clearly does not like those odds. But he does have to survive to go do Dark Cybertron, so something distracts the DJD and it isn't Flywheels big feet at this time.

With 3 different groups running through this comic, you have to keep going into wait mode to see what happens next. Just barely touched base with the LL mutineers and then we're back to the Rod crew, even less time with them, and now we're with the Scavengers, and... Oh, I've gone cross-eyed.

I'm sure it's a staple of good storytelling, just frustrates. Guess that could be a reason to wait for the trade. Or just not care much.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933581)
Posted by BATTLEMASTER IIC on January 24th, 2018 @ 9:01pm CST

It appears the DJD actually didn't exist for very long in-universe. It seems that Damus hasn't been Tarn very long otherwise Shockwave would've recognized it. Also, that Vos has hooks for hands, so that would be Agent 113/Dominus Ambus.

Speaking of Damus' face, I wonder if that's what his face looked like pre-empurata. I'm getting a bit of a Darth Vader vibe from him in this preview.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933598)
Posted by Deadput on January 24th, 2018 @ 10:37pm CST

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:Also, that Vos has hooks for hands, so that would be Agent 113/Dominus Ambus.

Except for the fact that Agent 113 did not look like that.

While it could be a simple Artist mistake I'm just saying that Agent 133 has never looked similar to Vos before.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933603)
Posted by Sagitta on January 24th, 2018 @ 11:55pm CST

ricemazter wrote:I find it incredibly silly that Roberts spent so much time misleading the audience that Tarn was Roller, only for him to look exactly like Roller without his mask.

Ah, but was Roberts misleading the audience or was the audience too busy playing it's own guessing games? Just about anyone can have their own theories regarding whatever evidence they find. While having had theories of my my own was glad to have been proven wrong. Especially given Roller's character.

Why is Roller's name a spoiler again? Issue 55# kinda let the cat out of the proverbial bag.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933607)
Posted by Nexus Knight on January 25th, 2018 @ 1:15am CST

Sagitta wrote:Why is Roller's name a spoiler again? Issue 55# kinda let the cat out of the proverbial bag.

'Coz we like to assume some people live under a rock and just recently got access to "the interwebnet". :-P

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933608)
Posted by steve2275 on January 25th, 2018 @ 1:33am CST

l l 14 art looks great

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933609)
Posted by Deadput on January 25th, 2018 @ 1:35am CST

Deadput wrote:"Previous post about Agent 113"

Found a full design of previous Vos on another site for those who care

So...it's probably an artist mistake if their the same guy.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933610)
Posted by Rodimus Prime on January 25th, 2018 @ 1:36am CST

I know this is only a preview, and one which is a flashback at that, but I'm officially intrigued. I suspect it will end up being just an explanation of how Scorponok ended up where he is currently in the story and it will go back to being the same old crappy LL, but I still want to know how Shockwave got away from the D.J.D. We know they don't get him, unless the entire story of Dark Cybertron gets totally dismissed as if it never happened. Hopefully at least that gets answered in the same issue, and doesn't get dragged out over the next 5.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933615)
Posted by Tigertrack on January 25th, 2018 @ 3:46am CST

Rodimus Prime wrote:I know this is only a preview, and one which is a flashback at that, but I'm officially intrigued. I suspect it will end up being just an explanation of how Scorponok ended up where he is currently in the story and it will go back to being the same old crappy LL, but I still want to know how Shockwave got away from the D.J.D. We know they don't get him, unless the entire story of Dark Cybertron gets totally dismissed as if it never happened. Hopefully at least that gets answered in the same issue, and doesn't get dragged out over the next 5.

I agree and want this to involve time travel and second versions of characters so maybe we can get a wicked battle, and for the DJD to be just handed their collective arses, just once... Deciding Shockwave's too much trouble right now, or something...

So now we have another reason for Shockwave to undo Overlord's kill switch... More on the list for the DJD to want to pursue. He might bring that point up later in the book...

Shockwave must be legitimately frightened of them.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933616)
Posted by Va'al on January 25th, 2018 @ 4:00am CST

Courtesy yet again of comics-aficionado Seibertronian Sunstar and her eagle-eyed social media checking, we have some process images for the latest preview seen from IDW Publishing, for issue #14 of the ongoing comics series Transformers: Lost Light!

The pages mirrored below show artist Sara Pitre Durocher's process from layout and roughs to the final lineart - plus Joana Lafuente's colours and Tom B. Long's letters from the final verson - for the third page of the preview, featuring Damus / Glitch / Tarn and his old mentor Shockwave, and their conversation after the latter's liberation from Garrus-9. Check it out below, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933618)
Posted by steve2275 on January 25th, 2018 @ 4:07am CST

cool sara

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933621)
Posted by Targetmaster Kup on January 25th, 2018 @ 4:55am CST

I'm glad they are using her to get LL caught up to where it should be at!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933636)
Posted by ScottyP on January 25th, 2018 @ 8:38am CST

ricemazter wrote:I find it incredibly silly that Roberts spent so much time misleading the audience that Tarn was Roller, only for him to look exactly like Roller without his mask.

I say this as nicely as I can: it's time to move on. We're going on two years removed from that. Go back and look at Glitch, look at the context, and try to move on

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933650)
Posted by Diaboragon on January 25th, 2018 @ 10:20am CST

Hol' up, Shockwave's comment about the 31 bots with him indicates that they're all on the list, including Flywheels. But when the DJD met the scavengers, Flywheels wasn't one of their targets.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933661)
Posted by ricemazter on January 25th, 2018 @ 11:12am CST

ScottyP wrote:
ricemazter wrote:I find it incredibly silly that Roberts spent so much time misleading the audience that Tarn was Roller, only for him to look exactly like Roller without his mask.
I say this as nicely as I can: it's time to move on. We're going on two years removed from that. Go back and look at Glitch, look at the context, and try to move on

To each their own, I only bring it up because Tarn's maskless appearance reminds me of Roller and I find that observation amusing. You make it sound like I care much more than I actually do.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933678)
Posted by Rodimus Prime on January 25th, 2018 @ 12:24pm CST

Diaboragon wrote:Hol' up, Shockwave's comment about the 31 bots with him indicates that they're all on the list, including Flywheels. But when the DJD met the scavengers, Flywheels wasn't one of their targets.

He wasn't on the list at all, or was he just further down the line? Tarn is pretty adamant about working his way through the list in the proper order.

As for his actual face, for some reason I always see a mix of Megatron and Starscream.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933730)
Posted by ZeroWolf on January 25th, 2018 @ 4:30pm CST

Rodimus Prime wrote:
Diaboragon wrote:Hol' up, Shockwave's comment about the 31 bots with him indicates that they're all on the list, including Flywheels. But when the DJD met the scavengers, Flywheels wasn't one of their targets.
He wasn't on the list at all, or was he just further down the line? Tarn is pretty adamant about working his way through the list in the proper order.

As for his actual face, for some reason I always see a mix of Megatron and Starscream.

I can see the starscream resemblance a little bit but it wouldn't of surprised me if they had said that glitch had work done to look like megs, in fact I'm surprised they didn't.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933767)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on January 25th, 2018 @ 6:03pm CST

Va'al wrote:(Added note: my biggest problem with the book, I'll admit, is one line of dialogue, towards the second part of the issue, about a specific relationship, and how I really do not like how and where, and regarding whom, it was deployed. I'll leave that for the discussion boards, though.)

I have an idea who you are talking about, but I'd like clarification before I discuss it.

Also, just saying, my remarks about how Scorponoks reveal in issue 9 was the high point of the book? Well, I'm glad we are going back to him. I am looking forward to his part in the story

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933786)
Posted by Tigertrack on January 25th, 2018 @ 7:06pm CST

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:
Va'al wrote:(Added note: my biggest problem with the book, I'll admit, is one line of dialogue, towards the second part of the issue, about a specific relationship, and how I really do not like how and where, and regarding whom, it was deployed. I'll leave that for the discussion boards, though.)

I have an idea who you are talking about, but I'd like clarification before I discuss it.

Also, just saying, my remarks about how Scorponoks reveal in issue 9 was the high point of the book? Well, I'm glad we are going back to him. I am looking forward to his part in the story

I thought Chromedome's comments were unfair, and pretty horrible as things go. But rereading from the beginning of MTMTE, I think I held Chromedome in too high of regard, and that situation with Cyclonus bothered me even with that in mind.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933802)
Posted by ricemazter on January 25th, 2018 @ 8:19pm CST

Tigertrack wrote:
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:
Va'al wrote:(Added note: my biggest problem with the book, I'll admit, is one line of dialogue, towards the second part of the issue, about a specific relationship, and how I really do not like how and where, and regarding whom, it was deployed. I'll leave that for the discussion boards, though.)

I have an idea who you are talking about, but I'd like clarification before I discuss it.

Also, just saying, my remarks about how Scorponoks reveal in issue 9 was the high point of the book? Well, I'm glad we are going back to him. I am looking forward to his part in the story

I thought Chromedome's comments were unfair, and pretty horrible as things go. But rereading from the beginning of MTMTE, I think I held Chromedome in too high of regard, and that situation with Cyclonus bothered me even with that in mind.

Are we talking about what Cyclonus said about Chromedome and Rewind's relationship not being real or what Chromedome said about Cyclonus being jealous?

If it's the former Cyclonus has a really disturbing perspective on what relationships should be, and this issue puts his past interactions with Tailgate in a really creepy light.

This has definitely been the best issue of LL to date. It stumbles in not resolving anything except, maybe, one of the tangles plot threads while introducing at least three more that won't be resolved until later, but the character interactions were more interesting than they have been in a while and took priority over the plot. Hopefully, this is a return to form.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933805)
Posted by WreckerJack on January 25th, 2018 @ 9:26pm CST

Tigertrack wrote:I thought Chromedome's comments were unfair, and pretty horrible as things go. But rereading from the beginning of MTMTE, I think I held Chromedome in too high of regard, and that situation with Cyclonus bothered me even with that in mind.

I think Chromedome is insensitive. Like the remarks he made about Rewind's altmode not having wheels, thinking it was okay to just climb inside Roller without asking (wether or not there was any canoodling in the back of his cab is up to the reader I suppose :lol:

) What he said to Cyclonus is a new low. Sure Cyclonus was rude too, but Chromedome should have conducted himself knowing that Cyclonus was absolutely devastated.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933833)
Posted by Va'al on January 26th, 2018 @ 3:41am CST

ricemazter wrote:
Tigertrack wrote:
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:
Va'al wrote:(Added note: my biggest problem with the book, I'll admit, is one line of dialogue, towards the second part of the issue, about a specific relationship, and how I really do not like how and where, and regarding whom, it was deployed. I'll leave that for the discussion boards, though.)

I have an idea who you are talking about, but I'd like clarification before I discuss it.

Also, just saying, my remarks about how Scorponoks reveal in issue 9 was the high point of the book? Well, I'm glad we are going back to him. I am looking forward to his part in the story

I thought Chromedome's comments were unfair, and pretty horrible as things go. But rereading from the beginning of MTMTE, I think I held Chromedome in too high of regard, and that situation with Cyclonus bothered me even with that in mind.

Are we talking about what Cyclonus said about Chromedome and Rewind's relationship not being real or what Chromedome said about Cyclonus being jealous?

If it's the former Cyclonus has a really disturbing perspective on what relationships should be, and this issue puts his past interactions with Tailgate in a really creepy light.

Yeah, Cyclonus' comment to Chromedome was definitely.. iffy at best. Especially for a character that has been shown several times as not really shying away from abuse, towards himself or his partner/close ones.

This has definitely been the best issue of LL to date. It stumbles in not resolving anything except, maybe, one of the tangles plot threads while introducing at least three more that won't be resolved until later, but the character interactions were more interesting than they have been in a while and took priority over the plot. Hopefully, this is a return to form.

I'm glad people are taking the same reading I had but in a much more positive stride! I really am!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933858)
Posted by ricemazter on January 26th, 2018 @ 6:30am CST

Va'al wrote:
ricemazter wrote:
Tigertrack wrote:
D-Maximus_Prime wrote:
Va'al wrote:(Added note: my biggest problem with the book, I'll admit, is one line of dialogue, towards the second part of the issue, about a specific relationship, and how I really do not like how and where, and regarding whom, it was deployed. I'll leave that for the discussion boards, though.)

I have an idea who you are talking about, but I'd like clarification before I discuss it.

Also, just saying, my remarks about how Scorponoks reveal in issue 9 was the high point of the book? Well, I'm glad we are going back to him. I am looking forward to his part in the story

I thought Chromedome's comments were unfair, and pretty horrible as things go. But rereading from the beginning of MTMTE, I think I held Chromedome in too high of regard, and that situation with Cyclonus bothered me even with that in mind.

Are we talking about what Cyclonus said about Chromedome and Rewind's relationship not being real or what Chromedome said about Cyclonus being jealous?

If it's the former Cyclonus has a really disturbing perspective on what relationships should be, and this issue puts his past interactions with Tailgate in a really creepy light.

Yeah, Cyclonus' comment to Chromedome was definitely.. iffy at best. Especially for a character that has been shown several times as not really shying away from abuse, towards himself or his partner/close ones.

Though I'm not glad that Tailgate might be dead, I think it's for the best that they're no longer together. The power dynamic between them was always lopsided in an uncomfortable way, and I don't think it's a coincidence that they broke up once the power shifted. Cyclonus really shouldn't be with anyone because of how volatile he is.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933887)
Posted by not_a_bot on January 26th, 2018 @ 9:08am CST

I felt the things both of them said were pretty much understandable, from their point of view.

Cyclonus is grieving and angry and pretty much blaming himself.

Chromedome had his partner pretty much skewered without reason right in front of his eyes, plus he does not know what happened to Tailgate yet - Whirl was the first to figure that one out - so from his point of view he too has a right to be angry, and he lashes out.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933890)
Posted by snavej on January 26th, 2018 @ 9:14am CST

Tarn's 'speech power' won't hold against Shockwave, who is a master of electromagnetism and also extremely learned and experienced. He would have plenty of countermeasures against Tarn. He would know how to manipulate sound, especially when it is being transmitted via radio or similar.

Also, why is he using a hand-held 'phone when he has plenty of built-in communications equipment?!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933922)
Posted by Va'al on January 26th, 2018 @ 1:05pm CST

not_a_bot wrote:I felt the things both of them said were pretty much understandable, from their point of view.

Cyclonus is grieving and angry and pretty much blaming himself.

Chromedome had his partner pretty much skewered without reason right in front of his eyes, plus he does not know what happened to Tailgate yet - Whirl was the first to figure that one out - so from his point of view he too has a right to be angry, and he lashes out.

I get that, I do. But that line reveals more about himself and his attitude towards attachment than anything hurtful towards Chromedome. And that attitude is not very good.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933926)
Posted by ScottyP on January 26th, 2018 @ 1:39pm CST

Va'al's review led me to figuring our the meaning behind "Threadbare Space", as referenced in Lost Light 1 by Drift (among other places)

When Red Alert picks up the Necrobot's cloak, which is giving a view into the Benzene cluster of space, the wordplay gives it away:

Fun stuff, I'm quite interested to see where all this leads. There's something serious going on in that part of space, presumably separate from Unicron things since we know he's going to show up around Elonia first.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1933953)
Posted by ricemazter on January 26th, 2018 @ 7:59pm CST

Va'al wrote:
not_a_bot wrote:I felt the things both of them said were pretty much understandable, from their point of view.

Cyclonus is grieving and angry and pretty much blaming himself.

Chromedome had his partner pretty much skewered without reason right in front of his eyes, plus he does not know what happened to Tailgate yet - Whirl was the first to figure that one out - so from his point of view he too has a right to be angry, and he lashes out.

I get that, I do. But that line reveals more about himself and his attitude towards attachment than anything hurtful towards Chromedome. And that attitude is not very good.

I really don't know how I feel about it. On the one hand, it's a super screwed up way of seeing a relationship. On the other, it's a really interesting development that recontextualizes everything having to do with Cyclonus and Tailgate in a way that makes a really dark kind of sense.

It's crazy when Whirl, the king of being abusive towards people he supposedly likes, is the closest to seeing the pairing for what it is.

I kind of hope Roberts runs with this idea. It's really twisted, but makes things much more interesting.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1934503)
Posted by not_a_bot on January 29th, 2018 @ 10:44am CST

ScottyP wrote:Va'al's review led me to figuring our the meaning behind "Threadbare Space"

Whow, I totally missed that.
Well spotted!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1934521)
Posted by snavej on January 29th, 2018 @ 12:24pm CST

'Threadbare space' is right next to 'Foreshadowing space'! :lol:

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1934570)
Posted by ScottyP on January 29th, 2018 @ 2:48pm CST

"Morality Lock" seems to refer to what was seen at the end of Remain in Light, with Skids going through the portal to talk to planets or something. "Trapped Light" couldn't possibly be the ship, right?

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1934577)
Posted by snavej on January 29th, 2018 @ 3:07pm CST

'Morality lock' reminds me of the 'Justice field' in Red Dwarf where all criminal actions resulted in immediate punishment, e.g. setting fire to something was penalised by a fire starting in one's own possessions. Only very law-abiding people could avoid penalties.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1934578)
Posted by not_a_bot on January 29th, 2018 @ 3:10pm CST

Could Trapped Light be Tailgate?

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1934581)
Posted by ZeroWolf on January 29th, 2018 @ 3:14pm CST

snavej wrote:'Morality lock' reminds me of the 'Justice field' in Red Dwarf where all criminal actions resulted in immediate punishment, e.g. setting fire to something was penalised by a fire starting in one's own possessions. Only very law-abiding people could avoid penalties.

They introduce the successor of that in series 11 (the karma field...I think that's what it's called) where you do good deeds and good things happen while bad deeds result in heavy doses of bad luck.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1934613)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on January 29th, 2018 @ 4:29pm CST

So, while reading MTMTE volume 8, I found this note:

With the preview for LL14 now out, it looks like the "schism" is Scorponok. More foreshadowing of where the story is going, and now we are getting deeper into Scorponok territory! I am loving it!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1935262)
Posted by ScottyP on February 1st, 2018 @ 1:15pm CST

not_a_bot wrote:Could Trapped Light be Tailgate?

I think Tailgate is dead. I may be the only person on Earth that thinks this, but to me it was implied death in issue 7, confirmation in 13. That said, Chaos Theory provides precedent for him getting put back together if someone were to really try. Megatron has a (seemingly) throwaway line about being reduced to particles and stitched back together after being scraped off the walls - or something to that effect.

ZeroWolf wrote:
snavej wrote:'Morality lock' reminds me of the 'Justice field' in Red Dwarf where all criminal actions resulted in immediate punishment, e.g. setting fire to something was penalised by a fire starting in one's own possessions. Only very law-abiding people could avoid penalties.

They introduce the successor of that in series 11 (the karma field...I think that's what it's called) where you do good deeds and good things happen while bad deeds result in heavy doses of bad luck.

This would jive with a few things: Roberts' fondness for Red Dwarf, Tyrest's killswitch being based off a type of Aequitech, and it feels Quintesson-esque. There are quite a bit of squid hints. I think this is where the story is going.

Also, "Morality Lock" could be a play or spin on the Quadrant Lock from Five Faces of Darkness (maybe that, or the Quint Journal episode? One of those s3 episodes with weird Quint plans!)

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1935306)
Posted by ZeroWolf on February 1st, 2018 @ 6:04pm CST

ScottyP wrote:
not_a_bot wrote:Could Trapped Light be Tailgate?
I think Tailgate is dead. I may be the only person on Earth that thinks this, but to me it was implied death in issue 7, confirmation in 13. That said, Chaos Theory provides precedent for him getting put back together if someone were to really try. Megatron has a (seemingly) throwaway line about being reduced to particles and stitched back together after being scraped off the walls - or something to that effect.

ZeroWolf wrote:
snavej wrote:'Morality lock' reminds me of the 'Justice field' in Red Dwarf where all criminal actions resulted in immediate punishment, e.g. setting fire to something was penalised by a fire starting in one's own possessions. Only very law-abiding people could avoid penalties.

They introduce the successor of that in series 11 (the karma field...I think that's what it's called) where you do good deeds and good things happen while bad deeds result in heavy doses of bad luck.
This would jive with a few things: Roberts' fondness for Red Dwarf, Tyrest's killswitch being based off a type of Aequitech, and it feels Quintesson-esque. There are quite a bit of squid hints. I think this is where the story is going.

Also, "Morality Lock" could be a play or spin on the Quadrant Lock from Five Faces of Darkness (maybe that, or the Quint Journal episode? One of those s3 episodes with weird Quint plans!)

Putting red dwarf in the same breath as squid reminds me of the number 1 episode as voted by the fans, back to reality where there is a squid called the despair squid which uses an ink that drives people to utter despair and ultimately suicide...then back to earth introduced the female version of the species that produced bliss instead...though that for some reason makes me think of what's going on with getaway

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1935399)
Posted by Va'al on February 2nd, 2018 @ 2:49am CST

Via regular source for this type of news, the comics and media website Adventures in Poor Taste!, we have a full preview for next week's offering from IDW Publishing in their ongoing Transformers comics series Lost Light!

Issue #14 brings us away from Rodimus and his crew, and back to the Scavengers, Grimlock - and a flashback sequence we've seen before with Scorponok, Shockwave and Tarn / Damus / Glitch - plus new Commander Nickel. Check it out below, and join us for a review once the book is released next week!

MACGUFFIN QUEST! The Scavengers have never had it so good. The war is a receding memory, their patchy service records have been forgotten, and the five of them can roam the galaxy as they please. All’s well that ends well? Not quite. Because unbeknownst to Krok and Co., their next adventure… will be their last.

Bullet points:

· Variant cover by Brendan Cahill!

Transformers: Lost Light #14
Written by James Roberts
Art by Brendan Cahill
Color by Joana Lafuente
Cover by Jack Lawrence
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Release Date February 7, 2018

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1935434)
Posted by Randomhero on February 2nd, 2018 @ 6:41am CST

Much like a lot of LL pay offs lately the Shockwave conclusion just seems like a “OH WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WE GOTTA MOVE ON!”

Shame

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1935453)
Posted by Ironhidensh on February 2nd, 2018 @ 8:31am CST

Randomhero wrote:Much like a lot of LL pay offs lately the Shockwave conclusion just seems like a “OH WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WE GOTTA MOVE ON!”

Shame

It's a flashback. Thats it. The whole point was to show how Skorpinock got off Garrus 9.

I think it did it's job well, what more do you want?

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1935459)
Posted by ScottyP on February 2nd, 2018 @ 8:52am CST

Ironhidensh wrote:
Randomhero wrote:Much like a lot of LL pay offs lately the Shockwave conclusion just seems like a “OH WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WE GOTTA MOVE ON!”

Shame

It's a flashback. Thats it. The whole point was to show how Skorpinock got off Garrus 9.

I think it did it's job well, what more do you want?

There's a portion of MTMTE readership that just won't ever be satisfied with the story again, no matter what gets written or drawn. I don't know how it got here, been too busy enjoying myself reading these comics.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #13 (1935462)
Posted by Randomhero on February 2nd, 2018 @ 8:55am CST

Ironhidensh wrote:
Randomhero wrote:Much like a lot of LL pay offs lately the Shockwave conclusion just seems like a “OH WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WRAP IT UP WE GOTTA MOVE ON!”

Shame

It's a flashback. Thats it. The whole point was to show how Skorpinock got off Garrus 9.

I think it did it's job well, what more do you want?

Considering Shockwave has always been 50 steps ahead of everyone and had a plan to literally destroy the universe that he spent 9 million years in the works you’d think he’d have a contingency plan on dealing with one of his former pupils other than shooting the phone.For god sake he probably had a hand(hehe) in upgrading the Djd into who they all are

Click here to view additional comments about this topic at the Energon Pub Forums ...