Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5

Wednesday, May 10th, 2017 2:38AM CDT

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Means of Creation
A Review of Transformers: Lost Light #5

As spoiler-free as I can make it.

If there's light, there's shade.

Here we are on part 5 of 6, "Modes of Production", the latest chapter of author James Roberts' massive Transformers tale. With just forty pages to go when you start Lost Light #5, you may be wondering just how much will end up resolved by the end of "Dissolution". After all, there are several plots all running concurrently: a whole crew of characters from the book's namesake ship that have been displaced twice-over to the point of finding themselves in another reality, a new duo of characters that fans have been trying to figure out, tension between former Decepticons and parts of "Team Rodimus", a Whirl/Tailgate/Cyclonus soap opera side-plot, Nightbeat and Rung's ongoing conversations, Megatron and Terminus' interrupted reunion, the return of Roller to action, mysteries of the Functionist Council, more clarification to get to on Rung, and then finally there's the whole part where the alternate Cybertron our heroes are on is slowly being torn apart by a Luna 2 that's been converted into some sort of gigantic galactic recycling unit.

Phew. I've probably missed something.

Why is he suddenly Rick instead of Brainstorm?

With Mr. Roberts clearly going for some kind of plot-juggling world record, it falls to this review to try and decide how it's working out (that is the point of these, right?) It took some careful reflection and multiple reads, but to be completely honest, it's just impossible to know how good this issue is without being able to read issue 6.

Before you accuse yours truly of going for the review-cop-out world record, hear me out. Is the pacing of this issue justified, where very dense pages jump from point to point interspersing some of the main focus with secondary stories where needed, sometimes tangentially in Roller's case? Are the interludes, including one heavy exposition dump with respect to Rung, worth the space they're taking up in a book with so much going on? To repeat a question one can find in spades over both our own Energon Pub Forums and out there online: Is the space given to Anode and Lug in this arc deserving of its inclusion? I don't know because I don't know what they're for yet. "Knowing what someone turns into is not the same as knowing what someone's for", indeed.

The catch is that your friends stopped reading.

While the paragraph above wasn't directly critical, it does bring up a point that I'll just come out and say explicitly: "Dissolution" feels written as a trade paperback and the month-to-month reading cycle is suffering for it. I felt this way before during "Elegant Chaos", and that turned out quite amazingly well in the end. This issue has a healthy amount of effective, meaningful, and downright quality material that gives hope that everything is, indeed, fine.

Rescue Bots! Roll(er) to the Rescue!

One of these highlights involves an A-Lister of the Transformers franchise. Megatron and Terminus are one of the more fascinating duos in an issue/series/meta-series/universe of sometimes-robo-monogamy (platonic and otherwise) that Roberts has created. In this issue we see things progress logically, with some moments including Roller that are simply fantastic. Morality, peril, specters of the past, and peace through the tyranny of choice are all examined when these two are on the page. In a book with a big cast this is the kind of material that serves as an anchor, especially in this case as we're reminded of the ultimate reason that Megatron is caught up in all of this to begin with. Even readers jaded with this story - you know who you are and it's ok to have opinions - will have a hard time not wanting more of these two in my opinion.

That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron. Wait...

Then there's this. Quite possibly the biggest mystery in Transformers comics of the past five-plus years is beginning to be brought into the light. Will this issue tell you what Rung does? Yes, and you'll need to read it to find out whether or not the answer is "Drilling! Takara Tomy loves drill tanks after all." Lost Light #5 stops just barely short of giving the total 360° answer about what Rung is for. If you've read the issue, you might take pause at that statement, because there was a very great deal explained. However, when reflecting on the last scene of the book I began to wonder if, perhaps, there are more to Functionist Universe Rung's present desires than... there appear to be.

What? What happened?

Those Lunabots would be handy now, yeah?

Comics are a visual medium and I've said little about that side of this issue so far. This is probably worthy of at least a night in Fan Jail because it's almost perfect to me from this standpoint. Artist Jack Lawrence's characters continue to evolve visually in this issue in a pleasing way. In some cases, this evolution brings characters closer to looks established by Alex Milne while in others, Lawrence continues to put his own touch on the series. The line work, aided by Joana Lafuente's tonally appropriate color palettes and Tom B. Long's usual lettering masterwork, gives a book that is by my count 96% pure eye candy.

The 4% that's not? The final panel. I think this needed either a big splash spread or perhaps some different posing by one of the characters involved. The point is still made and wow, what a moment! That is a thing that has been built up since 2012! Unfortunately, the visual delivery came across somewhat underwhelming. Of course, maybe that is the real point and I don't truly grasp it, but that's the kind of fun chatter we can get to in course when you reply to this post to debate, opine, and converse in our Energon Pub Forums.

Returning to the good stuff, there are four really and truly outstanding covers available for this issue, including another installment in Nick Roche and Josh Burcham's beautiful series of character vignettes that you'll see in this review's News Story thumbnail. As always, you can find full credits and covers in our database entry for Lost Light #5, along with a list of characters that appear in the issue so do be aware of possible spoilers.

Verdict
Some Spoilers Present Below

When reviewing Lost Light #4, I said that scores don't feel fair to big multi-part works. I stand by this even moreso for #5 as a standalone work. Taken as part of the whole, it's quite good, but with so much going on and the finish line so close, it ends up being partially victimized by its purpose and by the need for some of the resolutions occurring. The Anode interlude stops the pace dead for a reveal that, rather unfortunately for involved fans like myself, was guessed by the fandom at large two months ago. Brainstorm somehow became a wisecracking parody of himself at some point and I find myself missing the brutally clever scientist we used to know. There's more I could pick out for criticism but it wouldn't change the point, that being that despite all the good stuff in here, there's also just enough that feels off the mark to drag down the finished product.

This needs #6 and it needs it soon. Very possibly, this is an inappropriate score to give something that deserves much, much higher, and in moments it really genuinely does. However, without knowing what everything here was for this is all I can commit to from a strictly critical perspective. I will freely admit if this was too low in #6's review. For now and with a dose of hesitation -

and 1/2 out of :CYBERTRON:

Bonus! James Roberts' soundtrack suggestions for this issue:

Orlando - "Just For A Second"
Pedro The Lion - "Of Up And Coming Monarchs"
Tarwater - "All Of The Ants Left Paris"

Encore Bonus? Uniclock Update? Unfortunately, actual real world scary things and warmongering would make it a bit insensitive and tone deaf for me to continue including this little feature, which was intended to be a fun and possibly self-deprecating bit of humor. If that doesn't make sense to you, please do realize this was not inspired by 'Watchmen'.

Credit(s): IDW

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Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880637)
Posted by Randomhero on May 10th, 2017 @ 6:07am CDT

It certainly is a story of convienient coincidences. Stuck in a altnernate universe by a weapon designed by Killmaster, Killmaster is conveniently and coincidently on the necroworld with his wand that shares similar tech and can take them home. Rung revealing he can make constructed cold sparks with his body with Alternate Rung explaining the same thing the exact moment across the galaxy to those who arnt with the normal Rung. Anode being introduced for the first time conviently and coincidently as her functionist counterpart being introduced as the second in command to a rebellion.

This is lazy.

Wish the reveal of Lug was more of a surprise but a lot of people figured out what was up with her by issue one and more by issue two.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880726)
Posted by Nexus Knight on May 10th, 2017 @ 1:13pm CDT

Randomhero wrote:It certainly is a story of convienient coincidences. Stuck in a altnernate universe by a weapon designed by Killmaster, Killmaster is conveniently and coincidently on the necroworld with his wand that shares similar tech and can take them home. Rung revealing he can make constructed cold sparks with his body with Alternate Rung explaining the same thing the exact moment across the galaxy to those who arnt with the normal Rung. Anode being introduced for the first time conviently and coincidently as her functionist counterpart being introduced as the second in command to a rebellion.

This is lazy.

Lazy? Have you ever actually written for a living? I do it as a hobby and it isn't easy. If you're going for something with some sort of sense, it isn't very simple to think of a unique way of doing so. Roberts has to try to get his characters back to where they belong without seeming to pull out of his rear, so setting up Killmaster's tech as the way to do so is pretty smart. We know that Killmaster was supposedly killed by Whirl (who isn't reliable for good intel on the account of being y'know INSANE), so his lying about it isn't too far-fetched and thus making KIllmaster's inclusion of being part of the Disappeared rescued by Necrobot plausible.

Next, they never say when exactly Rung has this talk with Nightbeat (unless they did and I wasn't paying attention). Even so, I don't see how to the two versions giving to same information at the same time is being lazy. Maybe one of them could've been cut, but it was a character building moment for "our" Rung, so it is far from lazy.

Finally, Anode. If Roberts was tasked to try and pull new readers in with Lost Light, her inclusion could be his trying to do so. It doesn't feel like he meant for MTMTE was supposed to end there at issue 55 (I'm referring to the Lost Light's storyline), so I'm sure Roberts was scrambling to try and do so and launch a new book. My point? Having both Anode on Necroworld with her problems and a version of her with the AVL was probably his way to help his new readers understand the different universes better with giving them a character they've known since her conception.

To end this rant, I'm not a comic expert and a lot of that is pure speculation. I do, however, consider myself an amateur writer and feel that work from a good writer should be defended if it feels justified, as I believe so in this case.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880733)
Posted by Randomhero on May 10th, 2017 @ 2:01pm CDT

Nexus Knight wrote:
Randomhero wrote:It certainly is a story of convienient coincidences. Stuck in a altnernate universe by a weapon designed by Killmaster, Killmaster is conveniently and coincidently on the necroworld with his wand that shares similar tech and can take them home. Rung revealing he can make constructed cold sparks with his body with Alternate Rung explaining the same thing the exact moment across the galaxy to those who arnt with the normal Rung. Anode being introduced for the first time conviently and coincidently as her functionist counterpart being introduced as the second in command to a rebellion.

This is lazy.

Lazy? Have you ever actually written for a living? I do it as a hobby and it isn't easy. If you're going for something with some sort of sense, it isn't very simple to think of a unique way of doing so. Roberts has to try to get his characters back to where they belong without seeming to pull out of his rear, so setting up Killmaster's tech as the way to do so is pretty smart. We know that Killmaster was supposedly killed by Whirl (who isn't reliable for good intel on the account of being y'know INSANE), so his lying about it isn't too far-fetched and thus making KIllmaster's inclusion of being part of the Disappeared rescued by Necrobot plausible.

Next, they never say when exactly Rung has this talk with Nightbeat (unless they did and I wasn't paying attention). Even so, I don't see how to the two versions giving to same information at the same time is being lazy. Maybe one of them could've been cut, but it was a character building moment for "our" Rung, so it is far from lazy.

Finally, Anode. If Roberts was tasked to try and pull new readers in with Lost Light, her inclusion could be his trying to do so. It doesn't feel like he meant for MTMTE was supposed to end there at issue 55 (I'm referring to the Lost Light's storyline), so I'm sure Roberts was scrambling to try and do so and launch a new book. My point? Having both Anode on Necroworld with her problems and a version of her with the AVL was probably his way to help his new readers understand the different universes better with giving them a character they've known since her conception.

To end this rant, I'm not a comic expert and a lot of that is pure speculation. I do, however, consider myself an amateur writer and feel that work from a good writer should be defended if it feels justified, as I believe so in this case.

Yes I do write. I've said on here before I am artist that writes and draw comics and publish them. I've been reading comics since I was 5 and I've been creating comics for 14 years and have been publishing my own comics and going to comic conventions since 2012 with my other friends who also create their own comics and we sell and promote them at tables. Even been on a couple podcasts and been on a couple Q n As at conventions telling people about being a content creator and how to start it. So I kinda know a thing or two about comics.

In my opinion this is utterly lazy. Having Rung explain to nightbeat what has happened to him while his alternate version also explaning it at the exact same time is lazy. Having the crew sent to an alternate universe by technology created by someone who just so happens to be there and then him having a weapon that can solve it all is lazy.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880737)
Posted by Nexus Knight on May 10th, 2017 @ 2:21pm CDT

Randomhero wrote:
Nexus Knight wrote:
Randomhero wrote:It certainly is a story of convienient coincidences. Stuck in a altnernate universe by a weapon designed by Killmaster, Killmaster is conveniently and coincidently on the necroworld with his wand that shares similar tech and can take them home. Rung revealing he can make constructed cold sparks with his body with Alternate Rung explaining the same thing the exact moment across the galaxy to those who arnt with the normal Rung. Anode being introduced for the first time conviently and coincidently as her functionist counterpart being introduced as the second in command to a rebellion.

This is lazy.

Lazy? Have you ever actually written for a living? I do it as a hobby and it isn't easy. If you're going for something with some sort of sense, it isn't very simple to think of a unique way of doing so. Roberts has to try to get his characters back to where they belong without seeming to pull out of his rear, so setting up Killmaster's tech as the way to do so is pretty smart. We know that Killmaster was supposedly killed by Whirl (who isn't reliable for good intel on the account of being y'know INSANE), so his lying about it isn't too far-fetched and thus making KIllmaster's inclusion of being part of the Disappeared rescued by Necrobot plausible.

Next, they never say when exactly Rung has this talk with Nightbeat (unless they did and I wasn't paying attention). Even so, I don't see how to the two versions giving to same information at the same time is being lazy. Maybe one of them could've been cut, but it was a character building moment for "our" Rung, so it is far from lazy.

Finally, Anode. If Roberts was tasked to try and pull new readers in with Lost Light, her inclusion could be his trying to do so. It doesn't feel like he meant for MTMTE was supposed to end there at issue 55 (I'm referring to the Lost Light's storyline), so I'm sure Roberts was scrambling to try and do so and launch a new book. My point? Having both Anode on Necroworld with her problems and a version of her with the AVL was probably his way to help his new readers understand the different universes better with giving them a character they've known since her conception.

To end this rant, I'm not a comic expert and a lot of that is pure speculation. I do, however, consider myself an amateur writer and feel that work from a good writer should be defended if it feels justified, as I believe so in this case.

Yes I do write. I've said on here before I am artist that writes and draw comics and publish them. I've been reading comics since I was 5 and I've been creating comics for 14 years and have been publishing my own comics and going to comic conventions since 2012 with my other friends who also create their own comics and we sell and promote them at tables. Even been on a couple podcasts and been on a couple Q n As at conventions telling people about being a content creator and how to start it. So I kinda know a thing or two about comics.

In my opinion this is utterly lazy. Having Rung explain to nightbeat what has happened to him while his alternate version also explaning it at the exact same time is lazy. Having the crew sent to an alternate universe by technology created by someone who just so happens to be there and then him having a weapon that can solve it all is lazy.

A). I'm sorry, I overreacted and haven't been around much to know much about anyone here. So, ignorance on my part and I apologize for this.

B). I didn't notice that Killmaster had made the tech. And I still stand beside the explanation I give about Rung. However, I will say it to be my own opinion now and apologize again for heavily criticizing yours.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880748)
Posted by Randomhero on May 10th, 2017 @ 2:35pm CDT

Killmaster is the creator of the Geobomb which was the weapon used by the Galactic Council at the end of mtmte that trapped everyone in this universe. And it just so happens he was on th necroword and it just so happens his wand is also based on similar technology. It's a convenient coincidence on top of a convenient coincidence with a macguffin as a cherry on top. I'm sorry I find that lazy

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880757)
Posted by Nexus Knight on May 10th, 2017 @ 2:51pm CDT

Randomhero wrote:Killmaster is the creator of the Geobomb which was the weapon used by the Galactic Council at the end of mtmte that trapped everyone in this universe. And it just so happens he was on th necroword and it just so happens his wand is also based on similar technology. It's a convenient coincidence on top of a convenient coincidence with a macguffin as a cherry on top. I'm sorry I find that lazy

Nothing to apologize for. To each his (or her) own.

I do think MTMTE, ahem, the Lost Light is the type of series to have a goofy coincidence like that, but as I said, to each his own.

Also, if you do writing, could you direct me (via PMs) to some of your work? I'd actually be interested in reading it.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880809)
Posted by Randomhero on May 10th, 2017 @ 5:21pm CDT

One of my issues with Killmaster is that it seemed so forced to bring him into the story. Whirl talked so much about how they were arch enemies, making up amazing stories of their rivalry and then admitting he killed him in his sleep. Jump 4 years later and Killmaster shows up and Whirl admits he never killed him or really fought him. Here's my problem, why would Whirl say he killed him by simply sneaking into a decepticons base and crushing his brain if he Killmaster just disappeared. Whirl is all about himself and if Killmaster just vanished he would have made up a story of his heroic victory of defeating Killmaster and no one could call him out on it. This honestly feels like whirl did kill him and James needed a way to do this story and decided to bring him back and write that whirl just lied.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880813)
Posted by Rodimus Prime on May 10th, 2017 @ 5:35pm CDT

Nexus Knight wrote:I do, however, consider myself an amateur writer and feel that work from a good writer should be defended if it feels justified, as I believe so in this case.

This is where I disagree. I don't think James Roberts is a good writer. I like MTMTE generally, but it could have been so much better. It feels too cluttered, though not as bad as ReGeneration One was. If Roberts was truly worth his salt, he would have tidied up the story and maybe gotten more out of the pages he was allotted. Having said that, I still do plan on picking up the TPB of Lost Light, so I guess in the end that's all that matters.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880840)
Posted by ScottyP on May 10th, 2017 @ 8:01pm CDT

Rodimus Prime wrote:
Nexus Knight wrote:I do, however, consider myself an amateur writer and feel that work from a good writer should be defended if it feels justified, as I believe so in this case.
This is where I disagree. I don't think James Roberts is a good writer. I like MTMTE generally, but it could have been so much better. It feels too cluttered, though not as bad as ReGeneration One was. If Roberts was truly worth his salt, he would have tidied up the story and maybe gotten more out of the pages he was allotted. Having said that, I still do plan on picking up the TPB of Lost Light, so I guess in the end that's all that matters.

I think he's a phenomenal writer. He can turn a phrase into magic, create genuine, relatable characters, and the long term plotting at play is very well planned.

I think Barber at his peak of being involved/invested as an editor helped the final presentation of Roberts' words in way we haven't seen in a long time now. Don't underestimate editorial's role in what we see. Also consider IDW has a shortage of labor in that department causing some of the delays reeally plaguing some of their other titles.

I kinda wish I had an editor for all my board posts and articles here. They'd be much better!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880884)
Posted by RNSrobot on May 11th, 2017 @ 3:41am CDT

I hate anode, and every panel on her has been wasted.

Whole arc should have been four issues.

Lawrence's art ... Nope. Zama and Pitre smoke him on every level. It's not very good, it doesn't fit the story, and detracts. I can only imagine everything would be reading better with Milne at the helm.

It's just fine. I don't know. I'm not totally down on lost light. It just doesn't seem to be on the level of mtmte. Not even close. Every month is at least vaguely disappointing.

There's good stuff. There really is. But it feels like every issue has me trying to justify the good in the face of the bad.

Fuck anode.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880924)
Posted by Randomhero on May 11th, 2017 @ 9:43am CDT

The art is the one thing I love. I think jack is knocking it out of the park with his story telling and layouts.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880940)
Posted by Big Grim on May 11th, 2017 @ 11:01am CDT

Well, I just gotta say I'm enjoying the hell outta Lost Light.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880944)
Posted by Big Grim on May 11th, 2017 @ 11:13am CDT

Well, I just gotta say I'm enjoying the hell outta Lost Light.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880953)
Posted by MrBlack on May 11th, 2017 @ 12:07pm CDT

The first few issues were a bit slow, and Jack Lawrence was still not up to speed, but Lost Light really started to feel like MTMTE as of last issue, at least for me. Lawrence has really improved since issue #1, and while I don't think he's quite there with Alex Milne in terms of storytelling and detail, he's getting there. Milne has had more than a few clunky, overly detailed panels, and at least I never fail to understand what's going on when Lawrence draws. The style is different, but it works for me.

Storywise, it's back on track for me. I like the stuff with Rung, I'm beginning to enjoy Anode, and all the character building is on point. The Killmaster stuff bothers me a bit, but I'm willing to let that slide a bit since it is still building off previously established continuity. The "coincidence" with Rung doesn't bother me, as it's really only a storytelling technique. Functionist Rung has known what he could do for months, and we, the reader, are only just learning it now. The original Rung only just found out, and for an established story reason. It's coincidence, but only in how it's presented to the reader, rather than being something unbelievable from a story perspective.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1880973)
Posted by DeadCaL on May 11th, 2017 @ 1:17pm CDT

To me, I think certain characters have become caricatures of themselves, namely Brainstorm. Quirky is fine, but I have limits.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1881110)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on May 11th, 2017 @ 8:39pm CDT

ScottyP wrote:
Rodimus Prime wrote:
Nexus Knight wrote:I do, however, consider myself an amateur writer and feel that work from a good writer should be defended if it feels justified, as I believe so in this case.
This is where I disagree. I don't think James Roberts is a good writer. I like MTMTE generally, but it could have been so much better. It feels too cluttered, though not as bad as ReGeneration One was. If Roberts was truly worth his salt, he would have tidied up the story and maybe gotten more out of the pages he was allotted. Having said that, I still do plan on picking up the TPB of Lost Light, so I guess in the end that's all that matters.
I think he's a phenomenal writer. He can turn a phrase into magic, create genuine, relatable characters, and the long term plotting at play is very well planned.

I think Barber at his peak of being involved/invested as an editor helped the final presentation of Roberts' words in way we haven't seen in a long time now. Don't underestimate editorial's role in what we see. Also consider IDW has a shortage of labor in that department causing some of the delays reeally plaguing some of their other titles.

I kinda wish I had an editor for all my board posts and articles here. They'd be much better!

Wanted to comment on this last night, but was too tired and had too early a morning. And too late a day. I like Roberts and I do think he is a really good writer. One of the best in the IDW series really. His specialty is the character development, making us care for his characters rather than seeing them as mostly generic fodder with a name.

That being said:

RNSrobot wrote:I hate anode, and every panel on her has been wasted.

Whole arc should have been four issues.

Lawrence's art ... Nope. Zama and Pitre smoke him on every level. It's not very good, it doesn't fit the story, and detracts. I can only imagine everything would be reading better with Milne at the helm.

It's just fine. I don't know. I'm not totally down on lost light. It just doesn't seem to be on the level of mtmte. Not even close. Every month is at least vaguely disappointing.

There's good stuff. There really is. But it feels like every issue has me trying to justify the good in the face of the bad.

**** anode.

DeadCaL wrote:To me, I think certain characters have become caricatures of themselves, namely Brainstorm. Quirky is fine, but I have limits.

I agree to some levels with both of these posts, and both bring up the main things I have had issues with in Lost Light. While I understand the purpose of bringing on a new character from which to see the perspective of the new story, he couldn't have picked a worse character for this job. Despite what Scotty says, and I do really respect what you say Scotty with all your storytelling stuff, I really hate Anode. Still do. She has yet to do anything that makes me like her or find interest in her in any way. Unless she is an ancient Cybertronian (which she isn't), there is no way she should work in the 2 different locations. One is on Cybertron as a fighter, while the other was born on Caminus or whatever and became an adventurer after being in the wrong job. That doesn't work for me and really brings me down. I actually get a slight twinge when I see Kurona post because I see her face

Brings me to the 2nd point: I completely agree with DeadCaL: quirky is one thing, but Brainstorm feels too exaggerated in LL so far. Just enough to bug me, and he is in my top 3 favorites of all time character wise.

Finally, despite warming some to Lawrence's art, I still don't like it too much. It irritates me some reading the comic and is part of the reason I don't read LL that much after the first read. I was ridiculed some for my LL#2 review for saying I did not like the art at all, but I can't like it yet. Just can't. Part of the reason I am excited for Rom v. TF's in July is because of Milne and Barber teaming up. And I have really enjoyed the other 2 ongoings because I like the art. Zama grew on me after about 2 issues and I have come to enjoy her art, just needing to adjust from Griffith. And Pitre-Durocher is excellent in TAAO. Lawrence just feels a step or 3 behind them yet though, which is disappointing as MTMTE was my favorite of the ongoings.

But then Revolution was also a killer. It basically killed Seibs comic vibe, and it has somewhat reduced mine. And with more crossover stuff coming, I feel more annoyed than enjoyed with comics honestly.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1881596)
Posted by DeadCaL on May 14th, 2017 @ 2:22pm CDT

OK, here's a question. As someone who mainly just reads the comics and just enjoys them without keeping up with every twitter thing and IDW this and that, what is the current set up with the writing/editing on TF comics at the mo?

A friend and I were discussing it over the phone. The subject of 'oversight' came up, cos if I were writing something I was super enthusiastic about, with very little managerial input, I'd probably go nuts and just fill it with fank wank.

I really like James's style, but bits here and there seem like the kind of stuff I'd expect an editor to tighten up on.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1881905)
Posted by ScottyP on May 15th, 2017 @ 8:42pm CDT

DeadCaL wrote:OK, here's a question. As someone who mainly just reads the comics and just enjoys them without keeping up with every twitter thing and IDW this and that, what is the current set up with the writing/editing on TF comics at the mo?

A friend and I were discussing it over the phone. The subject of 'oversight' came up, cos if I were writing something I was super enthusiastic about, with very little managerial input, I'd probably go nuts and just fill it with fank wank.

I really like James's style, but bits here and there seem like the kind of stuff I'd expect an editor to tighten up on.

With Barber focused on writing now (has some Marvel gigs now so stepped out of his editorial role), Carlos Guzman is editing most of the TF books. Guzman edited RiD/TF for Barber, and I never felt that way about those for the most part. That said, was told by EIC David Hedgecock in our last interview with him a couple months back that they're a little thin on the editorial side and that's why some of the books keep getting delayed, so maybe that's not helping matters. I don't think it's having any huge impact but there are a couple spots that seem weird - but then again, Guzman would know where this story is going so I'll trust the decisions for now as things that help the greater story unknown to the rest of us.

What I came here to share was some Alex Milne art from Twitter. He drew Rung from Rodimus' perspective at the end of LL 5 and it's fantastic:

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1882521)
Posted by Rodimus Prime on May 18th, 2017 @ 4:49am CDT

I remember Roberts saying that the plan for the MTMTE story (now the LL story) was 100 issues. Is this still the case?

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1882525)
Posted by Kurona on May 18th, 2017 @ 5:44am CDT

Rodimus Prime wrote:I remember Roberts saying that the plan for the MTMTE story (now the LL story) was 100 issues. Is this still the case?

He's certainly hoping to get there according to his Twitter.

Also according to his Twitter, he's really enjoying writing Issue 10 with the mutineers...

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1883206)
Posted by ScottyP on May 21st, 2017 @ 10:19pm CDT

Kurona wrote:
Rodimus Prime wrote:I remember Roberts saying that the plan for the MTMTE story (now the LL story) was 100 issues. Is this still the case?

He's certainly hoping to get there according to his Twitter.

Also according to his Twitter, he's really enjoying writing Issue 10 with the mutineers...

I seem to recall the initial high-level idea was about 100, though he and Barber were only given the go ahead to actually plan out 12 issues each at the start. Gotta wonder if Dark Cybertron and Megatron's arrival really bumped it out into a longer thing, or if the Hasbro U makes what was the intended finish line difficult. Never do know what changes have occurred even recently with a movie coming up that we're oblivious to!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884277)
Posted by Va'al on May 25th, 2017 @ 4:50pm CDT

We've seen two variant covers, by Nick Roche/Josh Burcham and Alex Milne/Josh Perez, for IDW Publishing's Transformers: Lost Light #6 - but now, thanks to IDW directly, we have the main Jack Lawrence (with Joana Lafuente? credits, IDW, please) artwork too. And it features a very determined Megatron. Check it out below!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884303)
Posted by Kurona on May 25th, 2017 @ 6:41pm CDT

Honestly, this cover is perfect. For the same sort of reason just a single fist works as a cover; despite the simplicity, the single action represented and focused on means a lot. I'm really excited to see Megatron kick ass this issue

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884326)
Posted by Randomhero on May 25th, 2017 @ 8:41pm CDT

Kurona wrote:Honestly, this cover is perfect. For the same sort of reason just a single fist works as a cover; despite the simplicity, the single action represented and focused on means a lot. I'm really excited to see Megatron kick ass this issue

Yeah that's what everyone was certainly expecting in dying of the light and he certainly did shoot a fusion cannon for 2 pages and used black magic to rip up the DJD to nothingness. Let's not kid ourselves. He's not going to throw any punches in this issue.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884328)
Posted by Kurona on May 25th, 2017 @ 8:47pm CDT

Randomhero wrote:
Kurona wrote:Honestly, this cover is perfect. For the same sort of reason just a single fist works as a cover; despite the simplicity, the single action represented and focused on means a lot. I'm really excited to see Megatron kick ass this issue

Yeah that's what everyone was certainly expecting in dying of the light and he certainly did shoot a fusion cannon for 2 pages and used black magic to rip up the DJD to nothingness. Let's not kid ourselves. He's not going to throw any punches in this issue.

Well, I didn't mean literally kick ass, just... kick ass at being a great character.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884354)
Posted by WreckerJack on May 25th, 2017 @ 11:41pm CDT

Does anyone see a problem with the preview?

(Jus havin' a chuckle till they fix it)

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884374)
Posted by Va'al on May 26th, 2017 @ 3:51am CDT

WreckerJack wrote:Does anyone see a problem with the preview?

(Jus havin' a chuckle till they fix it)

A bold new direction, and look, for the Lost Light crew!
Who knew the Functionist universe would lead to this..?

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884396)
Posted by Rodimus Prime on May 26th, 2017 @ 6:49am CDT

Randomhero wrote:
Kurona wrote:Honestly, this cover is perfect. For the same sort of reason just a single fist works as a cover; despite the simplicity, the single action represented and focused on means a lot. I'm really excited to see Megatron kick ass this issue

Yeah that's what everyone was certainly expecting in dying of the light and he certainly did shoot a fusion cannon for 2 pages and used black magic to rip up the DJD to nothingness. Let's not kid ourselves. He's not going to throw any punches in this issue.

Yeah, I wish he had laid down a little more carnage with the cannon, but I thought it was a clever way how he trapped Tarn inside the force field, even if their actual showdown was lackluster. It kinda gave Trailbreaker a bit of redemption though.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1884996)
Posted by ScottyP on May 29th, 2017 @ 6:22pm CDT

Joining the roster of covers for Transformers: Lost Light #6 is the ten copy retailer incentive cover by Marcelo Matere. This cover was posted by IDW Publishing onto their official site's page for Lost Light #6. It features Rung, one of the central characters in the "Dissolution" arc, adjusting his glasses while reading a data pad. Just like Rung, this is probably totally innocent behavior that readers should certainly not look into too deeply.

Check it out below, and speculate away by replying to this post on our Energon Pub Forums.

As of this writing, Transformers: Lost Light #6 is expected to be released on June 7th, 2017.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885132)
Posted by william-james88 on May 30th, 2017 @ 11:21am CDT

This is more about MTMTE than Lost light, but knew I would reach the same people by posting here without resurrecting an older thread.

I read a good part of MTMTE but got really burned by Dark Cybertron. I dont even know if I read it all. I got back into MTMTE with issue 50 and read steadily since but of course there is a gap in between I have been slowly getting though. Was reading the arc with Megatron's trial (which is still topical because now I know who Terminus is and they keep speaking of the Trial in LL) and I saw this dude:

Who in the world is that? I remember Swerve said there shouldnt be people on the Lost Light who remind him of Prowl (as a joke sure, but I still thought that meant there werent any). UNless it is indeed bluestreak. Was that the bot who Swerve was joking to? He seemed to be blue, not grey.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885134)
Posted by Kurona on May 30th, 2017 @ 11:23am CDT

william-james88 wrote:This is more about MTMTE than Lost light, but knew I would reach the same people by posting here without resurrecting an older thread.

I read a good part of MTMTE but got really burned by Dark Cybertron. I dont even know if I read it all. I got back into MTMTE with issue 50 and read steadily since but of course there is a gap in between I have been slowly getting though. Was reading the arc with Megatron's trial (which is still topical because now I know who Terminus is and they keep speaking of the Trial in LL) and I saw this dude:

Who in the world is that? I remember Swerve said there shouldnt be people on the Lost Light who remind him of Prowl (as a joke sure, but I still thought that meant there werent any). UNless it is indeed bluestreak. Was that the bot who Swerve was joking to? He seemed to be blue, not grey.

That's Bluestreak. He's a secondary character who shows up a bit more in other stories pre-50.

His colour scheme in this is a bit weird though - like they're trying to combine the original with some actual blue. I dig it, mind.

As a general rule, Swerve says anything to be a dick. Love him.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885135)
Posted by william-james88 on May 30th, 2017 @ 11:30am CDT

Kurona wrote:
william-james88 wrote:This is more about MTMTE than Lost light, but knew I would reach the same people by posting here without resurrecting an older thread.

I read a good part of MTMTE but got really burned by Dark Cybertron. I dont even know if I read it all. I got back into MTMTE with issue 50 and read steadily since but of course there is a gap in between I have been slowly getting though. Was reading the arc with Megatron's trial (which is still topical because now I know who Terminus is and they keep speaking of the Trial in LL) and I saw this dude:

Who in the world is that? I remember Swerve said there shouldnt be people on the Lost Light who remind him of Prowl (as a joke sure, but I still thought that meant there werent any). UNless it is indeed bluestreak. Was that the bot who Swerve was joking to? He seemed to be blue, not grey.

That's Bluestreak. He's a secondary character who shows up a bit more in other stories pre-50.

His colour scheme in this is a bit weird though - like they're trying to combine the original with some actual blue. I dig it, mind.

As a general rule, Swerve says anything to be a dick. Love him.

Thanks. the colours looked very different than just the previous issue where we saw him like this:

So I was confused.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885345)
Posted by ScottyP on May 30th, 2017 @ 8:48pm CDT

IDW is about as consistent with colors and designs as Sunbow was in the 80s. They're better lately, to be fair.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885348)
Posted by Kurona on May 30th, 2017 @ 8:58pm CDT

ScottyP wrote:IDW is about as consistent with colors and designs as Sunbow was in the 80s.

Dude... those words are hurtful words.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885356)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on May 30th, 2017 @ 9:21pm CDT

To be fair, around issue 28/29 of MTMTE was when there was a colorist change, and there were several notable changes in colorings, such as Bluestreak's paint work and Magnus' thighs

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885362)
Posted by SureShot18 on May 30th, 2017 @ 9:44pm CDT

ScottyP wrote:IDW is about as consistent with colors and designs as Sunbow was in the 80s. They're better lately, to be fair.

Hey now, I don't ever remember seeing two Starscreams in the same panel. :-P

Yeah I guess that's fair. Colors and designs have been wonky at times, but that is sort of the nature of a comic book, I guess. Different artists and colorists throughout a run, and all.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885600)
Posted by ScottyP on May 31st, 2017 @ 8:14pm CDT

Kurona wrote:
ScottyP wrote:IDW is about as consistent with colors and designs as Sunbow was in the 80s.

Dude... those words are hurtful words.

I lived through Phase 1. One issue at a time. For every awesome moment like Stormbringer, there were times like New Avengers vs. Transformers. For every greatly cultivated continuity payoff like Devastation, there was a Spotlight: Blaster.

There were also at least 85.3 regular artists working under a laissez faire editorial reign. This is greatly exaggerated, of course, but by that last year in 2011 there was 0 consistency anywhere.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885601)
Posted by Kurona on May 31st, 2017 @ 8:15pm CDT

ScottyP wrote:
Kurona wrote:
ScottyP wrote:IDW is about as consistent with colors and designs as Sunbow was in the 80s.

Dude... those words are hurtful words.
I lived through Phase 1. One issue at a time. For every awesome moment like Stormbringer, there were times like New Avengers vs. Transformers. For every greatly cultivated continuity payoff like Devastation, there was a Spotlight: Blaster.

There were also at least 85.3 regular artists working under a laissez faire editorial reign. This is greatly exaggerated, of course, but by that last year in 2011 there was 0 consistency anywhere.

Aww, man, now I have to defend my favourite Spotlight? You wound me. You wound me.

But you also said New Avengers vs. Transformers was bad, so it's only skin-deep! Wheeeee~

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885682)
Posted by ScottyP on May 31st, 2017 @ 10:36pm CDT

Kurona wrote:
ScottyP wrote:
Kurona wrote:
ScottyP wrote:IDW is about as consistent with colors and designs as Sunbow was in the 80s.

Dude... those words are hurtful words.
I lived through Phase 1. One issue at a time. For every awesome moment like Stormbringer, there were times like New Avengers vs. Transformers. For every greatly cultivated continuity payoff like Devastation, there was a Spotlight: Blaster.

There were also at least 85.3 regular artists working under a laissez faire editorial reign. This is greatly exaggerated, of course, but by that last year in 2011 there was 0 consistency anywhere.

Aww, man, now I have to defend my favourite Spotlight? You wound me. You wound me.

But you also said New Avengers vs. Transformers was bad, so it's only skin-deep! Wheeeee~

I love Spotlight: Blaster. Fun story, neat twist, and my friend Robby Musso crushed it on the art. I was picking at it from the continuity perspective only, as nothing in it has ever been revisited - not even by John Barber!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1885798)
Posted by Kurona on June 1st, 2017 @ 6:27am CDT

ScottyP wrote:
Kurona wrote:
ScottyP wrote:
Kurona wrote:
ScottyP wrote:IDW is about as consistent with colors and designs as Sunbow was in the 80s.

Dude... those words are hurtful words.
I lived through Phase 1. One issue at a time. For every awesome moment like Stormbringer, there were times like New Avengers vs. Transformers. For every greatly cultivated continuity payoff like Devastation, there was a Spotlight: Blaster.

There were also at least 85.3 regular artists working under a laissez faire editorial reign. This is greatly exaggerated, of course, but by that last year in 2011 there was 0 consistency anywhere.

Aww, man, now I have to defend my favourite Spotlight? You wound me. You wound me.

But you also said New Avengers vs. Transformers was bad, so it's only skin-deep! Wheeeee~
I love Spotlight: Blaster. Fun story, neat twist, and my friend Robby Musso crushed it on the art. I was picking at it from the continuity perspective only, as nothing in it has ever been revisited - not even by John Barber!

Oh thank god.

That's actually partly what I like about it though - that it doesn't need to be revisited or referenced or fit into anywhere. It's just allowed to tell its own self-contained story using the universe they'd built. I love seeing stuff like that and it's kind of one of the things the Spotlight line was made for.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886287)
Posted by Kurona on June 2nd, 2017 @ 11:03am CDT

Eyyyy what's up just getting us back on topic with this awesome print of the main cast by Nick Roche. Apparently it's the lines for the first of this season's convention prints!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886346)
Posted by Va'al on June 2nd, 2017 @ 3:34pm CDT

Courtesy of Newsarama, we have the full preview of next week's IDW Publishing Transformers: Lost Light #6 - the final issue in the first arc for the newly titled series! There are some potential spoilers for those of you who'd rather wait until reading it in full, but otherwise, check it out below!

Transformers: Lost Light #6
James Roberts (w) • Jack Lawrence (a & c)
You know that sinking feeling you get when you witness the destruction of an entire planet? Rodimus and company are about to feel that. Hardcore.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
· Six issues in...the end of Lost Light?!
· OK, not likely. But a lot of people could die now!
· Variant cover by Marcelo Matere!

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886365)
Posted by Ironhidensh on June 2nd, 2017 @ 4:21pm CDT

You know, I had really started to buy into ScottyP's theory of the Rung/Unicron connection. I'm quite disappointed it didn't play out.

So what do you think the Getaway gang (props if you remember them from the 80's) are up to?

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886368)
Posted by Randomhero on June 2nd, 2017 @ 4:29pm CDT

The idea of Unicron ever appearing destroys the entire religious foundation of IDW: it's belief over fact. Just like our own world, religion is not proven. It's about what you believe in. That's why the thirteen are not the children of primus in IDW, they're just powerful transformers. It's why we've never seen the knights, the guiding hand or primus himself or even the mention of unicorns name.

To have Unicron show up proves primus is real which essentially says God is real and here he is, IDW has spent 12 years avoiding anything primus or Unicron as an actual thing.

As for getaway and the lost light? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Why? Because they literally abandoned Rodimus and everyone two days prior. This series is still taking place 3 weeks behind issue 50 of not RID and 5 months behind the current stories in Optimus prime and Till all are one. Soundwave is still on the space station, Galvatron is still scheming and Optimus has just annexed Earth,

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886370)
Posted by Kurona on June 2nd, 2017 @ 4:43pm CDT

We're catching up with Getaway and the Lost Light in Issue 10. I kinda hope it involves Mirage's group coming back, First Aid going "what the fuck" and two seconds later Defensor tearing up half the ship.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886375)
Posted by Randomhero on June 2nd, 2017 @ 4:54pm CDT

Kurona wrote:We're catching up with Getaway and the Lost Light in Issue 10. I kinda hope it involves Mirage's group coming back, First Aid going "what the ****" and two seconds later Defensor tearing up half the ship.

That doesn't sound like anything James Roberts would do. The more plausible idea would be first aid and everyone showing up. Only first aid talks, everyone else is is just background and they stand around and spend half the issue talking about something that could be sumed up with one page. A lot of sad faces too can't forget the sad faces .

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886409)
Posted by Ironhidensh on June 2nd, 2017 @ 7:36pm CDT

Kurona wrote:We're catching up with Getaway and the Lost Light in Issue 10. I kinda hope it involves Mirage's group coming back, First Aid going "what the ****" and two seconds later Defensor tearing up half the ship.

I like you, you are good people. When the revolution comes, I'll see to it you are on the protected scrolls.*

*I may have had a but to drink tonight.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886590)
Posted by Va'al on June 3rd, 2017 @ 1:34pm CDT

Via Previews World, we have a look at some cover art for not the next, but the issue after that of IDW Transformers: Lost Light! Issue #6 is out next Wednesday - full preview here - and the covers below, by Alex Milne and James Raiz (plus colourists - come ON people) and the main one by Jack Lawrence (plus colours) deal with the aftermath, so looking at them too closely may spoil some of the story in #6. You've been warned!

(W) James Roberts (A) Jack Lawrence (CA) Alex Milne
AFTERMATH! The war with the Functionalists is over-and Rodimus is left wondering whether he won or lost. It's the beginning of a new chapter for the displaced crew of the Lost Light, as decisions are made that will change their lives forever.

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886607)
Posted by ScottyP on June 3rd, 2017 @ 2:24pm CDT

Oh that Milne cover is excellent (and also how rumors start!)

Re: Review of IDW Transformers: Lost Light #5 (1886608)
Posted by ScottyP on June 3rd, 2017 @ 2:37pm CDT

Ironhidensh wrote:You know, I had really started to buy into ScottyP's theory of the Rung/Unicron connection. I'm quite disappointed it didn't play out.

Me too

That is all I can say about that right now.

Randomhero wrote:To have Unicron show up proves primus is real which essentially says God is real and here he is, IDW has spent 12 years avoiding anything primus or Unicron as an actual thing.

I have three points.

1 - Primus: More or less confirmed by the 2012 Annuals, but outside of that, they're clearly going towards the direction of having the 13 be a thing and it is very much looking like it's more-or-less direct from Covenant of Primus, backstory wise. This makes the 13 each a part of Primus. They are his divided self.

2 - Unicron: John Barber is on record (with our podcast) in saying that they almost teased him at the end of Dark Cybertron to go in that direction, they just weren't sure they were yet capable or ready to tell an effective story with him. His phrasing was "Where do you go?", so it's good they recognized they didn't think they had a fleshed out enough plan to move forward on it. I don't think they'll have a single reservation about bringing him in if they think the time is right and they have a good story.

3 - On IDW "avoiding" them: This was a Simon Furman thing at the start of the IDW run and it made complete sense at the time. Unicron was well worn by the shows at that point. However, since Transformers: Cybertron concluded, the only real Unicron material has been in TF: Prime and it was a little taste with the Gaia Unicron stuff (at the very, very beginning of the show, no less!) then some "meh" possession stuff in Beast Hunters. I don't think folks in general are worn out on Unicron/Primus/etc at all anymore, individual exceptions notwithstanding of course.

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