Simple JoysA Review of
Transformers: Lost Light #3As spoiler-free as I can make it
The build, part 1. For part 2, read the issue. They moved the Doomsday Clock up recently, you know. I don't want to think about that. No one does. Sometimes you have to, but thankfully this isn't one of those times.
It's a simple joy, getting caught up in a comic book. When the next page gets turned and you can't wait to see what's in store, be it from some anticipation or dread or excitement, it's joyful. Even the dread - it means you're experiencing moments that mean something, even if it's just to you.
It's ok if there's no other road, the breather is welcome! #3 finds Rodimus and co. probably wishing for those moments, stranded in another time and place with the end of #2 giving at least a faint glimmer of hope for better times ahead just before its ominous conclusion. This glimmer lies in the midst of almost chaotic action and fighting, though as anticipated this issue begins by gently putting the brakes on Team Rodimus' journey. Plenty of dialogue with this team and the new bots they've encountered ends up being a very welcome and perhaps genius moment of pacing. The modest change of setting accompanied by the introduction of some other familiar (and surprising) faces into the fold helps frame the scene for things to come. Satisfying answers laced with yet more tantalizing questions all with a complexity becoming of the series await readers that dive beyond the surface of the dialogue.
The urgency is real!Fans of action won't be disappointed though, as Swerve, Ten, and Whirl run into misadventures of their own. A plot point seeded within the first handful of issues of
More Than Meets The Eye reveals itself, and manages a great balance between peril and humor. Our heroes are still funny when it might be wiser to dial down the wit and dial up the focus, but that's what makes it work. Without giving anything away, James Roberts executes this other running plot of the issue expertly, ensuring that a sense of danger stays within the tone delivered.
Haven't seen this bot in awhile.The timely political and social commentary found not only within this issue but within the overarching thematic structure of "Dissolution" thus far is effective and poignant without being either heavy handed or polarizing. Readers will find simple truths about decency, mixed with rhetorical postulates on theology, finished with Megatron and Ratchet coming face to face with some cold realities - or maybe warm memories.
Transformers at its best, everyone: starting heavy and ending with personable robots. Simple joys.
Drink this panel in. It's incredible.The production of the book is at a very high level, with Jack Lawrence's art evolving to suit the unique challenges that Transformers present at a positive velocity that's often seen when real talent begins the daunting task of playing within this huge universe. Joana Lafuente's colors are the usual, which is to say that they're great. This is especially so in the numerous scenes where a contrast between light and dark is a wise choice in art direction, helping with the narrative delivered through the words. Those words are again presented by Tom B. Long, who might as well be teaching a class on lettering at this point. Come to think of it,
he kind of is on his Twitter account from time to time.
As always, you can find
full credits and covers in our database entry for Lost Light #3, along with a list of characters that appear in the issue so do be aware of possible spoilers.
Character building through expressiveness.There's much to say here that I'll have to save to chat about with you in the discussion that follows the review, but simply put, a great deal happens in this third issue of
Lost Light. Characters are built, ideas are grown, and a few major surprises are in store. All the while, a sense of foreboding is omnipresent, but is that because of the story or because of the history of awful things that always seem to follow this crew? I haven't decided the answer to that part yet. I'm less certain that I ever want to, if I'm really honest. The journey is just too much of a simple joy.
Verdict
I'm going to be reviewing this series for the site for at least the next issue, if not for the rest of this initial story arc.
Some of you can guess why this is. I'm moving my own little version of a
Lost Light/Hasbro Comics Universe Doomsday Clock (Uniclock, perhaps?) back two minutes after this one, because it was joyful. That didn't remove all the dread though by any means, as you'll see from the minute hand below.
A score for this issue though, is that what you're waiting on? It's coming. This installment, to me, is one more answered question away from perfection, or maybe one huge moment away. There were certainly big moments but on the surface and without the benefit of hindsight (which has often been a beneficial factor in going back and re-reading issues of this series and finding a new appreciation) I can't quite find it in myself to put it up into the pantheon of perfect scores. I reserve the right to regret that decision later.
However, if you're reading this and haven't read this comic, I'm glancing up at the url and wondering how you set your priorities. Maybe it's just timing in your day and you haven't gotten to the shop yet, but if there's another reason, stop what you're doing and go
buy this.
Lost Light #3 is fun to follow and engaging even as a single part of a whole, though the whole is something you should simply invest in. It's a joy, I promise.
Bonus! James Roberts' soundtrack suggestions for this issue:
- Anthony Reynolds - "Those Kind Of Songs"
- Okkervil River - "A Stone"
- Andreas Mattsson - "The Summer Of Speed"
