Alex Milne / Josh Perez Cover for IDW Transformers: Lost Light #25

Ah, all of those characters who never did anything but stand in the background.

What purpose did characters like Hound served to the plot?

That is an amazing cover!!!

It's also kinda sad how many characters on that cover did not live through the series

Who's that orange guy next to the T

Tommy T. wrote:Who's that orange guy next to the T

Rollout, in G1 an Action Master. Milne has drawn him several times for commissions surprisingly, and he has shown up several times, including in alt mode in MTMTE 33 (I think) for the very first time

Deadput wrote:Ah, all of those characters who never did anything but stand in the background.

What purpose did characters like Hound served to the plot?

Yeah I did the same thing on tfw2005 about those guys and no scavengers. Milne actually chimed in and said he added them to fill space and he didn’t add them because they’d be so small in the picture was kind of offended and now I feel bad

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:That is an amazing cover!!!

It's also kinda sad how many characters on that cover did not live through the series

The feels..... i gots 'em

Just finished LL24 and I gotta say it was a hell of a good issue. Here is to hoping 25 lives up to the hype.

Can I start reading the Unicron comics now?

WreckerJack wrote:Just finished LL24 and I gotta say it was a hell of a good issue. Here is to hoping 25 lives up to the hype.

Can I start reading the Unicron comics now?

They're almost entirely unconnected so far, so ideally you'd catch up on Optimus Prime before heading into Unicron! Check the chronology that ScottyP is putting together: the-transformers-idwverse-a-chronology-t105238s100.php#p1982662

(obviously Lost Light has so far nothing to do with it, so keep that in mind)

does anyone
other than me
think it would be awesome
if
in this final issue
someone
anyone
Tailgate or Swerve, maybe

puts a blaster behind Megatron's auditory receptor and blows his brains out?

i mean
he still deserves to be punished
for the billions of deaths
and countless suffering
he was
and is
directly
and indirectly
STILL responsible for!

right?


soooo....
wats up widdat?

Z3ROhour wrote:does anyone
other than me
think it would be awesome

Nope. The redemptive arc of Megatron has been entirely enjoyable.

That cover. Absolutely awesome!

Z3ROhour wrote:does anyone
other than me
think it would be awesome
if
in this final issue
someone
anyone
Tailgate or Swerve, maybe

puts a blaster behind Megatron's auditory receptor and blows his brains out?

i mean
he still deserves to be punished
for the billions of deaths
and countless suffering
he was
and is
directly
and indirectly
STILL responsible for!

right?


soooo....
wats up widdat?

Punish death with death... nothing would change, an eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind

Deadput wrote:Ah, all of those characters who never did anything but stand in the background.

What purpose did characters like Hound served to the plot?

Someone had to do the chores while popular characters did interesting things! It's all part of the family dynamic.

Via the official page of the Previews World website, we have one of the many variants due with the last issue of IDW Publishing's Transformers: Lost Light ongoing series - allegedly out at the end of October - by main artist on the series Jack Lawrence, and colours by someone clearly not important enough to include in the solicitations (regular Joana Lafuente is the guess).

Check out below the cast ensemble for one final curtain call, in 'How to Say Goodbye and Mean It, pt II', and join us in the discussion until the book's release!

(W) James Roberts (A/CA) Jack Lawrence
MORE THAN MET THE EYE. The quest is over, the dust has settled, and everything has changed-forever. But before the fond farewells, before the parting of ways, before the unkept promises to stay in touch, there's time-surely, there's time-for one last drink...

Extra-long final issue! Tying together and putting a bow on stories from the last 13 years!
The final fate of the whole Lost Light crew revealed!
From the Death of Optimus Prime to now: 85 issues of the Lost Light cast!
In Shops: Oct 31, 2018
Final Orders Due: Oct 08, 2018

this cover is breaking what little i had left of a heart

Big Grim wrote:

Z3ROhour wrote:does anyone
other than me
think it would be awesome

Nope. The redemptive arc of Megatron has been entirely enjoyable.

That cover. Absolutely awesome!

i truly
TRULY
enjoy born-again Megatron.

i do.

but nothing
NO-THING
can
or ever will
be able to remove,
cover
or
lighten
the tarnish
and Inermost Energon
& BLOOD
that this MONSTER
has splashed,
knelt in
and ground his heals upon
in his 4 million year
"misunderstanding"

he is simply
UNREDEEMABLE.
period.

i wish it were not so.

but the quest being concluded
its time to face the music
GUILTY AS CHARGED.

sorry.

Va'al wrote:

no Megatron

ZeroWolf wrote:

Z3ROhour wrote:does anyone
other than me
think it would be awesome
if
in this final issue
someone
anyone
Tailgate or Swerve, maybe

puts a blaster behind Megatron's auditory receptor and blows his brains out?

i mean
he still deserves to be punished
for the billions of deaths
and countless suffering
he was
and is
directly
and indirectly
STILL responsible for!

right?


soooo....
wats up widdat?

Punish death with death... nothing would change, an eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind

then face the darkness
with head held high,
strength of the Spark,
back unbent
and
conviction of morals
and
justice.

Some crimes are beyond flimsy philosophy.

How would his executioners be any different then him? There's supposed to be a difference between Autobot and cons (though IDW have shown that to be murkier) thus Autobot justice would have execution off the table. If you read the other IDW titles then it suggests that Prime may have charges of his own to answer for, look at Sins of the Wreckers for example where its revealed that Prowl bombed nonaligned areas to boost Autobot recruitment.

ZeroWolf wrote:How would his executioners be any different then him? There's supposed to be a difference between Autobot and cons (though IDW have shown that to be murkier) thus Autobot justice would have execution off the table. If you read the other IDW titles then it suggests that Prime may have charges of his own to answer for, look at Sins of the Wreckers for example where its revealed that Prowl bombed nonaligned areas to boost Autobot recruitment.

that should be dealt with as well b4 IDW concludes.

i bet Prowl sacrifices himself against Unicron
or somesuch

ZeroWolf wrote:

Z3ROhour wrote:does anyone
other than me
think it would be awesome
if
in this final issue
someone
anyone
Tailgate or Swerve, maybe

puts a blaster behind Megatron's auditory receptor and blows his brains out?

i mean
he still deserves to be punished
for the billions of deaths
and countless suffering
he was
and is
directly
and indirectly
STILL responsible for!

right?


soooo....
wats up widdat?

Punish death with death... nothing would change, an eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind

I mean yeah, you’re right, that’s the Autobot way, but this is Megatron. I mean like he said, I’m also a fan of the redemption arc, but that doesn’t change how things are.

Would we have treated Hitler like his if he suddenly seemed to change his ways last minute, post-war? Some deserve to be put to death.

Hitler I would have put on trial, and then locked him away for the rest of his life. Autobot Megatron is too good an idea not to pass up, it needs to be written about. If they didn't do it, then he would never have been captured and he would never have been developed as a character. There is other points as well, Hitler wasn't afraid of death, he was afraid of being captured and being forced to answer for his crimes. Megs did answer, and if I remember correctly, it was Prime that inspired him to look for the loophole (again a writer's hook to allow him to disappear from the main storyline involving the colonies and unicron). At first megs would have been content with being locked away.

There is also the risk of making a martyr, especially if killing is against your own beliefs, as then you become a hypocrite and who listens to them? In closing, Megatron didn't deserve death. That is not justice, and that is not how you defeat a political movement.

Alright, everyone else on that cover save Whirl is either an outright couple, ot one they have hinted around without exploring.

The heck is going on with Rodimus and Minimus? No. No non no no NO. There's nothing there and doesnt need to be anything there.

Wouldn't nautica be with skids though?

ZeroWolf wrote:Wouldn't nautica be with skids though?

Maybe, but go back to MTMTE 40 when Brainstorm is on trial. Nautica feels beyond bettayed (implied by her mangled Sonic Wrench and then outright said to Ratchet) and there is a moment where Brainstrom looks where she was in the Jury box with a looks of remorse and regret. Skids May have been a "first love" but that ended when Skids ended.

First of all, I'd just like to say how much of a fantastic/soul-crushing touch it is that Swerve is holding Rung's glasses. It's a nice way to include him in spirit.

My only problems with this cover have already been mentioned:

Z3ROhour wrote:no Megatron

Flashwave wrote:The heck is going on with Rodimus and Minimus? No. No no no no NO. There's nothing there and doesn't need to be anything there.

Seriously, why did Lawrence have to draw them like that? Nothing about that makes sense...

Anyway, this is still a great cover, though it doesn't hold a candle to Milne's, in my opinion.

I just realized the boquet Ratchwt ia holding are the Energon flowers from Necroworld.

I dunno, I am not crazy on that Drift/Ratchet ship. I mean, I get it, I see what they are buikding off, its there in MTMTE 40 When Ratchet says to 10 something something "I don't think some of us realized how much", but I always took Ratchet and Drift's dynamic to be more of a friendship built on healthy debate than one of actual Shipping, and to me adding that in undermines their relationship by making it somethung else. Plus I am not a fan of evwryone being in love with everyone offoce romance thing. Afew is okay; everyone?!!! that gets excessive.

Sometimes a cover is just a cover

Flashwave wrote:I just realized the boquet Ratchwt ia holding are the Energon flowers from Necroworld.

I dunno, I am not crazy on that Drift/Ratchet ship. I mean, I get it, I see what they are buikding off, its there in MTMTE 40 When Ratchet says to 10 something something "I don't think some of us realized how much", but I always took Ratchet and Drift's dynamic to be more of a friendship built on healthy debate than one of actual Shipping, and to me adding that in undermines their relationship by making it somethung else. Plus I am not a fan of evwryone being in love with everyone offoce romance thing. Afew is okay; everyone?!!! that gets excessive.

Roche helped put it in perspective when talking about MTMTE Revolution. About Crankcase and Cons4Eva, and I'm paraphrasing, "they were going to just be friends meeting up but it ended up being a blind date because they're never just friends with James Roberts."

I think it has only been truly prevalent in about four cases: Rechrome, Cygate, Lugnode, and Dratchet. That's probably not as many as it could have been. I do think fans ship too many examples too quickly though.

I have been rereading MTMTE now that we know where its all headed and to see the clues left along the way. And man, some of these issues are truly amazing. I was rereading the one with the focus on the scavengers when they face off against Fort Max and it ends with Adaptus' followers destroying a project and restarting from scratch. Did that pan out to anything? Did we ever know what those experiments were?

But man, I get all those feels again. Like at the end when we see Fort Max with all the roboids.I remember having been devastated at first since it reminded me of those chimeras in Full Metal Alchemist (I am still not over that) and how just happy I was with that happy ending.

Oh that reminds me a question, was Dominus a roboid?

william-james88 wrote:I have been rereading MTMTE now that we know where its all headed and to see the clues left along the way. And man, some of these issues are truly amazing. I was rereading the one with the focus on the scavengers when they face off against Fort Max and it ends with Adaptus' followers destroying a project and restarting from scratch. Did that pan out to anything? Did we ever know what those experiments were?

The Infinites

william-james88 wrote:
Oh that reminds me a question, was Dominus a roboid?

Only by literal Definition. Dominus and the Roboids were both forcibly trapped in Beast Modes basically as torture, but he was not a part of the Roboids, which were intended to be sold as pets to be abused by species who had been "wronged" by Cybertronian conflict. Dominus was tortured and kept around by the DJD for their own amusement

As far as Megatron is concerned...

...would think what we saw within the Functionist Universe is exactly what would have happened if Megatron hadn't began the war or if he just plain wasn't allowed to be "born". And if the Functionists had been permitted to carry out -all- their plans the entire story would have been messier & shorter.

Of course, no one would be able to honestly second-guess what would or would not hae happened either. It's much like asking if there were a way to kill "insert-name-of-any-tyrant-here" pre-birth or infancy would that be moral. The answer would be "no" since it's folly to try and predetermine what's unknowable. And and can't play judge, jury, & executioner when there's yet to be a committed.

Rewind thought he was doing the universe a service when he effectively killed Megatron in the "Elegant Chaos" arc. However all -that- did was allow a window to form to what could/would have been as a alternate reality as to -what- did happen. He learned with no war to stop them the Functionists merely expanded their ideology "outward".

Not saying actions don't have consequences. Just because Megatron finds his moral footing and helps save how many lives doesn't mean they replace those that were lost by his direct, or indirect, hand.

Still, considering the matter if the false-Primus had its way Megatron's aid should factor in somewhere in the final verdict.

Flashwave wrote:I just realized the boquet Ratchwt ia holding are the Energon flowers from Necroworld.

I dunno, I am not crazy on that Drift/Ratchet ship. I mean, I get it, I see what they are buikding off, its there in MTMTE 40 When Ratchet says to 10 something something "I don't think some of us realized how much", but I always took Ratchet and Drift's dynamic to be more of a friendship built on healthy debate than one of actual Shipping, and to me adding that in undermines their relationship by making it somethung else. Plus I am not a fan of evwryone being in love with everyone offoce romance thing. Afew is okay; everyone?!!! that gets excessive.

Would be awful embarrassing if the end was written like a Shakespearian play. While Transformers comics in the past have certainly played out "everybody all dies" ad nauseam we really don't need the other end of the spectrum: "everybody gets married".

Especially in a series which began way back in "Infiltration", followed by the "Ongoing" series, neither of which indicated romance. There would be at least an explanation for it if there had been some introduction way back when the Cybertonian colonies were first referenced. But...nadda.

Roberts was good with keeping consistencies. On this topic...can't see it.

Flashwave wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I have been rereading MTMTE now that we know where its all headed and to see the clues left along the way. And man, some of these issues are truly amazing. I was rereading the one with the focus on the scavengers when they face off against Fort Max and it ends with Adaptus' followers destroying a project and restarting from scratch. Did that pan out to anything? Did we ever know what those experiments were?

The Infinites

william-james88 wrote:
Oh that reminds me a question, was Dominus a roboid?

Only by literal Definition. Dominus and the Roboids were both forcibly trapped in Beast Modes basically as torture, but he was not a part of the Roboids, which were intended to be sold as pets to be abused by species who had been "wronged" by Cybertronian conflict. Dominus was tortured and kept around by the DJD for their own amusement

Yeah, thats what i meant. Not a literal Roboid but went through the same stuff. Reading it all again I see Roberts planted a bunch of stuff and I felt this was one of them. Letting us know that this procedure existed and it had been done to Dominus.

Speaking of the DJD, I was rereading the bit where we finally learn of Skid's backstory with Tarn. One thing picked up that I did not pick up the first time is that (and you will correct me if I am wrong) Chromedome does put an end to the mnemosurgery before Skids remembers that he contributed to the death of all those autobots. Its a bit confusing since every flashback was a memory Skids was having that we were seeing, but those last few pages are instead just a scene of the past and not a memory. So Skids still does not know what he did, right?

Also, what are the infinites again, I dont know why I am drawing such a blank over all this.

william-james88 wrote:

Flashwave wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I have been rereading MTMTE now that we know where its all headed and to see the clues left along the way. And man, some of these issues are truly amazing. I was rereading the one with the focus on the scavengers when they face off against Fort Max and it ends with Adaptus' followers destroying a project and restarting from scratch. Did that pan out to anything? Did we ever know what those experiments were?

The Infinites

william-james88 wrote:
Oh that reminds me a question, was Dominus a roboid?

Only by literal Definition. Dominus and the Roboids were both forcibly trapped in Beast Modes basically as torture, but he was not a part of the Roboids, which were intended to be sold as pets to be abused by species who had been "wronged" by Cybertronian conflict. Dominus was tortured and kept around by the DJD for their own amusement

Yeah, thats what i meant. Not a literal Roboid but went through the same stuff. Reading it all again I see Roberts planted a bunch of stuff and I felt this was one of them. Letting us know that this procedure existed and it had been done to Dominus.

Speaking of the DJD, I was rereading the bit where we finally learn of Skid's backstory with Tarn. One thing picked up that I did not pick up the first time is that (and you will correct me if I am wrong) Chromedome does put an end to the mnemosurgery before Skids remembers that he contributed to the death of all those autobots. Its a bit confusing since every flashback was a memory Skids was having that we were seeing, but those last few pages are instead just a scene of the past and not a memory. So Skids still does not know what he did, right?

Also, what are the infinites again, I dont know why I am drawing such a blank over all this.

I wouldhave to go back and reread. I think he does remembe but its not because of the memnosurgery, its something hefinally digs up on hos own, pixking away at the trauma scar until itcomes up.

william-james88 wrote:

Flashwave wrote:

william-james88 wrote:I have been rereading MTMTE now that we know where its all headed and to see the clues left along the way. And man, some of these issues are truly amazing. I was rereading the one with the focus on the scavengers when they face off against Fort Max and it ends with Adaptus' followers destroying a project and restarting from scratch. Did that pan out to anything? Did we ever know what those experiments were?

The Infinites...

william-james88 wrote:Speaking of the DJD, I was rereading the bit where we finally learn of Skid's backstory with Tarn. One thing picked up that I did not pick up the first time is that (and you will correct me if I am wrong) Chromedome does put an end to the mnemosurgery before Skids remembers that he contributed to the death of all those autobots. Its a bit confusing since every flashback was a memory Skids was having that we were seeing, but those last few pages are instead just a scene of the past and not a memory. So Skids still does not know what he did, right?

Also, what are the infinites again, I dont know why I am drawing such a blank over all this.

It was hinted in a few places in MtMtE and later clinched in LL #8 & #9 when Scorponok had been helping "The Grand Architect" with the experiments in creating the "ultimate warrior" which could turn into anything and repair itself even if killed. (Probably enhanced when Skid's outlier brain was obtained within the story.) The reasoning was to build an army to combat a certain something's coming. *points to false-Primus*

This issue was also the one in which Scorp re-obtained the "Magnificence"/Epistemus.

As for Skids, it wasn't actually mnemosurgery at the time it was done since all Chromedome did was look within Skid's memories. An evaluation of sorts. When he located the memories of Grindcore Chromedome pulled out. I think the part your referring to at the end of #49 was more for the reader's benefit. Not a memory which Skids had been recalling. Rung had often stated a sudden upbringing of the memories of Grindcore would be the death of Skids within #48 & 49.

Something that proved true in the "Dying of the Light" arc.

Yeah, i reread and Domey did help skids not remember twice (including that time it got close!). Skids remembered willingly to trigger taruma and give everyone super powers to face off the DJD. It caused him to die, cant believe I forgot that (the cause, not his death, of course).

Also rereading the book into Lost Light, I see that James Roberts was not fair regarding the Lug not being there reveal. It's not like the 6th sense where there are clues. Here instead he purposefully superimposes texts of Lug over other people to make it look like people are responding to her. And there are POV-like shots of haracters looking at Lug. And knowing that Roberts is meticulous with his scripts, it means he didnt give us a chance of realizing Lug was not there all along. The functionist universe stuff is as fun as before, but whenever we go back to Necrobot's planet with Anode, its a real drag.

As for the infinites, I totally didnt catch any of that. Will be reading more to see where it all fits.

^ Anode's introduction was drawn out and weird, then it started to go somewhere and make sense, but then the book got its end issue determined which didn't jive with the initial plans. I agree with her arc feeling weird within Dissolution, but I think having more space would have brought characters like Anode full circle in a more satisfying way. I think Roller is another character that had a significant story arc cut out :'(

ScottyP wrote: I think Roller is another character that had a significant story arc cut out :'(

Yeah BIG TIME, he ends up being just the muscle for the most part. Its really too bad since i remember really looking forward to the potential when we saw him emerge at the end of MTMTE. He was the major reveal.

Flashwave wrote:I just realized the boquet Ratchwt ia holding are the Energon flowers from Necroworld.

I dunno, I am not crazy on that Drift/Ratchet ship. I mean, I get it, I see what they are buikding off, its there in MTMTE 40 When Ratchet says to 10 something something "I don't think some of us realized how much", but I always took Ratchet and Drift's dynamic to be more of a friendship built on healthy debate than one of actual Shipping, and to me adding that in undermines their relationship by making it somethung else. Plus I am not a fan of evwryone being in love with everyone offoce romance thing. Afew is okay; everyone?!!! that gets excessive.

YEAH.
Cant bots just be friends?

Thanks to a Tweet from the Action and Adventure Twitter page, with confirmation from Previews World, we have word that IDW's final 3 Transformers issues, Lost Light #25, Optimus Prime #25, and Unicron #6, have all been delayed into November. This comes as little surprise, seeing as how the comics were planned to be released biweekly and were supposed to have wrapped up by this point, but have been plagued by more delays.

As of this post, which itself may still be subject to change over the coming weeks, Lost Light will release its final issue on November 7, Unicron #6 will conclude the Chaos Bringer's arc on November 14, and Optimus Prime will wrap up the universe on November 21.

What do you think of these delays? Are you ready to get that final issue in your hand? Is it a bittersweet moment to have the final issues pushed back just a little bit farther out of your grasp? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

I've been keeping track of the scheduled publication dates since May over in the chronology thread, and have probably updated that post at least once a week since. Very little has been on time this year, though they did really well for a stretch of the summer. More delays should not come as a surprise, though I expect this LL one was in the realm of shipping delays on Diamond's end.

It's quite a task to cram in so many goodbyes for all the characters, I'm sure. Maybe it would be easier to have a giant foot come down and crush everyone, a la Python?!

"Achieved" is still misspelled.

Rodimus Prime wrote:"Achieved" is still misspelled.

Roche had time to correct it for a print so hopefully it makes it to the final cover as well. If it doesn't we can hassle him over it for eternity

AW MAN!!
just drop the friggin axe already!

are u goin back for re-shoots?

anticipation
not my forte.

ScottyP wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:"Achieved" is still misspelled.

Roche had time to correct it for a print so hopefully it makes it to the final cover as well. If it doesn't we can hassle him over it for eternity

Yeah, I suppose. But, it actually kind of fits, considering the characters, as they're all far from perfect as is their mission. So maybe it should be left that way.

Thanks to the Action and Adventure Twitter Page, we have a one-page preview for the final issue of Lost Light! This first page, currently only available on iOs, features the characters from Lost Light attending a funeral on what is being called New Cybertron. This New Cybertron would be the Functionist Cybertron they defeated last issue, and as for the funeral, there are several notable characters visible and also missing from the shots. There appear to be guards armed guards present with a trailer that reads "G10" possibly to mean Garrus 10, in line with the prisons using Garrus-X. The deceased is also noted as passing due to age related burnout.

So which character could the funeral be for? Megatron? Rodimus? Someone else entirely? Let us know what you think of this brief look at the end of Lost Light below!

I'm calling it as Megatron, his story was finished, and I think this is appropriate

Why is Whirl being taken to prison? He's (relatively) reformed.