Full Preview for IDW Transformers: Lost Light #24

What's Rung up to..

This is just speculation but I have a feeling the Lost Light crew is going to reunite with the main OP cast. They’ll take control of the transforming Cybertron and use it to beat Unicron and act as a brand new Cybertron.

Just speculation of course ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I doubt the can end the IDW run without some sort of reunion of characters.

Is that skids attacking Rung?! Or has Rung finally lost his marbles

Optimus Prime13th wrote:Is that skids attacking Rung?! Or has Rung finally lost his marbles

Rung remembering how he and Skids first met.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Flashwave wrote:Oh MY DEAR GOLLY GOD They are gonna conk "Primus" on the back of the head and induce Transformation straight out of the MTMTE comic with a drunk Ultra Magnus... Barber has this story more interconnected than the MCU and I love it, but God is that man a scary master manipulator

If that is what happens, you sir are a genius. I would not have thought of that.

Flashwave called it!

Why do I get the feeling that Rung has a better plan but isn’t coming back from it...

MrBlack wrote:

Optimus Prime13th wrote:Is that skids attacking Rung?! Or has Rung finally lost his marbles

Rung remembering how he and Skids first met.

The memory was of Skids pulling Rung away into the vent system when he was first attacked by the sparkeater in MtMtE issue 3.

Rung and Skids first met in issue 2. He's the one who mentioned the Lost Light was on a quest. (With Swerve offering a bit more "detail" such as the "infinity gate" )

I really hope I didn't just witness Rung delete his memory of Skids, especially after his sentence to Chromedome considering that is what Dome did when his significant others died and Nautica had her emotions tied to Skids removed

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I really hope I didn't just witness Rung delete his memory of Skids...

Patient files are a bit different than personal memories. Then again, the two were friends.

The comment Rung made to Chromedome & Rewind could have also been self directed come to think of it.

Welp, seems like Rung expects this plan to kill him.
Can't think of any other reason to delete his patient files than to protect confidentiality (he takes his job very seriously) in the event that he wasn't around...

Even. Team. Whirl.

Synopsis
All they wanted was an adventure. Now, as worlds turn to dust and every sacred truth is undone, as everything they’ve run from catches up with them and every gruesome future comes to pass.

Only two issues left! Closing a story six years in the making! Don’t miss the B cover by beloved Transformers artist Geoff Senior!




Story
This is it. This is the end. Almost, I know. But this is the end. This is the flash before the finale, and everything we've seen in a long series, with stories starting all the way back in the first Chaos seeds reaching some kind of conclusion, before they actually conclude next issue, and attempting some form of closure. Starting with gods and life.



A first warning: if you're expecting a big action scene, or even a series of action scenes, how are you still living in denial with Lost Light? There is plenty of action, of course - they're fighting a planet from a planet, one which is also a giant robotic being powered by bigoted spite - but James Roberts' strength is still in the smaller moments between characters. Those, in this issue, abound.



And in that action frame with people stories, then, we have the one, bigger story that no one expected until a couple of issue ago, the one that people were most likely to forget, most likely to get wrung, but that somehow still rang a bell, that somehow still brings a conclusion after a conclusion, even when plans only work in panicked extremis.



Where previous attempts at balancing heartfelt, passionate dialogue/monologue during action have been admittedly questionable (at least in terms of pacing), this issue seems to have found the better solution - tonally, pacing-wise, structurally - to weigh out the different aspects to telling this type of ending, using strengths and weaknesses alike.

Art

Brendan Cahill returns for the issue, after we last saw him in #22, and whatever he's been doing in the meantime has only made him more powerful. The issue contains some of the most tender and heart-rending moments for pretty much the entirety of the cast present in its pages, and Cahill's art has been able to work all of the right emotions into the motions, the gestures, the silent panels, all while keeping giant Functionist Primus in the peripheral vision of it all.



And Joana Lafuente has made sure that the peripheral vision is something no one can ignore, be it explosions, sudden changes in light sources and direction, mood flickering, tone shifting, crucial moments and smaller, tender interactions - the light and colour fit all, snugly, and just right.



It's almost impossible to distinguish Curtis and Tom by now, and if you're not in on the joke, please bear with me - but what Long is managing to do with fonts is truly impressive, given the already emotional charge of pretty much everything else in the visual aspect of the book.

All the covers, as usual, can be found in our Vector Sigma Database entry here, though the one spotlighted in the thumbnail is once more the Geoff Senior / Josh Burcham variant featuring Rung himself, for once taking charge of the situation - almost like Rodimus.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

And so, where do we stand now? This is the finale, no matter what the next issue decides to conjure up in its denouement, and as an ending it fits everything that the creators have set up from the start - sometimes literally, sometimes thematically - and it will definitely leave an impact on readers and TF lore (here's hoping, at least), for the principles and themes if not the execution.



Does it cancel out my troubles with the series up to now? No, but I don't think anything will. What it does do is sidestep to tell a wider story that no longer focuses on the alleged main characters, while also focusing on those very same characters - from Team Rodimus to Megatron's AntiVocationist League, to the Scavengers and more - in a way that we may have expected after all, and reminding us very much so of the influences, the setting, and the lineage of this type of story, and of Transformers as an icon.



Bonus Tracks:

• The Shepherd's Boy - Murray Gold
• Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds (my addition)

A good review Va'al, I'm going to miss this series. Its mot been perfect but I've liked it and been enjoyed which is all I can ask for really.

It started off a little rocky for me but overall I find this to be the best Transformers ongoing story to date.

Despite some minor issues, to me MTMTE/LL still puts most of the previous comics, TV cartoons and ALL of that Bay crap to shame.

I can live without Barber's ongoing but Roberts work will truly be missed.

Megatron just can't forgive himself.

Ironhidensh wrote:Megatron just can't forgive himself.

And here I thought all my feelings about this book had been wrung out like a dishcloth. Good catch!

So if Rodimus used the Warren to send the message back into the past, can't they use it to travel to the Unicron story's time and join the fight?

Rodimus Prime wrote:So if Rodimus used the Warren to send the message back into the past, can't they use it to travel to the Unicron story's time and join the fight?

Are they even aware of Unicron?

Doctor McGrath wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:So if Rodimus used the Warren to send the message back into the past, can't they use it to travel to the Unicron story's time and join the fight?

Are they even aware of Unicron?

Nope.

Or at least not yet.

If Unicron really does want to wipe out Cybertronian life, maybe they're on his clean-up quest list?

With one issue left I don't know how to feel about it. On one hand, "Primus" vs Unicron yes please, on the other, is there time for that now?

Honestly if they pulled Primus vs unicron now it would feel cheap, there's two issues of unicron left and op 25 to provide closure. A fight like Primus vs unicron needs build up, something they just don't have and would cheapen everything. Best save it for the next contuity

Besides, with the Functionist Council wiped out, can anyone even control "Primus?" Maybe Rodimus with the Matrix? I would love it if Megatron took control of it/him like Fort Max did with the dead Titan in Titans Return.

As for a "Primus" vs. "Unicron" fight being too late, I think it all depends on what happens next. If this had been planned well in advance by the writers, it can still be pulled off. Sure, it wouldn't be the actual Primus fighting the actual Unicron, but IDW is not actual G1, so it doesn't matter. We still have a total of 4 issues coming out among the 3 books, so as long as they come out in order, it should work.

'Gayest issue ever'?! Careful, that could be taken as a positive or a negative. Maybe just say something like 'Relationship development continues'.

Rodimus Prime wrote:We still have a total of 4 issues coming out among the 3 books, so as long as they come out in order, it should work.

I'm not entirely hopeful that OP 24 and Unicron 5 won't trip over themselves. That said, the three finales have had roughly the same release order since the beginning, so although the actual release dates have drifted into the future quite a bit it seems pretty deliberate to have LL 25 -> Unicron 6 -> OP 25 so I have hope that those will be out in order or at least simultaneously.

snavej wrote:'Gayest issue ever'?! Careful, that could be taken as a positive or a negative. Maybe just say something like 'Relationship development continues'.

Nope, totally gay. All the rainbow bridge. Full BiFrost. Pan-galactically queer.

Va'al wrote:

snavej wrote:'Gayest issue ever'?! Careful, that could be taken as a positive or a negative. Maybe just say something like 'Relationship development continues'.

Nope, totally gay. All the rainbow bridge. Full BiFrost. Pan-galactically queer.

Yes, yes it is.

Ironhidensh wrote:Megatron just can't forgive himself.

I thought that was an incredible touch.

Also, I found it fully that 2 guys present were part of the "Prime" vote and could not open their Matrices. Heck, poor Magnus just cannot catch a break

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:Megatron just can't forgive himself.

I thought that was an incredible touch.

Also, I found it fully that 2 guys present were part of the "Prime" vote and could not open their Matrices. Heck, poor Magnus just cannot catch a break

I assumed that Magnus had trouble just so he could get blown up. Like in this one other work of Transformers media

Thanks to the source directly, artist Alex Milne over on Twitter, we have both the lineart and the main coloured cover (courtesy of regular visual collaborator Josh Perez) for the last issue of IDW Publishing's Transformers: Lost Light.

That's right, issue #25 is just round the corner - barring any bizarre scheduling issues, which would surprise absolutely no one - and a lot of readers are getting ready to deal with the aftermath of 'no comics' for a little while. In the meantime, take a look below, and let us know what you think of this homage to Milne's first cover for the series TPB, back in More Than Meets the Eye!

So IDW was kind enough to allow me to share this cover with all of you This is my final cover for Lost Light. My approach was to bookend this image with the first MTMTE TPB cover I did. Colors by the Amazing @dyemooch . #transformers #mtmte #lostlight #idw

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.