Variant Cover for IDW Transformers: Lost Light #8 by Nick Roche / Josh Burcham

Man, it's rare we get to see so many non-human organics. This should be fun...

It's always great to see more art from Nick but his Nautica has and will always be fugly as hell.

Hype is a fickle beast. Comic publishers, writers, artists, and other creators need it to drive sales. Sites like the one you're on, right here at Seibertron.com, need to communicate this hype via solicitations, a slow drip of cover art, and back issue sales as a service to our readers as this ends up being the medium through which information on upcoming books is disseminated. The net effect is positive until this hype becomes unrealized upon a product's release.

While that might sound like a foreboding portent of a negative review, it isn't. It's time for Lost Light #6, and it's time for you to check the hype at the door because there's bound to be something in store you didn't see coming. Don't disappoint yourself, and give a dose of empathy to the awesome creators bringing these stories and their hype to you every month.


The crisis on Functionist Cybertron comprises the main story line given focus within this issue. There are only so many pages to wrap up a plethora of plot points, and a series of cleverly sequenced events along with a twist that feels right out of Attack on Titan helps this issue deliver on most of these points. The action is fast, furious, and even the dialogue in between avoids going over-long. There's a melancholic moment involving Ratchet and Rung that's so typical of Ratchet's life that it's heart-wrenching, which makes a parallel moment later in the issue deliver a very well-timed and uplifting beat.


The Anode story has been controversial with fans of the book, with many readers enjoying it and many others ready for it to wrap up as soon as possible. I'll admit I actually started in the former camp and ended up in the latter. There is a satisfying conclusion to what can be described as a story that introduces the character of Anode in a detailed way throughout the course of a portion of six issues. It is a story with a poignant message, honest emotion, and internal conflict you can empathize with. The ultimate point of it now seems clear, dangerous as it is to assume you really know anything in a James Roberts Transformers story. That point also makes sense within other events going on. On top of that, this also has another thing going for it: the pages focusing on Anode provide a spot to stop and breathe a little when your heart gets racing from the other action in the book.

With all of that noted, something about Anode's story didn't hit the mark. Having the earlier issues paint Anode as not necessary sympathetic might have caused that for me. Additionally, I found there to be one point in this issue where it ground the pacing to an awkward halt before it picked up again shortly thereafter. This is the most subjective part of this whole review, as there's a great deal of objectively positive material within this backup story, so my slightly empty feeling upon reading this part of the book will not apply to all readers.


Getting back to the main story of the issue, this continues to paint Rung, Rodimus, and Megatron as the three main characters of "Dissolution". It could well be argued that (Megatron's absence pre-More Than Meets The Eye 28 aside) these are also the three main characters of the series, and Rodimus does get ample time in Lost Light 6 as the captain of a stranded crew trying to get back to the first place in which they were stranded. He's under a lot of stress and it starts to bubble up to the surface in the most Rodimus-like ways you could imagine. There are times you'll cheer for him and times you'll be disappointed like your parents were when your report card wasn't up to muster despite you working very hard that one semester. His growth from here as a character seems to be approaching a tipping point, and it feels like we'll know for certain before the year's out whether or not Rodimus is fulfilling his legacy by starring in his Bildungsroman (of a sort since age is weird with Transformers), or if he's going to be a more tragic figure.


The final pages of the issue create one of those moving experiences that has driven the massive following and respect that James Roberts has earned as a writer. Megatron's been on an odyssey for the last four years on our calendars. To say that this has been a remarkable, fulfilling, thought provoking journey would be an understatement. It continues here in a meaningful manner and is set up by an unexpected plot twist, all the while presenting challenges to traditional science fiction notions of the standards by which to judge the intrinsic value of non-human lives. Some of you saw the twist coming, while others will be blinded by phrasing that doesn't fit the common vernacular of their politics and won't look under the surface for the universally positive themes, but if one or both of those applies to you there's at least a visual gag along the way for you to enjoy.

There's one thing that I think all Transformers fans will agree on, and that is that the last panel is positively joyful.

Or is it absolutely terrifying?

What did I say about agreeing on it?


Jack Lawrence's art has rounded into form quite nicely as this series has progressed. He works well with the layouts provided and brings depth to scenes, especially in wider shots where a sense of scale and distance is important. Joana Lafuente's colors assist with this in a big way, and some special call out is in order for the fantastic use of lighting and contrast between scenes and environments. There was one point in this issue where the layout didn't fit the significance of the moment, when a particular 'bot fighting off a moon ceases to be able to do so. This could have used a bigger panel and perhaps the earlier mentioned backup story could have taken a step back to provide room for such moments, but it's not a cause of any major detriment in the grand scheme of things.

Tom B. Long is masterful as usual on lettering. Some of Megatron's lines in particular stood out as having a cadence thanks to the layout of the speech bubbles that made them more effective. One thought, over to another, over to another, and then back around to the point without going in circles. Brilliant stuff that I won't directly post here to avoid spoilers.

There are several great cover options, such as the main Jack Lawrence cover (serving as this review's news story thumbnail) with colors by Lafuente, as well as a fantastically detailed piece from Alex Milne and Josh Perez, rounded out with a ten-copy incentive cover by Marcelo Matere that oozes the tone of Hasbro toy packaging art from another time in the best way. As always, you can find full credits for the issue in our Vector Sigma Database page for Transformers: Lost Light #6, but do note it does contain a character appearance list that some may consider a spoiler.


I was probably harsher on Lost Light 5 than I needed to be. That's in light of having the totality of "Dissolution" now available to take a look through. This sixth issue is a great ending to a good chapter of a still phenomenal overall story. Personally, I found "Dissolution" to be held back by some pacing issues. Room to breathe is nice, of course, there were just times it felt closer to being given room for a nap.

On the whole, the negatives end there. This chapter of the quest moves the plot along in a significant way, continues the meaningful character work that's a staple of the series, and will have you ready for more.

Lost Light 6 in particular is the best issue out of the first six, and gives readers at least one moment they'll never forget while setting up a tight canvas for what's to come. Be sure to catch this one and the rest of "Dissolution", and subscribe to the series through some paid method if you like it. Support is important.



Bonus! James Roberts' soundtrack suggestions for this issue:

• Damien Jurado - "Cloudy Shoes"
• The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - "Everything You Paid For"
• Tom Brosseau - "Favourite Colour Blue"
• Sixpence None The Richer - "I Won't Share You"

Maybe I need to go back and reread the entire arc, but that ending just screamed "COPOUT!!" to me. Of course Megatron won't face justice in his home universe! That would end his character development!. Though, while typing that, I realized that it's probably why it was done. Still, I saw he and Terminus staying in the Functionist Universe coming from an alternate universe away.

Second question/point/discussion starter: Will Anode's resurrecting Lug mean that we're going to get a lot of dead characters back? Because while that's tempting to want to bring Skids and others back, it would COMPLETELY negate the emotional impact of their deaths.

Also, just commenting on the link to the news story near the end of the review.......I thought neither profitability nor popularity was the issue with TAAO- Scott said that issue 12 was the profitability point and that it was the higher-ups at IDW who asked her to do a new story and she said no because she didn't want to write something that her heart wasn't into. But I'll continue that in the TAAO thread

Bounti76 wrote:Maybe I need to go back and reread the entire arc, but that ending just screamed "COPOUT!!" to me.

See, the first reaction I had with ScottyP as we discussed the review was: Now *that* is an ending. Much like you, I also expected Megatron to not make it out of the Functionist universe, though not like this, admittedly. I also agree that the 'facing justice' point may be developed further, given the cover for next issue, featuring Megatron and Ultra Magnus parting ways with a handshake. Whatever that may mean.


As for your second point - I agree. A lot.

MTMTE is back.

That's all I could think when I finished this issue. It's been a very bumpy ride to get here, and as Scotty notes there's certainly a fair share of negatives; but this is where I feel my favourite comic can once again take the throne. It's funny - right as TAAO's announced to be ending, Lost Light gets good again. There's some sort of conspiracy in there...

I hated it. There's no other way to put it. I hated this story and disliked this entire issue. Only thing I walked with after finishing it was "well he's not staying there that's for sure."

Like last issue I said the was a whole series convenient coincidences and that honestly should be the title of the trade. I found the entirety extremely weak and not a good first story to this relaunch.


Great art from jack. I'll give it that.

Now to wait and see how Roberts juggles dealing with the fact that this story is over 5 months behind the regular continuity of everything else and see how that pans out.

Kurona wrote:MTMTE is back.

That's all I could think when I finished this issue. It's been a very bumpy ride to get here, and as Scotty notes there's certainly a fair share of negatives; but this is where I feel my favourite comic can once again take the throne. It's funny - right as TAAO's announced to be ending, Lost Light gets good again. There's some sort of conspiracy in there...

What I thought at the end was "okay? So what the hell was the point of introducing functionalist-verse Annode?" She did absolutely nothing! Her contribution to that part of the story was utterly meaningless. Clicker did more! A laser pointer was more valuable

Randomhero wrote:Clicker did more! A laser pointer was more valuable

That's a little bit functionist

I just really enjoyed that Glitch is one of the bots sitting around listening to Megatron at the end. It made me laugh!

ScottyP wrote:I just really enjoyed that Glitch is one of the bots sitting around listening to Megatron at the end. It made me laugh!

Yeah, I caught that too, it was really neat!

ScottyP wrote:I just really enjoyed that Glitch is one of the bots sitting around listening to Megatron at the end. It made me laugh!

That April fools joke of autobot Kultur might happen after all

I really look forward to this issue, and I am curious about the twists it holds. The one thing I wanted to say is that while I like how Lawrence draws some characters, there are exagerations from him that bug the hell out of me. Like Chromedome's wheels. Yeesh, those things are enormous and they are very distracting and hard to take the script seriously whenever Chromedome appears. Thats my main beef.

A little heart-wrenching & melancholic.... I've really gotten to love the character of Megatron and I'm kinda sad.

That being said, with TAAO being canceled, I wonder if we'd get a new monthly title featuring Megatron, Terminus and alternate-Rung, Anode (& possibly Orion Pax) set in Functionist Cybertron. I think there are some great stories that can be told from that Universe.

And heck, considering its been nearly a year (?) since we heard about Prowl, Red Alert & Fort Max on Luna 2... I don't want to wait that long between issues to find out what Megs has been upto.

Throughout IDW (and even the entire Aligned Universe) we read about how Megatron led a revolution "way back then." Him organizing an uprising in the Functionist Universe might be a way of us getting to see him actually doing it in present time? (I haven't read any of LL yet, I'm just going on the tidbits of info I catch now and then. I'm waiting for the TPB so I can read the whole story all at once. It makes Roberts' sub-par writing a bit easier to tolerate.)

In retrospect this scene takes on very different meaning. God damn it.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I'm waiting for the TPB so I can read the whole story all at once.

I sat down and re-read LL 1-6 last night and I completely recommend taking them in during one sitting.

I'm sort of with Randomhero on this. I felt it was subpar, and even though I liked the Megatron stuff, that is about the only bit that really felt good. I would personally give the overall arc a 2.5 out of 5. It didn't feel good, it felt flat, and I agree with lots of the points brought up about Anode. That just should not have happened. would have removed a bad character, freed up more pages to deal with things that needed more pages, and would also remove the whole "Rung can make crystals, Anode can fashion them, baboom, entire race resurrected" idea (not that it will happen)

Randomhero wrote:

Kurona wrote:MTMTE is back.

That's all I could think when I finished this issue. It's been a very bumpy ride to get here, and as Scotty notes there's certainly a fair share of negatives; but this is where I feel my favourite comic can once again take the throne. It's funny - right as TAAO's announced to be ending, Lost Light gets good again. There's some sort of conspiracy in there...

What I thought at the end was "okay? So what the hell was the point of introducing functionalist-verse Annode?" She did absolutely nothing! Her contribution to that part of the story was utterly meaningless. Clicker did more! A laser pointer was more valuable

As far as I can tell, functionist Anode is in the story because almost all of her character development takes place away from arc's action. Roberts needs to introduce this new character, tell the audience what she's all about, and introduce her emotional baggage, but he can't integrate her into the main plot because she wouldn't have anything to do in the functionist universe. So, he places an alternate version of her in the functionist universe (the arc's A-story), so that the time devoted to her in the B-story doesn't seem out of place. In my opinion, it doesn't work.

Overall, I found this arc to be pretty sub-par. It definitely feels like the entire point of the functionist universe was to get Megatron off the crew of the Lost Light (which I totally called), while setting up a ton of potential B-stories, only one of which is resolved during this arc. One weird thing I've noticed about Robert's writing: he makes it very obvious what exactly he wants to do in structuring a story and then sometimes bends the plot over backwards to make that happen.

ScottyP wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I'm waiting for the TPB so I can read the whole story all at once.

I sat down and re-read LL 1-6 last night and I completely recommend taking them in during one sitting.

Yeah, I learned this lesson with "Dying of the Light." I read them individually, and kept thinking "WTF? This sux!" until I got to the showdown with Tarn and Megatron, but then I got the TPB and read it all at once and it went much better. Roberts is still very overrated IMO.

I am reading back on stories I missed and one of them was when the lost lighters were chasing brainstorm through time.

I am really confused by this scene below where Cyclonus kicks Tailgate out of the blue. Why does he do that?

I think it's meant to represent a "flashback" to the scene way back where Cyclonus kicks/stomps Tailgate before they got together. It was around that time when Tailgate declared to Magnus that he wanted to become a Decepticon after spending time with Cyclonus and then went and confronted him.

Indeed. It is just showing what Cyclonus is apologizing for. I remember being confused at first too.

Finally got around to reading 6. Wasn't too impressed with it but it does move the plot along. I feel like they could have done a lot more with it and Rung getting temporarily killed was just for shock value. I knew Rung wouldn't be permanently killed because if he were to die pointlessly it would probably piss off half the MTMTE fanbase. The sight of him laying there dead did make me a bit uncomfortable but it was so predictable I didn't even truly get upset, even as much as I like the little nerdy fella. Also the ending of them being back didn't really feel eventful? There were some lighthearted moments that made me happy but something feels missing? IDK maybe I am being too picky. I'll give it a second read when I am in a more neutral state of mind.

Shockwave 8 wrote:Indeed. It is just showing what Cyclonus is apologizing for. I remember being confused at first too.

Thanks for answering tha questions guys. Yea, looking at it knowing this, it makes sense, but i had forgotten about that time.

I quite liked the book, and Jack Lawrence's art is improving by the issue. So here are my thoughts on where the story might be going. This is just me extrapolating a few thoughts, but I'll put it in spoiler tags anyways, just in case:

What if: Is this the beginnings of a mirror universe (like Shattered Glass)?

The Functionist universe was created by an alternate timeline where Megatron did not exist, and the ramifications of this was that the Functionist government was not torn down. But remember that Megatron also had a huge influence on Orion Pax, and without that influence, he may not be the Op we now know. Perhaps without Megatron's influence, Pax might have been a more willing participant of the functionist government.

While Mirror Universes may be a bit of a cliché these days, having one that is a logical offshoot of established story and character events would actually be pretty cool. Unless I'm completely wrong, and none of that happens. Roberts will surely follow of on the ending with Megatron receiving contact from Optimus, but we'll have to see which side Optimus is on now.

We probably won't have to wait long to find out if I'm right, or if I was just spouting elaborate fan fiction.

SimianProphet wrote:We probably won't have to wait long to find out if I'm right, or if I was just spouting elaborate fan fiction.

That would be very interesting. I would read that story for sure.

WreckerJack wrote:

SimianProphet wrote:We probably won't have to wait long to find out if I'm right, or if I was just spouting elaborate fan fiction.

That would be very interesting. I would read that story for sure.

That would be kind of cool. I always wanted to see a more fleshed out
shattered glass universe. It's one of those concepts with a lot of potential, but poor execution. My personal fan fic would be to take Optimus' and Megatron's positions and reverse the consequences.

EX:
Both want to change the world away from functionist control, but Optimus still believes in working with the system. He gradually rises in rank, coming incredibly close to the functionist council. However, he's witnessed/participated in too many terrible things by that point to retain his optimism/faith. He uses the support he's amassed to stage a coup, violently taking on the council, which fights back. Megatron sees the conflict getting out of hand and steps in
Eventually Optimus defeats the council and turns his full attention to Megatron and his decepticons.

One thing I always liked about SG was that Optimus was actually insane, talking to corpses and such. I remember a throwaway line in IDW where Hot Rod describes his interface with the matrix and being connected to all transformers as pleasant while Optimus experienced pain. In a new SG universe, maybe the council notices Optimus' matrix affinity. They offer him the matrix and the primacy for his years of loyal service. He finally believes himself in a position to change cybertron for the better. However, upon interfacing with the matrix for the first time, the sudden connection to all cybertronians and the pain he's inflicted drive him mad. Then he resorts to violence

Just headcanon.

It would make for an interesting read.

Thanks to Seibertronian ScottyP, we have word that iTunes has uploaded the next Lost Light preview! Lost Light #7 picks up as an epilogue to the first 6 issues, with Rodimus planning his escape using a dead con and some nasty functionalists techniques, typical jokes being thrown about, and a reborn Lug making an appearance. Check out the preview below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Rodimus is really funny here to me. He's being really bad at what he's trying to do.

ScottyP wrote:Rodimus is really funny here to me. He's being really bad at what he's trying to do.

This is why I can't help but love him. He's basically me!

I'm thinking between Nightbeat and Brainstorm debating science and the cute moments they are hinting at between Lug and Anode this issue will be better than #6 was. (Not that it would be difficult imho, I just really disliked #6)

im just not going to bother. ill pick up the trades when they come out but I'm done with this book. its just become a waste of my time every month

Randomhero wrote:im just not going to bother. ill pick up the trades when they come out but I'm done with this book. its just become a waste of my time every month

Agreed. I'm going to take a guess and say that the next thing Ratchet is going to say will be something along the lines of "now that Megatron is gone everything is back to normal." This past storyline has basically just felt like an excuse to reset most everything that's taken place since Dawn of the Autobotsn which wouldn't sting so much if it weren't so transparent.

I really can't bring myself to care about Anode and Lug, especially since the latter hasn't actually been present for the 6 issues she was introduced in.

The more I think about it, the more I can't stand Hot Rod and the more the mutiny makes sense. He's becoming more of a petulant, unrepentant heel, and one of the few characters capable of taking him down a peg is gone. I recall the narrowly won captaincy vote after the Overlord affair back before Dark Cybertron and how Hot Rod promised to win his crew back. I can't think of anything he's actually done to accomplish that, though.

Small typo in the news post, "functionalist" should be "functionist".

I wasn't expecting Lug to "grow up" that quickly, or to (apparently) retain all her memories.

I laughed out loud at the Swerve petition conversation.

ricemazter wrote:The more I think about it, the more I can't stand Hot Rod and the more the mutiny makes sense. He's becoming more of a petulant, unrepentant heel, and one of the few characters capable of taking him down a peg is gone. I recall the narrowly won captaincy vote after the Overlord affair back before Dark Cybertron and how Hot Rod promised to win his crew back. I can't think of anything he's actually done to accomplish that, though.

This is pretty much my thought pattern too. His season 2 character was kinda crap, and I feel like he degraded, especially since the end of season 1 supposedly had him learning a lesson and actually deciding to try to implement it. It's kind of sad really, considering he set out to be a fairly good character

Issue #7 of IDW Publishing's Transformers: Lost Light sees the return of John Wycough on inks, for Lawrence's lineart - and a breather from the Functionist universe as far as we can tell! Check out the full preview for the issue, courtesy of Multiversity Comics, and head back after Wednesday for a Seibertron.com review.

“Transformers: Lost Light” #7

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.

No. No. No.

Jack Lawrence's art is garbage. What are they standing on there, the oatmeal planet? Why are Cyclonus' thighs each as big as his torso? Why does EVERYBODY look stubby and ill-proportioned? Why are all his bots walking with the same posture? Why is Chromedome suddenly anorexic?

And I'm disgusted by the direction JRo is taking Cyclonus/Tailgate, both in their individual characterizations and their story.

And are you FUCKING KIDDING ME with Anode and Lug? All that fucking wasted paper on a new character that was nothing more than yet another witty quippy irrevent smartass, doing an entire "emotional" story that wasn't earned in the slighest, all for "NOW YOU'RE FULLY GROWN AGAIN! IT TOOK A PANEL! HERE'S ALL THE TRUTH!"

So. Fucking. Done.

So, what, he just chucked easily the best character study in Transformers history? Megatron was one of my favorite parts of this story. I haven't read the Dissolution arc yet, but Megatron had better not be gone or gone bad again. I might be done, too.

Blozor wrote:So, what, he just chucked easily the best character study in Transformers history? Megatron was one of my favorite parts of this story. I haven't read the Dissolution arc yet, but Megatron had better not be gone or gone bad again. I might be done, too.

The line where Ratchet says that everyone is glad that Megatron is gone really PO'D me. No, not everyone is glad to be rid of Megatron, JR, especially your readers who were interested in the character. I know Roberts has always been pretty transparent about his dislike for Megatron; I've accepted that and am willing to let him write the story he wants, but he doesn't have to rub it in.

Based on one of the alt-covers, I hope that Minimus will show some sort of attachment to him. As it is, that line implies that the few positive interactions between Megatron and the crew were disingenuous, and that the people he credited as his conscience secretly couldn't stand him.

Why didn't the Necrobot save Ultra Magnus...the original one. If this story somehow reveals Ultra Magnus lives, and minimus just stay minimus, I'd be interested in that. We could somehow get back to the white Prime redeco.

budmaloney wrote:Why didn't the Necrobot save Ultra Magnus...the original one. If this story somehow reveals Ultra Magnus lives, and minimus just stay minimus, I'd be interested in that. We could somehow get back to the white Prime redeco.

The Necrobot specifically only went back to save people who mysteriously went missing, not change history by preventing someone from dying. In addition, if we assume he didn't know the truth about the Magnus Armour, that would mean he was under the impression that Magnus never died.

They better get Megatron back or else

I actually like Jack Larwence's art. I think he does a good job of drawing bots who have visors, they look like they are sporting some sweet shades. I guess he does sometimes make characters have too large of heads and hands at times but that's a minor pet-peeve.

I personally dislike it when Nick Roche forgets Drift's nose but I won't be nasty about it. Also - why give Drift no nose and Rodimus a different nose in each picture? I can either get hung up on flaws/things I dislike (Considering different artists have different ideas about what a character looks like) or I can enjoy the comics for what they are.

Then again things could be MUCH worse. Back when I used to read Sonic comics there was an artist I could not stand - not going to name names but here is how he drew Sonic and Tails :


I shudder to think about that artist drawing Transformers

Either way, I really like that cover of Magnus being all badass. I know my GF is going to want the photo reel one because it's got her favorite characters. So I'll not grump to her about robot noses so long as she is happy.

WreckerJack wrote:I actually like Jack Larwence's art. I think he does a good job of drawing bots who have visors, they look like they are sporting some sweet shades. I guess he does sometimes make characters have too large of heads and hands at times but that's a minor pet-peeve.

I personally dislike it when Nick Roche forgets Drift's nose but I won't be nasty about it. Also - why give Drift no nose and Rodimus a different nose in each picture? I can either get hung up on flaws/things I dislike (Considering different artists have different ideas about what a character looks like) or I can enjoy the comics for what they are.

Then again things could be MUCH worse. Back when I used to read Sonic comics there was an artist I could not stand - not going to name names but here is how he drew Sonic and Tails :


I shudder to think about that artist drawing Transformers

Either way, I really like that cover of Magnus being all badass. I know my GF is going to want the photo reel one because it's got her favorite characters. So I'll not grump to her about robot noses so long as she is happy.

I think Hot Rod's nose is different in each photo because his face being at a slightly different angle each time.

I still love this series. I think the art is fine. I didn't realise James Roberts disliked Megatron.

I love the petition scene and Swerve having told Tailgate he invented that expression.

I still don't like Tailgate and despite not liking his relationship with Cyclonus all along I feel bad for Cykie here.

Here's hoping Getaway kills Tailgate. Actually anybody killing the little pest is fine.