Maverick69429 wrote:"We achieved something" Yeah, turning a beloved franchise into an SJW circle jerk. Good. Riddance.
I come onto the forums to read others opinions and post my own (long time member but posting much less of late) and see this as the first post to sum up the final issue and the series as a whole.
I have to say I find myself thinking the same, even if I am trying to be more forgiving.
The book had some good high points and some very good plot twists but what attracted me to Transformers as a child and good comic books overall is a science fiction themed action adventure plot but by the end of this book it has turned into something akin to Sex and The City or Friends being left wing hippy sitcom with all sense of gravitas about the characters removed with lovely touchy feely writing that just doesn't leave me feeling connected or bothered about the characters.
I am not saying this book did not have a place for such stuff but it ended up taking over the whole book and if you compare the current plot to say something like Marvel's Edge of Extinction with Unicron, this just doesn't generate the same compelling read as it reads as all a joke with some stupid comment being made, in much the same way if something serious was to happen in an episode of Friends, you would not be upset but rather waiting for the next laugh which in turns cheapens the emotional message.
On a bit of different note looking back at Lost Light as a whole, this title is where it really feels that Roberts lost it and used the book as his own personal soapbox ahead of delivering quality writing, especially when compared to MTMTE in it's early days. The political and social references were as subtle as some ageing slag off the old kent road. It is the prerogative of a writer to weave in his own agenda to whatever narrative he writes, a better and wiser writer makes such things subtle and there to see to those in the know, but when you are counting the number of real life references throughout a single issue that are delivered in a derogatory and patronising way with the impression given that "I the writer do not agree with this and thus anyone who does is clearly uneducated and/or a bigot" it comes across as puerile and nothing more than virtue signalling.
Please do get me wrong in thinking I did not enjoy the book for the most part nor that I disagree with putting subtle messages in the stories, I did enjoy the book and enjoy seeing world references, but when these appear to be all that is being published with the story just being a convenient delivery method it takes away any enjoyment of the fiction element of the book, as let's be honest this is why we all read it no?
Something we may never find out is if Roberts is a 1 trick pony in the same way that many writers are, Furman likes big apocalypse settings with myriad interwoven mythos and stories before killing everyone. Roberts weakness was for set ups with cliches and twists (some very good) and then plot devices that undo everyone he ever kills, the result being you can see the same events happening again and again.
The book was good and overall I think has had the best run and reception of ANY Transformers title for the entire run but I also feel that it could have been so much more so yes while I am sad this title has ended it totally feels right that we end rather than dragging out the death for another 5 years and lose all of the readership.