Listing for IDW Transformers: Lost Light Volume 3 TPB

My GF pointed out Drift and Ratchet's pose looks like they are going to kiss. CANNOT UNSEE!

WreckerJack wrote:My GF pointed out Drift and Ratchet's pose looks like they are going to kiss. CANNOT UNSEE!

Well - Markerguru actually drew that once, too, so it happened.

I want to make it clear my issues are not with Robert's, but with the story. After getting over the initial shock, the issue isn't as bad as I first felt.


Basically, as much as I hated combiner Wars, they happened. They also established Combiner as a big freaking deal. No single Transformers, aside from a titan or Omega, should be able to handle them. The Stars Saber part really wrecked things for me. It should not have happened that he could take out Defensor so easily. It pulled me out if the story, and ruined the flow of an otherwise fast paced, action packed issue.

Lore Keeper wrote:

an angry child spitefully smashing toys so we can't play with them.

Honestly, this is how all the gratuitous character deaths have been leaving me feeling lately. I applaud a story that isn't afraid to kill a character just because they're important, but it seems to become more excessive over time with these comics. Definitely feels like someone just came and smashed my Defensor and left my Optimus Maximus short one arm or leg.

im a little perturbed by that too.

roberts isnt going to be on these books forever, thats just the nature of the industry, so what state is he going to leave the IDWverse in for his sucessor ?

ive been hoping he'd be like a warren ellis- who can do some stellar stuff but still leave the main "universe" in a decent state.

more and more im starting to get the feel of a grant morison. who fuked up the x books for ages by leaving them in a right state and led to a complete reboot by joss whedon (who basically just ignored whole swathes of it and restarted from scratch).

the illusion of change is one of the hardest tricks to pull off in comics. theres a reason why the chris claremonts of the world held out on killing characters that often. sometimes its better for the book to just have someone taken out of the story in a different way.

WreckerJack wrote:...How was Ambulon allowed to be the leg if he was dead? Either there is something they are not telling us or thats a bit of a plot hole. How can a leg be a leg if it can't move?

Well, in a back issue of one of the ongoing series (before Lost Light) they told Orion Pax's backstory. It was when the thugs sent by the Council murdered two of his officers and had Pax cornered. To aid himself Pax took the remains of one of his officers and prompted it to form into it's alt mode: a cycle.

More recently in "Lost Light" Rodimus and the others are riding around in the transformed spacecraft mode of a deceased Decepticon.

It's not out of the possible Amblulon's remains would be used in much the same way. He was designed to be a "leg" of a Decepticon combiner. Why he left the Decepticons originally.

So, Roberts is going by something established.

not to mention they already did this already with "dead leg scrapper" during the chaos event.

so there is not only precedent, its prob an outright call back.

^It's a similar situation with Bruticus in TAAO. Swindle was a comatose/dead bot (forget exactly which), but they still combined. I can understand how from a physical perspective. But now mentally, you are only starting out at 80% at best, plus we know that Combiners have to put in intense effort to meld mentally in the first place, having one out of commission makes it all the worse I would think.

o.supreme wrote:^It's a similar situation with Bruticus in TAAO. Swindle was a comatose/dead bot (forget exactly which), but they still combined. I can understand how from a physical perspective. But now mentally, you are only starting out at 80% at best, plus we know that Combiners have to put in intense effort to meld mentally in the first place, having one out of commission makes it all the worse I would think.

True. But with the one being being out of commission does that make the easier for the over-all combiner to control the "dead-metal"...or harder without the additional "mental push"?

I know there was a G1 'toon episode on this: "B.O.T." but that doesn't exactly work into the equation. A different beast so to speak. Bruticus couldn't even stay connected together for any amount of time when Brawl's brain went A.W.O.L.

Ok, I really do like the evidence and the theories about how Getaway is in his own Timeloop. They seem to fit, and it would be the giant twist that would bring it all back together.

But, I thought about this all weekend while thinking about the protectobots, and I have come up with another theory to pose:

All of this did in fact happen. And they did in fact find "cyberutopia". But here's the thing: LL9 showed that Scorponok is in this story, and he is in deep, like he is involved in the Knights stuff. Among the other things that he is involved with is the creation of new artificial cybertronians who can transform into anything and heal themselves from the dead. He also now has the magnificance, something Hot Rod/Rodimus had a starring role in back in its original storyline, and the magnificance can be used to help bring Cybertronians back from the dead.

So, Getaway finds Cyberutopia, they crew gets taken over by Scoroponok and his cronies, the dead are brought back to life, all of them. And then, when the crew of the LL that were thrown off the ship find Cyberutopia, it is defended and manned by their controlled crewmates, some of whom are back from the dead and include a Defensor using Rook again but with Ambulon replacing First Aid.

Along the way to freeing their revived dead friends and stopping Scorponok, Getaway gets hi comeuppance, finds out Skids died, and has a moment with Nautica over how Skids was her best friend but now she can't remember/care because of LL 8 and 9.

Speaking of which, that was an interesting moment when Getaway saw he wasn't Skids' best friend anymore

Sagitta wrote:

o.supreme wrote:^It's a similar situation with Bruticus in TAAO. Swindle was a comatose/dead bot (forget exactly which), but they still combined. I can understand how from a physical perspective. But now mentally, you are only starting out at 80% at best, plus we know that Combiners have to put in intense effort to meld mentally in the first place, having one out of commission makes it all the worse I would think.

True. But with the one being being out of commission does that make the easier for the over-all combiner to control the "dead-metal"...or harder without the additional "mental push"?

I know there was a G1 'toon episode on this: "B.O.T." but that doesn't exactly work into the equation. A different beast so to speak. Bruticus couldn't even stay connected together for any amount of time when Brawl's brain went A.W.O.L.

I actually prefer the original animated continuity, but I consider its explanation of things completely separate from any comic-book universe. Defensor was able to form without First Aid at all in "The Ultimate Weapon", although without and arm he was hindered quite a bit. In the original animated series, I consider Combiners to have their own distinct personality when together, a new personality. Whereas in most comics, the *personality* that emerges from the combiner seems to be a melding of its various components, thus making it much more of a liability if one of them is missing, or dead, unconscious etc... I also like the idea established in Scramble City that a Decepticon (and presumably an Autobot as well), can sabotage a combiners ability to function by disrupting a combination sequence and forcing its way it. . Although if a new component was a willing participant (i.e. Scoop with Devastator) this would allow the combiner to resume optimum functionality. Just my two cents. I can talk about combiners all day

There is a major trend in IDW TF comics where many Autobots are revealed as corrupt in some way, e.g. Getaway, Sandstorm, Prowl, Grimlock, etc. This was one of the problems that caused the civil war in the first place. I'm not surprised but it is depressing to see other Autobots betrayed, injured and killed by their turncoat friends.

Edit: What's the deal with Star Saber turning fanatic? I don't know much about him but he's supposed to be one of the central heroes of the franchise, especially in Japan. He's gone down a very different path in IDW. It's a very big leap. He seems to pop up only to ruin things for others.

If the Autobots can turn evil, we should see more Decepticons turning good. We've already had Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream and Thundercracker (maybe others: I forget). Shockwave did it too, just before he died. The Combaticons got a bit lovey-dovey. I'm waiting for the Stunticons to have a peaceful garden party with cucumber sandwiches for their many human guests!

It's depressing, but also I think what makes the modern IDW run so rich and enjoyable- it's no longer black and white (or red and purple), there are so many shades of grey (or... maroon? ).
Even leaving aside the big debate subjects like megatron, prime, and stars team, you have it on a smaller scale with the scavengers, pyra magna, the dinobots, and loads more.
Though yes, seeing friends turn on each other can leave a bit of a sting!

WTF?!

WHY?!

Pick on the new guy?
y?

i love rook.
r they trying to hurt me?

f@#k!

Thanks to a notification from Seibertron user Sunstar, we bring you news of the 3 page preview for Lost Light #13 posted on iTunes. What happens when the team from Luna 1 arrives on Necroworld? This short preview will tell you some of the answer to that, and you'll be able to check out the rest, along with the return of Team Rodimus to Transformers comics stories, on January 24th, 2018.

CABIN FEVER! Crammed into a dead Decepticon astropod that's ten sizes too small, the displaced crew of the Lost Light face their most serious threat yet: each other. As tensions rise and tempers fray, only one Autobot is arrogant enough to think he can save the day. Enter Rodimus, expert mediator.

Check out the preview pages mirrored below, and reply to this news post to discuss the latest comics happenings with your fellow Transformers fans on our Energon Pub Forums!

So nice to see Alex Milne returning to the series, he has been missed.

Moody magpie wrote:So nice to see Alex Milne returning to the series, he has been missed.

Ah, that explains it. I was just thinking how beautiful this was. I thought maybe the new guy was stepping up his game... should have known.

Can we just give Alex a new series? Preferably written by M. Scott.

Well, this appears to be good news for those of us who were like.... tailgate...dammmmmnnnnnn.

We see, of course.

Looks like Red Alert got a new body. I like it!

looks hopeful for tailgate.

Fangry and Rapidfire killed just like that? Tailgate possibly coming back after the poetic end he had?

Yay...

Fellow Seibertronian with a penchant for comics news alerts (a good thing!) Susntar, has pointed us towards both the IDW Publishing website listing and artist Nick Roche's Twitter account, to share the variant cover by the latter (and colours by Josh Burcham) for issue #14 of Transformers: Lost Light!

Featuring the return of the Scavengers, Grimlock included, we might find out where they ended up after being caught in the middle of a battle during the Mutineers' Trilogy - as (Commander) Nickel also makes an appearance. Check it out, and join the speculation-filled discussion in the Energon Pub.

MACGUFFIN QUEST! The Scavengers have never had it so good. The war is a receding memory, their patchy service records have been forgotten, and the five of them can roam the galaxy as they please. All’s well that ends well? Not quite. Because unbeknownst to Krok and Co., their next adventure… will be their last.

FINALLY we get to see MTMTE Megatron's alt mode. I like it

I saw those, I should have shot them forward

Today seems like a comics news day, as we have another variant cover for the same issue of IDW Publishing's ongoing series Transformers Lost Light #14 - this time by Brendan Cahill and Lauren Bennett (presumably - can we start getting cover credits too, please?), also prominently featuring a Grimlock this time in full robot mode. Check it out below!




And while we're here, we also have some line art by artist Alex Milne, who is covering some of the interior artwork of issue #13 of the series, as seen in the three-page preview newsed here - and a look at the never actually seen alt-mode for Megatron in his More Than Meets the Eye redesign. Both are mirrored below!

Wow, that cover is beautiful! I wish my comic shop had 10 people buying this comic, so I could get this covers. Alas, I am the only person ordering any Transformers titles.

Thanks to Previews World, we are getting the first look at the alternate covers for Lost Light #15!

(W) James Roberts (A) Alex Milne (CA-Cvr B) Nick Roche (CA-RI) Brendan Cahill;
SECRETS AND LIES! As the Scavengers' journey reaches its ignoble end, the architect of their downfall puts the fate of half the Cybertronian race in their hands. Only one question remains: Are the worst Decepticons prepared to become the ONLY Decepticons?

On Cover B, Nick Roche gives us a spectacular shot of the long-absent (until recently) Scorponok, who looks all too happy to be greeting Misfire and Fulcrum.




And taking a look at the Retailer Incentive cover, done by Brendan Cahill, we see what seems to be one of the greatest mismatches of all time! Scorponok vs.....Nickel?!?




Coming sometime in the next several weeks (thanks, IDW!), do these covers whet your appetite for the Scavengers misadventures?

Right on with comic book news! Thanks to Seibertronian Sunstar pointing us towards artist Brendan Cahill's Twitter account, and a post that shows the lineart for the upcoming fourteenth issue of Lost Light! It's a shot of Grimlock in robot mode, looking very imposing while the world burns around him. Set to be released on February 7th (though with #13 coming next week, that date of the 7th may not hold), this issue promises the return of the Scavengers (and Grimlock, one would assume). Let us know what you think!

MACGUFFIN QUEST! The Scavengers have never had it so good. The war is a receding memory, their patchy service records have been forgotten, and the five of them can roam the galaxy as they please. All's well that ends well? Not quite. Because unbeknownst to Krok and Co., their next adventure... will be their last

This cover reminds me why I really hate every single thing about Nickle.

Ugh

Deadput wrote:This cover reminds me why I really hate every single thing about Nickle.

Ugh

*Nickel

Another hour tonight, another post about comic art! Thanks go to Seibertronian Sunstar for again pointing us towards the Twitter account of artist Brendan Cahill, and this time, after the reveal of the Retailer Incentive cover art for issue #14 of Lost Light, and then the line art, we now have the line art for his Retailer Incentive cover of issue #15, featuring a feisty Nickel confronting Scorponok! It's always fun to see a part of the process that goes into creating Transformers comic books, even if the covers don't always necessarily reflect the story inside, as is often the case with RI (Retailer Incentive) covers. Check the tweet out at this link or by clicking the picture below, and let us know what you think!

so cute

That coloring on the B Covers is horrendous!

Grimlock smash! Then Grimlock sit down and have nice warm drink.

Targetmaster Kup wrote:That coloring on the B Covers is horrendous!

How so?

@Deadput what's so bad about Nickel? Please don't just answer back saying "everything", I'm genuinely curious as to why you don't like her.

As for the covers, the grimlock one is awesome and I do find the scorpoknok v Nickel cover hilarious, even if it would always be a one sided fight.

I’m not even to Revolution in my reading, but hasn’t Scorponok been absent for a while? Or at least was absent for a while?

Va'al wrote:

Targetmaster Kup wrote:That coloring on the B Covers is horrendous!

How so?

How is it not horrendous?

shill

It reminds me of the days of the original Marvel comic, or more precisely the UK transformers annuals. Still don't see why they are horrendous

misfire19d wrote:

Va'al wrote:

Targetmaster Kup wrote:That coloring on the B Covers is horrendous!

How so?

How is it not horrendous?

shill

It would help if you actually described your problems with it.

Daniel Adkins wrote:

misfire19d wrote:

Va'al wrote:

Targetmaster Kup wrote:That coloring on the B Covers is horrendous!

How so?

How is it not horrendous?

shill

It would help if you actually described your problems with it.

Indeed! I was just asking to see if I understand the misgivings, whether I accept them or not.

ZeroWolf wrote:@Deadput what's so bad about Nickel? Please don't just answer back saying "everything", I'm genuinely curious as to why you don't like her.

Late reply but the answer is...

Everything


There is nothing I like about Nickel, I hate her personality and find it annoying as hell, I hate how she bosses the DJD and god damn Deathsaurus (Commander Nickel god kill me or actually better yet kill her), I hate how she basically ruined the DJD by being one of the first things that took away any credibility the DJD had as a threat and made them pathetic with her role being their team "mom" (Later other aditions ruined them further), I hate how she's this "cute" character similar to how far they took Tailgate (And ruined him as well).

Why the hell did she take command over Deathsaurus when she did absolutely nothing to deserve it literally nothing she's a prime example of a really bad oc.


The only thing I don't hate is her design instead I just simply don't like it since it's a "chibi" design I don't think works well.


Sorry I don't like badly written shoehorned in Robert Oc's (I only like Rung out of the "main" oc's he's introduced in MTMTE/LL the others I either hate such as Anode (Who I almost hate as much as Nickel), think are stale and boring (Nautica and Ambulon the only other ones I don't hate but I still don't find them great, Tyrest who is a generic insane bad guy among a sea of generic insane bad guys who so happen to be the only kind of character Roberts can attempt to write), have been ruined by bad writing (The DJD, Rapidfire as an example of wasted potential) or have not had enough time to be shown for me to have an opinion such as the rest of Thunderclash's and Firestar's Oc crew.

Edit: I forgot about Riptide and Fulcrum...probably because of how forgettable and bland they are.

I just irrationally hate her, every time I see or remember her my blood boils, I hate her more then any bad human in a Micheal Bay Transformers movie and is in my top 3 most hated characters in the whole franchise.

I agree with people that Nickel suddenly being the commander of Deathsaurus's forces comes from out of nowhere. But, I give James Roberts enough credit to expect that an explanation is forthcoming, and it will probably be delightfully humorous and interesting. Or I'm wrong and Nickel's the biggest Mary Sue ever.

Lore Keeper wrote:I agree with people that Nickel suddenly being the commander of Deathsaurus's forces comes from out of nowhere. But, I give James Roberts enough credit to expect that an explanation is forthcoming, and it will probably be delightfully humorous and interesting. Or I'm wrong and Nickel's the biggest Mary Sue ever.

Not with this series track record, it's gonna be a stupid explanation.

Deadput wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:@Deadput what's so bad about Nickel? Please don't just answer back saying "everything", I'm genuinely curious as to why you don't like her.

Late reply but the answer is...

Everything


There is nothing I like about Nickel, I hate her personality and find it annoying as hell, I hate how she bosses the DJD and god damn Deathsaurus (Commander Nickel god kill me or actually better yet kill her), I hate how she basically ruined the DJD by being one of the first things that took away any credibility the DJD had as a threat and made them pathetic with her role being their team "mom" (Later other aditions ruined them further), I hate how she's this "cute" character similar to how far they took Tailgate (And ruined him as well).

Why the hell did she take command over Deathsaurus when she did absolutely nothing to deserve it literally nothing she's a prime example of a really bad oc.


The only thing I don't hate is her design instead I just simply don't like it since it's a "chibi" design I don't think works well.


Sorry I don't like badly written shoehorned in Robert Oc's (I only like Rung out of the "main" oc's he's introduced in MTMTE/LL the others I either hate such as Anode (Who I almost hate as much as Nickel), think are stale and boring (Nautica and Ambulon the only other ones I don't hate but I still don't find them great, Tyrest who is a generic insane bad guy among a sea of generic insane bad guys who so happen to be the only kind of character Roberts can attempt to write), have been ruined by bad writing (The DJD, Rapidfire as an example of wasted potential) or have not had enough time to be shown for me to have an opinion such as the rest of Thunderclash's and Firestar's Oc crew.

Edit: I forgot about Riptide and Fulcrum...probably because of how forgettable and bland they are.

I just irrationally hate her, every time I see or remember her my blood boils, I hate her more then any bad human in a Micheal Bay Transformers movie and is in my top 3 most hated characters in the whole franchise.

Thank you for replying and admitting it is irrational. See if don't find her annoying and maybe it's a sign that Roberts sense of humour isn't to everyone's tastes. I'm all for adding original character's especially more fembots and I know that people say there's still a lot of characters who were introduced in the toy lines that haven't seen any love but I think there's room for more.

Still I'm now curious as to who your other hated characters are.

Legitimate question here: did Roberts ever talk about the major issues of Anode's origins on Twitter?

I got my LL V1 last week and I read it, and I tolerated Lawrence's art more, but it also brought up a huge question for me: Anode. I have really disliked this character since her intro, but after issue 8 and then rereading Volume 1, there are some major issues.

Volume 1 our universe establishes her as being from Caminus. She was in the same sorority as Velocity, she was a blacksmith, she abandoned the place and left after failing to create a protoform. The same volume also had her knowing about Cybertron and Luna 2 and the Decepticons 500 years ago thanks to her leaving Caminus.

Volume 1 Functionist universe had her as being from Cybertron, still a female, still a blacksmith. But with the new functionist order, the colonies were not found. the history was altered well after the colony titans left, so that is not an issue, just that her colony would not have been found. Yet here she is a resident of Cybertron, still female.

Issue 8 then has her from Cybertron in our universe, and she traveled around a lot and decided to switch over from a he to a she.

So in short, in the space of 8 issues, she was shown to be from Caminus as a she, from Cybertron as a she, and from Cybertron as a he that became a she. Was this discrepancy ever brought up to Roberts and he answered? I'd really like to know.

I /might/ be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure that main-universe anode had always been originally from Cybertron, moved to caminus and from spending a lot of time there and discovering the concept of a non-single-gender species realised she was female.
As for the functionist-U anode, I'm not sure it's been directly addressed. It /could/ be that simply through talking with those who'd visited multiple-choice planets (organic or metallic), she realised what fit for her in much the same way as if she'd visited herself (as discussed in LL8), but I don't think that's been stated outright.
This is all of the top of my head, so I could well be wrong! There's a Tumblr account which collates all of Roberts' MTMTE-related answers to twitter questions, I'll see if I can find it when I get home

Its said in issue #8 that she learned about gender from the Primal Vanguard, so she had already transitioned prior to going to Caminus. Same thing easily could've happened in the FU.

Lost Light's fill preview had been posted at https://www.newsarama.com/38256-meet-ne ... eview.html

It's looking better and better!