Lost Light #20- spoilers!

Discussion in 'Transformers Comics Discussion' started by rlmiddleton, Jul 10, 2018.

  1. rlmiddleton

    rlmiddleton Don’t call me a member thank you very much.

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2016
    Posts:
    3,605
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Milton Keynes, UK
    Likes:
    +13,038
    Ebay:
    Instagram:
    Don’t think that was me but fwiw I liked Rodimus saving him and Getaway getting his comeuppance. It was just the way the panelling really lingered over Getaway’s death that made it pretty distasteful for me. It’s like everyone’s meant to be licking their lips over these extended images of him being eaten. It makes me uncomfortable about the mentality behind it.

    I guess what I’m saying is that revelling in his defeat and even death is one thing. Revelling over this extended series of images of him being eaten is another for me.

    Edit: Thinking about it more, the author’s intent in lingering on it like that is also pretty at odds (for me at least) with the very qualities Rodimus the character demonstrated only a page or so previously.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
    • Like Like x 5
  2. Murasame

    Murasame 村雨

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2008
    Posts:
    25,367
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    The Lost Light
    Likes:
    +13,356
    Woah, that was so cool :D  Rodimus and Cyclonus kicked ass. And the shot with Rodimus coming out of the furnace <3 want moooar
    I felt bad for Getaway in the end.
     
    • Like Like x 4
  3. iamtfc

    iamtfc Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2015
    Posts:
    250
    Trophy Points:
    167
    Likes:
    +568
    More weird pacing problems. The Star Saber "fight" lasting one to three panels, the sparkeaters taken care of in about the same. I'd have loved to have seen some interaction with all the medical staff. Ratchet, First Aid, and Spinister in particular.

    I did like the baby scraplets returning from the Special. Though I guess in IDW that scraplets aren't affected by water? The sprinkler system is working when the scraplets are present, so.....

    Of course, Rodimus walking back with his original colors was great, if a bit heavy handed.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Omegashark18

    Omegashark18 Combaticon turned Autobot

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2014
    Posts:
    16,140
    News Credits:
    24
    Trophy Points:
    337
    Likes:
    +10,038
    Better then the last issue, though still has that little too fast feel to it.

    Star Saber, that was WAY too quick. Didn’t even transform into robot mode! At least Cyclonus still had plenty of awesome moments.

    Rodman vs Getaway, now that was definitely a lot more satisfying. And how Rodimus decided to be the better bot and spare Getaway, even though the latter ultimately wound up dying any way, and in the worst possible fashion too!

    Hopefully now that all the personal stuff is out if the way, things can become more focused. Five issues is still plenty of room to breath.

    Rodimus is back in his old colors, yay!

    And the Holiday Special actually has some main story relevance, how about that.
     
  5. rlmiddleton

    rlmiddleton Don’t call me a member thank you very much.

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2016
    Posts:
    3,605
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Milton Keynes, UK
    Likes:
    +13,038
    Ebay:
    Instagram:
    I know Roberts has his indie song choices for each issue but for me this was the sound of Rodimus walking out of the flames:



    A piece as overwrought but as epic as that scene.
     
  6. GoLion

    GoLion Banned

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2014
    Posts:
    8,912
    News Credits:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    242
    Likes:
    +5,767
    That legit was the only real cool part of this latest issue. For me anyway.
     
  7. DrTraveler

    DrTraveler Wheeljack, Wheeljack, Wheeljack

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2012
    Posts:
    5,444
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Likes:
    +5,654
    Ebay:
    I don’t have an issue with the Cyclonus/StarSaber fight ending as fast as it did because:

    1. Real sword fights end fast. One side makes a mistake and dies. The end. Star Saber was obsessed with Cyclonus and it got him killed.

    2. It’s also likely that Star Saber will come back. Crazy Dr. Pharma once challenged Ratchet to a contest involving putting Ambulon back together after splitting him down the center. Odds are we get a call back to that.
     
    • Like Like x 7
  8. DrTraveler

    DrTraveler Wheeljack, Wheeljack, Wheeljack

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2012
    Posts:
    5,444
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Likes:
    +5,654
    Ebay:
    Pretty sure Ratchet’s health issues will be revealed to have something to do with Dr Pharma’s return.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  9. Stryker055

    Stryker055 Trying my best here!

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2010
    Posts:
    7,292
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Location:
    TN
    Likes:
    +3,755
    Ebay:
    I would have been miffed about the anti-climax of Cyclonus v. Star Saber (especially compared to how excellently their original fight was depicted despite also mostly confined to one page), but Star Saber is an absolute shit character and any extra time spent with him would be a waste of limited page time. So for the sake of just getting him out of the way quickly, I’m fine with it.

    The Rodimus/Getaway confrontation was, however, perfect. It didn’t feel rushed or contrived, and both characters were laid bare - especially Getaway, who finally proved himself irredeemable and got himself a nicely memorable death (I see the complaint that it was “too much,” but there’s been a lack of memorable character deaths lately, so I think it totally works).

    Everything else was pretty much what it was. It felt like this issue’s first priority was to settle the score between captains with satisfaction, and by that standard it was solid.
     
    • Like Like x 8
  10. worldsgreatest

    worldsgreatest Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2012
    Posts:
    6,252
    News Credits:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Likes:
    +5,660
    Cyclonus is just better than Star Saber in this continuity. People's saltiness over Roberts' portrayal of that dude is endlessly amusing.
     
    • Like Like x 5
  11. worldsgreatest

    worldsgreatest Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2012
    Posts:
    6,252
    News Credits:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Likes:
    +5,660
    I feel like Getaway's death was a direct response to fans' criticism over 'fake out' or impermanent character deaths in the series.

    It felt like Roberts staring into the camera and being like "There. He's fudging dead. Like dead dead. Happy?"

    And then the response from fans is apparently:

    "Well, that was just too much. Rubbish."

    I'm glad this guy is stepping away for a well earned break.
     
    • Like Like x 9
  12. TF14

    TF14 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2011
    Posts:
    1,059
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    232
    Likes:
    +395
    The Alphacons thing was a joke... Roberts said he’d just written the last line of dialogue between “X” and “Y”
     
  13. justiceg

    justiceg Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2012
    Posts:
    1,702
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    232
    Likes:
    +2,909
    So while I appreciate your sleuthing, the author - both in story through lamp shading and in real life on Twitter - has stated overtly that these three mysteries have not been answered (in fact through Twitter he’s promised not only that those three mysteries were highlighted so he could answer them, but that *every* question everyone has ever had re the plot will be answered by the end. Tall order. :)  )

    So even if one were to say these are the answers (and at least a couple were quite good ones) they’ve not been provided - as per the author himself. The third one is most definitely a serious inference that as of yet has no in-story identification. It’s a plausible inference but even then it would require quite a bit of explanation (how did Mederi open a portal? Can Mederi open portals off planet? Has no one who has approached Cyberutopia wanted to see their loved ones before? How did it reach Tailgate prior to him dying of radiation?)
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
    • Like Like x 1
  14. Fark Gnarkl

    Fark Gnarkl Unwisely still awake.

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2016
    Posts:
    130
    Trophy Points:
    122
    Location:
    Dove into Dead Universe, but belly-flopped.
    Likes:
    +302
    2:50 on this was the first thing that popped into my head.

     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. Hound89

    Hound89 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2009
    Posts:
    2,689
    Trophy Points:
    262
    Likes:
    +863
    Peoplenreally sayig getaways death was too much?

    It was perfect a death if his own making, and very painfull, very cathartic.

    My only real complaint is we built uonthe starsaber rematch so much that hisndeath is a kick in the balls

    And i expect thengrand artitecht reveal to be just as anticlimatic
     
    • Like Like x 1
  16. General Magnus

    General Magnus Da Custodes of the Emprah

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2007
    Posts:
    14,675
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +2,310
    (Whirl) Whose a good boy? (Whirl)

    (Whirl) You are all good boys! (Whirl)
     
    • Like Like x 7
  17. rlmiddleton

    rlmiddleton Don’t call me a member thank you very much.

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2016
    Posts:
    3,605
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Milton Keynes, UK
    Likes:
    +13,038
    Ebay:
    Instagram:
    To restate, as several on the thread don’t seem to be picking up on the nuance here, the death itself wasn’t too much, and was far from ‘rubbish’. It was vivid and certainly memorable. As I said in my very first post, I enjoyed the issue. For me it was how the delivery of his death seemed designed to have you slavering over it. Slavering over someone being eaten alive? Rodimus literally taught the opposite lesson a few pages beforehand.

    If the view is that saying this is being ‘salty’ about Roberts’ writing then I don’t know if I can help you. The opposite of a ‘fake out’ death is not “let’s make this death scene as sadistically portrayed as possible”.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
    • Like Like x 4
  18. Fark Gnarkl

    Fark Gnarkl Unwisely still awake.

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2016
    Posts:
    130
    Trophy Points:
    122
    Location:
    Dove into Dead Universe, but belly-flopped.
    Likes:
    +302
    Star Saber (Victory)

    ---> Famed throughout the length and breadth of the cosmos as the greatest swordsman in the universe, <---

    Saber, you had ONE JOB.

    I feel like panning up to a Brainmaster-shaped outline scorched into the ceiling above Cyclonus would have fixed my key complaint with this issue. Hopefully it's building up to a dark answer of the Minimus Ambus reveal, otherwise it'll feel like a massive waste.

    I felt like Rodimus vs. Getaway was perfect, though, extending even to Getaway's fate. Don't know if I'd quite say I felt sorry for him, but there is a vaguely Azula-esque sadness to it. So many lives ruined for the ruination of yet another.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  19. JudgeDeliberata

    JudgeDeliberata Majestrix

    Joined:
    May 7, 2014
    Posts:
    231
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    97
    Likes:
    +111
    You know what? This "team Getaway-Was-Right" nonsense really, really needs to end. Because at this point, it's embarrassing.

    Did Getaway have a great point about an individual who was responsible for a war that killed untold billions unrealistically being given a chance at redemption and forgiveness after the war was over? Sure, absolutely.

    And he made that point his soapbox for as long as it took to get "Team Megatron" off the ship. It was an excuse. Nothing more. The vaunted "deep" alternative leader figure people wanted out of him was an unrealistic fallacy. Remember, by his own admission he had decided to get rid of Rodimus the second he laid eyes on the Rodpod. And if it weren't the Rodpod it'd have been something else. You know why?

    You want to ascribe some depth to Getaway in view of the fact that whatever projected alternative character arcs that some folks had in mind were never coming to fruition ? Easy. The question has never, ever, ever been whether or not Getaway had any right to act the way he did - it's been "how responsible is he for his own actions?"

    Because this is a guy who displays all the tendencies of a terrible form of mental illness - he's dangerous narcissist who is actually completely and totally incapable of feeling empathy for other people. There's a serious argument to be made that he is and always was as much of a threat to himself as to others.

    Froid was right about that: He's fascinating. He prattles on about doing the right thing and making hard choices but the choices he makes are always going to be the ones that benefit him most. That includes setting up scapegoats. Murder. Frame jobs. He might actually think sacrificing 25 people to Sunder is an awful price to pay and he'll wrestle with it, but any resistance he puts up to the notion is token and he'll do it because it's not really a choice to him at all, no matter how much he tries to convince himself that it is. And the whole way through he thinks he's doing the right thing.

    Check that: Getaway is and always was a deluded narcissist, an emotionally abusive, manipulative sociopath with a god complex who can and will use people for his own ends. At best he's a moderately sympathetic character because he's completely detached from reality, believes he's some form of chosen one, and might be better served being treated and on meds somewhere. At worst he's the most deplorable kind of scum.

    He very likely died the way he did to pacify the people who came into his work off Eugenesis wanting hard-hitting edgy gorn - and that was a lot of people. And his death doesn't undo any growth Rodimus undergoes. He made the choice to attack again and it was Whirl and the scraplets who mercifully ended him - right up to the end he thought he was some kind of chosen one.

    Are we sure that's "2-D?"

    Anyway:

    Roberts' has a host of problems as a writer, yeah. His dialogue can become unrealistic and irritating, he creates far too many original characters where there are plenty to choose from, he has little to no regard for established character traits and his deliveries are completely laughable compared to his setups. But remember: He was touting a 100-issue series for a good long while. And IDW basically just came and said "Well, we've gotta wrap this up in six months, guys." So...scratch a year plus worth of plans.

    Now it's not like Star Saber ever had a lot going on apart from "Crazy zealot", but my bet is that we would have revisited him a bit and at least had a fight scene with Cyclonus spanning the better part of one issue if JR'd been able to stick to his original plan. We probably wouldn't have gotten Swearth or personality ticks if he'd known earlier he'd have way less time to work with.

    Nah, I lay all the pacing issues squarely at the feet of the same company who's rolled out a host of terrible "events", crossover series and a "shared universe" nobody ever asked for - I mean, I enjoyed MASK as a kid, but I could give less of a shit about it today. IDW has been mismanaging these comics since Dark Cybertron as far as I'm concerned. It's why I think I'm going to be hopping off once the continuity's done.

    I'm actually amazed that as hyper-condensed and rushed as this is, it's still leagues more readable than the entire Costa run. :lol 

    I do hope we manage to make the best of the five issues we have left. The notion of a giant portal opening in space and disgorging an invasion force of leagues of probable squid-bots is something that we already know should be the kind of epic that's good for a ten-issue showstopper, but I'll take what I can get at this point.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
    • Like Like x 13
  20. Digilaut

    Digilaut Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2008
    Posts:
    11,512
    News Credits:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +1,633
    Wasn't aware James Roberts himself has confirmed the mystery unsolved, apologies! I thought it was clear after the last arc the teleporting was the solution to the mystery, but if he says it's unsolved I stand corrected. Nightbeat I am not! :lol 
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018