LOL - my dude, there's been like 7 copouts an issue since pretty much midway through MTMTE =) At this point isn't it almost expected?

 

I love Spinister line about Ratchet.

Whole thing about Getaway is just sad. In away Getaway was right about Rodimus and about the crew in caring about them.

 

deadnaming is alive and well in Transformers it seems.

 

We are not going to get higher quality than this in the reboot. I guarantee.

 

?? I'm aware of the definition, just not understanding where it was used in this issue.

Edit: never mind!! Hot Rod vs. Rodimus!! Of course! (although to be fair it's tough to know whether Scorponok would've even known about the name change, it's been a while)

 

It was fine. As good as could probably be expected in context. At this point, I'm still along to see what all Roberts had planned, even if it isn't all implemented exactly how it was supposed to go down (yeah, we probably would have gotten a whole issue of the LL on Mederi, a longer Star Saber/Cyclonus fight, etc. etc. etc. but you gotta go with the pagecount you have, not the pagecount you want.)

Not gonna lie, wasn't expecting Star Saber vs. Cyclonus to end so abruptly, but it IS kind of a nice callback to Pharma & Ratchet's whole deal (I was reminded of DOTM Sideways, but sure).

Also, the idea that the conclusion of LL will in no way tie into the Unicron book is actually kind of great. MTMTE/LL was at its best when it was out there detached and not beholden to the other books. Whenever it got dragged into crossover stuff, it, uh, dragged. (although I did enjoy the TR side plot w/Fort Max & co.)

 

And a callback (maybe unintentionally) to the Star Saber vs Mirage one panel fight. Makes me kind of wonder how half of the Transformers actually survived the war.  

 

Which is weird because Scorponok didn’t even need to be there. It could have just been Getaway and Star Saber. Instead it becomes a bit of a contrivance to have Scorponok just warped out like that.

 

Getaway got what he deserved.

Rodimus proved to be the better bot in the end by saving Getaway despite his promise to kill him. But Getaway had to throw it back in Rodimus’ face, proving he was beyond redeeming.

Absolutely loved how Rodimus walked out of the flames with his original colours. My precious blueberry is now a badass again!

 

this fucking book.....

star saber vs cyclonus...one page...one......page. it's official. star saber was fucking wasted in IDW. the destruction of his character (which i fear is the basis going forward) is now reduced to a shitty one page fight and bullshit death. why couldn't this have been one of Roberts many.....MANY....original creations instead of beloved autobot leader?

speaking of OCs...i knew anode and lug tagging along would be pointless so to the three of you last week that said nonsense like "think of it like a D&D campaign" just stop....they didn't do anything. which is pretty consistent for them so....whatever.

finally rodimus is back to his normal colors. what have we got now? five issues to go? hopefully next issue is better...i'm getting tired of these climaxes being let downs.

 

An atom of sadness, and maybe sympathy, for Getaway. I never thought I'd feel that.

 

I really want Scorponok to crush some heads in the next issue, the villains in this issue were a letdown and the constant quips are driving me nuts.

 

Rodimus infantalizes his crew and tries to validate them with gold stars as if he were a kindergarten teacher and they his class. (Given the way Roberts interacts with the fandom, I get the impression he sincerely believes that is a good thing, and the main purpose of art and leadership.)

Getaway is an idiot for trying to seek validation from a higher power, but at least he recognized that that power wasn't Rodimus. And for that he is demonized.

 

IDW Rodimus is terrible, just as bad as Machinina Rodimus.

 

Pretty solid issue in my opinion. Pacing continues to be kinda nuts, but the only point it really suffered for it was Cyclonus vs Star Saber. Really enjoyed Rodimus vs Getaway, and was fine with what happened to him. He'd become completely irredeemable in the time left in the story

 

Actually that's a really good point.
Tyrest says "Getaway, you're going too slow. Grand Architect needs things to pick up. I'm going to send someone to expedite."
Scorponok shows up.
Scorponok hangs out with Rodimus for roughly 5-10 minutes
Tyrest says "Hey, we're all outta time, Grand Architect needs Scorponok back"

And if Getaway wasn't going to be part of the "generals" anyway, why even bother helping him out? Why not just leave him there? Yes, I know the "out of story" reason is that we need to know that Scorponok and Tyrest are working together and we need to know Tyrest is around, but what is the in-story rationale?

 

IDW Rodimus is like a Jamie Maddrox or Alex Summers.

Aka the best.

 

He's an insolent child who doesn't learn lessons and ever since becoming captain of the Lost Light he seems to have forgotten the lessons he had to learn in order to be a man, worthy of the title of Prime.

 

Apologies - I'm going to post the same comment on the LL#20 and OP#20 threads, because I think it makes most sense to discuss them side by side.

It's uncanny, to me, how the strengths and flaws of these two issues sit opposed to one another.

Spoiler

Barber does a brilliant job of touching base with most of his cast, tying current events back to pre-war Cybertron, doing touching character moments and generally packing loads into the issue. The action feels fast and brutal. But then again, nothing much got sorted out - Shockwave captures three Autobots, Starscream picks up some supporters, and that's about it.

On the other hand, Roberts closes off the entire Getaway saga, saves his cast, gets Rodders back his ship and his colours, and sets up a new big bad/big reveal for next issue. But it all happens at a lick with a few too many unconvincing contrivances - how on earth did Nickel know what she was doing with that fan/generator which First Aid had only just spotted? Are Rodimus and Cyclonus really just going to stand over a control panel muttering to each other with their backs to Getaway? Why would Cyclonus just leave his sword lying on the floor in the first place? I found it largely to be a rushed and unsatisfying conclusion.

And it's really weird how Barber here is the one who makes the issue feel dense, while Roberts alternates light chit-chat with sudden, decisive turns of event. Barber's characters feel like the ones at the end of a long, weary quest, botching things up, while Roberts' ones seem largely pretty chilled out and efficient. I can't help but end up feeling both issues needed a little of what the other did well.

 

I think both are terrible leaders for differing reasons but both are common in their desire to shift blame onto external factors rather than owning their decisions.

I think part of the difficulty is that Roberts originally (accidentally?) presented this as a fairly nuanced schism that really had legitimate concerns on either side. Getaway disagreed with Megatron being on the ship; in so doing, he took the position of longer-term members of IDW fandom who pointed out that Megatron being on the LL as captain and having a "fan club" made very little sense (and felt mandated by a directive to "shake things up"). In fact, I recall this is brought up at some point in story where it's rationalized that because of the scope of Megatron's crimes, people have an easier time forgiving him because they can't grasp the concept. So when the mutiny happens, a lot of readers say "Getaway was right".

Then we get into demonization territory, but it's narrative strings being pulled. The story itself (and the writer) are the ones demonizing Getaway. He is made suuuuuuper evil to make sure that even if Getaway *had* a point, most of the readership will ignore it. Sure, maybe Getaway is right. *BUT* he's totally eeeevil, killing bots, and being a selfish jerk! Who cares if he *was* right to mutiny on Rodimus? He's killing his friends!

And the readership turns, strings pulled - it's no longer a debate between two possibly valid sides but "Rodimus was wronged" / "Getaway is a monster", to the point that people are *angry* that the Mutineers Trilogy doesn't conclude with his comeuppance. It's easy to demonize a dude that betrays any possible principles he has just because he is insecure. So Getaway has to be written that way.

It probably would've worked better if we had *always* seen this from Getaway, but the reality is all of the points he brought up during the mutiny *were* valid. It's why I kind of felt that Roberts' "I was pleased to see that the readership started really siding with Rodimus" rang false. Dude, you made Getaway a murderer who killed his friends to preserve his social standing. What other position are they expected to take? =)