I'm curious, amongst the many who were dissatisfied with MTMTE season 2, ended up actually dropping the book after the threats? =D

But.

I think I'm done.

Anode is a terrible, off-putting, unlikeable character, and a waste of pages that could be better served for characters I actually like or care about. Lug isn't there? I don't care, because I don't care about Anode. I care about Brainstorm, and Nightbeat, and Rung, and Swerve (is he even in this book?), and Tailgate, and Cyclonus, and Rodimus, and Drift, and RATCHET, etc etc. New characters are fine, but she's been so forced and shoehorned in, taking up so much story space and not justifying it with her arc or character.

Jack Lawrence's art is... it's not "bad." It's... fine. It's amateurish, to me, it doesn't look like what I'd expect in a professional comic book; more like fan art. Whatever, it doesn't work for me. I am too often taking OUT of the story by the art, and it doesn't fit the book. It doesn't mesh. It doesn't help, bring out, or improve the writing. And to top it off, it's the LEAST specific of the three ongoings. Zama has her intriguing neo-G2 style, and Pitre-Doucher already DOES the "cartoony" look --- and she does it significantly better, and it speaks to the visual language of TAAO. It makes Lost Light come off as a lesser knock-off.

The writing is... it just is. It feels like somebody read MTMTE and tried to write a book with what they believed the key ingredients are. It's Community Season 4. JRo had an awful lot of rope from me because MTMTE was more than a comic book adventure for me. It mattered. It meant something. It opened my heart and told powerful stories that connected with me on a deeper level. MTMTE did something with Transformers that has only so rarely been done, it treated them with the importance we as fans do these silly cartoons and toys. So when things seemed to start going sideways, I wasn't about to panic. Yet here we are. It's not that it's bad. It's fine. That's it. It's... just fine. There is snappy dialogue, but it feels tired and played out, cute for the sake of cute.

And then there's the actual payoffs, or lack of quality payoffs. I'm not outright "disappointed" by Rung's purpose but after all the build-up, we don't actually find out what Rung's alt mode is for. He makes crystals. OK. Tarn was what's his face. OK. Cyclonus gets murdered by the security team and I am shaken to the core by the panel of him shielding Tailgate while being cut into ribbons by firepower; he's ok next issue just because he's ok. Here's one panel showing Getaway being arrested by Magnus. Too many flippant resolutions, too many disappointing reveals.

And while we're spending time over HERE, where few are enthralled to be, the last time we saw the ACTUAL Lost Light was in February of last year. It's a baffling, frustrating decision to start season 3 the way JRo has. I. Don't. Care. About Anode, the Functionist Universe, Killmaster, on and on, when the Mutineers have been MIA for almost a year and a half. I don't... I don't have faith that the resolution to the mutiny will satisfy, and I'm out of patience and energy.

I find myself struggling to like this book. I'm trying to convince myself I like it. I can't shake the overall feeling of disappointment and meh and no longer caring. Meanwhile, I'm excited for every new issue of TAAO and I'm enjoying Optimus Prime quite a bit (MOTHERFUCKIN' FLINT).

And behind all of this remains the ugly, unaddressed, and unfortunate situation with Milne not being offered Lost Light; not being TOLD he wasn't on LL and learning with the fans during a comicon reveal; IDW saying Jack and Alex were going to alternate arcs (this is not happening); radio silence from JRo; a complete, fundamental lack of understanding or caring from IDW or JRo as to how integral Alex was to MTMTE's success or how much he meant to the readers of MTMTE. It's been a bad taste in my mouth for a very long time. I don't like Jack's art. It's not even that it's "not Milne." I don't like it. I like it even less with the garbage that went down for the artist switch.

So. I'm going to read issue 6 for closure, and then I'm cancelling my comixology subscription to Lost Light. I'm sure I'll read wiki recaps.

I'm writing this to help my own self process. Lost Light is, essentially, anti-joy in my life where MTMTE was a light. So often, I think, as fans, we follow things through sheer inertia.

It was something special, and I will hold MTMTE dear for many, many years.

May your wires never cross, and your luster never dull.

 

Freaky, I was just in the middle of re-reading "Rock and Roll-Out!"

 

Lost Light is still better than the other Transformers stories IDW have right now.

Well, they seem to be leaving the functionist universe next issue. If every comic book reader gave up on their favorite long running series after six issues of a story arc they didn't enjoy, we wouldn't have any comic book readers left in the world.

 

Sorry to read that you're not into this. Admittedly it has been years since I participated in active discussions in the comic forum, but I'll try my hand with this one...

It has already been established in the past 58+ issues that MTMTE tells different stories than your average TF comic. This is about transformers characters going off on crazy story arcs, exciting adventures and a few personal adventures and issues in-between. Seeing as the main drive of all transformers stories in the past 33 years is a war and Optimus versus Megatron, I think MTMTE/LL have found a very respectable establishment to latch on for story-telling.

What you dislike about Lug [and by extension, Anode] could have been said for Rewind, Chromedome, Swerve and Tailgate in S1, and was said for Nautica, Breakaway, Riptide et al last season. These are just new characters that invariably take focus from the main cast before assimilating themselves into it. Megatron was the main focal point in MTMTE 28-38 or so, but other characters came into play and out again at the same time. It's a storytelling device and frankly, with a main cast becoming so large, is a necessity.

I understand your misgivings of the art up to a point, but I can see that JL has progressed a lot from issue 1. And to be fair, Alex Milne's art was heavily criticised on Megatron: Origin for not being clear and for trying to fit in way too much. Yet he's a fan favourite now. Same thing could be happening with JL right now. Art is highly subjective; any study on modern art will show you that. What may be lacking in detail could be a focus on perspective, expressions, emotions and so on. We cannot be privy to internal company updates and discussions and people do not openly discuss their contracts or professional falling outs, if any. If Milne is back, that's fine. If not, the book loses some of the characteristics it carried on but can still thrive.

I cannot help but detect a very, very clear parallel between MTMTE S2 and LL now in terms of fandom reception. I think that the fandom is wired to reject something new [be it a perceived direction, cast, title, art], only to embrace it further down the line when it becomes something familiar again.

At this point MTMTE/LL have cemented themselves as a piece of art, a comic book and a treatise on modern politics and social trends via underlying messages. For those reasons I cannot bring myself to drop the book [I like it too much] but can fully understand if it's not for everybody.

 

I ended up dropping the series after the end of Season 2. I'm definitely not the only one, since the LL issue boards seem to be missing a lot of the old crew or maybe I just missed their posts. I mean, I used to be a member of the "IDW defense squad" back when I posted frequently, that's how into it I was and they still lost me.

I would disagree. The "fandom" is made up of thousands of people with varied opinions, to group them up like that is just an oversimplification. When MTMTE was new people loved it, don't forget there were years of IDW TF comics before it and it still amassed a following fairly quickly. A lot of people, myself included, didn't start to really dislike Season 2 until the personality ticks (I think that's what they were called), about the halfway point of the season. There was just a clear change in style. It's like what happened to exRiD, the first season was all about space politics with Bumblebee, Prowl and Starscream, then Season 2 turned it into fighting Galvatron on Earth with Optimus, Soundwave and Arcee. It just had a different feel to it that not everybody was into.

 

Thanks, Spartan.

 

RNSrobot, I have to agree with you. At this point I'm following the story basically because I'm a little curious about a few characters, but that's it. I've stopped buying the issues and borrow a friend's. I no longer read the issues the day they come out, days may pass before I even remember it.

I enjoyed season 2 of Mtmte, but I'm finding this hard to care about. I don't know if it's the writing (I find it hard to grasp that a previously great writer can now churn out blah stuff, so I'm thinking it's more the artwork. Awesome art can fill in where some writing can be a little flat, but in this case the artwork makes it MORE blah).

I think Anode and her story might have been deeper for us if we had known her longer. Five episodes is too short a time to care about a character and any mental or physical trauma they may face. As you said, I don't CARE about her like I do the others.

I think that the story had potential, but being too rushed and having a "kiddy quality" artstyle has done LL a lot of damage.

 

But you cared for Swerve, Whirl, Tailgate and Rung within the first five issues of MTMTE volume one, didn't you? They were instant fan favorites back in the day when MTMTE was new. And if you don't happen to care for Anode, that doesn't make the whole issue or story arc bad. I don't care for her either but thats mainly because she's a completely new design and not an existing familar character from before IDW. Seeing new characters I recognise in the comics from years ago (or a new character who was recently released as a toy) has more of an impact upon me towards them than a random generic fan character the artist made up, even if the personality and role is exactly the same.

Still a better story than Till All Are One and Optimus Prime, in my opinion.

 

Thanks, Javelin. I think the art is unfortunately a huge part of the downgrade...

It's not my intent to convince or argue to anybody how they should feel about the book, or what course of action regarding it they should take. This is my personal story. It helps me to write it out and express my thoughts.

(notes half the replies are from members on my ignored list)

 

Maybe I wouldn't word it like you have, but I think generally I agree. The current pacing is pretty awful, the dialogue feels worn out, the story's predictable, and I've also lost faith in things being wrapped up in a satisfying way, because it almost never does. I was interested in Anode when she first showed up, but now we've gotten her entire arc in the span of five issues, and I still can't figure out why we're learning about her or why she's even in this comic. It's ridiculous how a third of this comic is just Anode talking to herself, about herself, and nothing is actually happening around her. She's just telling people about her character.

 

Her arc isn't over yet. I'm sure the big reveal as to why she is relevant is yet to come.

 

I didn't even bother with Lost Light because MTMTE season 2 turned me off so much. I've kept up with previews and online summaries and I'm glad I dropped it. I don't tcare about Anode either. Or Lug. Much like Nautica they're too obviously forced in without feeling like they're essential plot characters. I did care about the functionist universe as an idea but in execution... I dunno, it worked better as a what-if we infrequently saw rather than the main setting of an arc.

But most of all I'm just tired of the tone and dialogue. MTMTE was great because it mixed great stories with fun, nuanced characters. But everyone is a comedian now. Everyone rants and goes on uninterrupted message board style tangents that just feel totally unnatural for character dialogue. It feels so disconnected, and everyone is starting to sound too similar. Plus, what used to be fun little side antics have exploded into the main meat of the story too often. Goofy concepts, wacky characters, it's all cranked up to eleven because that's what stuck the most for the fans. All icing no cake type deal. The subtle and calculated character arcs have become blunted. It doesn't feel clever or witty anymore.

It's like a guy makes an off-handed remark people find really funny, and he tries desperately to one-up the last "joke" and get more laughs every time, but eventually people just get annoyed because he's trying too hard and won't be quiet.

I dunno, that's just how I see it. I've moved on from MTMTE and its sequel sadly. It used to be my favourite thing ever, but it just got too... inflated.

Six issues is six months. Half a year. That's a long time to stay interested in a book that doesn't interest you.

Has MTMTE ever had to rely on eleventh hour reveals to legitimize otherwise boring or incomprehensible plots or decisions before?

Because usually the build up should be entertaining as well as the pay off. Nobody's gonna care what Anode's "purpose" is if they don't like her to begin with. Just like I didn't give two hoots about Nautica's silly little BFF ceremony thing becasue I didn't care about her beforehand.

 

100%. I believe I counted, and in issue 1, she dominated a literal third of the pagecount. To what end? Character development. Ok. But we don't even know her. She has no bearing or impact on anything that's happened or is happening. There are countless other characters, many that we know and have some level of investment in, that stories could have been told for. Or if you wanted to introduce a new character, I argue strongly that an existing character without much in the way of previous characterization would have been a better choice.

But ultimately it feels like 1/3 of the first 5 issues are utterly pointless.

(I like Nautica).

Thanks for the thoughtful replies.

 

Yup, I think that's what grates on some people. You have a bevvy of characters in-story, you have a bevvy of characters that already exist that haven't be characterized in IDW, and you make up a new character with the same personality as all your other main characters instead?

You just have to wonder what the point is, which is never good.

 

Hey, if you don't think a book is worth your time or money anymore, more power to ya. Maybe a drop in subscriptions will motivate idw to get their shit together.

Mtmte season 1 was, along with Transformers Prime, what turned me into a proper Transformers fan, so I have enough faith in Lost Light to stick around.

 

I think Roberts lost a lot of capital with that lousy Tarn reveal.

 

There's some bumps alone the way, but I believe things will smooth over. Eventually.

 

I love Nautica. I never felt she was forced because we got to know her over a long time, and she meshed so well with the others (Brainstorm, Nightbeat, and of course, Skids.). Anode, on the other hand has spent the majority of our knowledge of her, alone, talking to Lug. I think it could have been well done had we seen her interacting with the others over a longer period of time.

 

I'm not so sure. I may be wrong but he never really implied who Tarn was- that was all the reader's doing. Because of that, there are fans who would always have felt cheated when Tarn didn't turn out to be who they thought it was.

Now if he had left what seemed like hints pointing to a certain person, then pulled the rug out by revealing it to be someone else? That would be different.

 

My only problem with Nautica is that she was a little too perfect. Her faults were minimal or not real failings on her part. She was friends with everyone, could do anything, knew everything, and was generally flat-out boring, getting by just because she was "cute." In a book full of dickheads, criminals, and enough mental baggage combined to fill their own airport, she stood out as the newcomer who was flawless in every way and slotted in without issue.

Hell, the only real probles she ever faced were not being popular enough. That's a stark contrast to, say, Swerve who almost committed suicide because of deep-seeded personal inadequacies. Or Chromedome who was so incapable of dealing with loss he brainwashed himself to forget everyone he ever loved rather than remember the grief. Nautica... never had a best friend kinda? But it didn't make sense because the book established everyone loved her just fine. She wasn't unlikable or flawed in any way, so not having a BFF just seemed dumb.

It's hardly the readers' fault for picking up on obvious clues.

Thing is, a reveal doesn't always have to be a surprise to be good. Roberts basically punished the readers for using their brains. It was stupid to reveal Tarn as a nobody (and didn't make sense, since Megatron was supposedly using their real names but Glitch isn't his real name either) with no build up because it basically meant the readers got a shrug and a dismissive wave from Roberts for expecting good writing from the book and to be rewarded for following the breadcrumbs he was dropping.

"Eventually can be a long time..." -Dinobot