We had to wait a little longer this time, but Lost Light 18 is here. (Honestly it wasn’t that long, but I knew I’d gotten spoiled when we got three issues in two months.) The end of the series is just over the horizon and so help me I’m going to avoid giving any spoilers for this issue, which means this review is going to be really, annoyingly vague. But I want to spell out exactly what I loved about this issue and exactly what I….who am I kidding, there isn’t anything I didn’t like about this issue, but there’s a couple things I want to talk about.
(Seriously, no spoilers below, but I’m hinting pretty broadly at a lot of things, so if that’s too close to a spoiler for you I promise I won’t mind if you go read the issue first and then head back here.)
What I liked: Swerve getting all blushy around Velocity. The Cybertronian version of a Fastball Special. The back and forth between Nautica and Krok (I shouldn’t be surprised by how they got along.) How much expression you can get with Whirl’s one eye. The mild Dratchetbaiting. Misfire saying “Trruuuuuth.” And always, always, always the snappy dialogue.
“Probably best not to tamper with it.”
“Er..what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to tamper with it.”
I also loved the description of the place they’re in, what it is, what it does, and why people would go there. (It’s an intensely bleak idea, but also a really lovely one if you stop and think about it.)
There were a lot of plot points in this story that were manipulative in the extreme, but that’s not something I mind. I do love me some Roberts-written angst.
I also don’t mind the fact that I don’t entirely understand the final panel. I know I’m supposed to know who that is, and the fact that one eye is different from the other makes me almost think I know who it is, but I’m definitely missing something. I don’t mind, because Roberts is digging deep these last few issues, and I’m going to have to go reread a ton of old issues to get all the nuances. (Or someone can explain it in the comments?) (I’m designating the comments a Spoiler Zone, so I’d avoid those if you haven’t caught up yet.)
Obviously, I loved the art. I feel like I’m already in mourning, even though we’ve got months left of this book. Every line, every gradient, every snarky expression, every aghast look, every detail of Drift’s facepaint, every shot of Nautica facing down the bad guys with her fingertips (you heard me) I keeping hoping we’ll get this art forever. For crying out loud, even the placement of the word bubbles as Misfire’s saying “Easy. Shh. Whoa. Hey.” is expertly done.
What I wanted to discuss were two things (heads up, still no spoilers, but I’m hinting at a plot direction, so be warned):
This issue gives us the answer to the quest they’ve been on since the very beginning! (Of More Than Meets the Eye. Or since The Death of Optimus Prime if you want to get technical.) This is it, the answer! The finale! All wrapped up in a perfectly logical bow!
Aaaaaaaaand I don’t buy it. It’s too easy. And we’ve got seven issues left. I know how comic books work.
The other thing is that this issue is another example of a plot device that I believe James Roberts is incapable of following through on. He’ll walk us down the garden path, make us absolutely sure we know what he’s doing, and then he won’t do it. He’s done it time and time again…but I feel like I can’t harp on it too much. Because if I say “you’ll never do it” then he might do it to prove he can and then I probably won’t like it.
The thing he won’t do? Ain’t saying. Spoiler free, I am. HOWEVER. If you want to talk about it further in the comments, I’m in.
(ATTENTION, THE COMMENTS ARE A SPOILER ZONE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.)
