It’s finally here, the series that picks up where More Than Meets the Eye left off. Lost Light hits shelves tomorrow, but does it live up to the legacy MTMTE left behind? Better question: is the story as goofy and badass and complex with all the feels? Does it have the same jaw-droppingly gorgeous art?
(Yeah, I’ve set the bar kind of high. What can I say, I’m a fan.)
See below for preview pages and a spoiler-free review of Transformers: Lost Light #1.
The story opens with an unknown bot running away from a much bigger bot, and I’m instantly hooked because James Roberts does what he does best: clever, quippy dialog between foolhardy optimists and their exasperated friends. Anode (the female bot doing the running) is trying to get Lug (the backpack that transforms into her friend) to admit that the situation they’re in (ten seconds from being pounded into tin foil by the cybernought behind them) isn’t as bad as it could be. Lug’s not having any of it.
I’m cross because we’re about to die and it’s eight thousand per cent your fault…I hate you. As in I actively hate you. I am in hate with you.
The dialog throughout the whole issue keeps getting better: wonderful sarcastic remarks all over the place, with just a few serious moments to kick you in the feels. (Aw…Skids…)
Anode is easily one of my favorite characters so far, even after one issue. She’s even snarky about Ultra Magnus’ lectures, to his face.
..maybe a few jokes to spice things up.
Because that was dull. That was so dull it made my life cry.
We get caught up very quickly on the story in just a few pages, and we’re set up for what’s to come. In short: Rodimus is going to get the Lost Light back, and he’s past caring what he has to do to get it. It’s a pity he and the crew are about to take one hell of a detour.
As for the art, I have to make one quick statement before I get into it: I really hope we’ll still see Alixe Milne’s work in this series. I know sometimes mixing the art up is good to keep things fresh, and I know there is some amazing talent out there and showcasing it is great for everybody. But I think the readers of this series will really miss out if we don’t get to see Milne’s work.
That being said, I loved Jack Lawrence’s work in this book. Our first shot of Anode is excellent: wonderfully detailed with lots of motion, and a hilarious expression. Everybody’s expressions were great in this book (you know I’m picky about Transformers’ faces, and these were all perfect.) Joana Lafuente had the colors for the first few pages and then John-Paul Bove took over: I didn’t catch the transition because all the pages were very well done.
I’m very curious as to what you think of Rodimus. I’m all for a change myself (I’m not going to say exactly what that change is, because spoilers) but I know a lot of people are going to have opinions, so if you get a chance chime in at the comments.
It’s hard to pick a favorite variant cover, but Sara Pitre-Durocher’s is lovely, and don’t miss Timothy Lim’s variant cover, it’s an homage to the ’86 Transformers movie and I love everything about it.
All in all I’m very optimistic about this series after this issue. We got the same sarcasm and intrigue that we’d gotten used to in MTMTE, and some beautiful art too.
And not a human in sight. I’m in.
