Written by James Roberts; Art by Jack Lawrence; Colours by Joana Lafuente
The best thing in comics is back. I still don’t know how Lost Light (formerly More Than Meets the Eye) has lasted so long with its irreverent, self-referential, uniquely British humour and complex, long-running narratives, but by Primus am I glad this exists.
We rejoin the Lost Light for the first time since traitorous Autobot Getaway seized control of the titular ship and stranded Rodimus, Megatron and their team on a distant world. Returning unaware to this are First Aid, Mirage and the rest of the newly-christened Protectobots, fresh from the Combiner Wars crossover event. Their damaged shuttle crashes into the Lost Light and is met by Getaway and his co-mutineer security detail.
The perky First Aid makes a likeable viewpoint character as he tries to adjust to the new status quo under Getaway’s leadership, but he has a hard time believing the story that Rodimus’ group abandoned the Lost Light. After some investigating reveals troubling omens like the comatose Thunderclash, a lack of logic in which crew members jumped ship based on their personalities, and twenty-five ‘bots still unaccounted for, First Aid calls a secret meeting in Swerve’s sealed-off bar to voice his concerns to the others.
Unfortunately, nobody remembers being grilled by Getaway as he gathered support prior to his mutiny, courtesy of his ‘nudge gun’, a weapon capable of wiping selected memories. It’s a typical touch of Roberts, whose other inventions have included a bomb that convinces its victims they’re characters in a fictional narrative. This isn’t fourth wall breaking – it’s smashing the wall, building another, smaller wall and then smashing that too. Probably with a sixth wall.
Riptide shows up to reveal to First Aid’s team that a growing number of the crew suspect Getaway is leading them astray, before Self-Appointed Big Bad himself turns up and reveals the awful truth. Thunderclash isn’t in a coma – he’s trapped in a loop of his own memories, unable to escape, before Streetwise flips the lights to reveal several brain cores floating in jars. Getaway has been dealing with dissent by literally pickling his enemies!
The crew blast their way out of the bar and into their shuttle, almost escaping before finding themselves on an inbound trajectory again, crashing into the Lost Light to be met by Getaway and his security… and you realise that the extra four pages of this issue are here to show First Aid’s team are also trapped in a memory loop. They’re most likely the brain cores they found in Swerve’s bar. Yes, folks, Getaway is that much of a bastard.
Everything about Lost Light is great. The humour, the characters, the plotting, and the sheer madcap brilliance that makes it the most unique thing IDW are putting out. Its quirkiness won’t be for everyone, but this has always been a series to devour in bulk and let the long form storytelling really soak in. It’s done more to expand the mythos of Transformers than a dozen other titles, and if it’s the only IDW title you follow, you will never be disappointed.
