IDW is currently barreling forward with a reboot continuity, so I'd like to take the opportunity to share with you my favorite moments/scenes/ideas from what is known as “Phase 2” of IDW continuity 1.0- the James Roberts/John Barber/Mairghread Scott era.
In this first installment, my top ten moments from James Roberts' run on Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye and Transformers: Lost Light! Oh, and an honorable and dishonorable mention as well!
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Honorable Mention- FIELD OF FLOWERS
(MTMTE # 44, 2015)
The crew of the Lost Light locate the planet that Censere, the mythical “Necrobot”, dwells upon. Censere is a mechanoid who catalogs how every Cybertronian in the universe dies, and maintains a huge “cemetery” containing holo-statues of every Transformer that has ever existed. When you die, your holo-statue is switched off, and when you kill, a blue flower is added to the base of the statue. Each flower represents a life that individual has taken.
Virtually every holo-statue on Censere’s plot has blue flowers clustered around their bases- Cybertron’s bloody history has ensured that almost every single Transformer is a killer. But when the repentant Megatron goes looking for his holo-statue, he’s greeted with a sight that will weigh upon him for the remainder of his life.
No matter how much good Megatron tries to do, no matter how he tries to make amends, those flowers will remind him that some sins are simply too vast to ever forgive.
10. RETURN OF THE KING
(Lost Light # 22-23, 2018)
As the only entry from the Lost Light book on this list, this is a double-whammy of a moment. Team Rodimus has been actively trying to foil the mad ancient Adaptus’ plot to open a portal into another dimension in order to banish a perceived threat he had been warning of. Adaptus foresaw a danger that would threaten the entire universe and sought to rip open a hole in time and space to make that danger someone else’s problem. However, what Adaptus didn’t realize is that the prophesied threat was actually arriving FROM another dimension and thus accidentally provided the means for its entry into “our” universe.
The first thing that comes from the portal is a duplicate of the spaceship Lost Light, and at its helm… is Megatron, previously having been left in the alternate timeline known as the Functionist Universe at the beginning of t! As issue # 22 closes, we’re left wondering- is Megatron this ultimate threat that Adaptus foresaw? Has he gone back to his tyrannical ways? However, the beginning of the next issue would quickly quell these doubts, as the REAL ultimate threat follows Megatron’s ship close behind. The despotic Functionist regime has transformed their Cybertron into a robot in the shape of the creator, Primus, and now Team Rodimus have a much larger problem to deal with!
9. MESSAGE FROM THE FUTURE?
(MTMTE # 1, 2012)
The first issue of More Than Meets The Eye ended with this sinister scene- a message from somewhere far off in the future and someone unknown, warning of the perils that the Lost Light would face on its journey. There were some very specific instructions too- don’t look in the basement, don’t go to Delphi, and don’t let “them” take Skids. As the series would progress, the readers would be on the outlook for signs of these perils, and they wouldn’t always be obvious. This was a fantastic scene to end the first issue on and added an ever-present layer of tension over the proceedings. Was the Lost Light’s journey doomed to failure from its start? Who sent that warning?
Eventually, the mysteries of the message would be sussed out, including the fact that it was actually sent from the PAST, not the future (time-travel’s funny like that). While these forewarned events would have varying levels of import to the overall plot, the initial dramatic power of the message itself and the sense of looming dread it installed in the reader was unforgettable.
8. BRAINSTORM'S SECRET
(MTMTE # 33, 2014)
The “newbie” members of the Lost Light crew led by Megatron come across a horrific scene aboard a quantum duplication of their spaceship. This version of the Lost Light ran into the Decepticon Justice Division and were murdered to nearly the last ‘bot, rendering the ship a veritable slaughterhouse. The only way to restore their living versions of the crew is to make the duplicated Lost Light literally cease to exist, and that requires some items in the duplicate Brainstorm’s lab. Rummaging through the ransacked room, Nightbeat and Nautica make the macabre discovery of Brainstorm’s corpse. What’s even more horrifying is what Nightbeat finds on the hidden side of the deceased Brainstorm’s mouthplate.
7. I LOVE YOU
(MTMTE # 16, 2013)
Rewind is dead and it’s all Chromedome’s fault. He inadvertently released the brutal killer Overlord from his cage in the Lost Light’s basement, and the Decepticon Phase-Sixer went on a rampage across the ship, killing dozens. Rewind’s sacrifice to help eject Overlord from the Lost Light saved countless lives, but shattered Chromedome’s heart.
In the aftermath, Chromedome keeps his emotions under tight reign because he plans to use his memory-altering talents to erase Rewind from his heart and mind as soon as the funeral is over. A surprisingly-sensitive Brainstorm tries to talk Chromedome out of it, knowing that his friend has done this sort of thing before after having lost previous loved ones. However, Chromedome is clearly going to go through with the proceedure no matter what Brainstorm says. Brainstorm gives Chromedome a data slug that Rewind managed to record a message on just before he was killed by Overlord, hoping it will make a difference.
What follows is a beautiful farewell from Rewind stitched together from various video and audio segments in his database that encourages Chromedome to live on and be a better person. It’s capped off by a phrase very rarely heard in a Transformers story… and the grieving Chromedome ultimately decides to keep his memories of his beloved spouse.
6. SHADOWPLAYED SENATOR
(MTMTE # 11, 2012)
In the distant past, the up-and-comer Orion Pax (the future Optimus Prime) was mentored by one of the few non-corrupt senators in the Cybertronian government. The readers were not initially made privy to this senator’s name- only that he was a moral, overly-expressive guy with an optic on a positive and forward-looking future for the planet. However, the Senate was so deeply-corrupt that they couldn’t abide such a free thinker wandering around and expressing ideas like justice and equality for all. Despite Orion Pax and his like-minded supporters’ best efforts, his senator friend is captured and subjected to the state-sanctioned twin punishments known as Empurata and Shadowplay.
The senator’s head and hands are replaced to mark him as a political dissident and his mind rewritten to suppress his emotions and supposedly neuter his will to speak out against the state. Little did the Senate know that in the process, they were enabling a being that would become one of the greatest threats to the entire universe and time and space itself. And what was the name of this senator, this former friend of Orion Pax, you ask?
The answer would "shock" the readers.
5. CHAT WITH A CAT
(MTMTE # 32, 2014)
Megatron’s defection to the Autobots came as a surprise to everyone, but perhaps no one moreso than his most loyal followers. Ravage is sent by Soundwave to stow aboard the Lost Light and spy on Megatron, to determine if their former leader’s change of heart is indeed genuine. Through some unavoidable circumstances, Ravage made his presence known to Megatron, and the two eventually get a moment to clear the air.
Megatron explains and unburdens himself to Ravage, telling one of his closest friends that he truly believes the only way he can move forward with his life is as an Autobot. Ravage is doubtful that Megatron is as certain about this decision as he should be to see it through and pay for his sins. For the rest of the series, Ravage will provide a window into Megatron’s psyche that no other crew member of the Lost Light can be. Their shared Decepticon heritage and long friendship laid the groundwork for both Megatron and Ravage's ultimate fates and it started with this quiet conversation in a dark room.
4. PIPES DIES
(MTMTE # 15, 2013)
Pipes hasn’t had an easy time of it since boarding the Lost Light. He’s been sucked out into space, gone through atmospheric reentry, crash-landed on a planet, infected with the Red Rust virus, shot by a deranged Fortress Maximus, beaten up by Decepticons, and nearly shrugged himself to death (long short story). Despite all this, he maintained a positive attitude and is generally having a good time on the epic quest the crew has undertaken. Unfortunately, his conga line of bad luck reaches its end when Pipes is the first one to encounter the escaped Overlord in an empty corridor of the ship.
Overlord stomps Pipes to near-death, then continues on his merry way as if nothing had happened. Broken and bleeding, Pipes has enough sense of self to drag his mutilated form to the nearest security panel on the wall. With his last ounce of strength, Pipes sets off the Lost Light’s alarm and gives his oblivious shipmates some advance warning of the horror that has been unleashed in their home. His final task complete, Pipes’ spark extinguishes and he dies alone in an Energon-smeared hallway.
While Overlord’s rampage was just beginning here, nothing matched the casual brutality or crushing loneliness of Pipes’ death. Most of Overlord’s other victims were either inconsequential redshirts or ended up surviving somehow. Beyond that, as I detailed above, Pipes was pretty much the “Waspinator” of the crew, with misfortune regularly befalling him up until this point. You would think that maybe he’d eventually be rewarded with some kind of cosmic karma for his suffering, but instead Pipes’ death and last heroic act would go largely unremarked upon for the rest of the series. For me, however, it was easily the most affecting scene in that issue, even beating out Rewind's demise.
3. SPACE MUTINY
(MTMTE # 50, 2016)
Ever since Megatron came aboard the Lost Light, most have been on edge around him. And why wouldn’t they be? Everyone only has Optimus Prime’s word that Megatron has truly reformed and will behave himself. However, slowly but surely, Rodimus and his inner circle start to accept that Megatron’s change of heart is genuine and even become comfortable in his presence. Megatron himself admits that he’s never been happier being free of his previous responsibilities and feels more like his real self than he’s ever felt in four million years.
It’s just too bad that there happens to be 200-plus other Autobots aboard the Lost Light that aren’t in Rodimus’ little “clique” and are still more than happy to see Megatron under lock and key or worse. Team Rodimus, including Megatron, is diverted off the ship under false pretenses and end up on Necroworld. When they try to contact the Lost Light, they find the rest of the crew has been coerced by professional scumbag Getaway into a mutiny that has removed Megatron and his “fan club” from the ship and into the waiting hands of the Galactic Council (although events don’t shake out that way.)
The thing of it is, even taking Getaway’s manipulations into account, he has a legitimate point about Megatron. It IS insulting, not to mention DANGEROUS that Autobot High Command has agreed to let Megatron roam more-or-less free. And being that most of the Lost Light crew outside of Team Rodimus have largely been out-of-focus for much of MTMTE “Season 2”, it seems totally believable that so many would feel this way. While Getaway’s intent and methods would prove to be highly-suspect later, this reveal of the mutiny on its own is a key shocking and dramatic moment in the series and alters its course going forward for the rest of the run.
2. MEGATRON CONQUERS HIS DEMONS
(MTMTE # 54 - 55, 2016)
Megatron becoming an Autobot didn’t sit well with his most fanatical Decepticon followers. The Decepticon Justice Division has enforced Megatron’s will for millions of years and their leader Tarn is his most devoted acolyte. When he learns that Megatron has not only become an Autobot, but a pacifist as well, Tarn is hellbent on killing his former idol. Forming an alliance with Deathsaurus and Overlord, the D.J.D. are poised to wipe Megatron and the Autobots he’s allied himself with out of existence on Necroworld. While Team Rodimus stages a desperate counterattack, their temporary makeshift power-boost eventually burns out, and they are soon left at the mercy of Deathsaurus’ army.
Where is Megatron during this epic battle? He’s hiding away, afraid that if he joins in, he’ll go back to his mass-murdering ways. It’s only after a pep talk from Ratchet and seeing Ravage torn in twain by Tarn (alotta alliteration, eh?) that Megatron finally takes the new fusion cannon Brainstorm built for him and steps outside.
Megatron single-handledly turns the tide and decimates Deathsaurus’ soldiers, but after his new fusion cannon is destroyed he crumples to his knees, apparently at his limit. Tarn and Overlord move in to finish Megatron off, but he surprises them with a force-field “panic bubble” borrowed from the deceased Trailcutter. Megatron huddles within the force-field as the D.J.D. attempt to breach it. Deathsaurus and Overlord, the former disillusioned by Tarn’s use of his troops as cannon fodder and the latter disgusted by Megatron’s apparent cowardice both depart. However, Tarn and his followers will not let Megatron go.
Finally, the bubble is breached and Tarn advances on the seemingly bowed Megatron. That’s when Megatron rises to his full height and informs Tarn that the bubble wasn’t to protect him… it was to seal Tarn and the others inside! Infuriated by the monsters he helped create, Megatron reveals his new ability to channel antimatter from inter-dimensional portals buried within his body.
Megatron tears Vos, Tesarus, and Helex apart with lashing tendrils of pure antimatter that spill from his optics. He then tears the now-cowering Tarn’s mask off and addresses him by his previous name, revealing Tarn to be Glitch- a former Autobot and one of Optimus Prime’s first followers. Megatron coldly tells Glitch that “everything he did was for nothing” before exploding the D.J.D. leader’s head from within.
A truly epic climax to Megatron’s character arc for the entire “season”, and a great callback to the Marvel UK comics as well with Megatron’s “antimatter eyes” visual. While the reveal of Tarn’s identity is something of an afterthought, it still makes perfect sense and even the understated manner of the reveal is thematically-appropriate.
1. HOSTAGE SITUATION
(MTMTE # 6, 2012)
Fortress Maximus, suffering from PTSD and unable to cope, has barricaded himself in Rung’s office, holding the psychiatrist and his current appointment Whirl hostage. Max’s demands are simple; he wants the Lost Light to immediately return to Cybertron so he can get an explanation from Prowl about why it took so long to rescue him from his years-long torture in Garrus-9 at Overlord’s hands. And by “explanation”, Max probably just means an excuse to take Prowl’s head off.
The situation grows ever more tense as Whirl, not in possession of all his own marbles, continues to goad Fortress Maximus into killing him while the compassionate Rung desperately tries to defuse the situation. When Max threatens Rung’s life, Whirl responds by expositing on his own stew of personal demons and borderline psychosis. Whirl also reveals his tragic backstory, as well as his history with the Wreckers and why he was booted out of the Autobot commando unit.
Outside, on the Lost Light’s hull, Rewind and Swerve happen to be on “rivet duty” when Rodimus calls and tells them to position themselves outside Rung’s office window. He’s hoping they can surprise Maximus and stop the hostage situation before it gets worse. Inside, Maximus grows more agitated when he notices the ship hasn’t changed course and prepares to execute Whirl. Before he can, Rewind projects footage of Max’s torture by Overlord into the office, forcing Maximus to relive the ordeal and collapse. Rung hugs his traumatized patient and tells him that it’ll be okay.
The situation appears to have been dealt with, but Rodimus isn’t so sure. He orders Swerve to fire through the window and disable Fortress Maximus. Despite Swerve’s hesitation and doubt that he can hit Max, he gives into Rodimus’ urging and shoots… and misses…
This may seem like an odd choice for my favorite moment from James Roberts’ run, but it’s here because it’s a quintessential demonstration of a “Roberts moment”. All the ingredients are here- the steady escalation of tension, the character development in the midst of a dangerous situation, the seemingly “happy” conclusion, and then Roberts takes a sharp left and turns it into a sobering tragedy.
The only way this scene could have had more impact would be if Rung were truly dead for real, and make no mistake; when everyone first read this issue, we all thought he was. Roberts had defined his original (or some might say “self-insert”) character so well in only six issues, and the last thing anyone expected would be to lose Rung so quickly. Not taking anything that follows into account, this was a pretty shocking and powerful moment on its own and a key dramatic scene of the first “season”. Even if fake-out deaths like this would become common in his run, this was the first time Roberts pulled this trick, and we all totally fell for it.
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And now... to rant.
Dishonorable Mention- CYGATE
I liked Cyclonus and Tailgate’s character arcs in “Season 1” of MTMTE. Cyclonus’ arc was about defrosting his icy persona and becoming part of the crew, and Tailgate’s arc was about being the naive new guy who tried to talk himself up and impress his new shipmates. The two made for odd companions with similar, yet different circumstances. Tailgate basically became Cyclonus’ first friend on the Lost Light and Cyclonus helped him accept himself as he was.
If Tailgate had died of his cybercrosis at the end of Season 1, it would have been sad, but a complete cap-off to his character journey. His death would have also inspired Cyclonus to open up more to the rest of the crew. However, Roberts felt he had more to say with Tailgate and kept him around. And that’s when the problems began.
In “Season 2”, Tailgate became this annoying little idiot for me. His naivety had gone past its expiration date and was no longer charming. Roberts also introduced the subplot of Getaway creeping on Tailgate, which I assumed at the time was some kind of metaphor or parallel to pedophilia or child abuse. Cyclonus caught wind of it and helped extricate Tailgate late in Season 2, and I was willing to rationalize he was just looking out for his younger little buddy. And then it became clear at the very end of Season 2 and especially in Lost Light that Roberts was pushing a romantic relationship between Cyclonus and Tailgate.
Let me draw your attention to a certain panel. Rodimus is explaining each character's auto-generated human holo-avatar.
With that in mind…do these two characters look like they should be in a romantic relationship?
That implies Tailgate’s got the mental capacity and general maturity of a human toddler! What exactly was Roberts thinking here? Why was this a good idea? You can rationalize that “Oh, Cybertronians are different than humans in terms of mental and physical growth”, but here’s the thing… Roberts’ run is lauded for “humanizing” Transformers more than any other, especially when it comes to emotional bonds between characters. So for this one thing between Cyclonus and Tailgate, it’s different? Sorry, I don’t think you can have it both ways. This was Roberts getting overzealous and trying to appeal to the “shipping” Tumblr crowd and it just came off as creepy to me.
What’s more, it kind of tainted Cyclonus as a character for me for the rest of the run. His entire arc basically became focused around Tailgate for Season 2 and Lost Light. Even his other major relationship in the cast- Whirl, was usually revolving around Whirl playing some kind of wacky matchmaker between Cyclonus and Tailgate. The only thing I was looking forward to in regards to Cyclonus after Season 1 was his inevitable grudge match with Star Saber, and that turned out to be a total wash too. (Side note… you don’t make one of the most heroic Autobots EVER into a fanatical zealot and then proceed to do virtually NOTHING with that! Hashtag NotMyStarSaber)
The third point in this lopsided triangle is Getaway, and he’s another character I feel that Roberts completely derailed after MTMTE ended. That mutiny reveal moment is so effective and powerful because, as I mentioned… Getaway was partway in the right. He had a legitimate point and one that felt believable for the other crew members to rally behind. He was a creep with Tailgate, but he wanted justice in regards to Megatron. What a great setup! What a moral quandary for the readers to chew over!
And then… Roberts completely pissed it away in Lost Light’s “The Mutineers Trilogy”. He proceeded to beat a dead horse into the pavement by stripping any semblance of ambiguity in regards to Getaway’s motives, methods, and intentions. People were already predisposed to hate Getaway if they felt for Tailgate, but Roberts made sure to virtually lecture his readers that Getaway was a terrible person and if YOU agreed in any way with him, you’re terrible too. It went so far as Roberts putting the words “Fake News” into Getaway’s mouth in a scene where it barely made any sense in context, just to remove any doubt about how one should feel about the character.
Reeeal subtle.
That’s why I barely felt any catharsis when Rodimus eventually confronted and defeated Getaway. Instead of the canny smooth-talking rival who stole the Lost Light and its crew out from under Rodimus, Getaway had become some desperate poser with a personality disorder who had effectively destroyed himself long before Whirl’s Scraplets finished the job. I can’t help but feel this was another “appease the Tumblr fanbase” thing for Roberts, because HOW DARE GETAWAY HURT PRECIOUS BLUEBERRY MUFFIN TAILGATE!
So yeah… Roberts effectively killed my enjoyment of three characters here by being overindulgent, pandering and preachy.
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NEXT TIME- My top ten John Barber moments!
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