Thanks to Comics Beat website we have a very nice reading for all of you. A great Interview with James Roberts on Lost Light Finale.
James Roberts, writer of “More Than Meets The Eye” and “Lost Light” (among other titles), shares his views on how he developed his storytelling for the final arc of Lost Light, which is finishing together with the rest of the IDW universe this year. He also comments on how he developed some characters and their importance in the events of the main storytelling. James really appreciates fans paying attention to the story, character and details about them. About this final arc we can share for you this line:
“…it really is like our version of Infinity War. And I’ll make no apologies – there’s alotgoing on”.
We should really expect a lot coming in hot this year with the last issues of Lost Light. You can read the full interview here or you can read a full transcript after the jump.
With the formal announcement that IDW’s collective Transformers Universe is ending at WonderCon, the creators at the publisher are gearing up for the end of the series, including creator James Roberts. Roberts has a big responsibility in putting an end to his 100-issue magnum opus, Transformers: Lost Light story.
Now that the finale is in sight, what does it feel like to be so close to the finish line of Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and Transformers: Lost Light?
If I’m honest, it’s all moving too fast to process — especially with some of the final issues double-shipping. I’ve just finished writing the solicit for the final issue, and that did give me pause; the first real proof that this is it, that there’s no turning back.
If you count the tie-in spotlights, crossovers, specials, and annuals, our story — the Autobots’ quest for Cyberutopia and the Knights of Cybertron — has taken pretty much 100 issues to tell, and I’m amazed (and relieved, and surprised) that we’ve been able to tell it. I mean, so few books last the distance these days, and so few stories are given the space to unfold. To have been given (by the readers, through their continued support) seven years to tell a single epic tale is a privilege. My biggest fear, of course, has been that — for whatever reason — the plug would be pulled ahead of time, and we’d have a rushed finale… or worse, no finale at all. It would just… stop. To have been given a definite and relatively distant end point (I think the decision to end both Lost Light and Optimus Prime was taken when I was writing Lost Light #12) was ideal.
With you planning so far ahead, did any of your long-term planning change along the way?
You know, I was all ready to say that the basic mytharc — that is, the overall shape of the story I set out to tell back in 2011 — has remained broadly the same, but now that I’m an issue away from the end, I don’t think that’s true. Megatron’s defection to the Autobots, which was something no one predicted back in the beginning, did change the course of the story in more ways than I imagined at the time. And I think he changed it for the better; it made for a richer, deeper story, and one that better explores the key themes of More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light: guilt, family, and forgiveness.
With the current arc revolving around death, do you identify this as a time of reflection for the Lost Light crew?
They don’t really have time to sit back and reflect. Well, they kind of do within the “Everlasting Voices” arc, which is pretty ruminative by Lost Light standards, but – as you’ll see – events kind of take over after #18 and there’s really no time at all to stop and breathe as we barrel towards our conclusion. I do try to mark characters’ deaths by exploring their friends’ reaction to them, so this is new for me. There’s no time to take stock, no time to mourn – you just have to work out how to survive the next threat.
Is there a character fans aren’t paying attention to that they should watch out for in the next couple issues?
Trick question – fans pay attention to every character!
How do you manage the sprawling Lost Light cast with a finite space?
My approach across the whole of the run, including More Than Meets the Eye, has been to tell one- and two-part stories that focus on a handful of the cast, rather than have everyone in every story – because you’re right, it’s a huge cast, and in fact, it’s just grown with the end of #17. I tend to save the “all in this together” stories for season finales, or, in the case of Lost Light (because it was a relaunch), the season opener.
If you look at Lost Light, once we moved beyond the “Dissolution” arc (and the only way I was meaningfully able to give most of the main cast some time in the spotlight was to split the cast up and pursue several subplots), we had a two-parter focusing on Nautica, Anode, Lug, and Velocity, and then “The Mutineers Trilogy” that told the story of Getaway, First Aid, and Co. That meant there was five months before we checked in on the core cast again, and maybe that was too long. In fact, I moved the Scavengers story around so that “Sardines” (in LL #13) came first; otherwise, it would have been seven months between Rod & Co. leaving Necroworld and us catching up with them.
The moral of the story: don’t have too many characters.
Are there any teases you can draw towards mysteries fans may not be keeping their eye on?
Well, I kind of refer you to my previous answer. The readers are so attentive, and they’re so used by now to my style of storytelling, that very few clues go unnoticed. In fact, what tends to happen is that non-clues get seized upon as evidence of an imaginary plot line that’s always, frustratingly, better than the one I’ve got planned.
I will say, however, that the finale is designed to answer all the questions that have been building up over the last seven years, including some that may have been forgotten about, or to which it appeared that the answers had already been given.
What is like to be able to have the freedom to start coupling off certain characters?
I dunno, that makes it seem that it’s either random or arbitrary. The Chromedome/Rewind relationship was there from the start, the Cyclonus/Tailgate relationship developed over time – and at various points along the way (notwithstanding my earlier comment about long-term plotting), I wasn’t sure which way I wanted it to go. I think with Anode and Lug, that’s the first time since the very beginning that I consciously thought “These two are a couple” – and the ability to do that without any fear of pushback, is because conjunx endura and Cybertronians being “married” are things that we now, thankfully, accept as commonplace.
Can you tease what kind of elements the Scavengers will bring to the story?
It’s a bit like the Guardians of the Galaxy in Infinity War – they’re such a complete package, with such a strong collective personality, that they just need to be there, in the thick of it, and act the way they act, and – in my opinion – you get that sweet crossover hit. I mean, it was fun writing Swerve and Misfire together – they always seemed destined to be a double act, like Blue Beetle and Booster Gold back in JLI. Sensible Krok gravitates towards Magnus, Fulcrum shares an aversion to danger with Brainstorm, and Spinister’s skills commend him to the other doctors. But I say that, and it suggests that they integrate seamlessly… but the fact is, they’re a bunch of very odd Decepticons, and even when they’re consciously trying to be on their best behaviour and react appropriately to the universe-threatening events unfolding around them, they’re still – and always will be – beautifully rubbish.
With the war between Autobots and Decepticons being over for an extended period of time now, do you think some of the stress and anxiety leading to Getaway seizing the Lost Light would be possible now?
I think in the eyes of the Autobots and Decepticons, whose lifespans are measured in millions of years, post-war life is still very new. And with someone so monumentally divisive as Megatron – the grand architect of a war that nearly annihilated them as a race – that’s never going to be assimilated, rationalized, and put to one side quickly. The pain, recriminations, and bitterness will take centuries to take effect, even with Megatron trapped in another universe. So yeah, I think that while the atmosphere is very slightly less febrile than in the months immediately after Megatron defected, it would still be relatively easy for a charismatic or manipulative ideologue to exploit simmering tensions.
What is it like to write a villain as memorable and ruthless as Getaway or Tarn?
Writing villains is best when readers elevate them to that “love to hate” status, where they’re fan-favorites but people really want to see them get their comeuppance. I knew when I saw Alex Milne’s designs for Tarn that he’d be an iconic baddie, regardless of his personality or motivations, and I knew that he’d be loathed because of the horrific way in which he murders, or oversees the murders of, his enemies. It was rewarding to give him a few more layers as time went on – to explore his protectiveness towards the rest of the D.J.D., his breakdown upon learning of Megatron’s betrayal, and the fate of his beliefs when they were properly tested.
I never, ever expected Getaway to be hated as much as he is right now. Okay, so that’s maybe not quite true. What he did to Tailgate was abhorrent and when people picked up on his motives I knew that would generate a visceral response. But it was the mutiny – even more so than emotionally manipulating Tailgate and being prepared to get him killed – that made readers absolutely loathe him. And yet, there was still a vocal cohort of readers who maintained that “Getaway did nothing wrong”. I know for some it was a tongue-in-cheek statement, and it became harder to maintain as a position as “The Mutineers Trilogy” unfolded, but it was very gratifying to see the sympathies shift. And you know what? It’s nice for More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light’s most-hated bad guy to be an Autobot.
Is there anything you would like to add about the book?
Oh god, where to start? With regards to the last few issues specifically, I’ve really tried to deliver the finale that long-time readers deserve. It’s like our earlier season finales rolled into one and amplified. It’s huge, and it needs to be because this is where all those years of readers’ investment pay off. Characters get their moment to shine, or meet their end, and mysteries are finally, properly solved. The cast is absolutely huge, as is the scale – it really is like our version of Infinity War. And I’ll make no apologies – there’s a lot going on.
More generally, I’d like to say that for me, there will never be another book – or another creative journey – quite like More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light. As a Transformers fan back in the 80s/90s, this is the One Big Story that I always wanted to tell, and everything just fell into place at the right time. Best of all, it turns out there was a market for whatever it was MTMTE turned out to be: a silly, serious, funny-sad space opera sitcom about very ordinary, very extraordinary people.
Rodimus Prime
Don't remember or don't miss it?
Sounds like tone policing to me.
pluto
I do not, no.
Windsweeper II
It was a cool idea to keep a TF story going according to a set of principles.
I'm not a fan of the 'in disguise' concept. I think it limits the franchise too much. But I liked that Furman wanted to keep to that principle.
Eventually though like always he abandoned what he set out to do, as is always the case with TF fiction.
96megatron
I'm aware of the retcons, I mean I like the Michael Bay Transformers Movies, the MCU sometimes, and the DCEU. Basically they're also a cornucopia of retcons I can handle this. But thank you. I'll probably read the reboot of the comics in publication order when it comes out.
TheSoundwave
Yeah, I really liked Infiltration. It's definitely closer to what I enjoy in a Transformers story. I enjoyed the use of vehicle modes, and how the goal was to remain under the humans' radar at all costs (almost like a spy story). I wish they kept the stuff with Ratchet and the kids going for longer. I really enjoy those smaller scale 'on-the-run' type stories. Eventually it kind of became a more typical Transformers story, but it was still very enjoyable.
Danny-Boy
Chronological order sounds like a terrible idea to me. You’re gonna get a whole bunch of retconned stuff that will seem out of place in the earlier published material. I’d say go in publication order instead.
96megatron
I just started reading the IDW Transformers Continuity in Chronological Order myself. According to Wikipedia's IDW Transformers Comics Page.
Finished reading Megatron's Origin and now I'm on Transformers Spotlight Orion Pax. Before deciding to read it in Chronological Order I did read some issues of Infiltration which when they are on Earth and disguising themselves. Did you read and like that one?
Ramberk Magnus
Yeah, not all “criticism” is equal. Some folks just write jerk posts on purpose. Insults and negative blanket statements are not criticism or even desirable opinions. We know the difference.
This is a valuable and valued community space. Some (most?) want this space to continue to be friendly, that’s why “bad behavior” gets called out. Not because it’s critical of things we like.
I dig Roberts. I hope he continues writing in the reboot. Or gets picked up by a big publisher.
TheSoundwave
I didn't realize that James Roberts and MTMTE/Lost Light were so polarizing.
I read MTMTE up until it changed into Lost Light. For me it was just so-so. I thought the novelty of it was a lot of fun, but I tired of it after that wore off. I think I would have preferred it as a limited-run mini-series. I don't consider it the "best Transformers story ever" like a lot of fans do, but I'd hardly say it's the worst. More than anything, it's just not my cup-of-tea, it's not really my idea of an ideal Transformers story. Not enough transformations or use of the disguise aspect. It could have easily been a non-TF story that used human characters.
Although I will say the whole "conjunx endura" thing was pretty terrible. I don't really like the idea of romance between robots in this brand, it just doesn't work for me, at least as a serious source of drama. Maybe if it were played for laughs. At times it felt like it was trying to pander to the Tumblr-crowd, and I found myself skimming over those parts, lol. Still, I wouldn't say it ruins the entire comic.
Windsweeper II
Hopefully that won't happen this time.
justiceg
Sorry, I wasn't too clear there at all. I don't mean that it would be a twist in the traditional sense…I mean an ending where
would be a twist on the ending of Eugenesis, where
NanakoPreame
Because these "twists" have gotten really dull and predictable.
justiceg
I don't know, knowing Roberts – and knowing how Eugenesis ends, so this would be a twist on it – he might have simply literally described what's going to happen in the next 7 issues. Does it being the Infinity Gauntlet or the Magnificence make a difference in the end?
Dinobot Snarl
I didn't go through the whole thread, buts it's okay not to like that aspect of MTMTE, but even so, the writing is beyond fantastic.
Yes I wouldn't mind if some bots we're close, but I'd prefer it be out shared experience and less so ramantically. That in no way lessens the masterpiece we have here though, not for me.
Rodimus Prime
Remember when we'd discuss the actual plotlines and their quality (or lack thereof) rather than which robot is screwing which? I miss that.
NanakoPreame
so, back on topic, I would've chosen a better story to compare mine to then "Heroes fight, villain's gets McGuffin, kills half the cast, get undone by the end".
SPLIT LIP
And that makes the entire fandom a "hellhole", huh? That invalidates every positive and applies to every facet of the brand.
Seems like a bit of cheeky backtracking to me.
So we should just make TFW a big ol' hugbox where no dissenting voices are allowed?
Or perhaps could we merely, collectively, grow thicker skins and get on with our lives? Hell, we have an ignore list feature that practically wipes users off the site as far as you're concerned.