On the day of their interview with James Roberts, Matt discovered he'd been sitting on a goldmine of juicy secrets concerning original plans for Lost Light. With James' blessing, we're breaking them down now.
From minor tidbits to major revelations, we pull back the curtain a little on what might have been had Lost Light not been cut short. Plus some of our own speculation of course.
If this whets your appetite, make sure to pick up the final volumes of James' notebooks in 2024, which will go into even greater detail.
And that's it! Podcast over. Thank you for joining us for our Transformers journey. If you'd like to keep listening to our podcasts hijinks, make sure to subscribe to Untitled BoJack Horseman Project, available everywhere you get podcasts NOW.
Outro Music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
After dissecting his books for 14 weeks, Ben & Matt had the privilege of sitting down with James Roberts to discuss all things More Than Meets The Eye/Lost Light.
From the origins of his Transformers fandom (and how it differs from Ben & Matt's!), to his influences when building the cast, to incredibly specific questions about Mnemosurgery and Empurata, we tried to cover as much ground as possible in an hour. Don't worry, we made sure to ask 'Why do you hate Beast Wars, James?!?'
Please consider checking out some of our other work (Ben & Matt's Marvellous Journey and There Will Be Movies), available everywhere you get your podcasts, and don't miss out on your chance to order Volumes 3 and 4 of James' notebooks for an even deeper look behind the curtain on these comics by checking his social media.
Outro Music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
Just because the crew of the Lost Light appear to be dead, doesn't mean this is the end! Death? Sparkeaters? Infinites? An Evil Alliance of Past Foes? A Planet-Sized Transformer? Unknowable Ancient Beings Trying to Eat the Universe? Pfft. How about a challenge next time?!?
It's also NOT the end of this podcast, as next week we will be joined by James Roberts himself to answer some of our burning questions about his run on the books.
At last the movie side of our journey has come to an end as Matt finally watches Rise of the Beasts.
We discuss the awkward fit of the Maximals into what is clearly a soft Transformers reboot... or should that be the awkward fit of the Transformers into what is clearly a Beast Wars movie? Plus mileage on Pete Davidson, some sad Peter Cullen truths, the return of blah human protagonists, and the future of a Hasbro Cinematic Universe.
Outro Music: This is Why We Fight (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
Homework
Next Week: Lost Light Issues 13-25 (Vol. 3 & 4)
New Name! New Issue 1! Same old lovable crew!
We discuss why Rodimus is purple now, whacky adventures in a parallel universe, IDW's controversial history with gender in Transformers, the nature of grief, and a much-lauded mutiny.
Outro music: ‘This Is Why We Fight’ (The Decemberists Cover) – Saskia Parks
Homework
Next Week: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Two Weeks: Lost Light Issues 13-25
For ten weeks we have suffered, but at long last it's time for an Actually Good movie! We could tell you about our discussion of Travis Knight's rap career, the much-lauded opening, the best human character in the series, our mildly heated 80s nostalgia debate and how much they get out of no-name villains...
But really, The Thing Is... He's Just A Lil Guy.
Outro Music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
Homework
Next Week: Lost Light Issues 1-12 (Vol. 1 & 2)
Two Weeks: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The end is in sight as we discuss the final issues of More Than Meets The Eye ahead of its revamp. Don't let that knowledge take the drama out of the crew's impending death though!
Love Triangles, Big Returns, Long Term Continuity and Cute Animals with Dark Pasts... truly this episode has it all!
Outro music: ‘This Is Why We Fight’ (The Decemberists Cover) – Saskia Parks
Homework
Next Week: Bumblebee
Two Weeks: Lost Light Issues 1-12
It took 9 weeks, but Ben & Matt finally disagree about the quality of a movie. For Matt, The Last Knight is one of the worst things he has ever seen in his entire life and potentially permanently altered his brain chemistry. Ben contends that while it's bad, it's not only not the worst Transformers movie, but not even the second worst!
They discuss Cogman, 'Hot Rod' (it ain't right what they done to our boy), sozzled Merlin, poor Gemma Chan, awkwardly smushing two ideas together (again!) and generally become delirious.
Outro music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
Homework
Next Week: More Than Meets The Eye Issues 45-55 (Vol. 9 & 10)
Two Weeks: Bumblebee
In which we discuss The Ethics of Withholding Medical Treatment, The Ethics of Killing Baby Robot Hitler, The Ethics of Charisma Parasites, The Ethics of Dated Sitcoms, and the Ethics of War (As Expressed Through Flowers)
Plus Ben tries to break Matt by mentioning too many characters from books we aren't reading, and it works better than he could have imagined at the time!
Outro Music: ‘This Is Why We Fight’ (The Decemberists Cover) – Saskia Parks
Homework
Next Week: The Last Knight
Two Weeks: MTMTE Issues 45-55 (Vols. 9 & 10)
Time to dust off one of our favourite debates on this podcast network: Is it worse to be Boring or Bad?
Michael Bay submits his evidence to the latest hearing, Age of Extinction, which literally has another movie tacked onto the back of it. Hard to believe a movie could be Bad OR Boring when it features Dinobots, Bounty Hunters and Stanley Tucci, but here we are!
Homework
Next Week: MTMTE Issues 34-44
Two Weeks: The Last Knight
Outro Music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
Be not afraid of the huge number of issues covered in this episode, as a big chunk of it belongs to Dark Cybertron, the mostly irrelevant crossover event we break down in under 10 minutes.
On either side of that we discuss Huge Secrets about Magnus & Skids, Pharma's horrifying antics, a mockery of a trial, the Lost Light's new crew members, and the curious case of a vanishing starship.
Next Week: Age of Extinction
Two Weeks: MTMTE Issues 34-44
Outro Music: ‘This Is Why We Fight’ (The Decemberists Cover) – Saskia Parks
In which we discuss Shockwave's cool pet drill, the height of 3D filmmaking, the courting of major name supporting actors, gay panic with Dr Ken, juggling villains, and the ups and downs of The Battle of Chicago.
(Yes, Matt said 'Episode 4' at the start by accident. Sorry!)
Next Week: Issues 17-33 of MTMTE (you can skip Dark Cybertron)
Two Weeks: Age of Extinction
Outro Music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
We continue our adventures aboard the Lost Light with some Big Name Cameos, history lessons, dramatic countdowns (and ups), an ill-advised night on the town and the monster in the basement finally gets loose.
Homework
Next Week: Dark of the Moon
Two Weeks: Issues 17-33 (But feel free to skip Dark Cybertron!)
In which we discuss embarrassing reviews from their younger selves, the 2008 writers strike's impact on one of the worst major movies ever released, Michael Bay Unchained, giant robot balls and of course a Magic Sock Full of Matrix Dust.
It's our first episode covering the acclaimed IDW Transformers series, More Than Meets the Eye, by James Roberts. We discuss the core cast, pacing difficulties, horror monsters, Star Trek away missions, the Worst Decepticons in the World and what Ben believes to be the book's greatest triumph.
For those listening along who have never read the book and are struggling to keep track of character names, check out twitter.com/MALTMTE for a pinned thread of character bios.
Other useful Transformers recources include: TFWiki, The Basics by Chris McFeely and The Whole Plate by Lindsay Ellis
Outro music ‘This Is Why We Fight’ (The Decemberists Cover) courtesy of Saskia Parks
In which we discuss the seeming improbability of Michael Bay agreeing to helm this franchise, everything revolving around a horny teenager, characters arriving in pairs, deploying Megatron so late and Matt's potentially controversial take on the best handling of a Transformer in a Michael Bay movie.
For those wanting to read and/or watch along, next week's episode covers More Than Meets the Eye Issues 1-8, and the week after will be Revenge of the Fallen.
Essential Transformers resources include TFWiki, The Basics by Chris McFeely and The Whole Plate by Lindsay Ellis
Outro Music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
In this introductory mini-episode, Ben & Matt talk through their mission statement for the podcast as well as their history with the Transformers franchise.
If you'd like to watch and read along with us then you need to watch Transformers (2007) before the next episode, and read More Than Meets the Eye Issues 1-8 for Episode 2.
Essential Transformers resources mentioned in this episode include TFWiki, The Basics by Chris McFeely and The Whole Plate by Lindsay Ellis
Outro Music: 'This Is Why We Fight' (The Decemberists Cover) - Saskia Parks
