Rage of the Dinobots issue 1

« Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots #1 »
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	November 28, 2012
Cover date	November 2012
Written by	Mike Johnson & Mairghread Scott
Art by	Agustin Padilla
Colors by	Thomas Deer
Letters by	Shawn Lee
Editor	John Barber
Assistant editor	Jean-Carlo Tirado
Continuity	Prime cartoon

In the dying days of the war for Cybertron, the Dinobots set out to rescue Ultra Magnus from the clutches of the sinister Ser-Ket.

Synopsis

Millions of years ago on Cybertron, some time after Optimus Prime and Megatron have departed the dying planet, there are still many Autobots attempting to flee their homeworld, and plenty of Decepticons left striving to see their enemies die along with their world. A convoy of ships led by Impactor have just managed to escape Cybertron's atmosphere, thanks in large part to the efforts of Grimlock's Dinobots: Snarl uses an anti-aircraft cannon to shoot down the Decepticon craft pursuing the convoy, while his team-mates cover his back by dealing with the Decepticon ground troops led by Blast Off. When the final ship of the convoy escapes, Ultra Magnus orders the Dinobots to get to their own craft, but a last-minute appearance by another squadron of Decepticons draws Swoop into a solo attempt to take them out. Magnus himself appears in a fighter craft to draw the Decepticons off, ordering Swoop away, only to be shot down by his opponents and crash off in the distance. Sludge advocates departing in their own ship, and Slug is particularly happy to leave Magnus behind, tired of how he and the other Autobots have treated the Dinobots differently since they gained their dinosaur forms, but Grimlock refuses to leave a 'bot behind and convinces the other Dinobots to join him on a rescue mission. Little do the Dinobots realize, however, that their conversation has been listened in on by a mysterious third party: the enigmatic Ser-Ket.

Trekking out to the wreckage of Magnus's fighter, the Dinobots discover that something has already beaten them there: a Predacon, one of the monstrous creatures from Cybertron's ancient past that Sludge deduces must have been recreated by Shockwave, the architect of their own prehistoric makeovers. After the Predacon fells Swoop, Grimlock transforms to dinosaur mode and brings the beast down in a short yet ferocious battle. Unfortunately, Grimlock loses control of himself and turns on his own troops, seizing Sludge in his jaws. The other Dinobots manage to calm him down enough to transform back to robot mode, but in the chaos, the Predacon recovers and flies off with Swoop in its clutches.

At the base of Ser-Ket and her followers, the "Forged", a report is received from the Predacon, Backbite, about the capture of Swoop. Just then, Ser-Ket is contacted by her master, Shockwave, and confirms for him the successful capture of Ultra Magnus, who is ready to be "re-forged", along with any Autobots foolish enough to come looking for him!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• It should not come as any surprise to learn that there are a few notable contradictions between this comic and the events of the Fall of Cybertron video game, as this is par for the course when dealing with the Aligned continuity family. However, they do stand out a bit more, as this comic has been actively trailed by its creative team as bridging the gap between the game and upcoming events in the third season of the Prime cartoon. Though the Dinobots' story is obviously the same as seen in the game—given dinosaur forms by Shockwave based on his study of Earth, with Grimlock's beast form tied into his mounting rage—the fact that the game ended with Sludge in stasis lock (before even gaining a dinosaur mode) and Grimlock disappearing in a space bridge explosion, while both are present here, nags at the edge of one's consciousness a bit. These questions are later answered in the Beast Hunters comic.
• Similarly, Fall of Cybertron presents the Ark as the last of the Autobot ships to the leave the planet, with a fleet of others departing before it at the close of the previous game, while here, many Autobots and ships are departing after Prime and Megatron have already left. However, this is in-line with events depicted in the Exodus novel, which had plenty of Autobots remain behind on Cybertron—under the command of Ultra Magnus, no less, as seen in this issue.
• While not appearing on panel, the voice of Impactor is heard on the first page. This Aligned-verse version of the Generation 1 character was previously mentioned in the Prime cartoon episode "Loose Cannons" as a member of the Wreckers. That he is heard here reporting to Ultra Magnus creates a point of further continuity with Exodus, which presented Magnus as the Wreckers' leader.
• While Mairghread Scott noted in a Q&A that the Decepticon who Grimlock impales was merely scripted to "look like Blast Off," the finished art takes this rather literally and shows Blast Off himself. The Combaticon, along with the rest of his teammates, was last seen being sent tumbling through space after being knocked off the escaping Ark by Jazz and Jetfire at the close of the Fall of Cybertron game.
• Grimlock's Energo-sword is drawn less like the one he wielded in the Fall of Cybertron video game or the one included with his Generations toy, and more like the sword belonging to Generation 1 Grimlock. It keeps this look for the rest of the mini-series.

Covers (3)

• Cover A: The assembled Dinobots, by Ken Christiansen
• Cover RIA: Grimlock in dino mode, by Nick Roche and Joana Lafuente (mistakenly credited to Casey Coller and Lafuente), part of a combined image formed from the RIA covers to all four issues.
• Cover RIB: Artwork of Shockwave from the Prime cartoon

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