Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots #1 Review


The timing of this mini-series couldn’t have been better. With Season 2 of Transformers Prime over, and the next one coming next year, this was welcome. As a fan of the show and ‘Prime’ continuity, I was personally looking forward to this series. Rage of the Dinobots takes place before the show but right after the video game Fall of Cybertron. Add in Shockwave, you have a comic fans of the show could especially enjoy. I did, it’s something to check out if you’ve played the games or seen the series.

Here’s the official description from IDW:

Bridging the story from the Fall of Cybertron video game to the Prime TV show — the DINOBOTS hold the line as CYBERTRON falls! With OPTIMUS PRIME and the Ark long gone, the rest of the population makes their escape from the dying world — but SHOCKWAVE remains behind, continuing his experiments!

We all know the story. Autobots fought Decepticons. Cybertron lost.” An excellent way to start out the comic. On Cybertron as the Autobots evacuate the Dinobots are on ground shooting down a Decepticon armada. Once Ultra Magnus’s ship gets taken out is when things get interesting. The narration is of course done by Dinobot leader Grimlock. He has come a long way from his G1 days. Here he retains his personality from the old generation, but also becomes a very compelling focus and a great leader. The other Dinobots are handled well too, full of character. It’s a pretty action-packed issue, but there’s also some really good writing in there. One of my favorite parts is when Sludge says they need to get to the ship before it’s too late, with Grimlock replying that they’re not going to leave anyone on Cybeteron. Slug says they don’t know why they’re going after Ultra Magnus, Grimlock says he still has the Autobot insignia. Mike Johnson’s writing is very good and lives up to the Prime name.

The art matches its show counterpart well. Grimlock especially looks good, one of my favorite panels is when Grimlock is in front saying they can come with him or not and in the background it shows the Dinobots in all black with only their visors lightening up. The main cover showcases the Dinobots in all their glory, as if it was a promotional poster for the show. The second one showcases Grimlock in his always-cool Tyrannosaurus form, definitely the best cover of the bunch. The third one showcases Shockwave, it’s almost as if it was shot from the episode he was in, a great cover. (Shockwave fans will definitely want to pick it up.)

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Overall, Rage of the Dinobots #1 is a fantastic start to this mini-series. It’s exciting, part of the show’s continuity, and no humans. (That’s always a plus.) The writing is very good, plus we all could use a little more Shockwave to hold us over until Season 3, so there’s always that. If you’re a fan of Transformers Prime, there is no reason why you shouldn’t pick this comic up.

4.5/5

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