#27 - "King of the Hill!"

Credits

Writer - Bob Budiansky / Penciler - Don Perlin / Inker - Ian Akin & Brian Garvey / Lettering - Janice Chiang / Colors - Nel Yomtov

Story

In a forest in Oregon's Cascade Range, Rachel Becker is showing some large footprints to her college professor, asking if they're proof of ancient dinosaurs. Her professor dismisses the prints as a hoax, and make plans to leave. But after seeing a flying pterodactyl shadow, they decide to camp out instead.

Nearby, Swoop delivers a stolen tanker-trailer full of oil to the other Dinobots. As they feed, Grimlock vows that the Dinobots will rejoin the Autobots tonight (after defecting in issue #19), now that Optimus Prime is dead (in issue #24).

Meanwhile, the Decepticons have built their new headquarters beneath an artificial island in the Florida Keys. Ratbat calls from Cybertron with an announcement; due to excessive fuel use, the space bridge to Earth is being shut down. Shockwave blames the inefficiency on the now-dead Megatron, and convinces Ratbat to let him use the space bridge one last time -- to send the largest Decepticon to attack the Ark and destroy the Autobots. With a threat to abort the mission if too much fuel is used, Ratbat agrees.

At the Ark, the Autobots discuss who should lead them after Optimus Prime's death. Grimlock charges in and demands the leadership role, due to his strength. The others disagree, and Grimlock leaves with muttered threats.

Enter... Trypticon!

Later that night, in the forest near the Ark, a sleeping Rachel is awakened by a strange glow. Curious, she follows it, and sees the space bridge arrive and deliver Trypticon.

Grimlock leads the other Dinobots to attack the Ark, but Trypticon has gotten there first. With numerous armaments and a supply of sonic scrambler missiles, Trypticon inflicts massive damage to the Autobots. As the other Dinobots watch in amusement, Grimlock turns away in disgust. He runs into Rachel but ignores her, and she is soon captured by Trypticon's assistant, Wipe-Out.

The Dinobots continue to watch the carnage, joking at Trypticon's skill. Wipe-Out delivers Rachel to Trypticon, who tries to eat her. Grimlock suddenly jumps to the rescue and attacks, followed soon afterwards by the other Dinobots. The Dinobots fight Trypticon to a standstill, and the fight ends when the space bridge reappears -- the mission has gone over its fuel allowance, and Ratbat summons Trypticon back to Cybertron. The Transformers disappear just before Racher rejoins her fellow humans.

In the Ark, the Autobots nominate Grimlock to be their leader. Grimlock refuses at first, but the Autobots insist, and he soon accepts.

Notes and Comments

• This is the last time in the comics where Grimlock speaks with a normal vocabulary. Afterwards, he adopts the simplistic "Me Grimlock smash!" dialog of the cartoon series, for no reason.
• Are there multiple space bridges? If so, why did Spanner have to be sacrificed to make a bridge in issue #18? If not, then this is the same bridge that was "destroyed" in issue #25. In that case, Megatron might still be alive (if he didn't fall into the void, as Straxus did in issue #18) -- but the Decepticons never considered this possibility.
• The Ark's defenses are inactive here. There is no mention that the defenses are damaged; did the Autobots remove them after the fiasco last issue?
• Rachel Becker never tells anyone that there are giant warring robots in the forest. Why?