Transformers King Grimlock

Comic Review by Donald Daniels

Written by Steve Orlando

Art by Steve Orlando

Colors By Jeremy Colwell

Published by IDW

Optimus Prime and Grimlock are debating what to do with surrendered enemies when suddenly Grimlock is transported to a different time and place. He is sent to the future on the planet of Menonia where the humans are locked in a losing war with a powerful entity known as the golden one. The Menonians where praying for Optimus Prime valiant leader of the autobots, to save them from the Golden one, but instead they got Grimlock the King of the Dinobots.

Steve Orlando creates an interesting scenario where Grimlock King of the Dinobots is now in a world that reminds me of a Dungeons & Dragons setting. The character sheet for Grimlock at the back of the book further solidifies this point. The humans are begging Grimlock to be their savior, but instead of jumping in to help, Grimlock walks away. The set up for the story was done very well by Orlando in this first issue. The story is simple, but in the interactions between Grimlock and the Humans you get a great bit of detail about the characters struggles. The story makes sure you get a good sense of this world and its inhabitants. The characters are all developed very well in just a brief period which helps immerse us into the story. Orlando has stuck the landing with a very good hook for the rest of the story.

The artwork is top notch, there is nothing I can really criticize. The colors are great in every panel. The lines are very clean. The detail is spectacular and there is no annoying shading. Artwork for a transformer comic is normally not something I enjoy since it’s always just a bunch of robots put together in a panel. It is often necessary to spend a lot of time deciphering who is who and what they are doing. This comic does not suffer from that due to the setting. Grimlock is the only giant robot, and he is in a colorful robust setting. It works well.

Overall, I give Transformers King Grimlock 9 capes out of 10. The story and the artwork are both superior quality and I hope the rest of the series comes across my desk.