Dungeons & Dinobots

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"Dungeons & Dinobots"
Publisher	Fun Publications
First published	December 5, 2008
Written by	Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak
Illustration by	Evan Gauntt
Cover	Evan Gauntt
Continuity	Shattered Glass
Page count	36

Following the Ark's destruction, the new Dinobots are unleashed! But what ancient horror is behind Grimlock's miraculous transformation?

Synopsis

The Decepticons, led by Megatron, and the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are battling for control of the Arch-Ayr fuel dump. Soundwave arrives with the Mayhem Suppression Squad, forcing the Autobots to withdraw. A thunderous clatter heralds the coming of Grimlock and the Dinobots, controlled by Wheeljack. The mad scientist vows revenge on Optimus Prime. Optimus, however, convinces Wheeljack to use his emberless monsters against the Decepticons. But when ordered to attack, the Dinobots turn on each other and scatter.

Back at the Autobot base, Optimus vents his anger at Blurr and Side Burn. He orders all available Autobots to bring back the Dinobots for reprograming. Meanwhile, Megatron comes to the same conclusion, sending some top Decepticons after the beasts.

Some time later, Cliffjumper and Sideswipe locate Slugfest near the Rust Sea. But the hulking Goryu comes to the small Dinobot's aid.

Elsewhere, Jazz, Goldbug, Rodimus, and Blurr debate who will climb a tower to retrieve Swoop.

Cliffjumper and Sideswipe finally defeat the two Dinobots and go after an Autobot passing on the horizon. When cornered, Huffer admits that he's running from Grimlock.

The group of Autobots bring down Swoop, then Blurr and Rodimus respond to a call from Huffer about Grimlock's location.

Cliffjumper and Sideswipe track Grimlock to an old bunker. Sideswipe shows hesitation. This is the place where Optimus had Sideswipe attacked for insubordination after Optimus killed Sideswipe's commander Drench. That conflict also led to Sideswipe's own comrade Cliffjumper's death. The current Cliffjumper dismisses those concerns and the two descend deep into the tomb-like bunker. While examining funerary hieroglyphics, a booming voice calls, "GET OUT." But the way out is obscured; the tunnels have changed. Continuing on their journey, Cliffjumper injures his leg in a trap.

Rodimus and Blurr arrive at the bunker. Along the way down, they also run into a booby trap. On the other side, they meet up with Cliffjumper and Sideswipe. Cliffjumper and Rodimus inadvertently tumble into a hidden passage, activating yet another hazard.

At that same moment, Blurr and Sideswipe are harassed by mutants.

Rodimus deactivates the crushing trap, and the two fall through the floor. Rodimus realizes that this place is where the Omega Terminus is hiding. He plans to use it to create his own army. On their way, they locate a vial of healing scraplets who eat dead metal.

The mutants cease their pursuit when Blurr and Sideswipe reach the Omega Terminus chamber. The four meet up again, crossing a narrow bridge over a deep chasm. On the other side, they find Grimlock, who explains in his rudimentary way that a voice guided him to his chamber. A light shoots out of the Omega Terminus, striking Grimlock. The lumbering beast transforms into a robot, suddenly eloquent. To the surprise of the others, he's been granted an ember and a robot mode, along with a great deal of intelligence.

Grimlock proclaims that the Omega Terminus doesn't want the others here. Cliffjumper challenges him, but the Omega Terminus responds. Four corpses are animated, among them, the native Cliffjumper and Drench. Grimlock divulges that the mutants bring the deactivated robots back here so that the Omega Terminus can use them for new life. A battle ensues. The zombies are dispatched with the scraplets and Grimlock falls over the edge into the chasm. The formless voice again instructs them to leave, and the four are only too pleased to obey.

For his failure, Rodimus is sent to Ratchet for an upgrade: a new buzzsaw-hand. Blurr reports to Optimus that the Autobots have gathered eight Dinobots. Unannounced, Grimlock enters the room. He offers his services to Optimus while also asserting his independence. This enrages Prime, but Grimlock's intellect impresses the Autobot leader.

Later, Grimlock breaks into the Decepticon corral, promising the Decepticon-captured "Dinocons" a trip to the Omega Terminus...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Decepticons	Autobots	Others
Starscream (1) Megatron (2) Sideswipe (8) Gutcruncher (9) Soundwave (11) Crasher (12) Dirge (13) Thundercracker (14) Bludgeon (15) Carnivac (16)	Optimus Prime (3) Huffer (4) Hound (5) Rodimus (6) Arcee (7) Grimlock (18) Wheeljack (19) Blurr (20) Side Burn (21) Jazz (23) Goldbug (24) Drench (27) Cliffjumper (28) Ratchet (29)	Cliffjumper (10) Goryu (17) Slugfest (22) Swoop (25) Omega Terminus (26)

Quotes

"Fear not, Mega-Dude! This is Soundwave, rockin' the radio from Darkmount, and I bring you joyous tidings! For I have totally called in the cavalry!"

—Soundwave is the righteous bearer of good news.

"Shoot it! I can't keep this up forever!"
"I can't, the glass gas'll blow back in my face!"
"That's a terrible weapon!"
"Why don't you just beat it to death with a missile if you're so smart!"

—Sideswipe and Cliffjumper discuss tactics.

"Listen Huffer, you'd better talk. My partner here isn't quite what you'd call sane. He believes in Primus."

—Sideswipe gives the Shattered Glass perception of Transformer religious views.

"Me... me... m... m... my... I... iii... I... Griiimm... lock... waaaaannnt... to talk a little bit about the truly fascinating ramifications of directly applied neutronic rearrangement when applied to instantaneous mechanical re-engineering! It is a fascinating subject, particularly in terms of practical application, wot?"

—Grimlock goes from stupidly incomprehensible to intelligently incomprehensible.

"LEAVE WITH YOUR LIVES. NEVER RETURN."
"And if we don't?"
"YOU ARE OUT OF SCRAPLETS."

—Omega Terminus makes a rather persuasive argument to Sideswipe.

Notes

• Something may be going on with Side Burn. Though he speaks like a mirrorverse Side Burn would (gently ranting against "undue attention to females"), there are other indicators that he's not exactly what he seems. He hasn't been with the Autobots long. He's one of the few characters, along with Crasher and Demolishor, who isn't based on someone from Generation 1. Blurr remarks that Side Burn doesn't belong, implying there's something off about him.
• In the original "Shattered Glass" comic, the Decepticons had never heard of Primus until Cliffjumper told them about Him. They are shocked to hear the idea that they are the work of a benevolent Creator. By the time of "Dungeons & Dinobots", word of Cliffjumper's "beliefs" has apparently made rounds. The Autobots consider Cliffjumper crazy and laughable for being "Mr. 'The Planet is a God'".

Errors

• On page 20, "air" is misspelled as "hair".
• On page 27, "Blurr" is misspelled as "Burr".
• On page 28, "last remnants of his one-time friend was" should be "last remnants of his one-time friend were".
• On page 30, Blurr claims that since the Autobots have captured eight Dinobots, they have an eight hundred percent increase. Before the hunt, they had zero Dinobots. Eight hundred percent of zero is still zero, and if by some chance Grimlock could count as one Dinobot because he was shortly on their side some time ago, then the increase would be seven hundred percent to get up to eight Dinobots.

Transformer references

• The Mayhem Suppression Squad makes its second appearance. They debuted in "Shattered Expectations".
• With the Dinobots crazed and scattered, and with both teams trying to gather them up, this story calls back to the Marvel UK's "Dinobot Hunt!", and Megatron names their mission a "Dinobot Hunt!" accordingly.
• Like the The Transformers cartoon continuity, Wheeljack created the Dinobots, except for Grimlock, who is created by the Decepticons just like Transformers Animated continuity.
• The code "D-322" etched into the armor on Goryu's hip is a reference to Victory Gōryū's Japanese ID number.
• Grimlock gained a remarkable intelligence, just like his counterpart in The Transformers cartoon episode "Grimlock's New Brain".
• Scraplets return, but in this universe they're a healing potion.
• The Omega Terminus is the mirrorverse version of Vector Sigma.
• A number of Shattered Glass Autobots are mentioned, including Slag, Ultra Magnus, Fixit, Beachcomber, Chromedome, Geronimo, Blaster and Hoist.

Real-world references

• Gygax, the location on Cybertron to which Wheeljack was exiled, is named after Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons & Dragons. The name of the text story and several of its settings, themes, and objects are an overt homage to Dungeons & Dragons.
• Grimlock's shift to an intelligent robot closely follows a similar such scene in Gremlins 2, when a Gremlin injected with an intelligence serum immediately declares that "iiiii wwwaaaaaaannnnn....ttto talk about this fascinating phenomenon taking place at this moment."

External links

• Transformers Collectors' Club exclusive fiction (must be a logged-in member to access)