King of the Hill!
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 He's come to Earth to steal all our propane and propane accessories! | |||||||||||||
| "King of the Hill!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | December 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | April 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Bob Budiansky | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Don Perlin | ||||||||||||
| Inker | Ian Akin & Brian Garvey | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Nel Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Janice Chiang | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Don Daley | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
As the Autobots attempt to choose a new leader, the Decepticons send the giant Trypticon to capture the Ark.
Synopsis
Rachel Becker, a student on a search for fossils, finds a strange footprint. Her professor quickly dismisses the footprint as a hoax, since the edges are clearly mechanically carved. However, none of them can deny the shadowy Pterodactyl-like figure that flies past. They decide to set up camp.
The Dinobots have learned of Optimus Prime's death, and prepare to return to the Ark. Grimlock intends to forcibly seize leadership of the Autobots. The Autobots argue that they need a leader who demonstrates wisdom, compassion, and courage, in addition to being a strong warrior. But Grimlock doesn't care. He and the Dinobots prepare to attack their fellow Autobots.
Meanwhile, Shockwave, now leader of the Decepticons, persuades Cybertronian fuel auditor Ratbat to use the space bridge to send the Decepticons' deadliest soldier, Trypticon, to launch a surprise attack on the Ark, in hopes of seizing control of its vast resources. Ratbat agrees, but warns that the use of the space bridge is too costly to allow such uses in the future.
When Trypticon arrives in the middle of the night, Rachel is awakened and goes out to investigate. She manages to avoid being seen, but loses her flashlight while running from the enormous Decepticon, and is unable to find her way back to camp.
The Dinobots arrive back at the Ark to find that the Autobots are already under attack. As Trypticon is easily defeating the Autobots, most of the Dinobots think that the Decepticon is doing their job for them, but Grimlock has misgivings. As he steps back to consider his options, he is confronted by Rachel, and is impressed when the human fails to flee from him in terror. He leaves her in peace.
Unfortunately for Rachel, she is soon discovered by Trypticon's foot soldier Wipe-Out, who takes her captive and brings her to Trypticon. Grimlock, recognizing the human who had previously impressed him, single-handedly attacks Trypticon. The other Dinobots soon join in, and Trypticon is distracted from his attack upon the Ark. Eventually, Ratbat determines that Trypticon has exceeded his energy budget, and recalls Trypticon back to Cybertron. The Dinobots return to the Ark, leaving Rachel Becker as the sole witness to what has just transpired.
The Autobots, believing that Grimlock has displayed all the qualities one would desire in an Autobot leader by Grimlock's selfless actions against Trypticon, proclaim him their leader.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Notes
- This is the last Marvel US issue to be sold for 75 cents.
- It is also the last issue where Grimlock speaks normally, as opposed to his cartoon incarnation's simpler form of speech.
- Grimlock is drawn by Don Perlin in this issue with his later, more complicated head design which was used in most of the original cartoon. It's harder to tell in subsequent appearances whether this trend continues (until José Delbo picked up art duties) because he was seen exclusively wearing his crown, which covers most of the distinguishing detail.
- Bob chose Grimlock as leader "for contrast [with Prime], as much as anything else... I thought his different approach would shake up the direction of the book in an exciting way and confound readers’ expectations, which it did". Based on the letters the comic got, some of the readers found Grimlock's rise to power distressing! [1]
- The debut of Trypticon in this issue can sometimes overshadow that it is also the debut of a much more important character: Ratbat. As with Grimlock, Bob made him a leader to mess with reader expectations.[2] The idea of a high-ranking cassette has proven too controversial for later publishers.
Errors
- On page 12, Wipe-Out calls his master "Tyrpticon".
- In issue 25, Shockwave's plan was to move the Decepticon base to an actual existing island already on the map. In this issue, they move to a Decepticon-created artificial island.
UK printing
- Issue #111 featured a Grimlock cover by Lee Sullivan. On it Grimlock shouts "Vote for me!". In the real world the issue was on sale during the campaign for the 1987 local council elections and came only a month before the general election.
- Issue #112 used an extensively recolored version of US issue #27's cover, with a new word caption. The cover was cropped to deemphasize the human element, and emphasize the dinosaur-battle going on. Unfortunately this also served to remove a lot of the menace from the cover.
- While this is the US début of Ratbat, in the UK comics he first appeared back during the "Prey!" story arc.
- The cliffhanger for issue #111 is one of the most effective in the UK reprints of US stories — it ends with the sequence of Trypticon emerging from the space bridge, finishing with a massive splash page of the evil Decepticon.
Covers (3)
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US issue #27 - What's better than a giant robot dinosaur? Nothing! -
UK issue #111 - Ironically Grimlock's policies were more sound than Margaret Thatcher's. -
UK issue #112 - The UK wants MORE DINOSAURS!
- US cover: Trypticon vs the Dinobots by Herb Trimpe.
- UK issue #111 cover: Grimlock by Lee Sullivan.
- UK issue #112 cover: extensively recolored version of US issue #27's cover.
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- None yet identified.
Reprints
- 2004 — Transformers: Breakdown
- 2006 — The Transformers: Generations #9
- 2007 — The Transformers: Generations
- 2008 — Classic Transformers Volume 2
- 2010 — The Transformers: Best of Grimlock
- 2012 — The Transformers Classics, Vol. 3
