Transformers: Dinobot Hunt (Paperback)

The storyline opens with the Dinobots missing, following two stories - 'The Wrath of Guardian' and 'The Wrath of Grimlock' (which, unfortunately, don't look like being published in book form) - in which Swoop was presumed destroyed and the remainder struck out on their own, understandably more than a little annoyed at being rudely awakened from their four million year slumber in a tar pit. In 'The Icarus Theory', the human, Professor Morris, discovers Swoop in a swamp and misguidedly uses him to attack the Autobots, prompting them to set out on a quest to find the remainer of the group before they can do any damage...

Simon Furman's first true Transfromers masterpiece, this shows his talent at taking Transformers who had been underused in the US comic and exploring and enriching their characters. Grimlock, in particular, was a much more well rounded, intelligent and likeable anti-hero here than the rather one-dimensional character Bob Budianski wrote in his stories. All of the artwork is also excellent and, again, vastly superior to much which appeared in the US comic.

As well as 'The Icarus Theory' and 'Dinobot Hunt', this volume follows the storyline of the Dinobots with the excellent 'Victory' (possibly the greatest story here), and 'In the National Interest'. Chronologically the first UK volume - this runs straight into 'Target: 2006', as that volume's opening sees the fallout of events shown here - 'Dinobot Hunt' found the UK comic hitting its stride, being the first real indication that it had potential to stand on its own feet away from the US continuity, and might one day even eclipse it.

Overall, this volume is a must-read for anybody interested in the genesis of the UK Transformers comic, and especially so for fans of the Dinobots.

Although some people won't like the art work by Barry Kitson, Jeff Anderson and Will Simpson, I always found that the more colour intensive, clunky art work made it more of a trip into the past. The 2000AD influence of the artists is quite clear, but makes it more endearing, more British. Due to this, to an extent, Dinobot Hunt is one of the British collections that has a unifying style of art throughout the book.

Although the plot is relatively straight forward compared to other collections, it is an enjoyable read and better than most of the stories reprinted in Cybertron Redux and Showdown, of which this filled in the print run gaps. Also, the story 'In the National Interest,' preludes Target 2006. The reason why Optimus Prime was tearing up a chunk of forest.