I'm not sure why everyone keeps saying Grimlock has "fur," since Raptors have never been known to have hair of any kind.
The guys at IDW and Don himself have all said that Grimlock is covered with small feathers to keep up with the idea that raptors were actually a feathered dinosaur. I kinda dig the look myself.
As for the comic, I can't wait for it. The Gathering was setting everything up, so there was only so much that could be done with it, but several characters really stood out as enjoyable (namely Torca, in his few short scenes, as well as Snarl, B'Boom, Wolfang, Bonecrusher, Razorbeast, Spittor, Drillbit, and Magmatron to name a few). With what Simon Furman's confirmed for this series (a bunch of Japenese characters making their appearance, as well as some more G1 characters, and a certain giant planet munching menace, perhaps - taken straight from Neo, I believe), it definitely sounds to be more on the epic scale than the first.
Oh, and that artwork is awesome, too.