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Post by The Doctor on Sept 1, 2008 16:26:08 GMT
The tension.
-Ralph
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Post by grahamthomson on Sept 2, 2008 18:55:19 GMT
Gah!
I came to settle down to read more and, lo, it's disappeared again.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 2, 2008 19:04:02 GMT
In the distance, Andu is screaming.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 2, 2008 20:10:15 GMT
I think someone needs to get hold of Graham's copy and then supervise him at all times as he reads.
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Sept 3, 2008 7:51:27 GMT
It is true that I need constant supervision. Especially with matches, methylated spirits and fanzines.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 3, 2008 9:43:54 GMT
Don't use all three at once!
-Ralph
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Post by grahamthomson on Sept 3, 2008 9:50:16 GMT
Supervise me!
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 3, 2008 9:59:45 GMT
I am watching you.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 3, 2008 17:30:21 GMT
It is true that I need constant supervision. Especially with matches, methylated spirits and fanzines. And heavy machinery that might take your thumb off. Mine came today - ta ! |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 3, 2008 17:43:13 GMT
Excellent!
Andy
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2008 19:46:01 GMT
It is true that I need constant supervision. Especially with matches, methylated spirits and fanzines. Get rid of the word 'fanzines' and replace it with 'a Fun Publications issue' and we're more than happy to leave you alone for a few minutes! |
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Gav
Drone
John Travoltage!
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Post by Gav on Sept 3, 2008 21:19:32 GMT
Got my copy today, but have not read it yet.
I shall read it now! I must say, I'm impressed with the look of it so far.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 3, 2008 21:23:07 GMT
Yeah the quality of the print job was pretty good, shiny glossy covers rock!
Andy
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Gav
Drone
John Travoltage!
Posts: 2,045
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Post by Gav on Sept 4, 2008 9:01:49 GMT
Yeah it's really nice. Thanks man.
I must say, the Optimus/Megatron battle of words had me chuckling heartily.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 4, 2008 10:16:22 GMT
It's a favourite of mine as well.
Andy
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2008 15:41:41 GMT
I've still yet to read all of it but I will do. I've read the comic strips and will get around to reading the rest of it maybe next week when I've got a week off work.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 4, 2008 19:53:12 GMT
A week off work? You lightweight, you! How long off work do you need to read something like Eugenesis?  I got home to it at a quarter to six, and read the whole thing over the course of the subsequent two hours. First impressions: GLOSSY! Cover: Not bad, but to be honest not up to the rest of the artwork. Think it's the lack of perspective that underwhelms me - the top of the cube being the same size as the base of the cube, despite feeling like it should be closer to me. By contrast, the Ironhide book-end pages looked superb. Really loved the use of black. The Quintessence of Hate Part 1 - ah, Mark's portrayal of Grimlock takes me back to his old 'Matrix' mini-series. Artistic highlight - pic of Sevax, bottom of first page, though the shot of the Sharkticons in space on page 5 with the one in the middle waving cracked me up. (Deliberate?) Script particularly strong when it came to Dinobot dialogue and individual characters. Excellent reproduction of black areas by the printer. How to Become a Living God - not as hilarious as some previous Nick masterpieces, but the first ever decent stab at explaining just what Galvatron was on about with that volcano. Loved the idea that Galvatron actually did thousands of time-jumps and explored the Galaxy when we weren't watching him in the comics. Less enthusiastic about the use of the Alignment god-ambition version of the Liege Maximo. Always felt Andy Dornan's LM whose mission was to Cyberform the universe to protect it from Unicron had more depth. A Better World - lovely to have something set in the default 1984 TF premise, though a pretty offbeat story. Some nice touches of humour and a moral at the end about interfering without being clear on the facts. Ruined Empire Part 2 - I've a feeling I've commented on this before. Superb artwork, not overdoing the Yaniger stuff. Not so keen on Galvatron's sudden non-indestructibility and the dissing of Prowl, but loved other points such as Soundwave and Trailbreaker. The Examiner - you've made it damn authentic-looking, Andy - many thanks! The letters page is more Metro than broadsheet, but I suppose a giant robot invasion may lead to some slippage of standards. The whole magazine has a reality-within-a-reality feel to it, with live-action Ironhide reviewing communicube records telling of stories set in the Marvel universe, then jumping to this newspaper article, with the Donny Finkleberg letter that confuses the Marvel comics with the live-action universe, then suddenly we have The Ultimate Verbal Battle, in which the Marvel Prime and Megatron refer to their live-action incarnations and settle down to watch the live-action sequel! As with Matt's original TF History Today, this makes me laugh so much every time I read it that it has to be my favourite bit of the magazine. I mean, with dialogue that begins: "Why throw away your life so recklessly?" "That's a question you should ask yourself!" "No, that's a question you should ask yourself!" "No, that's a question you should ask yourself! And you smell!" you know you're in for a special treat. Case study - more interesting to those who collect the toys, I suppose, but it goes to show there is a logic behind everything if you look closely enough. 5,000 Piece Puzzle - a chilling little tale that shows us that while Xaaron had his ideals, Traachon would go to any lengths - even Decepticon lengths. And I loved the design of the doomed Crintax. Navigation - the meat of the magazine. Every good fanzine needs a straight text story of this length to give you something to sink your teeth into that's not over in a few minutes. I read it in the bath. The dark shading on the human-narrated segments make all the difference compared with a previous draft I read on e-mail. The Quintessence of Hate Part 2 maintains the high standards set by Part 1. Less individual characterisation / banter here, but that can be put down to the darker themes that now take hold, with the Dinobots showing their killer side rather than their personalities. Well done to the dying Quintesson to reveal their plans before he croaked. And the final double page spread, though more stylised than realistic, had a lot of impact when you turn to the page for the first time. I hadn't appreciated how much sheer stuff would be crammed into one fanzine. Full marks to Andy for coming up trumps again! Martin |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 4, 2008 21:06:54 GMT
Read the first installment of The Quintessence of Hate again and this time look at the Sharkticon who speaks to Sevax all the time. It puts me in mind of Kif kroker and Zapp Brannigan from Futurama.
I've still to sit down and read the magazine properly myself but not enough time has passed since I edited it so it's too soon.
Glad you liked it though Martin.
Andy
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Post by Mark_Stevenson on Sept 4, 2008 22:16:33 GMT
The Quintessence of Hate Part 1 - ah, Mark's portrayal of Grimlock takes me back to his old 'Matrix' mini-series. Blimey. Martin, not only are you a true old-school soldier, but you've got a hell of a memory, too. Truth be told, I can't really draw Grimlock any other way! Mx |
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Post by grahamthomson on Sept 5, 2008 8:50:31 GMT
Ah, I loved The Matrix*. Mark, any chance of a reprint?
The fanzine, not the film.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 5, 2008 8:54:00 GMT
Matrix was my first TMUK fanzine.
-Ralph
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Post by grahamthomson on Sept 5, 2008 8:56:57 GMT
Awwww.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 5, 2008 9:56:45 GMT
Ah, I loved The Matrix*. Mark, any chance of a reprint? The fanzine, not the film. I'm sure I've some print res scans taken from the zine itself (kindly donated by Martin) when I did the cleaned up version of Jack's and Matt's early Beast Wars stories for The Underbase. I'll have to check my dvd-r box. Andy |
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Rich
Protoform
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Post by Rich on Sept 6, 2008 14:13:21 GMT
Cheers for the review Martin. Your comments down the years about TF design were definitely in my mind when I was writing the description of him for Andy. Yours was certainly a more positive reaction than I got from Jim Wilson; his was along the lines of, 'I didn't get what was going on. Why did the assassin blow up the petrol pump?'
Bastard. :-)
I'll have to get my arse in gear and write my own zine review one of these days.
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Post by legios on Sept 7, 2008 19:36:31 GMT
Navigation - The dark shading on the human-narrated segments make all the difference compared with a previous draft I read on e-mail. Editor-cons Ralph and Andy worked long and hard on finding a way to make that work in print. I had spent a while playing around with varying fonts, trying to find something that would work in print, and I know they put in further work to come up with something that was still readable (I found some very suitable fonts for various sections, but often they really looked horrible next to each other. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the story (and the rest of the 'zine) Martin. Karl |
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Post by grahamthomson on Oct 10, 2008 8:38:02 GMT
Yay! I finally got round to unpacking my comic boxes last night and can now settle down at the weekend and finish reading this!
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 10, 2008 8:40:44 GMT
Wooohoooo!
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 10, 2008 9:30:19 GMT
But will Graham lose it again? The tension mounts!
Who will live? Who...wil die?
-Ralph
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Post by grahamthomson on Oct 10, 2008 15:28:50 GMT
So long as there are no rifts in the spacetime sausage skin continuum then it should be safe. For now.
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 23, 2008 0:36:49 GMT
How goes it?
-Ralph
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