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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 22, 2008 15:11:21 GMT
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Post by Mark_Stevenson on Jun 22, 2008 15:50:24 GMT
Bloody hell, G, you kept that one quiet! I'm all excited now!
Nice cover too!
Mx
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2008 15:57:10 GMT
Are you going to bring a few over to AA with you?
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jun 22, 2008 17:11:39 GMT
You've no idea how difficult it's been keeping schtum about this!
Ace cover G!
Andy
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Cullen
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Post by Cullen on Jun 22, 2008 19:05:18 GMT
Oh yes
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 22, 2008 20:27:48 GMT
What are the contents?
-Ralph
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
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Post by Hero on Jun 22, 2008 21:25:42 GMT
Hubris....
*wait for it*
*wait for it....*
RULES!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 22, 2008 22:42:13 GMT
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Post by Mark_Stevenson on Jun 23, 2008 11:07:39 GMT
Bought.
Looking forward to this one tremendously... Nice to see there's a few different TMUK 'zines coming up. It's been quite a while.
Mx
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
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Post by Hero on Jun 23, 2008 16:07:24 GMT
Bought too.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jun 24, 2008 9:31:09 GMT
It's a splendid high quality mag. Proper detailed review later on today/tonight.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 24, 2008 9:36:35 GMT
At the risk of being pedantic, I'm happy to pay a bit extra for postage in a card-backed envelope. The posties round here tend to shred ordinary letters etc when shoving them trhough the post slot.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jun 24, 2008 9:48:03 GMT
Mine came in a standard a4 envelope inside the magazine was sandwiched between two bits of card.
Andy
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Hero
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
King of RULES!
Everything Rules
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Post by Hero on Jun 24, 2008 13:01:50 GMT
I got mine today too. I love the glossyness and the reviews also. Well done G.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jun 24, 2008 17:28:15 GMT
Received, well protected by stiff card. Ta, G! Hubris #6 must hold the record for swiftest ever delivery of a TMUK fanzine once ordered. I think Graham must have been poised over the envelopes ready to write the addresses every time his PayPal account went 'ping'! Only had a chance to skim it so far. Looks great though. Graham - is your A-Z thing a running joke now or what? You've started the TF alphabet from the letter 'A' in Transmasters Universe, Transmasters Galaxy, The Hub, Hubris... #6 tells us "Hubris charts the entire Cybertronian cast of the Marvel Comics Transformers universe from 'A' to 'Z'," as you begin again with Abominus. Do you really mean it this time?  Poor Slingshot, Snapdragon and Strafe! They must think you don't like them, the number of times you've given coverage to their alphabetically superior comrades, coverage that they can only dream of! Martin |
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Post by karla on Jun 24, 2008 21:19:20 GMT
oooooooooo I saw this on deviantart!!! will buy it soon, looks amazin'  |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jun 25, 2008 7:05:01 GMT
I love the 'Booting Up Cold' article. Very intelligent criticism. I agree with almost everything said, the remainder of it (the late DW and IDW bits) being something I neither agree nor disagree with, not having read the comics in question. A robot does indeed die a little each time it's rebooted, which is why I only have interest in a maximum of one TF saga per medium. And the comic saga finished in 1994.
Nice Blaster profile, showing his superior Cybertronian mode. A good account of his character, though as always I feel something is missing without the inclusion of any biography. Have you dropped the idea of doing these profiles on card to build into a ring binder collection?
Jibes about your loyalty to ongoing A-Z features aside (I do think you are better off doing less ambitious 'themes' one at a time like when you did all the Pretenders), the A-Z commentary is (like most of your endeavours) a top idea well executed. Poor old Abominus didn't get much of an outing in the comics, did he? But at least he got to dominate a whole page when he stood up, unlike Computron. Excellent detailed commentary on Air Raid, a lot of the text in fairness applying to all the Aerialbots. Afterburner - did you deliberately omit his appearances in post-Movie stories?
Features all read now - stories next.
Martin
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 9:41:59 GMT
You've no idea how difficult it's been keeping schtum about this! You and me both! The habit of posting fanfic online to the eGroup and reviews onto the Hub is very difficult to break out of! I imagine the next couple of issues will be a mix of previously-seen-online and all-new until I completely ween myself off the Internet. |
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 9:45:41 GMT
At the risk of being pedantic, I'm happy to pay a bit extra for postage in a card-backed envelope. The posties round here tend to shred ordinary letters etc when shoving them trhough the post slot. -Ralph You're not being pedantic at all. At the moment I'm sending out issues inbetween two sheets of thick greyboard which should provide sufficient protection. If, when your issue arrives tomorrow, it's in a sorry state and you're able to, please take a photo as evidence to use against Royal Mail. The ironic thing is that I was very careful with the paper weights for the issue (colour pages on 150 gsm gloss and mono pages on 100 gsm matt) to make sure the entire issue weighed just under 100 g so it would be 45p to post. However, being almost forced to include the stiff protection card going by past experience, it adds another 50 g to the package, making postage 65p. Royal Mail have a lot to answer for! |
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 9:46:41 GMT
I got mine today too. I love the glossyness and the reviews also. Well done G. Thanks, Ken! We can thank the good people who work at Nuprint Lithographic Ltd for the added gloss! |
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 9:48:51 GMT
Hubris #6 must hold the record for swiftest ever delivery of a TMUK fanzine once ordered. I think Graham must have been poised over the envelopes ready to write the addresses every time his PayPal account went 'ping'! I really was! I was that excited, I was stuffing envelopes as the orders came in. It's a good feeling for an old fanzine editor I can tell you. Graham - is your A-Z thing a running joke now or what? You've started the TF alphabet from the letter 'A' in Transmasters Universe, Transmasters Galaxy, The Hub, Hubris... #6 tells us "Hubris charts the entire Cybertronian cast of the Marvel Comics Transformers universe from 'A' to 'Z'," as you begin again with Abominus. Do you really mean it this time? I promise, promise, PROMISE not to start at "A" ever again! Honest! |
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 9:49:29 GMT
oooooooooo I saw this on deviantart!!! will buy it soon, looks amazin' I didn't know you were on DA! What's your username on there? |
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 25, 2008 10:00:32 GMT
I ordered last night and it has not arrived in a flash of light yet! Such slow service!  -Ralph |
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 10:05:22 GMT
I love the 'Booting Up Cold' article. Very intelligent criticism. I agree with almost everything said, the remainder of it (the late DW and IDW bits) being something I neither agree nor disagree with, not having read the comics in question. A robot does indeed die a little each time it's rebooted, which is why I only have interest in a maximum of one TF saga per medium. And the comic saga finished in 1994. Nice Blaster profile, showing his superior Cybertronian mode. A good account of his character, though as always I feel something is missing without the inclusion of any biography. Have you dropped the idea of doing these profiles on card to build into a ring binder collection? Jibes about your loyalty to ongoing A-Z features aside (I do think you are better off doing less ambitious 'themes' one at a time like when you did all the Pretenders), the A-Z commentary is (like most of your endeavours) a top idea well executed. Poor old Abominus didn't get much of an outing in the comics, did he? But at least he got to dominate a whole page when he stood up, unlike Computron. Excellent detailed commentary on Air Raid, a lot of the text in fairness applying to all the Aerialbots. Afterburner - did you deliberately omit his appearances in post-Movie stories? Features all read now - stories next. Martin Thanks for the feedback, Martin, as usual very much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed "Booting Up Cold". I have peripheral interest in the new IDW stuff, but my heart will always be with the original comic series. I completely take your point on board about the lack of biographies on the AtoZ, but really, it's just down to space. Characters like Blaster would like need a full 32-page effort to note down all their adventures (especially once we get in to the TMUK stuff). We might still do the AtoZ cards again, if there's enough interest. I did miss out the "future" details on both Air Raid and Afterburner. Deliberate, yeah, we'll say it was deliberate! To be honest, when brainstorming (sorry, I mean ideashowering) for ideas for Hubris it was a toss up between going back to "A" or doing themed sets like the Pretenders. There was also similar meandering whether to start Hold Tight Iacon from the beginning or start with chapter 3. I went with from the beginning as the first two chapters have not yet been in print. Decisions, decisions! Anyway, thanks again for the feedback! |
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 10:08:00 GMT
I ordered last night and it has not arrived in a flash of light yet! Such slow service! -Ralph The last post collection was half-six, so you were an hour late with your order. I'd send it up by pigeon but I don't trust birds. |
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Post by The Doctor on Jun 25, 2008 10:09:31 GMT
But I've been sitting here all morning waiting for a blinding flash of unseen light.
-Ralph
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 25, 2008 11:50:13 GMT
The unseen light will flash tomorrow! Don't blink.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jun 25, 2008 17:07:35 GMT
There was also similar meandering whether to start Hold Tight Iacon from the beginning or start with chapter 3. I went with from the beginning as the first two chapters have not yet been in print. Oh, no question there in my opinion! Can't beat a good paper read in bed / the bath / the garden / anywhere free from electronics. Martin |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jun 26, 2008 11:09:15 GMT
Hubris #6
Well it’s been a while between issues, although any comic reader they will simply scoff and cite Daredevil mini-series by Kevin Smith or Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine as examples of delays. So how does the latest issue of Hubris measure up?
Well in terms of print quality it can’t be beat. 32 pages of US format comic book for £1.50 with a nice glossy cover and heavy stock interior. Arguably one of the best put together fanzines you will see. Sure something like Spaceship Away has the card cover but it’s about four times the price. (Can you tell I’m Scottish?!)
The cover is all Graham’s work as he uses Masterpiece Megatron as the basis for a suitably moody cover picture. I’m reliably informed it won’t be the only bit of art we will be seeing from him. Which is always welcome.
What about the contents?
Well it should come as no surprise that Hubris has continued along the same lines as before with a mix of comic strip, text stories, reviews and text features so there should be something to appeal to everyone. Instead of aping the old Marvel UK “TransFormation” page Graham has went for a new look which is very clear and uncluttered, there is the familiar Hubris PCB pattern at the top of the page.
Kicking off the magazine is All In A Day’s Work a two page comic-strip written by Josh Van Reyk (who handles the Mosaic project over on the IDW boards), lettered and coloured by Graham and drawn by me. Now I’m not going to review this, as that would be ego stroking but I just wish I’d done this after the animated series had started to air so I could have gotten a better handle on the characters. Still the story is nice and breezy and Graham’s colours are as lovely as always.
Booting Up Cold takes a look at the various starts to the Trans Formers printed incarnation from the Marvel comics, to Dreamwave through to IDW. Although sadly no mention of the true continuity i.e Ladybird (and no Ralph didn’t make me type that). Like Graham I do think the Marvel approach was the strongest and the first twelve issues do read like they could make one damned fine trilogy of movies. I could go on at length regarding my feelings towards the Dreamwave era but I shan’t bother.
From reading the comics and Graham’s article it’s clear that Marvel introduced the characters to the world. Whereas IDW’s approach doesn’t really seem to be geared towards new readers but to older ones. Using a lot of shorthand when introducing characters and giving them just as little attention as when they were introduced in the marvel line and counting on reader familiarity to fill in a great deal of the blanks.
Timecode starts up again with The War Without and we can see this alternate spin on events post G2 as becoming even darker. The characters are managing to be somewhat more unpleasant than they normally are without going all evil alternate reality beard on us. I’m looking forward to seeing how this one continues.
The Harvest is a suitably creepy tale as we see that some of the other Decepticons covet the nanomachine powers of certain members of their ranks. The ending does rather leave everything unresolved so I wonder if Graham plans on revisiting the tale at some point in the future as I am certain that Soundwave would not allow those assaults to go on unpunished. Especially knowing that he could potentially be next.
Hold Tight Iacon was the highlight of the magazine for me, both chapters were equally engaging. Browning’s usage was splendid and such a great idea for an assassin. I’m curious as to how that angle is going to play out. The second chapter has Blaster being much less of a dick than he will eventually become, so it’s a bit of a shame that we see him at his best knowing full well what the future holds.
MORE!! MORE!!
The A-Z commentary is a nice touch and thankfully we still get a proper a to z on the back page and with some splendid art by Matt Dallas to boot. Always good to end on a high!
The reviews were a nice bag as well covering a good mix of toys, comics and cartoons.
Well was it worth the wait?
I think so and I am looking forward to seeing more issues later this year.
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 26, 2008 11:30:59 GMT
Andy, thank you very much for such a comprehensive review!
In Forbidden Planet Manchester there is always quite a selection of small press/fanzine type publications, but the average price is around the £5 mark. It's probably to do with the higher printing costs and possible paying for contributions as well? Who knows.
I'm glad you liked the cover, but I don't remember saying I'd do more!!
I think the characters in Timecode are under a lot of stress at the moment, which is probably why they're acting a bit short with each other. Still, Grapple was nice to Jetfire, wasn't he?
As for The Harvest; a few ideas for following it up have been stewing since it was written and I think it may flow into the sequel/follow up to Hold Tight, Iacon. I'll be calling that one "The Bombing of Polyhex" so look out for that!
Glad you're enjoying Hold Tight, Iacon; I am pretty sure the Skywarp/Browning angle will be explored further. In fact it will be in the fourth chapter, "In Space". As for Blaster, well we need to remember how "young" he is here and I'm sure, as the story progresses, what happens to him will shape him into the, uh, dick as you so politely put it we are more familiar with.
Next issue will see more of Timecode and Hold Tight, Iacon and an all-new stand-alone story called "Murder on the Dashboard". And I know for a fact you won't be waiting all that long to see it!
Oh! And if it's more Matt DallasTM arty goodness ye be wantin' then a future issue will be featuring an all-new comic strip by him and myself called "The Mighty"!
Thanks again for the review, Andy!
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