Hubris #6

[Andy Turnbull]

Jun 26, 2008 11:30:59 GMT @grahamthomson said:

I'm glad you liked the cover, but I don't remember saying I'd do more!!

Not necessarily a cover as such but I do remember chatting with you about an image choice to accompany something.

Andy

[legios]

Now isn't this just typical - I manage to pick the wrong few days to go away and I miss something like this occuring! I must fire off an email forthwith in the hope that I can snag a copuy, as it sound like there is some good stuff within.

Karl

[grahamthomson]

You can now consider your copy to be snagged, wrapped and despatched! If all goes to plan you'll have something to read for the weekend.

Don't fail me now, Royal Mail!!

[The Doctor]

*waits by door*

-Ralph

[grahamthomson]

A watched postman never comes.

[Hero]

Sad, but true.

[The Doctor]

He did not come today. Awwww.

-Ralph

[Deleted]

When it does come you'll probably leap out of the front door like a man posessed, great the postie with open arms and promise to never set the dog on his leg again.

[The Doctor]

A shredded envelope thudded through the letterbox this morning. Thankfully, the cardboard inside had preserved the mag. Production values are very very very high. It looks and feels gorgeous. Only read 'Booting Up Cold' thus far. Unfortunately, Ratchet appears to have eaten the end of the article! The silly sausage.

-Ralph

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Jun 28, 2008 9:46:22 GMT The Doctor said:

Unfortunately, Ratchet appears to have eaten the end of the article! The silly sausage.

Eh? It's all there in mine.

Mind you, the text layout on the review of 'Incinerator' confused the hell out of me for a minute, figuring out what order to read the bits of text on that first page.

Martin

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Just finished reading all the stories. All extremely good. The ones I most enjoyed, though, were the 'Hold Tight, Iacon' prologue and Part 1. A nice selection of familiar and under-used characters, spread out to give a feel for the global nature of the early war on Cybertron.

I was pleased to be wrong about a few things I anticipated: Browning's bullets taking control of the victim's mind (unoriginal, see Bombshell), the six Autobots Blaster stumbles on being the other six members of Budiansky's 'Cybertron Seven' (no way they could have been a unit of seven in hiding for 4,000,000 years), and the salvaged head being Scrounge.

Pleased to see none of those obvious things came to pass! And looking forward to more interesting combinations of characters in future instalments, hopefully in the near future!

As #6 goes into my file, I note a gap and wonder once again, will #4 ever see light of day...

Thank you again for an entertaining read, Graham!

Martin

[legios]

My copy of Hubris#6 has arrived this morning. I have only had a chance to get half way through reading it so far. I will no doubt have further thoughts in due course once I have had a chance to read the fiction pieces.

(It has already given me a bit of food for thought though - I had pegged Incinerator as being Marine, but I guess he could be Airforce. It would certainly fit with the employment of the Osprey in the film.....)

Karl

[The Doctor]

Jun 28, 2008 16:21:13 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

Jun 28, 2008 9:46:22 GMT The Doctor said:

Unfortunately, Ratchet appears to have eaten the end of the article! The silly sausage.

Eh? It's all there in mine.

Martin

It ends with: 'Again, like Dreamwave, there were no -'

And then there is a big picture of an Infiltration cover with Ratchet on it.

Maybe I have some exclusive variant. I hope I'm not coming across as a dick for pointing out an error. I know from experience how hard it is to put these things together, genuinely.

I look forward to checking out the rest of the mag properly when I get time.

-Ralph

[grahamthomson]

Oops! It sounds like you got a duff copy, Ralph, one which slipped through the quality net. I shall replace it forthwith!

For some reason one batch of prints decided to ignore all the "text wrap" (where the text wraps around pictures, instead of appearing behind them) settings and I thought I'd weeded them all out.

Sorry about that!

[The Doctor]

Ah, right. So neither I nor Martin are going mad then! Which is good.

-Ralph

[panderson]

And mine arrived this morning - can't wait to poutr over this GRIN

[grahamthomson]

I hope you enjoy reading it, Paul. By the way, will you be pouring over it or pouting over it?

[The Huff]

Found this sitting on my desk after returning from work Saturday evening - dudey stuff! A good old fanzine always knocks spots off the real (official?) thing any day!
Great cover by Graham - Megs looks deep in thought (possibly learning his lines for the next film). Ace animated strip - art captures the look of the characters as well as being slightly more mainstream TF too - am I right in thinking this was drawn before the cartoon aired? I remember seeing it online a while back and Andy has done a great job here.
The Booting Up Cold article was very interesting - that's the good thing about fanzines as pieces like this usually mirror your own feelings. Many points I agreed with, such as the lack of character in newer series and that the first Marvel story arc would make the perfect film - I always assumed that would be the film, even way back in the 80's. I hate it when TF history and characters origins keep getting re-written.
Three text stories - very enjoyable. Nice to see a lot of the Micromaster characters used here before they downsize. Blasters personality was spot on - just like the old comics. I wish, however, there was a little heading or a note stating where/when the stories are set so I can settle into that period. Doesn't matter too much as it's never too long into the story until it becomes obvious where you are.
Reviews on each of the things that make up the TF franchise - comic, cartoon and toy and the A-Z's were a nice change in that they charted the characters history's rather than simply repeating the character bios. Shame about the Blaster pic but the coloring saved it!
Looking forward to more!

[grahamthomson]

Thanks for your comments Matt!

Actually the plan was to have a small "The Story So Far" type thing to help readers "settle" but there was no space left! There will be other Notsomicromaster characters in future chapters and maybe even a few Notyetactionmasters as well! I hear the Battle Patrol will be in next issue and Treadshot the issue after. Exciiiting!

Oh, and this word "dudey" is that like the American word for poop?

[grahamthomson]

Jun 28, 2008 20:00:23 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

Just finished reading all the stories. All extremely good. The ones I most enjoyed, though, were the 'Hold Tight, Iacon' prologue and Part 1. A nice selection of familiar and under-used characters, spread out to give a feel for the global nature of the early war on Cybertron.

I was pleased to be wrong about a few things I anticipated: Browning's bullets taking control of the victim's mind (unoriginal, see Bombshell), the six Autobots Blaster stumbles on being the other six members of Budiansky's 'Cybertron Seven' (no way they could have been a unit of seven in hiding for 4,000,000 years), and the salvaged head being Scrounge.

Pleased to see none of those obvious things came to pass! And looking forward to more interesting combinations of characters in future instalments, hopefully in the near future!

As #6 goes into my file, I note a gap and wonder once again, will #4 ever see light of day...

Thank you again for an entertaining read, Graham!

Martin

Thanks for your comments on the text-stories, Martin! I'm glad I avoided any obvious plot developments. Although the ones you mentioned didn't actually occur to me as I thought I was being "obvious" the other way. If you see what I mean.

Future instalments (with hopefully interesting character combinations... Freeway/Prowl Ultimate Team Up being one of them) will be coming. Soon.

I can confirm, inexorably, that the AWOL Hubris #4 will see the light of day sometime in the future. Hopefully by the end of the year.

[grahamthomson]

Jun 28, 2008 21:08:55 GMT legios said:

My copy of Hubris#6 has arrived this morning. I have only had a chance to get half way through reading it so far. I will no doubt have further thoughts in due course once I have had a chance to read the fiction pieces.

(It has already given me a bit of food for thought though - I had pegged Incinerator as being Marine, but I guess he could be Airforce. It would certainly fit with the employment of the Osprey in the film.....)

Karl

In the Transformers film, I just thought of all the non sex-driven human characters as "miscellaneous military" in order to save my brain.

[legios]

Jul 2, 2008 8:26:24 GMT @grahamthomson said:

Jun 28, 2008 21:08:55 GMT legios said:

My copy of Hubris#6 has arrived this morning. I have only had a chance to get half way through reading it so far. I will no doubt have further thoughts in due course once I have had a chance to read the fiction pieces.

(It has already given me a bit of food for thought though - I had pegged Incinerator as being Marine, but I guess he could be Airforce. It would certainly fit with the employment of the Osprey in the film.....)

Karl

In the Transformers film, I just thought of all the non sex-driven human characters as "miscellaneous military" in order to save my brain.

Heh - "Miscellaneous Military". I like that. It would have saved me a lot of headache trying to work out what services they were supposed to be from (except the black guy - he is definitely airforce). It was the strea of aircraft nerd in me that you woke though - the Osprey will be CV-22 in Airforce service, whilst the Corps' ones are MV-22. (The two in the movie were actually from the Marine Corp - presumably not wanting to be outdone by the Airforce getting to show off their new toys).

But anyway, I digress. The real reason for posting was to offer my reactions to Hubris#6. Firstly, I have to echo what others have said about the production values. These are absolutely fantastic - well into the top tier of fanzine production. Hubris certainly punches far above its weight class in terms of what you would expect from a fanzine at its price point. Fortunately the content lives up to the production. The reviews are readable and entertaining - with a very distinct authorial "voice" to them which is very approachable. You even made a possible sale for Hasbro with your Incinerator review. You may have got me past my hang -up about it lacking anything sensible on the end of its arms (I've realised I have a workaround I can kludge together from some spare Valkyrie hands and blu-tack. I'd probably not side with you on colour choice - I prefer the more real-world accurate look of the Hasbro version to the Tomy one's black hull, but that is a pure aesthetics isn't it?). The A-Z commentaries, resetting to start from the beginning with a mattering of A's are dryly amusing - it'll take you a while, and quite a bit of stamina, to get through a whole alphabets worth of characters mind you.

"Booting up Cold" is a nice little feature. The assessment of the methods used to restart "The Transformers" as a comic franchise is interesting and well summarised. The opening question, of whether each reboot diminishes the property slightly is an interesting one, which I am very much in two minds about. Makes for an interesting article though.

"All in a Day's Work" is a nice little two page strip, it is an old gag but one that is told fairly well. The fact that it has been "in the can" for a while, and that Animated went in a slightly different direction with some of the characters than perhaps we were expecting colours my approach to the dialogue, and means it reads in a slightly different way to that which it did when originally written. It is still a fun little piece though.

"The War Without" I'm afraid this is probably my least favourite piece in this issue. Not because it is bad - because it most certainly isn't. The basic premise, of Autobot and Decepticon forces reacting to time-loss and a radically changed situation is interesting, the plotting and characterisation is absolutely solid. I just am finding I'm not engaging with this story. It is me rather than the story - because the story is a good'un, it just isn't floating my boat.

"The Harvest" is an interesting story. I think you've done a good job of creating a sense of menace, and something lurking just out of sight. Your take on Ravage is interesting as well - it isn't entirely how I envision the character, but it is consistent with everything else we know about him and does give him a distinctive tone as a character.

"Hold Tight, Iacon" definitely has a lot of potential. The first two installments are good and they do a good job of making me want to see more. "Tritesse Global" particularly has a strong "war-movie" feel I think. The rallying of the Autobot force, and the attack on the airbase especially feel somewhat like a classic British flick. (Although I started to here Blaster's dialogue in tones reminiscent of Steve McQueen for some reason.). I liked the idea of Browning's bullets - an over-literal rendition of the "smart-munition" concept which seems appropriate to the setting even whilst it surprises. Good stuff, I look forward to the next installment.

All told, a great return to the fray for "Hubris" - a clutch of good articles and reviews, an amusing little two-page strip and three god text stories. All backed up by some stellar production values. You couldn't really ask for more from a fanzine. Great stuff. I look forward to the next issue.

Karl

[Rich]

My copy arrived today. Cheers Graham! Only glanced through, but really enjoyed the lead strip - nice to see TFs that aren't mentally tortured! Might try and write a story with them like that myself one of these days: it was really refreshing!

[grahamthomson]

Jul 2, 2008 20:06:18 GMT legios said:

But anyway, I digress. The real reason for posting was to offer my reactions to Hubris#6. Firstly, I have to echo what others have said about the production values. These are absolutely fantastic - well into the top tier of fanzine production. Hubris certainly punches far above its weight class in terms of what you would expect from a fanzine at its price point. Fortunately the content lives up to the production. The reviews are readable and entertaining - with a very distinct authorial "voice" to them which is very approachable. You even made a possible sale for Hasbro with your Incinerator review. You may have got me past my hang -up about it lacking anything sensible on the end of its arms (I've realised I have a workaround I can kludge together from some spare Valkyrie hands and blu-tack. I'd probably not side with you on colour choice - I prefer the more real-world accurate look of the Hasbro version to the Tomy one's black hull, but that is a pure aesthetics isn't it?). The A-Z commentaries, resetting to start from the beginning with a mattering of A's are dryly amusing - it'll take you a while, and quite a bit of stamina, to get through a whole alphabets worth of characters mind you.

"Booting up Cold" is a nice little feature. The assessment of the methods used to restart "The Transformers" as a comic franchise is interesting and well summarised. The opening question, of whether each reboot diminishes the property slightly is an interesting one, which I am very much in two minds about. Makes for an interesting article though.

"All in a Day's Work" is a nice little two page strip, it is an old gag but one that is told fairly well. The fact that it has been "in the can" for a while, and that Animated went in a slightly different direction with some of the characters than perhaps we were expecting colours my approach to the dialogue, and means it reads in a slightly different way to that which it did when originally written. It is still a fun little piece though.

"The War Without" I'm afraid this is probably my least favourite piece in this issue. Not because it is bad - because it most certainly isn't. The basic premise, of Autobot and Decepticon forces reacting to time-loss and a radically changed situation is interesting, the plotting and characterisation is absolutely solid. I just am finding I'm not engaging with this story. It is me rather than the story - because the story is a good'un, it just isn't floating my boat.

"The Harvest" is an interesting story. I think you've done a good job of creating a sense of menace, and something lurking just out of sight. Your take on Ravage is interesting as well - it isn't entirely how I envision the character, but it is consistent with everything else we know about him and does give him a distinctive tone as a character.

"Hold Tight, Iacon" definitely has a lot of potential. The first two installments are good and they do a good job of making me want to see more. "Tritesse Global" particularly has a strong "war-movie" feel I think. The rallying of the Autobot force, and the attack on the airbase especially feel somewhat like a classic British flick. (Although I started to here Blaster's dialogue in tones reminiscent of Steve McQueen for some reason.). I liked the idea of Browning's bullets - an over-literal rendition of the "smart-munition" concept which seems appropriate to the setting even whilst it surprises. Good stuff, I look forward to the next installment.

All told, a great return to the fray for "Hubris" - a clutch of good articles and reviews, an amusing little two-page strip and three god text stories. All backed up by some stellar production values. You couldn't really ask for more from a fanzine. Great stuff. I look forward to the next issue.

Karl

Karl, thank you so much for your comprehensive comments. They are muchly appreciated!

Glad you enjoyed the opening chapters of Hold Tight, Iacon and are looking forward to more. Sorry to hear that The War Without was the weak-point of the issue.

I understand where you're coming from, however. I wanted to delve into the Autobots/Decepticons' reactions to continuing the war without their friends/allies and wonder exactly how they might cope on their own.

Truth be told, this chapter was something of a labour to write. The overall Timecode story has some way to go and certain instalments are sometimes more "required" in a sort of "let the characters catch their breath and take stock of the changing situation" way. If that makes sense. I had the same thing with Globequake and, in hindsight, certain chapters fell flat in comparison to others.

I was hoping to avoid the same with Timecode and it's an aspect of my writing I am fully aware that needs developing/improving. With Timecode, and in light of it being run one chapter per issue, each instalment needs a certain strength to hold up on its own. The same goes for Hold Tight Iacon as well, actually. The approach I am aiming for is to tell a story within a story with each passing instalment. Hopefully this will be more apparent in future chapters.

But I, too, digress!

Thanks again for your comments!

[grahamthomson]

Jul 2, 2008 20:33:25 GMT Rich said:

My copy arrived today. Cheers Graham! Only glanced through, but really enjoyed the lead strip - nice to see TFs that aren't mentally tortured! Might try and write a story with them like that myself one of these days: it was really refreshing!

We have Mr Van Reyk's breezy script to thank for that!

I for one will be looking forward to any new story from you... it's been a while!

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Jul 2, 2008 8:25:09 GMT @grahamthomson said:

Future instalments (with hopefully interesting character combinations... Freeway/Prowl Ultimate Team Up being one of them) will be coming. Soon.

Ooh, lovely!

Freeway made no impression on me at all as an individual in the Marvel comic, but my sister had him at one stage and I seem to remember him being a comedian with lots of bombs.

But I haven't read his tech-specs for many, many years and could be mixing him up with another Throttlebot.

Martin

[legios]

Jul 3, 2008 16:26:33 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

Freeway made no impression on me at all as an individual in the Marvel comic, but my sister had him at one stage and I seem to remember him being a comedian with lots of bombs.

But I haven't read his tech-specs for many, many years and could be mixing him up with another Throttlebot.

Martin

Nope, that's Freeway in a nutshell - the Throttlebots explosives/weapons specialist with a somewhat cracked sense of humor pretty much sums up his tech-specs.

Karl

[The Doctor]

Jun 29, 2008 10:12:07 GMT @grahamthomson said:

Oops! It sounds like you got a duff copy, Ralph, one which slipped through the quality net. I shall replace it forthwith!

Thanks. I'll wait until that one arrives before reviewing the rest of the contents then.

-Ralph

[Deleted]

Jun 25, 2008 7:05:01 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

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)

It was nice that the fanzine was offered outside UK. Eagerly waiting my copy to arrive, but this caught my eye while eyeing the thread.

What/when/where and most important, is that fanzine(?) still available anywhere?

[Grand Moff Muffin]

Jul 7, 2008 19:35:08 GMT @osku said:

Jun 25, 2008 7:05:01 GMT Grand Moff Muffin said:

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)

It was nice that the fanzine was offered outside UK. Eagerly waiting my copy to arrive, but this caught my eye while eyeing the thread.

What/when/where and most important, is that fanzine(?) still available anywhere?

The Pretenders? Um, memory's hazy on whether they were in a fanzine, but profiles of the original 12 Pretenders, plus Bludgeon, Crossblades and Thunderwing, can all be found here.

Martin