Matt

Matt is Humph's best human pal. He's brave and always willing to stand up for what's right, which gets him into a lot of trouble.

Fiction

One Friday evening, as Matt and Humph were enjoying a space show with a glass of pop (or milk), Matt's parents told him to put the cat out for the night – out of their fourth floor window. Matt and the Cat issue 5 Matt thought it was strange that he hadn't heard from Humph for five whole minutes, so he went outside to find Humph being taken away in a dustbin by a large robot. Matt blurted out that the robot was stealing his cat – and then instantly regretted it. Issue 6 Humph used the distraction to flee, but headed back to rescue Matt on second thoughts, only to find the robot beaming the boy onto a star ship. Issue 7 Humph was also beamed up, and he started to search for Matt. Issue 8

While Humph was captured by a Lobb, Matt fell into the hands of the Slave-Master of Darkon. Issue 10 The Slave-Master gloated to Matt that he was his personal property until the ship reached Darkon, and allowed him to reunite with Humph... though on their joy to see one another, the Slave-Master clarified that they'd be reunited in the slave section of the ship. Issue 11 Imprisoned with Humph, Matt paced back and forth, trying to come up with a plan for escape. The idea came to him, Issue 12 but Humph wasn't impressed to be involved. Issue 13 All the plan seemed to consist of was jumping the first robot to step into their cell, which they did with gusto. Issue 14

Matt told the little robot that he was to be their ticket to freedom, but called off the attack when he noticed the robot was too dazed. The robot explained that he meant them no harm and was only bringing them food. Matt apologised, having not expected to meet a friendly robot on a ship that was otherwise full of kidnappers. Issue 15 As the ship began to land on Darkon, the robot warned them that they would be sold into slavery and potentially split up to different parts of the galaxy. Issue 16 As the robot guided them towards an escape, Matt asked why he was helping them, and he explained that he was a Slavebot that had never known freedom, and wouldn't want free creatures to be sold into the torture of servitude. The Slavebot encouraged them to change into space suits to survive the cold climate of Darkon. Matt was thrilled that he'd be decked out like a character out of Marvel Comics, but became momentarily bemused that Humph wore a "Make Mine Marvel" shirt under his smock top. Issue 17

When the slave ship came under attack by three Myzoni star fighters, the turbulence of battle caused Matt and his companions to slide across the tilted floor. Matt advised Humph to grab onto something, and ran to help his cat once the robots detected them and opened fire. Issue 18 They followed the Slavebot, who found a panel he thought would lead to their escape. It actually opened a trap door underneath them, and they were sent freefalling through the dogfight. Matt tried to take Humph's hand as a star fighter rounded on them, Issue 19 but it only buzzed them. They had a soft landing on Darkon in a conveniently placed flowerbed. Though momentarily distracted by Humph making a daisy chain, Matt soon realised their Slavebot ally wasn't with them, and set off to his rescue. Issue 20 He was talking up how impressive he found their surroundings when he realised Humph was no longer with him. He reckoned he'd probably wandered off to make more daisy chains. Issue 21

Separated from Humph, Matt wandered an arid desert area looking for him, even resorting to yelling Humph's name at the top of his lungs. He flagged down an approaching vehicle for help, he was alarmed to find it was a patrol car manned by two blaster-wielding Myzoni. Issue 23 The Myzoni identified Matt as one of the carbon-based beings that jumped from the slave ship and they took him into custody for examination. Issue 24 When the patrol car came to a stop, Matt decided he wouldn't just sit around. He found a gun in a locker and poked his head above the parapet, aiming to take down a Myzoni from behind. His attempt was foiled when Humph vaulted the patrol car, accidentally using Matt's head as a stepping stone Issue 26 while he was attacking the vehicle on behalf of a rebellious group of Slavebots. Unable to back out of leading the charge, he'd bumped down finding Matt to the second of his priorities, just above finding a post office. Issue 25

Notes

• Matt is named for Mychailo Kazybrid's eldest son, and visually based on a cartoon of him when he was two years old.
• Beginning in issue 13, various extra-terrestrial characters refer to Matt as "the pink coated one" and variations thereof. By the time the strip is printed in colour, Matt has long ditched his Earth coat to change into a red and blue spacesuit – but characters still refer to him as pink coated. Since we've never seen his coat in colour, do they mean his skin tone, or...?