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In 1984, Marvel UK's {{TF|Sheila_Cranna|Sheila Cranna}} accepted Kazybrid's humour strip into ''[[The Transformers]]''. In concession to the book's theme, Kazybrid's characters went on more space adventures with robots than they would in the newspaper. With Humph stepping into a larger protagonist role, this new incarnation of the comic was named '''''Matt and the Cat'''''.<ref>[http://mychailokazybrid.blogspot.com/2007/01/its-november-1984.html "It's November 1984..." on the Humph the Cat Blogspot]</ref> It was first published in [[The Transformers issue 5|issue 5]], and ran until [[The Transformers issue 73|issue 73]] in 1986, with only a few interruptions – though its last couple of strips provided something of an abrupt resolution, with several story threads left hanging. ''[[Robo-Capers]]'' shortly took over the half-page gag strip slot.
This was not the end of breakout character Humph, but the exact details of his further adventures are difficult to pin down due to print-only information and dying turn of the millennium websites. WhatOne wething dowe know is that, on 20th April 2000, Kazybrid attended the UK ''Transformers'' convention Transforce; his contributions to the con's exclusive magazine included "a brand"Matt new Humphand the catCat/Megatron storypin up" and awhat the Transforce website promoted as "Matta andbrand thenew Cat/MegatronHumph pinthe upcat story".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20001024231430/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/primus/exclusives2000.htm Transforce 2000: The exclusives of the millennium (archived)]</ref> InThe Auguststory thatacknowledged year,the Transforceresolution organiserof Paul''Matt Cannonand tookthe toCat'' alt.toysand set Humph up in the home city of Do-Do Man, another Kazybrid creation.transformers In 2011, Kazybrid made the strip available to advertiseread on his newBlogspot under the title of "official"Humph ''the Cat in Shefferham";<ref>"Humph the Cat'' websitein featuringShefferham" a[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-1.html newpage story1], [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-2.html "Thispage is2], not[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-2_06.html page 3], and [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-4.html page 4] on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation</ref> in introducing the story, featuredKazybrid implies it to have been printed in the Transforcefourth magazineissue of his ''Do-Do Man'' comic series."<ref name=goog> [https://groupskazybridscharactercreation.googleblogspot.com/g2011/alt09/humph-cat-in-shefferham.toys.transformers/c/qy27g9PZCEQ/m/ARnAxgNJXm8Jhtml "(UK COMIC) Humph the Cat, ain new stripShefferham" on alt.toys.transformersMychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation]</ref> A''Do-Do conMan'' reportbegan afterin TransforceJanuary 20011997,<ref disclosedname=sydney1>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/08/sidney-in-reservoir-sidney.html that"Sidney ain Reservoir Sidney." on Mychailo Kazybrid''Matts Character Creation]</ref> and theapparently Cat''usually stripfeatured appearedshort back-up strips starring characters other than the eponymous superhero in thata year'ssimilar magazine,format {{TF|Alignment|Alignment}}to Bookthe 1aforementioned Humph strip.<ref name=sydney1/><ref>[https://groupskazybridscharactercreation.googleblogspot.com/g2011/alt.toys.transformers08/c/RmjTblind-MyMAM8/m/UmsUcYH5pjwJdate-sidney.html (Convention)"Blind TransforceDate 2001Sidney" Reporton already!Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation]</ref><ref>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/08/missing-links.html possible"Missing spoilersLinks" foron theMychailo magazineKazybrid's onCharacter alt.toys.transformersCreation]</ref> At present, neither the contents nor even the publication date of ''Do-Do Man'' issue 4 are noted anywhere online.
There's a missing puzzle piece here that we'll shortly get back to. First, we'll look at Kazybrid's second Transforce appearance in 2001. That year's magazine, ''{{TF|Alignment|Alignment}}'' Book 1, included another strip focussed on Humph's adventures.<ref>[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/RmjT-MyMAM8/m/UmsUcYH5pjwJ (Convention) Transforce 2001 Report already! - possible spoilers for the magazine on alt.toys.transformers]</ref> Much more in line with its form of publication, this story featured Humph actually ''at'' the Transforce convention – or did it? With Humph revealed to still be in the clutches of the [[Slave-Master]], readers were encouraged to go to the Humph the Cat website to find out more.<ref>[https://twitter.com/mellowshade/status/1797363763592437937 Humph the Cat's ''Alignment'' strip, courtesy of mellowshade on twitter]</ref>
Exactly ''what'' was published by Transforce is currently unknown. In late 2000, the revamped main page of the Transforce website advertised the "official" ''Humph the Cat'' site using a panel<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000915080802/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk:80/primus/comics.htm Transforce: The home of UK Transformers and Beast Wars (archived, 2000)]</ref> from "Humph the Cat in Shefferham", a strip printed in the fourth issue of ''Do-Do Man'', another Kazybrid creation.<ref> [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham.html "Humph the Cat in Shefferham" on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation]</ref> The ''Do-Do Man'' series had began in January 1997,<ref name=sydney1>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/08/sidney-in-reservoir-sidney.html "Sidney in Reservoir Sidney." on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation]</ref> and apparently usually featured short back-up strips starring characters other than the eponymous superhero.<ref name=sydney1/><ref>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/08/blind-date-sidney.html "Blind Date Sidney" on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation]</ref><ref>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/08/missing-links.html "Missing Links" on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation]</ref> "Humph the Cat in Shefferham" directly references Humph's ''Transformers'' cliffhanger and sets him up in the city of Shefferham with plans to pursue Do-Do Man's cat, Amy. In 2011, Kazybrid made the strip available to read on his Blogspot.<ref>"Humph the Cat in Shefferham" [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-1.html page 1], [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-2.html page 2], [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-2_06.html page 3], and [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham-page-4.html page 4] on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation</ref>
ArchivesWhich ofbrings us back to that missing piece. In August 2000, Transforce's organiser Paul Cannon took to alt.toys.transformers to advertise his new "official" ''Humph the Cat'' website havefeaturing nota beennew ablestory: to"This retainis not the images.story featured Thein accompanyingthe textTransforce makesmagazine," it– uncleari.e., whethernot "Humph the comicCat itin featuredShefferham".<ref wasname=goog>[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/qy27g9PZCEQ/m/ARnAxgNJXm8J "(UK COMIC) Humph the Cat, ina new strip" on alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A panel from the "Shefferham", asstrip ''was'' used to advertise the linksubsite fromon the homepagerevamped suggests,main orpage (atof leastthe someTransforce website in late 2000.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000915080802/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk:80/primus/comics.htm Transforce: The home of UK Transformers and Beast Wars (archived, 2000)]</ref> The text on the ''Humph the Cat'' website references a four page appearance in ''Do-Do Man'' #issue 4 before being "pleased to offer just a taste" of the Humph-centric storyline due to appear in ''Do-Do Man'' issue 5,.<ref name=humphweb>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010708134320/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/primus/humph.htm Transforce's ''Humph the Cat'' website (archived)]</ref> an ''Do-Do Man'' issue that5 does not appear to have actually been published.,<ref>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/01/do-do-man-issue-4.html "Do-Do Man issue 4"], [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/04/do-do-man-cover-artwork-for-mobile.html "Do-Do Man cover artwork for mobile phone strips"], and [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/05/do-do-man-series-1.html "Do-Do Man the series #1"] on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation. Note that the four published issues were preceded by [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/01/do-do-man-limited-edition.html a stand-alone limited edition], explaining references made to "all five published issues".</ref> In 2010, Kazybrid would post a 23-page solo adventure for Humph to his Blogspot.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130504040529/http://mychailokazybrid.blogspot.com/ Humph the Cat Blogspot (archived, 2013)]</ref> Freely available pages show it to be an adventure strip in which Humph returns to [[Darkon]] (or did he ever leave...?), suggesting it to be something other than the unreleased ''Do-Do Man'' crossover;<ref>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/01/humph-cat-page-5.html Page 5] and [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/01/humph-cat-page-6.htmlarchives page 6] on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation</ref> in factof the reappearances by the [[Slave-Master]] and [[Olia-cym]] imply this story has more in common with whatever was on Transforce's ''Matt and the CatHumph'' website, givenhave Cannon'snot referenceretained toany "familiar faces [cropping up] from past Transformers comics".images,<ref name=googhumphweb/> Byso 2015,exactly the storywhat was removed from Kazybrid's blog<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150720205441/http://mychailokazybrid.blogspot.com/ Humph the Cat Blogspot (archived, 2015)]</ref> to instead be published inon colourit inis volumesentirely [https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/vol17-issue1 17] and [https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/vol18-issue1 18] of [https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/home-aces Aces Weekly], a digital comics anthology series established by [[w:David Lloyd (comics)|David Lloyd]]up to which Kazybrid frequently contributesspeculation.
So here's the speculation: the 2000 Transforce mag included an interview with Kazybrid, conducted by Paul Cannon, in which he revealed that, after two abortive attempts to produce a ''Matt and the Cat'' graphic novel, a new story was being put together featuring "old favourites" such as [[Olia-cym]], [[Digbeth]], and the Slave-Master. Cannon's mid-2000 a.t.t. post mentioned that the ''Humph'' web comic would feature "familiar faces [cropping up] from past Transformers comics".<ref name=goog/> It seems likely that the ''Humph the Cat'' website featured at least some of the 23-page sequel story that Kazybrid would publish on his blog in 2010,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130504040529/http://mychailokazybrid.blogspot.com/ Humph the Cat Blogspot (archived, 2013)]</ref> which did indeed feature several familiar faces (as seen in these freely available pages<ref>[https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/01/humph-cat-page-5.html Page 5] and [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/01/humph-cat-page-6.html page 6] on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation</ref>) and follow up on the cliffhanger in the 2001 Transforce mag... though this does make the comment about ''Do-Do'' man issue 5 crossover to be a bit of an enigma. By 2015, the story was removed from Kazybrid's blog;<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150720205441/http://mychailokazybrid.blogspot.com/ Humph the Cat Blogspot (archived, 2015)]</ref> it saw a more prestigious publication, colourised by Kazybrid's partner Sarah Sier (and chopped into A5 landscape pages), in volumes [https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/vol17-issue1 17] and [https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/vol18-issue1 18] of [https://www.acesweekly.co.uk/home-aces ''Aces Weekly''], a digital comics anthology series established by [[w:David Lloyd (comics)|David Lloyd]]. Kazybrid frequently contributes other strips to ''Aces Weekly'', so we can once again only speculate if Humph will chaos havoc again on the printed (digital) page...!
==''Matt and the Cat'' strips in TFUK==
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