Matt and the Cat: Difference between revisions
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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. |
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. |
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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. |
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. One thing we know is that, on 20th April 2000, Kazybrid attended the UK ''Transformers'' convention Transforce; his contributions to the con's exclusive magazine included a "Matt and the Cat/Megatron pin up" and what the Transforce website promoted as "a brand new Humph the cat 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> The story acknowledged the resolution of ''Matt and the Cat'' and set Humph up in the home city of Do-Do Man, another Kazybrid creation. In 2011, Kazybrid made the strip available to read on his Blogspot under the title of "Humph the Cat in Shefferham";<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> in introducing the story, Kazybrid implies it to have been printed in the fourth issue of his ''Do-Do Man'' comic series.<ref> [https://kazybridscharactercreation.blogspot.com/2011/09/humph-cat-in-shefferham.html "Humph the Cat in Shefferham" on Mychailo Kazybrid's Character Creation]</ref> ''Do-Do Man'' 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 in a similar format to the aforementioned Humph strip.<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> At present, neither the contents nor even the publication date of ''Do-Do Man'' issue 4 are noted anywhere online. |
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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> |
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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> |
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Which brings us back to that missing piece. In August 2000, Transforce organiser Paul Cannon took to alt.toys.transformers to advertise his new "official" ''Humph the Cat'' website featuring a new story: "This is not the story featured in the Transforce magazine," – i.e., not "Humph the Cat in Shefferham".<ref name=goog>[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/qy27g9PZCEQ/m/ARnAxgNJXm8J "(UK COMIC) Humph the Cat, a new strip" on alt.toys.transformers]</ref> A panel from the "Shefferham" strip ''was'' used to advertise the subsite on the revamped main page of the Transforce 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> ''Do-Do Man'' issue 5 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> and archives of the ''Humph'' website have not retained any images,<ref name=humphweb/> so exactly what was published on it is entirely up to speculation. |
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So here's the speculation: the 2000 Transforce mag included an interview with Kazybrid 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. Paul 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 time will tell if Humph will chaos havoc again on the printed (digital) page...! |
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==''Matt and the Cat'' strips in TFUK== |
==''Matt and the Cat'' strips in TFUK== |
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