A brief history of TMUK
The "Transmasters" fanclub originated in the USA in the
mid-eighties after the release of the first
Transformers feature film. Membership ballooned in 1991
after a letter from a Transmasters member appeared in
Marvel's Transformers comic. Here in the UK, the
British branch of the "Transmasters" fanclub started at
around the same time when a similar letter appeared in
Marvel UK's Transformers comic.
With the demise of the original Transformers comic, it fell to the fanclub members to carry on the Transformers story and a handful of fanzines were published. Most notable of these were "Transtrip", a comic by Matt Dallas that lasted two years and 24 issues, set on Nebulos in the 2030s; "Transtext", an anthology based 'zine by James Roberts that featured a host of text stories by different members; and "The Informer", a newsletter by Andy Dornan that kept the club up-to-date with all the goings on in the Transformers world. Other fanzines appeared in this time including "Pathformers" by Ricky Miller, "Transhumans" by Kevin Hagan, several comic strip/text story one-shots by Martin McVay, and "Brothers in Arms", a group project.
By the mid-nineties, Marvel's "Transformers: Generation 2" comic had come and gone. In the UK, Fleetway published a 5-issue "Generation 2" comic... unremarkable in every way save a small notice, complete with pictures, telling fans of a fanclub called Transmasters UK and its new comic: "Transformers: The Continued Generation 2". And so, a massive influx of members joined the fray. "Transformers: The Continued Generation 2", or "CG2" as it became known, went from strength to strength with each passing issue. New members lent their talents to the title, including the likes of Nick Roche and Jack Lawrence who have since crossed over into mainstream comics.
In addition to CG2, many new TMUK fanzines were started. These included: "Earthforce", "Holiday Special", "The Lost Chronicles", "Transmasters Universe", "Beast Wars", "Tales of Cybertron" and many more besides! Each member had their own take on the Transformers to bring to the club, but, since we were all interested in continuing that original Transformers story told by Bob Budiansky and Simon Furman, every single new story was carefully considered so that it could fit into the exponentially sprawling storyverse.
As the Internet became more widespread, the focus of Transmasters UK moved away from printed fanzines and onto websites. Martin McVay set up the very first TMUK website, and the wonderful invention of hyperlinks meant that the shared continuity could be navigated a lot more quickly and easily. Everyone that had previously worked on their fanzines found themselves with less time on their hands, and found themselves drawn to the Internet as a means of telling their stories to a wider audience and with a much more convenient medium.
The TMUK "eGroup" was set up by Chris White in 1998 and has since become the definitive place to post new text-stories. During this time, Beast Wars made its impact in the UK and a reboot was performed on existing TMUK continuity to make room for its stories in an all-new future. With an exciting and untrodden path for the Transformers characters laid out, members began posting new text-stories with gusto. The TMUK website was passed from Martin McVay to Graham Thomson to Paul Cannon and then back to Graham Thomson.
At around the same time, there was another flourish of TMUK fanzines. "Junk Files" by James O'Sullivan, "The Matrix" by Mark Stevenson and "The Prime Sacrifice" by Simon Hannah all made their debut at this time.
The first month of the 21st Century saw the genesis of The Hub, a reincarnation of the TMUK website that was to be a central port-of-call for TMUK members, their fanzines and their stories. A message-board style forum was installed into the Hub by Garry Bodsworth and from there it grew to become a primary (though virtual) meeting point for not just TMUK members but Transformers fans of all walks of life.
And all the while that most of the fanclub members concentrated on the Internet, there was one member of TMUK that had a big secret up his sleeve... in fact a very bulky secret up his sleeve! In August of 2001 the first Transformers novel was released. "Eugenesis", by James Roberts, was a 500+ page perfect-bound honest-to-gosh book. Its first print run was limited to just 100 copies, and sold out within 20 minutes (of James opening his suitcase at the Transforce 2001 convention!).
At the same event, the "Transforce 2001 Magazine" was released. With a print run of 300 copies, it was TMUK's biggest fanzine project to date, featuring over 50 pages of all-new Transformers comic strip stories by the likes of Nick Roche, Mark Stevenson, Matt Dallas, Martin McVay, Garry Bodsworth, Jack Lawrence, James Bull and Graham Thomson.
In 2001-2003, more and more members were signing up to the Hub and the eGroup and getting involved in TMUK. More fanzines started such as "Armada" and "ScotCon" by Andy Turnbull, "Cybertronic" by Karl Thurgood and "The Axalon" by Charles Ellis.
In 2004, The Hub (as part of a new "membership pack") started a new printed fanzine called "The 0-Series" that kept its pages free for TMUK members to submit new stories and comic strips. The series lasted for six issues spread over 18 months and in 2005 evolved into "Hubris", a serious attempt to produce a regular full-colour comic/magazine. "Hubris" took the Hub through to its fifth anniversary and beyond.
Last year, in 2006, members of TMUK released a salvo of fanzines at the Auto-Assembly convention; these included the "Last of the Great Arks" and "Ruined Empire" by Ralph Burns and Andy Turnbull respectively.
For further information on the Transmasters UK fanclub and its shared continuity of stories, check out The Underbase and the TMUK eGroup.
With the demise of the original Transformers comic, it fell to the fanclub members to carry on the Transformers story and a handful of fanzines were published. Most notable of these were "Transtrip", a comic by Matt Dallas that lasted two years and 24 issues, set on Nebulos in the 2030s; "Transtext", an anthology based 'zine by James Roberts that featured a host of text stories by different members; and "The Informer", a newsletter by Andy Dornan that kept the club up-to-date with all the goings on in the Transformers world. Other fanzines appeared in this time including "Pathformers" by Ricky Miller, "Transhumans" by Kevin Hagan, several comic strip/text story one-shots by Martin McVay, and "Brothers in Arms", a group project.
By the mid-nineties, Marvel's "Transformers: Generation 2" comic had come and gone. In the UK, Fleetway published a 5-issue "Generation 2" comic... unremarkable in every way save a small notice, complete with pictures, telling fans of a fanclub called Transmasters UK and its new comic: "Transformers: The Continued Generation 2". And so, a massive influx of members joined the fray. "Transformers: The Continued Generation 2", or "CG2" as it became known, went from strength to strength with each passing issue. New members lent their talents to the title, including the likes of Nick Roche and Jack Lawrence who have since crossed over into mainstream comics.
In addition to CG2, many new TMUK fanzines were started. These included: "Earthforce", "Holiday Special", "The Lost Chronicles", "Transmasters Universe", "Beast Wars", "Tales of Cybertron" and many more besides! Each member had their own take on the Transformers to bring to the club, but, since we were all interested in continuing that original Transformers story told by Bob Budiansky and Simon Furman, every single new story was carefully considered so that it could fit into the exponentially sprawling storyverse.
As the Internet became more widespread, the focus of Transmasters UK moved away from printed fanzines and onto websites. Martin McVay set up the very first TMUK website, and the wonderful invention of hyperlinks meant that the shared continuity could be navigated a lot more quickly and easily. Everyone that had previously worked on their fanzines found themselves with less time on their hands, and found themselves drawn to the Internet as a means of telling their stories to a wider audience and with a much more convenient medium.
The TMUK "eGroup" was set up by Chris White in 1998 and has since become the definitive place to post new text-stories. During this time, Beast Wars made its impact in the UK and a reboot was performed on existing TMUK continuity to make room for its stories in an all-new future. With an exciting and untrodden path for the Transformers characters laid out, members began posting new text-stories with gusto. The TMUK website was passed from Martin McVay to Graham Thomson to Paul Cannon and then back to Graham Thomson.
At around the same time, there was another flourish of TMUK fanzines. "Junk Files" by James O'Sullivan, "The Matrix" by Mark Stevenson and "The Prime Sacrifice" by Simon Hannah all made their debut at this time.
The first month of the 21st Century saw the genesis of The Hub, a reincarnation of the TMUK website that was to be a central port-of-call for TMUK members, their fanzines and their stories. A message-board style forum was installed into the Hub by Garry Bodsworth and from there it grew to become a primary (though virtual) meeting point for not just TMUK members but Transformers fans of all walks of life.
And all the while that most of the fanclub members concentrated on the Internet, there was one member of TMUK that had a big secret up his sleeve... in fact a very bulky secret up his sleeve! In August of 2001 the first Transformers novel was released. "Eugenesis", by James Roberts, was a 500+ page perfect-bound honest-to-gosh book. Its first print run was limited to just 100 copies, and sold out within 20 minutes (of James opening his suitcase at the Transforce 2001 convention!).
At the same event, the "Transforce 2001 Magazine" was released. With a print run of 300 copies, it was TMUK's biggest fanzine project to date, featuring over 50 pages of all-new Transformers comic strip stories by the likes of Nick Roche, Mark Stevenson, Matt Dallas, Martin McVay, Garry Bodsworth, Jack Lawrence, James Bull and Graham Thomson.
In 2001-2003, more and more members were signing up to the Hub and the eGroup and getting involved in TMUK. More fanzines started such as "Armada" and "ScotCon" by Andy Turnbull, "Cybertronic" by Karl Thurgood and "The Axalon" by Charles Ellis.
In 2004, The Hub (as part of a new "membership pack") started a new printed fanzine called "The 0-Series" that kept its pages free for TMUK members to submit new stories and comic strips. The series lasted for six issues spread over 18 months and in 2005 evolved into "Hubris", a serious attempt to produce a regular full-colour comic/magazine. "Hubris" took the Hub through to its fifth anniversary and beyond.
Last year, in 2006, members of TMUK released a salvo of fanzines at the Auto-Assembly convention; these included the "Last of the Great Arks" and "Ruined Empire" by Ralph Burns and Andy Turnbull respectively.
For further information on the Transmasters UK fanclub and its shared continuity of stories, check out The Underbase and the TMUK eGroup.