Transformation: The Marvel UK Website and Now Book! Plus Dalek's Other Published Works.

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inflatable dalek
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Transformation: The Marvel UK Website and Now Book! Plus Dalek's Other Published Works.

Post by inflatable dalek »

EDIT 31/10/2016:

The book is now available from Lulu, Amazon UK and Amazon US, details here:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/book-shop.html



Shameless self promotion time:


As some of you will know. I've just come into ownership of the entire run of the Marvel UK comic. Which has inspired me to go through each issue, one a week, writing down my thoughts on the entire package. It's not an in-depth behind the scenes thing or lengthy synopsis, just a very personal journey through the comic.

The introduction and issue #1 entry are up, so I hope you'll be joining me for the next 332 (!?!?!) weeks:

http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformation.html

All thoughts and feedback welcome either here or on the site itself (each issue will get promoted in the blog as well where comments can go).

I feel all whoreish now.


UPDATE:

The short story collection Fitting In contains my comedic take on The Headless Horseman. Amazon links all in one handy place here: http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/blog/com ... -anthology
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

It's certainly a very different read to having stories packaged up in TPBs with parts back-to-back (and with decisions having to be made about how to sequence things.)

If you haven't got US G2, BTW, and're interested, I have an additional set of the TF issues.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

With the American stuff I'm fine with the trades, but I may look into tracking down the UK G2 stuff as a coda to the whole thing at the end. If I get that far...

It's a shame that, beyond the basic logistics of it either being very big books or a very large number of them, that there's no real way of reprinting the UK and US stuff in an easy chronological trade order together. There's that lengthy run in the middle where it all works but the begining and end would be a bit of mish mash mess with the Earthforce stuff in particular likely to cause aneurisms.
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Red Dave Prime
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Post by Red Dave Prime »

I really like this idea, nice one. Best of luck!
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Post by Rurudyne »

Sounds like a great idea.

I can finally find out what Marvel UK did instead of that ... (ugh) Spiderman crossover....
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Post by Skyquake87 »

inflatable dalek wrote:With the American stuff I'm fine with the trades, but I may look into tracking down the UK G2 stuff as a coda to the whole thing at the end. If I get that far...

It's a shame that, beyond the basic logistics of it either being very big books or a very large number of them, that there's no real way of reprinting the UK and US stuff in an easy chronological trade order together. There's that lengthy run in the middle where it all works but the begining and end would be a bit of mish mash mess with the Earthforce stuff in particular likely to cause aneurisms.
Eh, I were doing such a thing, I'd sling the collections out in their original published order and not worry about it. Who needs everything happening in the right order anyway? The alignment thing you point out between the US/ UK material certainly signifies how hard the editorial team worked on making everything gel. Its when you get less interested parties that it starts to fall apart.

I have read your blog thing and really enjoyed it ( I also liked your Avengers review too). Spot on about the early days of the comic, where it really felt like the more educational tone of Look And Learn and Look-In (before its 'teen pop-mag' makeover).
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Post by Cliffjumper »

Ahhh, Look and Learn, bought by well-intentioned parents in droves unaware that the only thing in it their sprogs read was Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire.

The 'Woo, robots!' page always seemed like such a kick in the nuts. You read all these pages about transforming 40ft metal warriors and then were faced with the cruel reality of some bloke in Japan managing to get a plastic box on tracks to make a left turn while bleeping.

I've never really seen the great advantage to chronological ordering of comic stories either... Published order generally avoids any unintentional incomprehension, and intentional secret origin/flashback stories don't always work well like that anyway. Plus in the case of TFUK time travel would really **** it up - something like the first DH arc puts down vital plot points for both 1988 and 2008.

I'd be for the rough idea of using the fully integrated stuff in line with the US issues (which like it or not are the core the UK book's built around) and ignoring everything without clear consensus on placing being dropped. But then you'd miss the point of it all I suppose.

Basically, though, I'd do anything but pick a 'big name' arc and then just pack the rest of the TPB with randomly chosen unconnected stories.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Rurudyne wrote:Sounds like a great idea.

I can finally find out what Marvel UK did instead of that ... (ugh) Spiderman crossover....
Well, I'm not really doing any indepth synopses so you won't be finding out much in the way of events in the comic. Mainly because that's covered in a lot of depth elsewhere.

The Spider-Man crossover (originally from the American series than than UK originated) is awesome though. He teams up with Gears, there's nothing more awesome than that.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by Cliffjumper »

No offence, but I doubt he even clicked the link. It's just an excuse to roll out a stock phrase.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Cliffjumper wrote:No offence, but I doubt he even clicked the link. It's just an excuse to roll out a stock phrase.
It's all part of my new nice persona to take people entirely at their word despite all evidence to the contrary.
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relak
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Post by relak »

nice.

Hope you'll do a feature or 2 on the letters pages. I heard those "Grim Grams" and "Dread Tidings" were quite entertaining.
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Post by Denyer »

They're here if you want to read some for yourself;

http://transfans.co.uk/media.php?series ... ion=comics
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

We're about six months away from the first "Classic" letters page.

Issue 2: http://thesolarpool.weebly.com/transformers-uk-2.html

I've now twigged how to make the pictures bigger if you click on them. Look upon me ye mortal men and despair!
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Extreme necro bump (I did think about starting a new thread, but I'll be shamelessly needing to pimp The Book of the Site in a couple of weeks so I thought keeping the one thred for all my sell out whoring would be a good idea. It might trick the other mods into not noticing I've become a spam bot for myself)!

Anyway, tomorrow I reach the exact midpoint of the British comic. Three years and two months down, three years and two months to go!

[For Marvel anyway, I suspect I will carry on and do Every Single British Transformers comic. Mainly because, as no one cares about Panini/Titan*, it'll be interesting to see at what point the readership reaches zero]

Just for fun, I've been making hugely professional and sexy looking adverts as part of a daily countdown (except on Sunday, for I am a God fearing man, not because I forgot. No Sir), which I thought I'd share to show off my AMAZING photoshop skills.

Six days to go!

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 2097514496

Err... Four days to go!

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 6649831424

Three days to go!

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 1289672704

Two days to go!

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 9199516672

Today!

https://twitter.com/InflatableDalek/sta ... 9202539520

It's the same joke five times, but I'm way more proud of those than I should be (by the by, I'm not deluded enough to actually try and watermark these things, the link is just so people know where to look). Big things ahead tomorrow!










*On this note, if anyone has issues 1 and 2 of the Animated comic for sale, or scans they could chuck my way, I will be grateful. Veeeeeeeeeeery grateful.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by inflatable dalek »

REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Terome
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Post by Terome »

Fantastic work! I've been reading these every Friday (most often on the train). Very impressed that you've soldiered on to the half-way mark. I like the little details about the ads and letters pages and back-up strips. It's a chronological history of Marvel UK itself, in a way.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

My face is all red now.



For many reasons. But mainly for the adoration.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by Denyer »

I think Animated scans existed, but I might be misremembering having had the actual issues at one point.

As did you...? You reviewed them, anyway.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

You were good enough to provide me scans at the time, but not knowing that I might ever need them again I never bothered to keep them.

Don't delete files kids!

Except incriminating ones.
REVIISITATION: THE HOLE TRUTH
STARSCREAM GOES TO PIECES IN MY LOOK AT INFILTRATION #6!
PLUS: BUY THE BOOKS!
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Post by Denyer »

I've lost a few discs over the years, but chances are reasonable I'd still have them somewhere if I had them at some point. When I have time to reboot will have a fish around on the NAS.
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