The Energon Pub

Short version: this is about unofficial publishing, but something that was a first in fandom history so you may or may not consider this newsworthy. Previous threads can be found here, here, here and here (the Allspark seems to have lost posts since the last time it came up.)

Longer version: the TransMasters fanclubs in the US and UK were the first to get written permission for non-profit activities, amongst which were helping to stir the imagination of a young Nick Roche, a number of conventions that featured contributions by Simon Furman, and a thick self-published novel by James Roberts. At the time the book got reviewed by The Harvard Crimson and copies still change hands at conventions and on eBay. Those of us aware of it wondered when a reprint or online edition might turn up, and earlier this year a website was said to be coming soon.

James is still busy and we've offered to host. So here you go... accompanying is a summary of continuity from the UK comics and relevant TMUK fiction, the script and comic for tie-in Liars A to D (itself a bit of UK convention history), and Telefunken, a dark original-era-to-BW short story that was originally printed in the back of Eugenesis.

http://tfarchive.com/fandom/features/eugenesis/

Everything can be grabbed as one ZIP file: eugenesis.zip

If anything's screwed up, it's probably my fault and please do mention. For the most part it goes without saying that I'd recommend the story to anyone, but fans of the Marvel comics are particularly likely to enjoy -- think Furman with less cheese and no obligation to keep the words short for kids. Amongst other things it includes possibly the best character moment for Optimus Prime I've read. And lastly, for those who don't mind spoilers, you can find an author retrospective from 2002 here.

(TMUK are still active... they're having site problems again at the moment, but you could drop by their temporary forum if you want to get in touch with Mr Roberts and give feedback.)