Con-Quest began in the summer of 1992 with a print run of 15 issues, of which I kept one for myself, had four or five pre-paid subscribers, and slowly sold off the rest over the next few months. To put the era into perspective, this was two years before the first BotCon, before the Transformer newsgroups, web sites, and Mushes, when Hasbro had essentially closed up shop for TFs in the US, and only those of us lucky enough to have overseas contacts, got the occasional trickle of new toys. G2 had not yet hit the shelves, and only a small contingent of dedicated fans kept the flame alive. Fan activity was intense, coordinated through the TransMasters club newsletters and fanzines in a constant flurry of snail-mail (yes, those were the primitive days!), and much trading of toys and dimly-legible photocopies and creative work was passed back and forth - but the rest of the world had essentially forgotten about the robots in disguise. We were a small group of hold-outs, barricaded against the indifference of the times and determined to preserve what we loved. Even smaller, but I dare say even more passionate, was the beleaguered group of Decepticon fans who would not let their personal idols slip away into oblivion, who would not stand to see them slandered, and who would not bow to the demands of conformity or the simpleminded judgement of a label on a toy box.
In this spirit, Con-Quest was born. It was meant to stand in counterbalance to the Autobot-focused activities of much of the fandom - to point out how the clear-cut "good vs. evil" model was not nearly so simple, and did not in fact match what we saw in the cartoons - to proudly and without apology tell the other side of the story, and to present the Decepticons as they are - complex and multi-faceted characters in their own right, complete with a full range of emotions - rather than as caricatures of "mindless evil" seen through the biased eyes of their enemies. To give the Decepticons their due as the heroes they are.
There have been, of course, many changes in the past 10 years, and I look back on them with a mixture of amazement and amusement. Most obvious is the technological advancement of the last decade, and the look of the magazine has improved considerably because of it. No longer do I have to fight with tape and scissors and coax photocopiers to reproduce delicate grayscale artwork; my scanner and art programs now work that magic for me. Where I once had to re-type entire hand-written stories (or even typed stories, since I wanted them all in a uniform font), I now simply format the files sent to me by e-mail. Communication with CQ's contributors and subscribers is vastly improved, as the net has opened up a whole new world of material and interested friends of the zine.
Themes have come and gone as changes have swept across TransFandom, most not for the better; I don't know whether to smile or cringe at my desperate attempts to find some redeeming feature in Beast Wars, for instance ... but even a Decepticon must at some point recognize a lost cause, and return her energy to promoting that which remains worthy. I myself have grown less tentative in my insistence of what's right and wrong, good and evil; less tolerant of anything that would infringe upon the integrity of what I love best, less willing to give new elements a chance after seeing things botched so badly. There is a line that should not be crossed even in a fictional universe, and it's our responsibility as fans to stand up and say so, rather than to submissively accept any and all forms of travesty. After all, we kept the Transformers alive back when no one else cared.
Anyway, digression aside ... subscribers and contributors too have come and gone. Some have faded off into the great big world out there, and I wish them well, hoping that they still take inspiration from the indomitable Decepticon spirit. Some have drifted away and later returned, reunited through the wonders of the net. An insignificant number have shamed themselves by turning against the cause they once fought for. But a respectable group has stuck it out from the beginning, and remains, like Decepticon virtue itself, steadfast in its support of Con-Quest's ideals. I must here take the opportunity to thank those who have never wavered, both my long-term associates and the many new friends who gather under the noble Decepticon banner - those who have enriched CQ with their contributions, subscriptions, encouragement, feedback, and, to my utter amazement and gratitude, even with donations of printers, computers, scanners, software, the use of publishing facilities, and financial assistance toward the continued improvement of the zine.
I must, however, thank a second group of people as well. Those who are so threatened by an alternate perspective that they loudly take offense to CQ's very existence (rather than, say, putting that energy into creating something of their own). Those whose personal insecurities, small-minded jealousies, and in some cases, outright psychological problems have caused them to slander, malign, and attack Con-Quest and its creator in every possible forum. Far from discouraging me, they give me continued inspiration to carry on the cause. I often get a good laugh out of them when I need it most. And, all this generous promotion has lured many a curious onlooker to check things out for themselves, to find to their own surprise that they liked what they saw. From the most vitriolic attacks have grown some of my most loyal subscribers, truest friends, and most supportive fan-mail. "How ironic," as Megatron would say.
Con-Quest remains, as ever, a balance between my striving for a professional look, and the mundane limitations of time and budget. While there have been superficial changes in the last decade, the true heart of the zine has never faltered. Again to quote Megatron, "Our mission has not changed." CQ will continue to gather great Decepticon stories, profiles, poems, songs, art, and RP logs - to celebrate and encourage the diversity that is fan creativity, to preserve the true honor of the Decepticons, regardless of how the world changes around us; and, like the Decepticons themselves, to prevail and triumph in the face of every adversity.
Here's to the next ten years!
--Raksha the Plumed Serpent
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