Astrogenesis

a Petra Vaverchek tale

Petra is hired to ferry a strange passenger to a stranger planet! This story first appeared in the anthology MYTHOGRAPHY #7 published by Bardic Press,1998(coming soon!) and was later adapted for the web.

A.S.T. Lookin! #2 - The Comic Book Series

The Comic Book (Full Color) Series #1 - 4 (Image Comics) 2000

Two years after the release of the independently produced b/w comics,Image Comics brought out four Bi-Monthly Issues of A.S.T.-The Comic Book in FULL color! There was supposed to be a fifth and subsequent Issues,but due to Steve's commitments elsewhere,these never materialized :-(

ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS THE COMIC BOOK#1

The first of the new series from Image Comics came out in April 2000.Behind the fantastic painted cover provided by Ken (Star Wars, Boba Fett) Kelly, Eisner Nominee Steve Conley brings his acclaimed sci-fi series and syndicated comic strip, Astounding Space Thrills: The Comic Book to Image Comics in FULL-COLOR! In the debut issue(The Cydonian Contract), Argosy Smith and his reluctant pal Theremin are lured to the mysterious Martian monument of Cydonia to stop the theft of a priceless and very deadly alien artifact. The introduction of the beautiful space vixen Astra Nouveau only complicates matters. Robots, rayguns, rocketships, a gorgeous villainess and the fate of all life on Earth hangs in the balance. And if that weren't enough, also in this issue, for the first time in print: Marty Baumann's The Crater Kid. "We have seen the future... and it really ain't all that bad!"

ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS THE COMIC BOOK#2

Dial 0100010110101001 For Murder!Published July 2000. In a brand-new adventure, "The Criminal Code," featuring a spectacular painted cover by Kelly Freas ("The Dean of Science Fiction Illustration", winner of 10 Hugo awards), someone is killing key figures in the robot underworld and all the clues point to one of their own. And who better to profile a mechanical killer than a computer programmer? Can Argosy Smith dismantle the killer's plans before becoming a statistic himself?

And in "The Replacements," The Crater Kid and his companions are forced to deal with the loss of Diz's father, learning much about hope and perseverance in the process. Every panel packed with out-of-this-world action!

ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS THE COMIC BOOK#3

Written and drawn by Steve Conley and Marty Baumann in September 2000 .Flip Covers by Dave Dorman and Jack Davis! "Gordo: Earthling Prime" In the 1950s, NASA sent a squirrel monkey named Gordo beyond Earth's atmosphere never to be seen again! Now, 80 years later, in 2030 mankind finds itself the target of a nefarious simian scheme that may cost us the Earth itself. Can Argosy Smith stop Gordo before we all have to find a new planet to live on? BONUS FEATURE: THE HOLE IN HEAVEN. Is it always darkest before the dawn? What if dawn never arrives? The Crater Kid's faith in himself is sorely tested as darkness enshrouds the planet and all the inhabitants of Meta 4 look to him to save them.

ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS THE COMIC BOOK#4

Now that Marcoshaft owns all of Earth, what will it do with it?Released on December 2000,this was the last of the series!

ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS THE COMIC BOOK#5

ATTACK OF THE MACROBES.A dimensional breach begins an invasion of a very different kind.
AVAILABLE JUNE 2001.But due to commitments elsewhere,it never saw the light of day :-(

A.S.T. Lookin! #1- The Original Comics!

Astounding Space Thrills #1-3 (Day One Comics) 1998

As opposed to our other series-"Lookout",which is attempting to document all the non-Conley publications that featured A.S.T. content,this one is attempting to expand on the home cooked variety-the ones which directly involved the Creator.Now when talking about A.S.T. it is important to note,that Steve Conley intended it as a multimedia concept from the word go!So,we must take cognizance of the Internet,Printed Media and Videos!As far as I can ascertain,back in 1997,Steve put online the very first appearance of A.S.T. in the form of a short animated cartoon(not to be confused with the A.S.T. "trailer" which came later),called simply "Astounding Space Thrills".This has since disappeared and even Steve is reputed not to have a copy!If he does,we can only hope that he makes it available again for us fans!Now back to base-Steve put out 3 independently produced A.S.T. comics back in 1998,published by Day One Comics.The first of these was called not surprisingly-Astounding Space Thrills #1.

Astounding Space Thrills #1

This came out in May 1998.Featuring an explosive cover by series storyteller Steve Conley and comics legend STERANKO (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Shadow), this first plutonium-powered issue introduces the retro-universe of Argosy Smith, Theremin and a cosmos of new characters. Beginning part one of "The Codex Reckoning" the characters seek the Codex Melzi - mysterious lost notes of Leonardo da Vinci. As a backup story, a 7-page retro sci-fi adventure "The Victor Belt" features the Hero of Strata 4, Jet Victor by Marty Baumann. As an extra bonus: a sci-fi pin-up from STERANKO! 40 pages in classic B&W with full-color covers.There was also a variant cover (limited to 750 copies) featuring the same beautiful STERANKO/Conley cover without type, showcasing the cover painting.

Astounding Space Thrills #2

By Steve Conley, Cover by the Brothers Hildebrandt!This second independently produced comic was released in July 1998 and continued part two of The Codex Reckoning. Argosy Smith, Theremin and pilot-for-hire Petra Vaverchek find themselves caught between galactic corporate superpowers, alien protoplasmic monsters and little green mercenaries as they determine just what Leonardo DaVinci's lost notes mean to the future of space travel. Renowned sci-fi illustrators Greg and Tim Hildebrandt (STAR WARS, X-Men) provide a stunning painted cover. As a backup story, a 7-page retro sci-fi adventure "The Jorvax Cloud" features the Hero of Strata 4, Jet Victor by Marty Baumann. As an extra bonus: a sci-fi pin-up by Michael Cohen (Strange Attractors). 40 pages in classic B&W with full-color covers.A variant cover (limited to 500 copies) features the same spectacular Brother Hildebrandt painted cover without type.

Astounding Space Thrills #3

By Steve Conley, Cover by Drew Struzan (Artist of the STAR WARS Special Edition and Indiana Jones Trilogy movie posters)! The third comic of the original run was released in January 1999.In the feature story, "Aspects of Iron": Argosy Smith is dead, so what is he doing running from dinosaurs, robots and the Velthan mystic who prophesized his death? And while Argosy is galavanting in the afterlife, his cohorts are no better off! Petra's being chased by a Bounty Hunter and Theremin's up to his globules in Musketeers. This issue also features a Jet Victor episode by Marty Baumann. PLUS: a sci-fi pin-up by comics legend Pat Boyette! 40 pages in classic B&W with full-color covers.A rare variant (limited to 500 copies) features the same gorgeous Drew Struzan painted cover without type.

Undersea Menace From The Year 3200 #4

UMFTY3200 #4

To be continued in Part 5!

A.S.T. Lookout! #3

SON OF RAMPAGE

Here we look back at the 1999 Anthology which featured a different version of A.S.T.'s "The Stonehenge Connection",which like many other strips was adapted for the online Daily Adventures strips.




Solicitation Info
Shipping Month: December 1999
Creators: Over 20
Format: 168 pages, squarebound with double laminated four color covers
Price: $13.95
Publisher: Slap Happy Comics
Frequency: Annually
Contact Info: WingnutIBH@aol.com
Promotions: Ads in other indy books, heavy promotion at cons and
shows

Summary: Bursting at the seams with the field's freshest talent, this 168 page sequel volume to last year's red hot RAMPAGE contains twice the fun! Each creative team crafted an all-new 7 page story spotlighting their most popular project exclusively for this volume.Each story is accompanied by a creator bio page complete with photos, an overview of their current project and contact info. SON OF RAMPAGE is an excellent showcase package that is attractive to die-hard comic-fans and newcomers to the magic that is comics.

The line-up:
Chris Yambar
Fire Breathing Pope Comics
John Green and Dave Roman
Quicken Forbidden
Vince Sneed and John Peters
40 Winks
Brian Clopper
Marshall: Godling of War
Jay Torres and Tim Levins
Copybook Tales
Ken Harrison
Borne Heroes
David Yurkovich
Threshold
Scott Roberts
Pattycake
George Broderick
Courageous Man
John Gallagher
Buzzboy
Lyman Dally
Max Rep
Art Baltazar
Craybabies
Ty and Ian Smith
Odd Adventure Zine
Steve Conley
Astounding Space Thrills
Pam Bliss
B-36
Dan Berger
Gutwallow
Peter Laird and Jim Lawson
Planet Racers
Kevin Thomas
Spy Girls
Harold Buchholz
Suburban Space Pets
Josh Blaylock
Penguin Bros.

How Astounding Space Thrills: The Daily Adventures is created.

How Astounding Space Thrills: The Daily Adventures is created.

STEP 1: ORIGINAL ART

Each episode of Astounding Space Thrills starts out as a ballpoint pen illustration on standard white photocopy paper. The original ballpoint art for episode 262 can be seen below.

STEP 2: LINEWORK

A scan of the ballpoint illustration is brought into the drawing program, FreeHand 5.5 (Macromedia's FreeHand program is now up to version 8 - I prefer the speed and interface of 5.5 and continue to use the 4-year old program, having purchased and very much disliked the the later upgrades of the software). Using that scan as a starting point, I redraw the image using a mouse. I've tried using tablets and don't find them as precise as I'd like. The final linework is below.

STEP 3: COLOR

Once the linework is complete, the FreeHand document is exported as an EPS file and imported into Adobe Photoshop. In Photoshop, the colors are applied to separate layers, giving me precise control over the opacity and colors of each layer. The color art is created at a much higher resolution than what you see online so that the art can be collected in print format later.

STEP 4: LETTERING, ANIMATION

All lettering and animation (if any) is done is Adobe ImageReady. I find the text for the word balloons is sharper when produced in ImageReady vs. Photoshop. Some sound effects may be done during step 3 if they require some of Photoshop's specific tools. The final file is exported as a GIF with an effort to keep the file size as small as possible (usually 40 to 45k).

Below is the final comic strip.

Holiday Cards

Steve specially produced 3 holiday cards for fans way back when.These bubblegum sized cards mimicked the online daily adventure strips.Pity Steve only made the three.Hopefully when the site comes online again,we may be treated to more!Great for passing among friends and advertising A.S.T.!

Undersea Menace From The Year 3200 #3

For your reading and viewing pleasure,here's UMFTY3200 part 3!

To be continued in Part 4!

Dave Rose Drawing Contest

A few years back,Dave Rose ran a contest at his comics shop.He handed out flyers to buyers to color in and return.Prizes were generously donated by Steve Conley.Below are the 3 winners and their entries.Maybe you're one of the winners?!I have reproduced the article that appeared on the site at the time.Dave Rose was awarded the rank of Lieutenant for his efforts.Below is the ad which greeted the customers enticing them to enter the contest.

ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS: CLASSIC CARDS AND COMICS Contest

As AST SPACE CORPS Lieutenant Dave (Eclipse) Rose reports:"Northwest Classic Cards and Comics in Richland, WA had a two-week contest in honor of the online strip's two-year anniversary in March. There was a prominent display near the register, and another by the weekly comics which included at least a half dozen sets of Astounding Space Thrills #s 3 and 4."

"There was in-store advertising of the event for a couple of weeks before it began. The display also included the prizes:

* 1st place: a set of the B&W issues, issues 1-2 of the color series, and a large AST t-shirt.
* 2nd place: issues 1-2 of the color series and a large t-shirt.
* 3rd place: issues 1-2 of the color series.
* Honerable Mentions: Sabrina Bennett and Jessica Haight."

"It was difficult for our judges (myself and Janie Aunspaugh - the store comic lady) to choose the winners. The rules were simple: each contestant colored one of the flyers (using the medium of their choice) and returned it with their name and phone number on the back. It was entered in the drawing, which took place on April 11th - two weeks from the beginning of the contest (March 28th). We appreciate your donation of the prizes. They really made the contest cool. The activity was a success. Awareness of your series increased. There are now several people on hold for the new issues as they come out (we're - still :) - eagerly looking forward to the Galaxy-sized issue and AST #5). Also customer morale was given a boost by the fun contest - which, although morale was already high, is always welcome."

"Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to help both the local comic shop and you with this promotion!" --Dave (Eclipse) Rose

Steve Conley:THANK YOU, DAVE!

1st PLACE:

Aaron Kirk

2nd PLACE:

David Wolf

3rd PLACE:

Krystal Watts

HONORABLE MENTION:
Jessica Haight

HONORABLE MENTION:
Sabrina Bennett

THANKS TO ALL THE CONTESTANTS AND TO ECLIPSE FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN!
-- Steve

Postcards from A.S.T.

Here's a selection of postcards Steve made available for download a few years back.Though quite small,they look cool and are suitable as avatars.

A.S.T. Lookout!#2 Special Edition :-)

ASTOUNDING SEA THRILLS!!!???

Astounding Space Thrills is not the only work of Steve Conley.Going off on a slight tangent here,we showcase another of his projects,this time as writer of the popular Aquaman comics-a one off edition of AQUAMAN:SECRET FILES.Published in 2003,Steve wrote the 6-page story-"FAMILY TIES" drawn by Darryl Banks.He also wrote all the text for the Profiles in the book!

A.S.T. Lookout!#1

Starting our occasional look at the other publications that featured A.S.T. stories,we commence with BLIP( The Book of Little Independent Publishers)72 pgs. This sampler offers thirteen four-page excerpts featuring work by some of the best talent in the independent market. Each section is forwarded by a text page, introducing the creator and their current project, as well as a list of available backstock and their Diamond product codes. Much of the contents is original for this issue.This Issue from 1998 featured a different version of A.S.T.'s "The Shift" which was later adapted for the online Daily Adventures animated strips.It was published by Bardic Press.This was one of many of Steve Conley's forays into other Independent comics to help spread the word about the A.S.T. Universe!This series will tie in with the newly expanded Time Line as we uncover more of Steve's amazing work!

Here's a list of the BLIP contents:

FRONT COVER by Barry Blair & Colin Chan
THE CARETAKER by Dave Sim & Michael Cohen
WAHOO MORRIS by Craig Taillefer
DREAMWALKER by Jenni Gregory
ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS by Steve Conley
THIEVES AND KINGS by M'Oak
THE FURIES by Bill Knapp
SHADES OF GREY by Jimmy Gownley
DARKLIGHT by Teri S. Wood
TRESPASSERS by Joe Zabel
STRANGE ATTRACTORS by Michael Cohen & Mark Sherman
HARVEST SEASON by Scott Morse
GALAXION by Tara Jenkins
FINDER by Carla McNeil
THRESHOLD by David Yurkovich
MYTHOGRAPHY: MYSTERY DATE by Carla McNeil
MYTHOGRAPHY: SIMONE & AJAX by Andrew Pepoy
MYTHOGRAPHY: EMPYREAN TALES by Michael Cohen

Timeline 1.1

As previously stated on the blog here,the timeline is being worked on as the original was not updated to take cognizance of any other editions of the series.As a place holder/marker we have a rough draft here of the sequence of printed series to be going on with.My thanks to Imbie for his info!In lieu of Steve granting any ranks in the future,I will solicit Steve to hereby grant him the rank of Cadet,in keeping with the practice of the old site.More stuff coming through on the ether from other helpful fans,who should be proud to be called Cadets as well.

_________________________________________

Astounding Space Thrills #1-3 (Day One Comics) 1998
Astounding Space Thrills: The Comic Book #1-4 (Image) 2000
Astounding Space Thrills: Galaxy Sized Special #1 (Image) 2001
Astounding Space Thrills: The Convention Comics #1-6 (Day One Comics) 2003
Astounding Space Thrills: Bloop #1 (Day One Comics) 2004

#1-3 of the 1998 and #1 of the 2000 series had variant editions (same covers,
but no dress or text), and The Convention Comics were:-

1 MegaCon 2003 (Mar 2)
2 Pittsburgh ComiCon 2003 (Apr 25-27)
3 Wizard World East 2003 (May 30-Jun 1)
4 Comic-Con International 2003 (Jul 17-20)
5 Wizard World 2003 (Aug 8-10)
6 Baltimore Comic-Con 2003 (Sep 20-21)

_________________________________________

Of course that still leaves the appearances in other anthologies/titles.My quick checklist follows

SPX 1998 anthology(ARGOSY SMITH VS MAINSTREAM-different version)
Blip(THE SHIFT-different version)
Love In Tights(MADE FOR EACH OTHER-different version)
EXPO 1999 anthology(BRIGHT SPOTS-extremely rare!)
MYTHOGRAPHY anthology(ASTROGENESIS-different version)
Son of Rampage anthology(THE STONEHENGE CONNECTION-different version)
Amelia Rules FCBD Anthology(Bloop-The Picnic Guest-appeared in Bloop #1)
AST-The Entropian Engine(The Entropian Engine-stand alone Argosy Smith full color adventure)

_________________________________________

Of course that still leaves the famed online A.S.T. animated webisode from 1998!Not to mention the 3 bloop videos and the AST trailer.Remember AST is a multimedia concept.
We're only just getting started.If anybody can help with cover scans,please do!

Bloop Revisited!

Hi folks,we thought it about time to give Bloop a little of the spotlight!As you may know,he started off as a peripheral character back in the early days of A.S.T. when Argosy used him as one of a pair to do some battering with an Alien informant.When that deal turned sour,Argosy kept him as a pet.Or it's the other way around,if you ask Bloop.That story arc featured in Issue #2 of the original B/W comic.


Bloop featured in hs own story as a back up feature in the Special Edition of Amelia Rules(This is a "best of" sampler with Amelia narrating the bits between.) in a "silent" adventure entitled-Bloop:The Picnic Guest.This is extremely rare and if anybody has it,please let me know!

Of course over time Bloop has gone on to being a more upfront character,starring in his own comic!

And even having his own poster and plush toy along with an assortment of merchandise to buy!
xxxxxx

Of course Bloop has already starred in 3 videos.Now we bring you these in another fruity flavor-shockwave,that is.The animation differs slightly so I thought it worthwhile to include them here.Click on the banners to download and enjoy!For fans of cute little green alien monkeys everywhere!

Blog Interlude #1.1

Hi Space Cadets ;-) Hope everybody is enjoying our trip down memory lane courtesy of Steve Conley's brilliant series.I know I sure am!Of course lots more to come with several more adventures waiting in the wings.The goal is to have them all online before the launch in December of this year of the anthology title.Go to Amazon to reserve your copy now!

Also if anybody was a former forum member or Space Cadet of the AST site,why not leave a comment!
Other News:Prof Vaverchek's Puzzling Mysteries ends :-( Did you write to the Prof?

Undersea Menace from the Year 3200 #2

Okay fight fans,here it is-Part 2 of UMFTY3200!Argosy experiences more shocks than he can shake a space blaster at,or even a fist ;-)

To Be Continued...in Part 3!
Stay Tuned!