LAST UPDATED: 24 October 2000

VZSciFi Live Creator Event: Online Comics Creator Steve Conley
Thursday 8 June, 1.00pm VZT (PST) Space City Conference Centre
Event Transcript Part Three

HereÕs the third part of our transcript of the Steve Conley event, held on 8 June 2000.This has been edited slightly for spelling, with repetitions removed, and to add additional information where appropriate. Special thanks to Steve for going over it again for us! The event was moderated by Mr. Templeton (John Freeman).

Linsue: How do you know when you have created a comic strip that others will want to read? What is the winning formula?
Steve Conley: Sheesh. IÕm not sure about a formula... I just try to maintain the tension from day to day to keep people coming back. Sending five strips a week at 40k each is a megabyte a month. ThatÕs a bit much to want in your inbasket -- but 1,200 people have signed up. So I must be doing something right!
PC Girl Am I: Yes. I was wondering with your letting people have it free, is there a profit?
Steve Conley: Yep. There is a sponsor position on each comic strip in the upper right. They pay for the exposure just like a TV ad in a television programme. They pay me a monthly fee. I also sell the comics and the t-shirts
NoeNoe: Do you actively seek these sponsors?
Steve Conley: A few came to me. After eight months of doing it for free. I knew the model would work, but I had to build a sizeable audience first. The current sponsor sells game software and hardware. But some were not right for the stripsÉ
Mr. Templeton: -- Such as?
Steve Conley: Such as a site that had some racy content. I try to be kid-friendly. The web is primetime. I need to not scare away the audience.
Mr. Templeton: That reflects your strip in some ways... Adventure, bold, golden age adventure for all.
Jakk: So you put the strip up each day for free until proving yourself?
Steve Conley: Yep. ItÕs still free, but now one company is paying for us all to see it. The Robin Hood business model!
Mr. Templeton: Now itÕs gone into a print edition from Image, and you did three issues on your own -- what is the reason for that? Was it always your plan to do this?
Steve Conley: Image Comics is now publishing the print comic book. I love creating comics and my thinking is that print is more permanent that digital. If my ISP goes out of business, I have a hard drive failure... and my backup disk burns in a fire, the online work is GONE. Vanished like it never existed.
Mr. Templeton: Yike, talk about your worst case scenario...
Steve Conley: All my work for online will eventually find its way to print. But without the cool animations IÕve built into the web version.
Linsue: Any chance of a TV series?
Steve Conley: There is a writer/producer who contacted me after an article in The Washington Post. HeÕs pitching it for exactly that. I fear it could be terrible -- but IÕll take the money! Most comic adaptations to tv/film are unwatchable. Can you imagine: Rutger Hauer as Argosy Smith!
More money, means more free online comics for everyone.
NoeNoe: WouldnÕt [a TV adaptation] also mean loss of control of the content?
Steve Conley: Probably. ItÕs a different medium. It canÕt do what comics can, so it has to make up for it in other ways. In comics, I have an unlimited budget and a cast of thousands. [For TV] they want one star, two supporting characters and one set!
Mr. Templeton: YouÕve had a few topical digs in the recent strips, with Microshaft as the villains... Steve Conley: Yep.
Mr. Templeton: Does everyone spot those? TodayÕs [where the Macroshaft boss complained about being called back to Earth for a trial] was spot on, for example.
Steve Conley: Macroshaft has been the bad guys from the beginning, but in the first issue, I point out... that theyÕre NOT Microsoft. Microsoft was bought out by TY with the beanie baby money. Having worked for a few fortune 500 companies, I figured out. IÕm a big fan of capitalism... but donÕt care much for corporations. So the biggest corps are the biggest bad guys.
Mr. Templeton: Do you have a particular favourite story so far?
Steve Conley: I like the new one. Space Quakes has been fun.
Mr. Templeton: Tell us a little about how that came about.
Steve Conley: When i started all I had was the title. I was putting together a pitch for the Sci-Fi channel and I wanted to show them how far ahead I was and... rattled off the names of the upcoming stories - just making the up on the spot. I hadnÕt given it more than a momentÕs thought, so when the first story ended, I looked up what I said was coming up... Space quakes. I thought, okay. I can do that!
Mr. Templeton: Would you consider yourself a strip creator or web entertainment provider?
Steve Conley: Storyteller. Just tying to use whichever medium IÕm working in to its best effect. I try not to think about the definitions -- you get painted into a corner
Mr. Templeton: But you are a big fan of the web and its potential?
Steve Conley: Absolutely. But storytelling in unidirectional. A storyteller telling a story to the folks around a fire. The web is more collaborative. This environment is a great example. NoeNoe: Do you consider yourself primarily a storyteller then? Why not novels?
Steve Conley: I like to draw, and I also like the instant gratification of the web. I finish the comic and upload it and the world can see it. I do a novel, it goes to an editor and sits on their desk for three months. Maybe it becomes a book, maybe not.
Mr. Templeton: Do you see yourself creating an even more 3D version of the strip as bandwidth expands?
Steve Conley: The web is only good at a few things right now.
The Great Hoo-Doo: Now that DSL is becoming more publicly available, do you think that the trend will be to push that envelope further?
Steve Conley: Sure, but right now the technology is a pompromise trying to serve 56k modems and DSL. It ends up not working well for either.
Mr. Templeton: So, what do you think the web will throw up next?
Steve Conley: TV is next -- full-screen.
Mr. Templeton: I havenÕt read your whole archive (fer shame), but have you tried interactivity with your readers? Voting for a storyline, for example?
Steve Conley: No. I think it should be unidirectional. The example I think of is having readersÕ vote as to whether Sherlock Holmes solves the case or not. I have the same problem when folks add game elements to the story.
Mr. Templeton: WhatÕs been your proudest moment as regards working on this strip so far?
Steve Conley: In comics, IÕve had a good run. Top 5: Posting the 100th daily episode; winning the Eagle award for best e-zine; getting an Eisner nomination; seeing the cover paintings for the first time; and wrapping up the first Image issue that I wrote, illustrated and coloured.
Mr. Templeton: You have gotten a lot of support from some great artists, too...
Steve Conley: The covers have been by: Jim Steranko, The Hildebrandts (who did the first Star Wars poster), Drew Stuzan (who did the Indiana Jones posters); and Kelly freas who has won 10 Hugo awards.
Mr. Templeton: AST isnÕt the only thing you work on, is it? ThereÕs also the comic.con web site, working with writer Rick Veitch?
Steve Conley: Yep. ItÕs an online community.
Mr. Templeton: How did that come about?
Steve Conley: We were trying to create a place outside of the comics industry to get creators together to work and solve problems and figure out how we make money off the web
Mr. Templeton: How many people are involved in that now?
Steve Conley: 150+ cartoonists
The Great Hoo-Doo: WasnÕt it also a way to get around some of the problems of distribution?
Steve Conley: Yep. The comic market is shrinking quickly, and the web is exploding. It seems to be the way to go
Mr. Templeton: Why do think the comic market is suffering so much? The talent is still out thereÉ
Steve Conley: The comics arenÕt written for a general audience any more and theyÕre not available in the super markets, or 7-11s any more.
Mr. Templeton: So lack of distribution is effectively strangling the consumer marketplace?
<ESP from Sorsessa: Tell him it sounds like he knows exactly what us comic shops are having to deal with>
Steve Conley: Somewhat. I donÕt have THE answer for it, but there are a lot of factors. I think the problems are that the comic shop owner on The Simpsons isnÕt THAT much of a stereotype, exactly
Mr. Templeton: Soressa says it sounds like you know exactly what a lot of comic shop owners are going through... she is one herself.
Steve Conley: Cool!
The Great Hoo-Doo: Comic shop owners will rather get books that sell themselves.
Steve Conley: IÕm very lucky. I have a few GREAT retailers near me. There was a comment made about TIME magazine. TheyÕre like a shoe store that only sells shoes that fit the owner. ThatÕs why I try to get such great covers, so that the books do jump off the shelves.
Mr. Templeton: When I worked at Marvel we were always told how important a great cover was followed by the splash page -- that still applies?
Steve Conley: Sure!
Mr. Templeton: One last question from me: Steve, if you werenÕt doing all this great stuff in comics and online, what would you be doing?
Steve Conley: Sleeping!
NoeNoe: Thanks so much for taking the time to visit with us Steve!
RJohn223: Yeah, thanks Steve means a lot.
Mr. Templeton: Steve Conley, IÕm sure we all here thank you very much for your time today and I hope you continue to have great success with Astounding Space Thrills. Steve Conley: Thanks, everyone!
Nikells: Cheers Steve -- YouÕre cool!
RJohn223: Good Luck Steve Passion Quest: thanks Steve
Linsue: Thanks,
Steve Nikells: Can I ask a quick question? Will you ever use VZones again?
Steve Conley: Sure. IÕll be in here!
Mr. Templeton: Thanks to everyone here for coming and making this first event such a success. I have enjoyed it and there have been some great questions!
Stig Redfin of the Ukrann: Well, that was spukiflferopus! I canÕt draw for Yarbles!
Links: Steve Conley Transcript Part One -- Steve Conley Transcript Part Two