One of my collaborators at G-Man Comics, Joshua 1:9 Holley, worked on Silver & Steam #1. As soon as I saw the cover I had to know more about the comic. Writers Peter Welmerink & Shane Luttrell were nice enough to stop by First Comic News to let our readers know all about All Together Now Comics and Silver & Steam.
First Comic News: What is the ALL TOGETHER NOW GROUP?
Peter Welmerink: You have a group of talented individuals coming together to create a wonderful visual story. We are ALL TOGETHER NOW. We needed an imprint for this comic, and potential subsequent comics, so, the ALL TOGETHER NOW GROUP it was.
Shane Luttrell: It’s Peter, Steve Shipley, Doug Curtis, Joshua Holley, Yago Williams, and me. Each of these guys are just a wonderful creators.
1st: How is this connected to YEET?
Peter: It is not other than both Suzie Steam and Silver Skati saw their first appearances in YEET PRESENTS, an anthology comic magazine out of Howell, Michigan. A chunk of the ALL TOGETHER NOW GROUP has seen publication in YEET and have connected because of it.
Shane: YEET publisher Mike Jones has been invaluable in fueling my creativity and getting my Suzie Steam stories published. I wouldn’t know Peter, or any of the artists in this one-shot if not for YEET. I’m very grateful to Mike and continue to create Suzie stories for that magazine. Everybody should be reading it!
1st: Do you have to read the prior YEET stories to follow this story?
Peter: No.
Shane: There are events in previous Yeet stories that fuel the antagonist’s motives. So that’s a nice call-back for those who’ve followed YEET PRESENTS. But I agree with Peter, this story stands on its own and you won’t be lost if you haven’t read any previous stories.
1st: What are the PRIME beings?
Peter: In the SILVER & STEAM multiverse, a PRIME being is basically the BLUEPRINT for all other beings like him or herself.
1st: What are SUB-PRIME beings?
Peter: SUB-PRIME beings are slightly different versions of the PRIME, though can still be as gallant, strong, and fantastic as the PRIME. Where Suzie-Prime is a well-known and daring space-adventurer in her universe (Universe-38654), in, say, Universe-66605, she crash-landed in a rocket ship as an infant and grew up to be a beloved daughter and news reporter in Olive Branch, Mississippi. Oh, wait.
Shane: That’s a good one. Why didn’t I think of that?
1st: Who is Suzie Steam?
Shane: She’s the spacefaring darling! I created Suzie and Sarge as a pinup drawing in 2021 when I first discovered YEET PRESENTS. I immediately loved them both and created an entire universe around that one simple drawing. She’s a former soldier with a heart of gold, a space mechanic in search of adventure. And she always seems to find it.
1st: Who is Sarge?
Sarge is a 4-year-old German Shephard who travels with Suzie all over the galaxy. Suzie would be lost without her faithful friend, whom she calls the Steamboat’s Chief of Security. If you mess with Suzie, you mess with Sarge. And you don’t want that!
1st: Who is Lady Ska’a Ti’Ar?
Peter: Lady Ska’a Ti’Ar aka SILVER SKATI is a cosmic law officer from the planet DATOS URALLA, a planet of beings known as SILVER SAPIENS. She can traverse universes and multiverses freely. Her typical mode of travel is on “cosmic roller skates” in which she rolls along above a path of temporary space dust, ice crystals, and other cosmic particles.
Shane: “Skati” is an amazing creation that I think will really catch on! She might superficially remind people of another silver-skinned space wanderer, but Skati is unique and wonderful in her own right.
1st: What brings Suzie Steam and Silver Skati together?
Peter: A PRIME being from another universe enters Suzie-Prime’s universe to destroy her which, he knows, will make her “sub-prime” beings suffer throughout the larger multiverse.
1st: Who is Paul Wells?
Peter: Captain Paul Wells is known in Universe-49504 as SPACE VOYAGER. He’s a character who appears in a short novella I wrote a few years back, and he fits into this Space-themed tale so… Why create a new? I used him.
Shane: We always find a way to use those old characters! I’ve adapted many stories and characters from decades ago.
1st: How is he related to the Synth-Men?
Peter: The Synth-Men are robotic beings of Space Voyager’s universe. The Synth-Men are bent on human destruction, yet not against working with a human to destroy others, and, in this story, are commanded by the widower, billionaire, astrobiologist Kol Alastor.
1st: Who is Kol Alastor?
Peter: Kol Alastor (Prime) is this story’s antagonist. He lost Alyssa Alastor (Prime), his beloved wife, and in his desperate, heartbroken condition, he searches the multiverse and finds a close Sub-prime copy of his late wife. But the sub-prime woman’s future is changed by something Kol blames on Suzie (Prime), and in his raging grief, Kol aims to destroy Suzie.
1st: Is this a one-shot or the first issue of a mini-series?
Peter: The issue 1 story can stand alone, but there is a desire to do more team-up stories with our sirens of Space.
Shane: I’d love to see more stories. The guys in the ALL TOGETHER NOW GROUP are not only wonderful creators, but they’re wonderful people. There wasn’t a moment of friction in this entire creative process. It was a joy, and I can’t wait to do another one.
1st: For the Kickstarter, what is the minimum pledge?
Peter: For an actual item, a digital copy of SILVER & STEAM #1 is a pledge of $5.00 USD.
1st: What rewards do you have planned?
Peter: We are offering digital and print copies of the book. The print copies offered can be chosen with a few variant covers. There is a special variant cover (Cover D) by Suzie Steam creator, Shane Luttrell, with a back cover by Silver Skati co-creator, Steve Shipley. We’re only printing 25 copies of Cover D. We have T-shirts, vinyl stickers, and also an opportunity to have a custom digital story written for the KS Backer that comes with a story-related custom digital illustration by artist Josh Holley.
1st: For anyone still on the fence, what makes SILVER & STEAM #1 so cool, no true comic fan should miss it?
Peter: I have always enjoyed, obviously, SILVER SURFER and any/all of those classic SciFi/Space Fantasy comics. This is the dawning of a very awesome female cosmic adventure duo. Suzie enjoys exploring and adventure, and Skati is able to travel amidst their multiverse… Again, the dawning of a great new duo/team book.
Shane: Five great artists, one great writer, and two dazzling space gals, all in full color. We all worked hard to make this a special comic. I really think we succeeded!
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