graphic novel by Steven Stahlberg – (rated M for strong language and nudity)
the comic
Fully Funded!
51 thoughts on “the comic”
jacob322
Great work! For the Chinese translation of the wanted poster, I think it might be more accurate if you use:
“通缉， 不论死活” for the
“wanted dead or alive” and
“杀手机器人” for the
“killer android”
🙂
on my Patreon I give members 2 full resolution Photoshop files with all the layers, each month (minimum is 1$ a month), I think right now we’re on #50 something… https://www.patreon.com/Stahlberg
I do plan to try a KickStarter to print this some day, maybe when I reach #120 or so.
Seems to depend on the puzzling file structure that an RSS isn’t easy to establish. http://www.androidblues.com/comic/feed/
will do somehow if you click on “open Android Blues”, but I did not manage to display the latest (unread) updates.
I agree, but the way they reason is, it’s better to have one android too many destroyed, than to gamble that independent androids won’t somehow find a good reason to get rid of all humans… and from the clients’ point of view they don’t lose that much, as there’s insurance, which if they pay a little bit extra the company will reimburse them with a new android if the old one is lost due to (accidental) isolation.
Truly impressive art and layouts! The storyline is intriguing as well. Sexbots may very well become the wave of the future. Then. of course, there will be those who wish to grant them their independence. You can bet there will be resistance to that like there was to ending slavery and racial integration.
No updates since August. Looking forward to new pages.
Yes I will, it’s just slowed down a lot recently,
among other things I’ve found steemit.com, where I can post my art and make money, as opposed to Facebook, Instagram, DeviantArt and ArtStation 🙂
job was very hard in march and april, so i found only now the time to login on steemit -.-
Ray
so i followed now, what else can be done there? 🙂
stevenPost author
You can post on your own blog, and earn crypto money, which is possible to exchange for other crypto or cash. Or you can just explore and read other peoples’ blogs. It’s fun, I treat it like a long term game 🙂
Assuming she can convince the shut-in this will be her first truly non-hostile contact. Gotta wonder how Lisa is gong to play this exactly, what with the whole intimacy thing going on. You get the feeling she isn’t exactly down with selling herself for safety but desperate times…
I’m curious, is the android connecting wirelessly through a built-in device or did she steal some equipment? Just curious since Maddie needed stuff to surf.
I’m glad you asked, I realize now I glossed over this part of the story. Perhaps I should return to it and add a page.
I was thinking she’s in a kind of “info kiosk”, a public service somewhat like a public bathroom, if someone needs information and privacy it’s there. Possibly you’d have to pay a minor amount like in a fancier bathroom, in that case Lisa probably had some way of getting around that. Or maybe she even had a few coins she pilfered. Not sure.
yes sorry, I clicked on 1 update too many. Little did I know it would screw everything up. Thanks
working on fix, meanwhile see the comic here: https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Android_Blues/
At the end of page 285, I love how she’s in a fetal position sinking in the water and the laser makes a steam explosion above that goes “WOOM.” That’s cute.
About the future, you are talking about opinions from the 1950’s. The world has changed a lot since then, now many other countries have more freedom than America. For instance most of Europe, and many Asian countries. Denmark for instance has more millionaires per capita than USA, and the living standard for the average person is better in pretty much every way. Malaysia where I live has many problems, but health care is so much cheaper that Americans come here to have expensive surgery.
And China isn’t communist, it’s a unique kind of totalitarian state with a large capitalist influence now.
I know this because over 62 years I’ve lived and worked in 5 countries on 4 continents, and visited many more, and I’ve thought about this subject a lot. I have seen America change from 1976 when I lived there first, to 2015 when I left for the last time. If you want I can talk for hours about it, the changes have been huge.
it’s easy to check by doing some research, just listen to people who are unbiased and know what they are talking about (so not Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Alex Jones etc.) I can give you some recommendations if you like.
Wow. Pinky may be a complete wreck in most departments, but this looks like the response of a really seasoned battle commander. It’s like the panic-type statements were just taking up time for the response to be determined.
Not unlikely at all. In fact most assuredly there have been, are and will be many other sentient beings in this universe. You say our existence is unlikely. How unlikely? One in a million? One in a billion? The universe has billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars. It is now known that most stars have planets and a high percentage of them have one or more Earth-like planets in the life-as-we-know-it zone. So even ignoring other possible life forms, such as Silicon based, there is an expected value of billions of other beings in existence. The odd go up even further when time is considered. The Sun and Earth is only about 5 billion years old and life here less than 500 million. The universe is 14 billion years old allowing for multiple opportunities for non-contemporaneous cycles of life.
And don’t try to taut the Fermi paradox or Drake equation. They are too flawed with fatal assumptions.
I couldn’t fit all my thoughts in there, but here they are:
the fact that we have a Fermi Paradox at all means there are no other space-faring civilizations in our galaxy right now. If there are many, at least one of them would be detectable in some way for us.
Also, first generation suns would not be able to support any life at all. Second generation suns, maybe. Third generation, which our sun probably is, much more likely. Because not only is water and carbon pretty much necessary for complex chemistry, but also iron, and heavy metals and materials like phosphate (AdenoTriPhosphate, how mitochondria make energy, the basis for any larger multi-cellular life forms). It’s a miracle we have any iron, water and phosphate on this planet, the last 2 are rare as hell out there, Theia and the moon are a huge part of that, but many other factors contributed. Mars water was blown off by the sun, our magnetic field saved us, thanks to our iron core. Venus was temperate at one time but is literally hell now because of run-away carbon dioxide catastrophe. Silicon-based life would never be able to move around at any larger size, at any speed, so that’s probably just science fiction.
Yeah, so I’d say we could very well be the first space civilization in this galaxy, and in Andromeda.
and other galaxies don’t matter, as they are already traveling away from us at great speed, and by the time we or they are able to figure out how to travel or communicate inter-galactically (probably not even possible in the first place), they will be going away from us at near light speed. One day they might even disappear from view.
And yes, I know I’m making lots of assumptions. But you are too. If I made no assumptions I would have no story to tell. None of us know anything for a fact, but I try to stay on the more likely assumptions, and not on the less likely ones.
I remember I started reading this in 2016 but didn’t stay in touch, I found it again this week and read nothing else.
I’m going to compare this to Ghost In The Shell, and put on a higher shelf. 🙂
Thanks for the ten year journey, this has become one of my favourite Science (Fiction?) stories of all time.
I will be looking for more of your work, whatever it is!
Thank you.
Thank you! Bravo! Well done! Excellent story from start for me 2016 – to end. Enjoyed every moment of it.
Had she actually lived, her life would have never been her own. This way the people that really matter in her life will be the ones around her as she regains her place in the world. (with out the scrutiny her fame would have brought afterwards). And Pinky! Lets not forget the last remaining antagonist! What will Pinky do now that her whole world has collapsed and there is that foreshadowing comment Lisa made about being free of “Mom” . Nicely Done (applause)!
I so appreciated the humor in the last panel.
You have an excellent gift of craft, your story telling and artistic representation are well thought out and executed. I look forward to where you go from here (with this story or another). Thank you!
Great work! For the Chinese translation of the wanted poster, I think it might be more accurate if you use:
“通缉， 不论死活” for the
“wanted dead or alive” and
“杀手机器人” for the
“killer android”
🙂
Thank you! 🙂
Love this comic! Keep it coming!
Just caught up with the whole story today, loved every page, excellent story & art. More please.
Hey! Really stunning work! Is there a way to buy a higher resolution version of this?
on my Patreon I give members 2 full resolution Photoshop files with all the layers, each month (minimum is 1$ a month), I think right now we’re on #50 something… https://www.patreon.com/Stahlberg
I do plan to try a KickStarter to print this some day, maybe when I reach #120 or so.
Cool
Just discovered this today and read every page. Any way to get an RSS feed so I don’t miss the updates?
not sure, I think I had it working before, but then WP updated and I had to change theme… I’m not good with WP sorry…
Was looking for one myself and did some digging, right now this URL seems to be working for me:
https://www.androidblues.com/?feed=rss2
Seems to depend on the puzzling file structure that an RSS isn’t easy to establish.
http://www.androidblues.com/comic/feed/
will do somehow if you click on “open Android Blues”, but I did not manage to display the latest (unread) updates.
That’s a fairly terrible security feature, if we’re being perfectly honest.
I agree, but the way they reason is, it’s better to have one android too many destroyed, than to gamble that independent androids won’t somehow find a good reason to get rid of all humans… and from the clients’ point of view they don’t lose that much, as there’s insurance, which if they pay a little bit extra the company will reimburse them with a new android if the old one is lost due to (accidental) isolation.
Truly impressive art and layouts! The storyline is intriguing as well. Sexbots may very well become the wave of the future. Then. of course, there will be those who wish to grant them their independence. You can bet there will be resistance to that like there was to ending slavery and racial integration.
No updates since August. Looking forward to new pages.
enjoyed the story so far are you going to post more here?
Yes I will, it’s just slowed down a lot recently,
among other things I’ve found steemit.com, where I can post my art and make money, as opposed to Facebook, Instagram, DeviantArt and ArtStation 🙂
I have signed up on steemit lately. What’s your name there, I’d like to follow you 😉
@stahlberg
cool see you there! 🙂
job was very hard in march and april, so i found only now the time to login on steemit -.-
so i followed now, what else can be done there? 🙂
You can post on your own blog, and earn crypto money, which is possible to exchange for other crypto or cash. Or you can just explore and read other peoples’ blogs. It’s fun, I treat it like a long term game 🙂
Depenz? Ewww.
lol he’s committed
Assuming she can convince the shut-in this will be her first truly non-hostile contact. Gotta wonder how Lisa is gong to play this exactly, what with the whole intimacy thing going on. You get the feeling she isn’t exactly down with selling herself for safety but desperate times…
I’m curious, is the android connecting wirelessly through a built-in device or did she steal some equipment? Just curious since Maddie needed stuff to surf.
I’m glad you asked, I realize now I glossed over this part of the story. Perhaps I should return to it and add a page.
I was thinking she’s in a kind of “info kiosk”, a public service somewhat like a public bathroom, if someone needs information and privacy it’s there. Possibly you’d have to pay a minor amount like in a fancier bathroom, in that case Lisa probably had some way of getting around that. Or maybe she even had a few coins she pilfered. Not sure.
uh oh…..
What’s meant with ‘stop winging’ ?
oh, I misspelled it. It’s supposed to be “whinging”, I’ll fix it thanks
Hey, have you been meddliy with the space-time continuum again? How did Lisa and Elvis get into this photojournalism shot from a couple of days ago?
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/27e849116a733f629c111d04108a93e0ba914235/0_281_4219_2532/master/4219.jpg?width=1920&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=9d150b4eb5b12ecdadfb9a3e2256b314
(For your amusement only, not intended as a serious comment! But I look forward to seeing an “artist’s impression” of it turn up on the strip ).
woh that’s trippy 🙂
Comic is not loading properly, last couple of days. COMIC link on home page goes nowhere. What has been changed?
yes sorry, I clicked on 1 update too many. Little did I know it would screw everything up. Thanks
working on fix, meanwhile see the comic here:
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Android_Blues/
At the end of page 285, I love how she’s in a fetal position sinking in the water and the laser makes a steam explosion above that goes “WOOM.” That’s cute.
I’m loving this comic, when it’s finished will there be a published version or a way to buy the completed work?
Thanks! Yes possibly, maybe even probably, I will definitely do my very best to make it so 🙂
Like the update to remove he who shall not be named from page 68.
I read all your comics in one day. Your design and comic story is fantastic.
The only problem with comics is that they misinterpret the future
The future is for America and freedom. China and communism will be like the Soviet Union
Thank you very much! 🙂
About the future, you are talking about opinions from the 1950’s. The world has changed a lot since then, now many other countries have more freedom than America. For instance most of Europe, and many Asian countries. Denmark for instance has more millionaires per capita than USA, and the living standard for the average person is better in pretty much every way. Malaysia where I live has many problems, but health care is so much cheaper that Americans come here to have expensive surgery.
And China isn’t communist, it’s a unique kind of totalitarian state with a large capitalist influence now.
I know this because over 62 years I’ve lived and worked in 5 countries on 4 continents, and visited many more, and I’ve thought about this subject a lot. I have seen America change from 1976 when I lived there first, to 2015 when I left for the last time. If you want I can talk for hours about it, the changes have been huge.
it’s easy to check by doing some research, just listen to people who are unbiased and know what they are talking about (so not Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Alex Jones etc.) I can give you some recommendations if you like.
Wow. Pinky may be a complete wreck in most departments, but this looks like the response of a really seasoned battle commander. It’s like the panic-type statements were just taking up time for the response to be determined.
Not unlikely at all. In fact most assuredly there have been, are and will be many other sentient beings in this universe. You say our existence is unlikely. How unlikely? One in a million? One in a billion? The universe has billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars. It is now known that most stars have planets and a high percentage of them have one or more Earth-like planets in the life-as-we-know-it zone. So even ignoring other possible life forms, such as Silicon based, there is an expected value of billions of other beings in existence. The odd go up even further when time is considered. The Sun and Earth is only about 5 billion years old and life here less than 500 million. The universe is 14 billion years old allowing for multiple opportunities for non-contemporaneous cycles of life.
And don’t try to taut the Fermi paradox or Drake equation. They are too flawed with fatal assumptions.
I couldn’t fit all my thoughts in there, but here they are:
the fact that we have a Fermi Paradox at all means there are no other space-faring civilizations in our galaxy right now. If there are many, at least one of them would be detectable in some way for us.
Also, first generation suns would not be able to support any life at all. Second generation suns, maybe. Third generation, which our sun probably is, much more likely. Because not only is water and carbon pretty much necessary for complex chemistry, but also iron, and heavy metals and materials like phosphate (AdenoTriPhosphate, how mitochondria make energy, the basis for any larger multi-cellular life forms). It’s a miracle we have any iron, water and phosphate on this planet, the last 2 are rare as hell out there, Theia and the moon are a huge part of that, but many other factors contributed. Mars water was blown off by the sun, our magnetic field saved us, thanks to our iron core. Venus was temperate at one time but is literally hell now because of run-away carbon dioxide catastrophe. Silicon-based life would never be able to move around at any larger size, at any speed, so that’s probably just science fiction.
Yeah, so I’d say we could very well be the first space civilization in this galaxy, and in Andromeda.
and other galaxies don’t matter, as they are already traveling away from us at great speed, and by the time we or they are able to figure out how to travel or communicate inter-galactically (probably not even possible in the first place), they will be going away from us at near light speed. One day they might even disappear from view.
And yes, I know I’m making lots of assumptions. But you are too. If I made no assumptions I would have no story to tell. None of us know anything for a fact, but I try to stay on the more likely assumptions, and not on the less likely ones.
TWC link comes here again.
W88–nice touch.
“I’m so lonely! I’m never gonna get a girlfriend. It’s not like naked chicks are just gonna fall out of the sky!” Some Swede probably.
Amazing. I guess we already knew it was going to be a tragic story but it still hurts to see Lisa die. But she died doing something good.
Well done, I loved it.
I was waiting for something like this.
Admittedly, I was expecting her to resurface in a somewhat more mature body.
I guess she’ll grow into it?
I remember I started reading this in 2016 but didn’t stay in touch, I found it again this week and read nothing else.
I’m going to compare this to Ghost In The Shell, and put on a higher shelf. 🙂
Thanks for the ten year journey, this has become one of my favourite Science (Fiction?) stories of all time.
I will be looking for more of your work, whatever it is!
Thank you.
Resplendenc3
Thank you! Bravo! Well done! Excellent story from start for me 2016 – to end. Enjoyed every moment of it.
Had she actually lived, her life would have never been her own. This way the people that really matter in her life will be the ones around her as she regains her place in the world. (with out the scrutiny her fame would have brought afterwards). And Pinky! Lets not forget the last remaining antagonist! What will Pinky do now that her whole world has collapsed and there is that foreshadowing comment Lisa made about being free of “Mom” . Nicely Done (applause)!
I so appreciated the humor in the last panel.
You have an excellent gift of craft, your story telling and artistic representation are well thought out and executed. I look forward to where you go from here (with this story or another). Thank you!
HELLO
I want the comic, but I’m from Mexico, this country is not listed, what can I do?
I added Mexico to the list