AiT/Planet Lar Brings Back Shatter and More

This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on May 9, 2006 Sign up now!

by Ian Brill, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 5/9/2006

AiT/Planet Lar, the independent comics publisher behind such acclaimed comics works as Demo and Astronauts in Trouble, is republishing Shatter, a legendary sci-fi noir graphic novel from the 1980s created by Peter Gillis and Michael Saenz. Originally published by First Comics in 1985, the book is notable for being the first graphic novel with art entirely created by computer. Saenz pioneered an expansion of the tools artists could use to create stories—the art credits even give thanks to Apple Computers. The unique look of Shatter reflects the dark future it depicts. AiT/Planet Lar publisher Larry Young talks with PW Comics Week about why he's bringing back this book.

PWCW: Why did you want to republish Shatter?

Larry Young: I've always been a big fan of cyberpunk, from the obvious William Gibson/Bruce Sterling/K.W. Jeter mirrorshades aesthetic to the Blade Runner/Max Headroom/Matrix Hollywood take on the genre. Honestly, that's what first drew me to Brian Wood's art and his work on Channel Zero, that retro-fitted, obsolete-technology-made-useful-again juxtapositional vibe that cyberpunk has. I mean, c'mon: "The sky was the color of television tuned to a dead channel." You can't get a more blatant mission statement than that first line from Gibson's Neuromancer. So given my warmth and fondness for the genre, and the fact that we have a couple books in the line that Shatter would make a worthy cousin to, the whole thing seemed like a no-brainer.

It's revolutionary, it's historic, it's entertaining, prescient and thought-provoking. It's an AiT/Planet Lar book, all the way. It doesn't hurt that we live in a cyberpunk world, now, with our phones that take pictures and our portable computers and oil-eating genetically modified algae and bamboo floors and whatnot. Shatter's not really aging gracefully... it's not aging at all as an entertaining read.

PWCW: Since it was the first graphic novel created with computer-generated artwork, do you see its influence on comics today?

LY: Only in that the tools used to create comics are a little more refined. I mean, look at the effects Mike Saenz was able to get out of just drawing with a mouse. Now, a Wacom tablet mimics pretty well the experience of art materials, but back in 1984 producing Shatter must have been like drawing comics with a bar of soap in your hand.

PWCW: With its sci-fi noir story, was Shatter, and perhaps the rest of the First comics line, an influence on the work AiT/Planet Lar produces?

LY: Absolutely. I was talking to [veteran comics artist] Mike Gold the other day, and I had the opportunity to tell him that I'm a long-time fan of the work they all did at First. And it wouldn't be a lie to say that the eclectic mix of books First offered then shaped my perception of comics. So I have him to blame.

But what wasn't to like? American Flagg!, Grimjack, Starslayer... truly a good time for revolutionary, historic independent comics.

PWCW: Do see AiT/Planet Lar republishing other books long out-of-print?

LY: Early in the company's history, we were able to put some books back into print that [Ait/Planet Lar partner] Mimi Rosenheim and I thought had been unfairly overlooked or that we figured we could give a little more marketing attention to. Nobody, Johnny Dynamite, Channel Zero Abel, White Death and Badlands, even Footsoldiers and Sky Ape, were originally published by other companies and fell out of print. This led to us publishing collections of self-publisher's monthly books, and getting more attention and critical acclaim for Electric Girl, Jax Epoch and True Story Swear to God. We've even translated into English the modern-day fairy tale Ursula, from the original Brazilian Portuguese.

The last few years, however, we've been focusing on original graphic novels and other, innovative formats and subjects. For now, my concentration is on getting some of my own stuff out there again, but if something as important and historical as Shatter gets in our sights, you can be sure we'll bring it to the new audience.