Young Guns for Great Comics
If Larry Young’s only contribution to comics were the Astronauts in Trouble series, he’d be a darned important figure in American comics. Not only does this SF series combine great fun and action with nifty characterization, Young’s decision to publish AiT in the form of original graphic novels (OGNs) rather than single-issue mini-series is a reminder that comics shouldn’t be limited to a single format. But Young is much more than the writer of AiT and the upcoming Planet of the Capes — he runs AiT/Planet Lar, a company that publishes OGNs and trade paperback collections (TPBs) in a number of genres, including the terrific Channel Zero by Brian Wood. He’s a relentless “comics evangelist,” writer of the completed TRUE FACTS series on self-publishing in Savant magazine and the ongoing LOOSE CANNON column at Comic Book Resources. He’s a frequent poster at a number of comics message boards, including his own Delphi Forum and the Warren Ellis Forum. Flat out, he’s one of the smartest guys in comics, a guy who knows what he wants and is willing to put in the work to get it.
As the name “Astronauts in Trouble” implies, Young is also a space fan of the highest order; indeed, he has been known to argue that there is no film or story that can’t be made better by sticking in a guy in a spacesuit.
“Astronauts are modern-day knights-in-shining-armor,” he says. “Putting on their specialized suits to go into such an unforgiving environment . . . I mean, if a reader doesn’t see the inherent romance in space exploration, I can’t help them.”
The first AiT story is Live from the Moon, a real treat for fans of realistic science fiction. It’s the story of the news team that is selected to accompany Ishmael Hayes, North America’s leading businessman, on a self-financed voyage back to the lunar surface to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Armstrong landing. Since the real moon landing was such a pivotal event in Young’s fascination with space, it seems only natural that it would be the subject of his first space story.
“I lived in Dallas, Texas, just down the road from Houston when I was six years old, in 1969,” he says. “When Neil and Buzz first landed on the moon and said, ‘Houston, Tranquility Base here; the Eagle has landed’ they weren’t just making one small step, they were walking around on the moon and talking to ME.
“I think the concatenation of effect of being an impressionable lad with a great imagination, doting parents who made sure I had a telescope to look up at the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, and the geographic nearness to Mission Control scarred me for life.”
As I mention in my review of Live from the Moon, Young doesn’t scrimp on characterization despite the abundance of space action, especially in the interactions between anchor Dave Archer, cameraman Heck, and segment producer Annie.
“I needed an audience in to the story, and it made sense that it’d be the on-air talent. In order to short-hand to the reader that Channel Seven is the premier media outlet of the story, I had our other characters archly refer to Dave as the ‘Most Trusted Man in North America.’ He’s the Walter Cronkite of his day… but he’s a shell… a suit… a goofball. If his audience knew him as Heck and Annie do… they might not be watching Channel Seven…
“I was thinking of the famous triads in literature and in Pop Culture who represent two opposing viewpoints around the guy in the middle. What Leonard Nimoy famously described as ‘The Soliloquy Structure:’ that in Star Trek, if you took Hamlet’s soliloquy and made it Star Trek dialogue, you’d have Mr. Spock saying, ‘To be,’ Doctor McCoy would say, ‘Or NOT to be,’ with Captain Kirk in the middle saying, ‘. . . that is the question.’
“So I made Dave the central figure between the no-nonsense segment producer and the wise-cracking cameraman. If you have three main characters spanning that spectrum of reaction, the story almost writes itself.”
AiT/Planet Lar publishes a lot more than Astronauts in Trouble books, however. Young has put his muscle behind a number of independent creators to establish a line of OGNs and TPBs with a high reputation for quality. The amazingly-well-designed Channel Zero is probably the best-known of these at the moment — if you haven’t read my review of it, please do, and check out Brian Wood’s website while you’re at it. Channel Zero is the story of a near-future where the US, especially New York, have been overrun by censorship, and it stretches the existing boundaries of the comic format by incorporating a number of slogans and visuals into the pages that may be distinct from the main narrative but reinforce the message and feeling of the book.
Wood has also designed a number of covers for AiT publications, helping to craft and display AiT/Planet Lar’s identity as a forward-thinking comics publisher.
“I just like Brian Wood’s design sense,” says Young. “He’s done five of our eleven books, and it’s really quite neat to have that singular vision of an extremely strong artist and designer. He’s my guy I ask first, that’s for sure. If someone else does the book design, it’s because he doesn’t have time that month in his schedule.”
It should come as no surprise, then, that Wood and Channel Zero are something of the centerpiece of the publisher’s list of upcoming projects; over the next nine months AiT will release a Channel Zero follow-up, a prequel of storts, and a design book. Next up, in October, is CousCous Express — a story about a turf war between rival New York restaurants that includes some characters from the first book.
But wait, there’s more. Transmetropolitan author Warren Ellis has two projects on tap, a military space adventure called Switchblade Honey and Available Light, a collection of short stories and photographs all written on or taken with a Handspring Visor; AiT has already published a collected edition of Ellis’ COME IN ALONE essays. Young himself will tackle the superhero genre with Planet of the Capes, and several other noted creators will release new TPBs or OGNs — the full lineup is available from the AiT website. It all fits into Young’s vision for the company.
“We publish books that I characterize as science fiction and ‘action-adventure-with-a-twist’ by quality creators on top of their games. When people see a logo that says, ‘An AiT/Planet Lar publication,’ I want them to associate that with a high quality graphic novel or trade paperback.”
He’s off to a great start.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.