shatter

Shatter is a digital comic created by Peter B. Gillis and Mike Saenz.

Shatter was the first all-digital comic, i.e. a comic for which the art was created entirely on the computer, as opposed to the common method of drawing on board with pencil, pen and ink and then scanning the black and white art into a computer for the application of computer color.

History

Shatter was written by Peter Gillis and illustrated on the computer by Mike Saenz. Shatter appeared simultaneously as a one-shot special and as a backup feature in First Comics’ Jon Sable title in 1985. It was published in its own 14 issue series from 1985-1988. The book was art directed by Alex Wald. It was eventually collected by AiT/Planet Lar.

It was a dystopian sci-fi fantasy somewhat in the mold of Blade Runner.

The Shatter artwork was initially drawn on a first-generation Apple Macintosh using a mouse, and printed out on one of the first Apple LaserWriter laser printers. The print-outs were then photographed like a piece of traditionally drawn black and white comic art and the color separations were applied in the traditional manner for comics at the time. This is almost the reverse of the current method of drawing comics on board and scanning the art into a computer for the application of color in computer graphics programs.

Mike Saenz left after the first couple of issues of the full Shatter title. He was replaced for several issues by artists who worked in the traditional manner, although the artwork was then digitized.

Artist Charlie Athanas re-established the standard of creating the comic directly on the computer. He drew the pages with a mouse on a Macintosh Plus computer.

Shatter artist Mike Saenz went on to create Iron Man: Crash, the first digital graphic novel, in 1988 and Donna Matrix, a digital graphic novel utilizing 3-D rendering, in 1993.

Writer Peter B. Gillis has worked on a number of comic titles before and after Shatter, including Dr. Strange, What If, Hulk, and The Defenders, for Marvel Comics and several titles for DC Comics. He remains best known for the series Strikeforce: Morituri that he created for Marvel with artist Brent Anderson. The series ran from 1986 to 1989.

Timeline

• June, 1985: Shatter, written by Peter Gillis and illustrated by Mike Saenz, appears as a backup feature in Jon Sable: Freelance #25, and as the Shatter Special, one shot, published by First Comics.
• June-November 1985: The series runs as a back up feature in Jon Sable: Freelance from issues #25-30.
• December 1985-April 1988: Shatter continues as a 14-issue series by First Comics.
• 1986: Mike Saenz leaves after 2 issues. First continues the title using other artists including Steve Erwin and Bob Dienethal, who draw traditional art on board that is then digitized, while they look for someone to pick up the task of drawing the art directly on a computer.
• 1986-1988: Charlie Athanas re-establishes the practice of creating the comic directly on the computer and draws issues #9-14.
• 1988: Iron Man: Crash, the first digital graphic novel is published by Marvel Comics, drawn by Shatter artist Mike Saenz.
• 1993: Mike Saenz creates Donna Matrix, computer generated graphic novel with 3-D graphics, published by Reactor Press. This is the first 3-D CGI graphic novel.

Sources

Books

• McCloud, Scott (2000) Reinventing Comics, pp. 140, 165, Paradox Press

Periodicals

• Gillis, Peter & Saenz, Mike (1985). “Shatter,” Jon Sable: Freelance, issues #25-30, First Comics
• Gillis, Peter & Saenz, Mike (1985). Shatter Special, First Comics
• Gillis, Peter & Saenz, Mike (1985-1988). Shatter, First Comics, issues #1-14, First Comics

Web Sites

• Harter, Maurice (1997) “Comics”, Lightworks
• Szadkowski, Joseph (July 1, 2000). “Digital Production Comes of Age in the Comic World”, Animation World Magazine
• “Comic ceator: Mike Saenz”, Lambiek Comiclopedia
• “Peter B. Gillis Biibliography”, True Stories
• Athanas, Charlie “Comic Books: Shatter Issues #9-14”, Burning City

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