AiT/Planet Lar

AiT/Planet Lar was an American independent comics publishing company based in San Francisco, California. Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim founded the company in 1999, placing it within the late-1990s expansion of the North American independent-comics and graphic-novel market. Rather than operating primarily as a publisher of long-running monthly superhero series, AiT/Planet Lar emphasized book-format comics, especially original graphic novels intended for broader bookstore and mass-market distribution. The company’s catalogue covered a wide range of genres and readerships. Its action and adventure publications included works such as Aces: Curse of the Red Baron, Bad Mojo, Black Diamond, The Couriers, Last of the Independents, Smoke and Guns, and White Death. It also published all-ages material, including Colonia, Electric Girl, Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden, and Ursula. Other areas represented in the catalogue included historical fiction, epic narratives, art and design, nonfiction, memoir-like material, and books connected to screenwriting or production history. AiT/Planet Lar also collected or reissued material that had originally appeared elsewhere. Examples identified in the published catalogue include Astronauts in Trouble, which had previously been serialized by Gun Dog Comics; Channel Zero, initially serialized by Image Comics; Codeflesh, associated with Image Comics and Funk-O-Tron serialization; Johnny Dynamite, originally serialized by Dark Horse Comics; Nobody, originally published in serialized form by Oni Press; and Shatter, first associated with First Comics. This mixture of original books and collected work allowed the imprint to serve as both an originator of new graphic novels and a publisher of completed or previously serialized independent-comics projects. The catalogue included work by writers and artists such as Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan, Tom Beland, Alexander Grecian, Riley Rossmo, Robbie Morrison, Charlie Adlard, and others. Titles such as Demo, True Story, Swear to God, Seven Sons, and Holmes illustrate the imprint’s interest in creator-led projects outside the dominant corporate superhero publishers. Its books also extended beyond conventional genre fiction through projects including Available Light, Come in Alone, Public Domain, Surviving Grady, Tales from Fish Camp, True Facts, and The Making of Astronauts in Trouble. Public information does not establish a detailed account of the company’s annual output, revenue, distribution agreements, or later management. The California Secretary of State records AIT/PLANET LAR LLC as defunct, with an inactive date of December 7, 2016. Accordingly, AiT/Planet Lar is best treated as a defunct independent publishing brand rather than an active contemporary publisher. Its documented importance rests on its role in publishing original and collected graphic novels within the American independent-comics ecosystem.

AiT/Planet Lar emerged in 1999 as an independent comics publisher founded by Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim in San Francisco. Its founding placed it in a period when creator-owned comics, alternative publishers, and the graphic-novel format were gaining greater visibility in North American bookstores, libraries, and specialty-comics shops. The company’s public identity centered on publishing books rather than building a large continuing line of conventional monthly comic books. The imprint’s stated emphasis was the release of original graphic novels into the mass market. This orientation distinguished AiT/Planet Lar from publishers focused mainly on serialized periodicals: the graphic novel was treated as a completed book suitable for direct reading and wider retail distribution. The catalogue nevertheless included trade paperbacks collecting mini-series or other serialized works that had first appeared under different publishers. This approach gave the company access to both new creator-owned projects and established independent-comics material that could be assembled into durable book editions. Its publishing programme was notably varied. Action and adventure titles formed one substantial part of the list, with books including Aces: Curse of the Red Baron, Bad Mojo, The Couriers, Last of the Independents, Scurvy Dogs, Smoke and Guns, Switchblade Honey, and White Death. The company also released science-fiction, crime, fantasy, and superhero-parody or superhero-adjacent material, including Channel Zero, Channel Zero: Jennie One, Giant Robot Warriors, Planet of the Capes, and Sky Ape. All-ages books such as Colonia, Electric Girl, Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden, and Ursula broadened the audience beyond adult-oriented independent comics. Historical and literary interests were represented by Abel, Badlands, Dugout, Holmes, Seven Sons, and White Death. The epic and autobiographical or personal-comics portion of the catalogue included Demo, Footsoldiers, Hench, Rock Bottom, Sunset City, and multiple volumes of Tom Beland’s True Story, Swear to God. AiT/Planet Lar also published books that documented creative practice, popular culture, and nonfiction, including Available Light, Badlands: The Unproduced Screenplay, Come in Alone, The Making of Astronauts in Trouble, Public Domain, Surviving Grady, Tales from Fish Camp, and True Facts. Several titles demonstrate the imprint’s relationship with the wider independent-publishing network. Astronauts in Trouble, Channel Zero, Codeflesh, Johnny Dynamite, Nobody, Shatter, Sky Ape, and The Annotated Mantooth! had links to earlier serialization or publication through other companies, including Gun Dog Comics, Image Comics, Funk-O-Tron, Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, First Comics, and Slave Labor Graphics. AiT/Planet Lar therefore functioned both as a home for original graphic novels and as a publisher that could bring previously serialized independent works into collected editions. The available record does not provide a complete chronology of editorial leadership, sales, distribution, or the company’s publishing activity after its principal catalogue period. Nor does it establish a successor brand or parent corporation. A California Secretary of State record lists AIT/PLANET LAR LLC as defunct, with an inactive date of December 7, 2016. On the evidence available, the company should be described as a former San Francisco independent publisher whose principal historical contribution was its broad graphic-novel catalogue and its participation in the development of English-language creator-led comics publishing.

1. 2016Company recorded as defunct

   The California Secretary of State record identifies AIT/PLANET LAR LLC as defunct, with an inactive date of December 7, 2016.

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2. 1999AiT/Planet Lar founded

   Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim established AiT/Planet Lar in San Francisco as an independent comics publishing company.

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Independent graphic-novel and comics publishing

• Original graphic novelsGraphic-novel publishing1999

  AiT/Planet Lar’s central publishing format was the original graphic novel: a self-contained comics work developed for book-market distribution rather than released primarily as a continuing monthly series. The catalogue covered action, adventure, science fiction, crime, fantasy, historical fiction, literary comics, and personal narratives. Examples include Demo, The Couriers, Electric Girl, Last of the Independents, Seven Sons, and White Death.

• Collected and reissued independent comicsTrade paperback publishing

  The imprint also published book editions of material that had first appeared as serialized mini-series or under other independent publishers. This part of the catalogue included Astronauts in Trouble, Channel Zero, Codeflesh, Johnny Dynamite, Nobody, Shatter, Sky Ape, and The Annotated Mantooth!. These editions connected AiT/Planet Lar to the broader network of independent comics creators and publishers.

• All-ages graphic novelsAll-ages comics

  AiT/Planet Lar maintained an all-ages portion of its catalogue alongside its adult-oriented genre and literary books. The documented titles include Colonia, Electric Girl, Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden, and Ursula. These books demonstrate that the imprint’s intended readership was not limited to the specialty-comics adult market.

• Art, design, and nonfiction booksArt and nonfiction publishing

  Beyond narrative comics, the catalogue included art, design, memoir, commentary, production-related, and nonfiction projects. Documented examples include Available Light, Come in Alone, Public Domain, Surviving Grady, Tales from Fish Camp, True Facts, Badlands: The Unproduced Screenplay, and The Making of Astronauts in Trouble.

• 2016End of recorded company activityOther

  A California Secretary of State record lists AIT/PLANET LAR LLC as defunct.

  What changed. The company’s legal entity was recorded as inactive on December 7, 2016.

  Aftermath. AiT/Planet Lar is treated as a defunct publisher; no successor owner or continuing parent company is established in the available sources.

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• 1999Prioritization of original graphic novelsStrategy

  The company was established with a focus on bringing original graphic novels to the mass market, within the broader independent-comics publishing sector.

  What changed. AiT/Planet Lar developed a catalogue centered on book-format original comics while also accepting selected collected works that had originated as serialized projects elsewhere.

  Aftermath. The resulting catalogue combined creator-led original books with trade-paperback editions and covered multiple genres, readerships, and nonfiction formats.

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• 2016AIT/PLANET LAR LLC recorded as defunct

  California Secretary of State records identify AIT/PLANET LAR LLC as defunct and give December 7, 2016 as its inactive date.

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1. AiT/Planet Lar