Longbox Junk - Shatter Special

Welcome to Longbox Junk, the blog stuffed absolutely full of comic reviews you never asked for!

Like it or lump it, computer art in comics is here and it's here to stay.  It's just a fact of modern comic reading that just about any new comic you pick up will have some sort of computer generated content in it.  Colors and letters are almost completely being done with computers now, for example.

As I shake my walkin' stick at the sky and shout about those damn kids and their damn computers ruining my damn comic books, I can't help but wonder how we got here.  So I did a quick search and discovered that the first fully "computerized" comic book came out in 1985!

1985? That was FORTY YEARS AGO!  It was the year I graduated High School. Yes, I'm old.  Now you kids get the HELL off my lawn!  Computers were barely functional in 1985.  My high school was the first in my home state to even HAVE a computer course. . .where I learned how to program in Binary and BASIC on an Apple IIe without a mouse.  Once again, OFF MY DAMN LAWN!

Is it even possible that a comic book made on a computer in 1985 can be any good?  We're gonna find out, because I happen to have a copy of the comic book in question in my collection!   I have no recollection of reading it, but that changes today!

Let's do this!

SHATTER SPECIAL

First Comics (1985)

COVER: Mike Saenz (Computer Art)

THE COVER:

 A bit of research shows me that this was done on an original Macintosh Plus using MacPaint and a newfangled (at the time) input device called a "mouse".  So for THAT, it's impressive.  

I like the Cyberpunk theme here, even though it's plain to see that the computer tech at the time was much more capable of rendering the background architecture and vehicles than the central human character.

The yellow color scheme is a bit off-putting as well, but overall this is a pretty good cover, especially knowing how it was made.  If it was hand-drawn, I'd probably not be so kind. 

Let's get inside this thing!

THE STORY:

HEADHUNTERS

SCRIPT: Peter Gillis
COMPUTER ART: Mike Saenz

The scene. . .the grungy back streets of Chicago.  The year is 2050.

We begin with a man engaged in a gunfight.  He's been ambushed during a contract job gone bad and is outnumbered.  A lucky break allows him to make a desperate escape.  As he flees the scene, we learn more about him.

The man's full name is Sadr-al-din Morales, nicknamed Shatter, AKA Jack Scratch, which is his "work" identity when taking on contract jobs.  Sadr does contract freelance police work.  In 2050 Chicago, EVERYTHING is run by Corporations, including Law Enforcement.  It's almost impossible to get a full-time job, so Sadr makes do (like millions of others) with temp work.

We follow Sadr to his apartment, where he unwinds from the ambush and considers his partial payment for the bad contract.  It's barely enough to pay rent and expenses.  An online auction comes on his screen with something he's VERY interested in. . .a rare canister of original Coca-Cola syrup!  Unfortunately, he doesn't have the $75,000 needed.

But THEN a police contract comes up, and it's offering $75,000 plus expenses!  It's to pursue and detain a mass murderer, but this isn't Sadr's first rodeo.  He puts a bid in and, to his surprise, actually wins the lucrative contract.

But what Sadr DOESN'T know is that someone else was watching the contract and is now extremely interested in Mr. Jack Scratch. . .

With the upcoming auction in mind, Sadr immediately gets to work.  The perp he's hunting is a female who came in through the 75th floor window of a Corpo Tower during an executive meeting and killed 15 managers with a machine pistol.  

Sadr heads to the worst part of town, where he has an employment terminal hacked to give him access to the entire Temp Job Net.  Using his shady access, he follows clues across town, eliminating leads until he gets a name, Joanie Caucus.  Along with the name, he gets a description and the location of a club where she's been known to hang out.

Satisfied that the case is going unusually well, Sadr heads to the club to try and spot his target.

At the club, Sadr quickly identifies Joanie Caucus.  She's strikingly beautiful and sticks out like a sore thumb among the dregs crowding the place.  He engages in a short conversation with her, but decides not to try to take her down in the club.  Collateral casualties lower his take on the contract.  

Using his contacts and hacking the telephone company, Sadr sends out a mass phone ad.  With a recording of Caucus' voice he made during their conversation, he's able to match a reply to an address, and gains the target's real name. . .Cyan Dalriada.  Caucus was her "work" name. 

Hitting Dalriada at her home reduces the chance of uninvolved witnesses getting hurt during the takedown.  Sadr heads in to finish the job. . .unaware that he's being followed.  

At Delriada's building, Sadr's unable to hack her pass code, so he decides the time for stealth is done and breaks into her apartment.  He sets off the alarm, but is able to silence it before security arrives.  Unfortunately, he's warned Delriada that he's there.

She ambushes him as he searches the apartment for her, and the two fight.  Sadr quickly gains the upper hand, but as they struggle, Delriada pleads with him to let her go. . .there's more to this than he knows!

She knows the secret of a diabolical experimental process being done by the Corporation she attacked.  Her lover lost his life over the secret. . .an RNA process that allows skills and knowledge to be taken from one person and transferred to another.  A scientific method for stealing the very soul of a person and giving it to someone else!

She claims to be part of a larger group that has stolen the details of the process and are trying to keep it out of the hands of the Corporation.  It's interesting, but to Sadr, what's MORE interesting is the $75,000 he's going to pull for bringing Delriada in.  

As Sadr takes Delriada into custody, the mysterious figure who's been following "Jack Scratch" during his investigation finally shows himself!  He's a Corporate Enforcer and Sadr has done all the work of locating Delriada for him.

When Sadr refuses to give up his collar, the Corpo Man attacks and Sadr is forced to fight for his life.  He quickly kills the Enforcer using a tiny remote explosive, but Cyan has taken the opportunity to run!

Sadr has her dead to rights as Cyan flees, but for some reason he doesn't pull the trigger.  She escapes, leaving Sadr with a lot of questions and an unfulfilled contract.  It's been a long day. . .too long.

 

The End.

THE REVIEW:

Alright, there it is. . .The Shatter Special (because comics hadn't started calling them zero issues yet).

LET'S BREAK IT ON DOWN!

Okay, interesting.  Let's put the art aside for a moment.  This is touted as the first "computerized" comic book, but the story was written by a person.  In 1985 we weren't in the "Growing Danger of Unshackled Artificial Intelligence" portion of our impending technological slavery arc just yet.  People still had to actually write stuff.

It makes sense that the first "computerized" comic book would be a cyberpunk story.  Cyberpunk was starting to gain mainstream popularity at the time and you can definitely see the strong influence of Phillip K. Dick and the most famous adaptation of his work, Blade Runner.

This story fully embraces the "Low Life/High Tech" themes of cyberpunk, with the dystopian, Corporate-dominated near (yet far) future background.  The inner monologue, gritty action, and jaded main character echo the sci-fi neo noir of Blade Runner in such a blatant manner that I would definitely put "inspired by" in quotation marks.

That said. . .I liked this story.  If you're going to steal, then steal from the best, right?  This story hits all the right beats for a decent neo noir cyberpunk story. If you're a cyberpunk fan (like me), then you'll probably like this.

It's more of a Dollar Store knockoff brand of Blade Runner than a proper homage, but, the same way that Dollar Store bag of "Riffles" potato chips is still a pretty good snack, this story is still a pretty good read.

One thing that DID stick out to me as being pretty original and actually a bit scary in its prescience is the "Gig" economy that permeates Shatter.  Forty years later in 2026 when I'm writing this review, the "Gig" economy is here.  It's everywhere.  It's every bit as dystopian as predicted, and it's not getting better anytime soon.  

People are hustling several temp jobs at a time just to make ends meet, never actually being an employee for anyone.  Easily-replaceable workers scraping by while the Corporations reap billions off their labor. Welcome to the future! Ain't it great?

ANYWAY. . .

As the first issue of a series, I'll ask the same TWO simple questions I ask of the first issue of ANY series.  Two things. . .that's all I ever ask of the first issue of a series.  You'd be surprised how many companies fail to deliver one or both of these two simple things:

1.  Does it introduce the characters and the setting in a new reader friendly way?

2.  Does it make me want to read more?

I'll say that the Shatter Special actually gets a "Yes" on both.

The story here is simple. . .a cop for hire tracking down a target through the dystopian Corporate nightmare of future Chicago and learning that there's more to the story than he realizes.  There's enough background provided for both the main character and the setting given here to make entry very easy for a new reader.

The story ends on a cliffhanger.  The femme fatale gets away, leaving the main character with an unfinished contract and too many questions.  It's a classic noir chapter ending hook.  It works.  I want to see what happens next.

So, this book's main claim to "fame" is the computer art.  Let's talk about it!

Let's not have any doubts here.  For a book made in 1985 on a Macintosh Plus with MacPaint, the art is remarkable in that it's ANY good at all.  Credit where it's due.  

THAT SAID. . .

There are only a few places I'd objectively call the art "good".  Most of the art is barely tolerable, with occasional places where it's just bad. Here's one example of what I'm talking about:

In the review, I tried picking some of the better pages to scan.  Unfortunately there is also a lot of stuff that's pretty hard on the eyes like the panel above.  The computer art is what sold this comic in 1985.  In 2026, it's not great. 

 It's sort of like going back to try and watch the original Toy Story movie.  It's still a good story, but the computer graphics haven't aged well, especially when it comes to the human characters. 

To be fair, the artist seems to have gotten a handle on things a bit more for the 14 issue ongoing series that came after this "Special" successfully proved the concept would sell (which I discovered I do have two issues of. . .#2 and #10, so I was able to compare).  

They also got some additional tech for the series, including an early version Laser Writer (which allowed the artist to use a stylus instead of  a mouse) that improved the process quite a bit.  But as for THIS issue, the art is more of a distraction in many places.  

Here's a look at the cover for Issue #2 of the ongoing series.  Still pretty rough to 2026 eyes used to sharp computer graphics, but you can definitely see the improvement.

CONCLUSION

What we have here is an interesting little artifact of the 80s.  Basically, it's worth nothing as far as collectible "value" goes, but it's the sort of unusual thing I'm very happy to have in my collection.  

It's. . .Longbox Junk.  I like Longbox Junk.

The story is a serviceable cyberpunk tale heavily "inspired by" Blade Runner.  As a first issue, it introduces the characters and the setting nicely and it makes me want to read more.  If you like cyberpunk or dystopian science fiction with a neo noir vibe, then you'll probably like this story.

The computer art is remarkable for its time, but barely tolerable today. There are a few good moments scattered here and there, but honestly this comic is a bit hard on the eyes.

I haven't seen any of these in bargain bins, but a bit of research shows me the entire series has been collected twice.  I took a look at online sales and see the trades are out there and are pretty inexpensive.

Overall, I'd say that if you have an interest in cyberpunk stories or like strange comic book artifacts, then check this series out.  It's not the best comic story I've ever read, but as a piece of comic book history, it's still pretty cool.

That's it for this bit of Longbox Junk, thanks for coming!

Until next time, remember that comics are worth more than money.