Why is Technology Evil
Also we invented it and why I can't stop writing about it.
Hey, it’s Zack!
I had a podcast recently and the interviewer pointed out that I really write a lot about technology lately and my fears of the future. Well, I guess I do…huh. Break Out is not exactly in that milieu, although the young people are imprisoned by an advanced technological prison spaceship. Metal Society is humans vs robots. Mindset is about technology and apps controlling our minds. And we can go back to Join the Future or Port of Earth to look at my fears of losing our normalcy to futurism or progressive.
But I think it all stems from who I am. I grew up in cornfields in the 80s watching Spielberg movies and really having a quaint, albeit insular childhood. Smash cut to the modern world moving pretty fast, and I’m can help but see some dystopian emergences in our every day lives. (checks phone). The big news and anxiety this week was that Elon Musk was buying Twitter, but I feel like the dangers of tribalism, misinformation, rabbit hole conspiracy theories, living in bubbles of data, losing our social discourse, all of these things have been happening ever since we connected ourselves to the internet. I can’t help but wonder - were human beings meant to be connected across the globe like this? So yeah, technology is changing things, and while some of it is for the betterment of mankind, there are some dangers, no matter who owns social media. So I can’t help but use science fiction to explore it, and start conversations with readers about the world.
A few cool things to share with you all! Dark Horse’s BREAK OUT was featured on Paste Magazine’s Top Ten Must Read Comic Series of 2022. I imagine of 2022 so far, right? But the list featured some of my favorite comics and creators, so I was quite happy to see BREAK OUT listed. You know, this one was a big deal for me, as it was my first comic of the year. So I can’t help but be excited by this great response. We just had the FOC for BREAK OUT #2, so the next issue is headed your way, and it’s a really good one. Each of these issues is like 26 pages, so it’s packed full of story.
METAL SOCIETY is one week away from release, I can’t believe it. Another calm before the storm here. I sat down with SCREEN RANT to chat about the series, how it came to be at Top Cow/Image, about our amazing artists, Guilherme Balbi, Marco Lesko and Troy Peteri, and a bit of the making of. So if you are interested, check it out. I think next week will be release week, so I’ll be sure to write all about Metal Society then as well.
And lastly, MINDSET is one month out from FOC, and Vault Comics just took to their channels today to give sneak peeks of the book. So if you are a comics pro or retailer or press and want to get the early read, let us know. Otherwise, I expect a preview should be out soon enough. If you are excited about it, get ready, you haven’t seen anything yet!
My next secret project is about 2-3 weeks out I think from announcement, and I’ll give you a secret about it - it deals with time travel. Yes, I am checking off the boxes of your favorite sci-fi elements. Aliens, check. Robots, check. Mind control, check. Time for a little time travel, Kaplan style.
That’s it for me this week. I think I’ve got my basic beats, cold open with abstract thoughts on writing, a few updates, something new to see, and tada, we’re done! Anything I’m missing, you let me know!
And thanks for reading!
Zack Kaplan
4.27.2022