With the release of the Second Shift graphic novel from Avery Hill Publishing, we are delighted to be joined by Ignatz Award-nominated author Kit Anderson. Kit’s previous work includes Safer Places, also published by Avery Hill Publishing.
Hi Kit, it’s so great having you here with us.
Thank you for having me!
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Hey, I’m Kit Anderson, a cartoonist from Boulder, Colorado living near Zürich. I wrote and drew Second Shift and Safer Places, both out from the lovely folks at Avery Hill.
Can you tell us about the origins of Second Shift?
I think it was a couple of things—one of the first comics I ever made was about a biosphere in space based off of real-life failed missions trying to simulate ones in space. That kind of fed into a story in Safer Places called “Lookout Station” which was also inspired by me watching some video diaries of a fire lookout—I got interested in the idea of working in isolation—the situations requiring it, the people who’d choose it, etc. Then when it came to make the book itself, I was noticing at that time how much algorithms were doing their best to influence my listening/watching/reading habits—that’s all pretty important to me, as I put a lot of stock in finding what we like organically via random encounters, recommendations from friends, that kind of thing. I might be overestimating the importance of the books we read and the music we listen to, but I personally feel pretty shaped by all that. Anyway, it led to the question: “what if something had complete control over everything we take in over a lifetime?” and it all kind of blended together.
Who is Terracorp?
Terracorp is a fictional megacorporation—basically a huge governing business on Earth that has its hands in lots of industries, a major one being terraforming. They’re a major sort of character in Second Shift, speaking through employee manuals and station AI.
What can you tell us about Birdie Doran?
Birdie is a Terracorp employee facilitating the terraforming process on one of their outer planets. She works in isolation with her sibling Heck along with a companion AI called Station.
How did Avery Hill Publishing get involved with Second Shift?
When I cold-pitched them with Safer Places I was so happy when they came back with an offer for a two-book deal. I didn’t have a graphic novel-length idea at that time, and had really only thought about short stories until then, but I was excited to have the opportunity to come up with something.
Could you tell us about the world that Second Shift is set in?
Second Shift takes place in the semi-distant future in which humans (via huge corporations) are expanding out onto terraformed planets, and the story is set during a long work shift on one of these planets in development. The workers are highly isolated and living in this corporate-controlled environment, so there’s a huge dependence on AI to provide companionship, management, entertainment, and basically all of their surroundings.
Who is Heck?
Heck is Birdie’s sibling—they’re a lot more prone to questioning than Birdie is, so they’re kind of a challenging presence to Birdie’s general compliance.
You created all of the art for Second Shift. What part of that process did you enjoy the most?
Usually I get a little angsty about thumbnailing because it’s when I have to come to terms with what I imagined versus what is actually possible for me to get on the page, but for some reason with this book I quite enjoyed that part…maybe because I’d spent so much time thinking and planning in the script phase, but I’m not sure. I also always like inking—it’s when it all starts feeling real to me, but I’ll also say some talented friends helped me a lot with the color flatting, which made finishing the color quite a joy (thank you Robyn, King, and Wayne!).
What has it been like working with Avery Hill Publishing?
I love working with them, and feel really grateful they took a chance on me. They’re kind, passionate, knowledgeable people, and so mighty for their size. I sincerely hope I can work with them again soon.
How long have you been working on Second Shift?
It looks like I started my first document around March 2023, and the printer proofs finished in March 2025, so that pretty much made it a nice round two years!
How would you describe Second Shift?
Psychological small-world sci-fi with a touch of something gothic.
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
It seems like there’s this concerted attempt to undermine and manage our relationships to art—how we value it, and the ways in which we find and connect with it. Personally, I hope I’ll always value time and attention spent seeking out and connecting with things people are making. That said, we’re handing a lot of this exploration over to other parties (e.g., algorithms), and I understand the curiosity, novelty, convenience, etc., but I feel like we’re giving up a lot in that exchange. Finding what we like can be so formative and cool, and, for myself, I don’t really want that journey to be managed by some algorithm serving whatever opaque purpose.
I don’t want to get too into my opinions on the ways in which AI and artmaking are starting to intersect (hint: not super keen), but I will say that I get pretty creeped out by the idea of being asked to connect with a generated thing—something I’d argue is essentially meaningless (or at least playing on the edges of that). For art to be meaningful, I think it has to be made with real intention and care, and it’s very often the result of expertise, lots of time, and many, many choices (and on and on). Say you disagree with me on that—that’s fine, but then the results of generative AIs can’t be poor repackagings of real people’s meaningful labor, and also its widespread use can’t be potentially catastrophic for the environment. Last time I checked, though, it still seems to be both of those things (and so much more).
All this is to say, I just always want to treat making and connecting with art as a privilege—to keep in mind that all parts of these processes deserve respect, and of course we do, too.
We would like to say a big thank you to Kit for chatting with us and would like to wish her the best of luck with Second Shift.
