''Punk Planet'' was a 16,000 print run

punk zine A punk zine (or punkzine) is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetry, news, gossip, music reviews and art ...

, based in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, that focused most of its energy on looking at

punk subculture The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...

rather than punk as simply another genre of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

to which

teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

listen. In addition to covering music, ''Punk Planet'' also covered visual arts and a wide variety of progressive issues — including media criticism,

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, and labor issues. The most notable features in ''Punk Planet'' were the interviews and album reviews. The interviews generally ran two or three pages, and tended to focus on the motivations of the artist (or organizer, activist, or whoever) being interviewed. ''Punk Planet'' aimed to be more inclusive than the well-known zine '' Maximum Rock and Roll'', and tried to review nearly all the records it received, so long as the record label wasn't owned or partially owned by a

major label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

. This led to a review section typically longer than thirty pages, covering a variety of musical styles. Although much of the music thus reviewed was, expectedly, aggressive rock, the reviews also covered country, folk, hip-hop, indie rock, and other genres. The Punk Planet reviews section also encompassed independently released comics,

zines A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very sma ...

, and DVDs. A number of poor distribution deals and the collapse of the Independent Press Association resulted in mounting debts for the editors. As a result, issue 80 was shipped with a cover reading: "This is the final issue of Punk Planet, after this the fight is yours." Subsidiary business Punk Planet books remains in business.

History and other projects

The first issue of the

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

was published in May 1994, in part as a response to the perception that '' Maximum Rock and Roll'' was becoming too elitist. In September 2006, ''Punk Planet'' had printed 75 issues of their bi-monthly publication, and in the fall of 2004 launched a book publishing arm, Punk Planet Books, in conjunction with the New York-based small press Akashic Books. Punk Planet Books has published four titles as of May 2006: " Hairstyles of the Damned" by

Joe Meno Joe Meno (born 1974) is an American novelist, writer of short fiction, playwright, and music journalist based in Chicago. Biography After attending Columbia College Chicago, Meno spent time working as a flower delivery truck driver and art ther ...

(August 2004, ), “All the Power: Revolution Without Illusion” by

Mark Andersen Mark Andersen is a punk rock community activist and author who lives in Washington D.C. He was born and raised in rural Montana, and moved to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend graduate school at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Internationa ...

(September 2004, ), “Lessons in Taxidermy” by Bee Lavender (March 2005, ), and "100 Posters, 134 Squirrels" by Jay Ryan (November 2005, ). In September 2006, Punk Planet partnered with the website, ZineWiki, to publish, online, exclusive articles from past print issues. On June 18, 2007, a post at www.punkplanet.com informed the public that after 13 years and 80 issues, Punk Planet's final issue was being sent out. The reasoning pointed to "bad distribution deals, disappearing advertisers, and a decreasing audience of subscribers." As a result, editor

Dan Sinker Dan Sinker is an American author, publisher, and entrepreneur. He currently serves as the inaugural fellow of the Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence (CJIE), is co-host of the Says Who? podcast, and speaks on the state of journalism, the r ...

decided to place his focus on the online website, but it has since gone offline. In its place is a statement, "This is it, folks. The Punk Planet website is closed. Two years after the closure of the magazine, it just seemed time.

References

External links

''Punk Planet'' collection
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1994 Magazines disestablished in 2007 Magazines published in Chicago Music magazines published in the United States Punk zines

History and other projects

References

Further reading

External links