Zack Kaplan unpacks his monster survival and AI crime thrillers

On this week's AIPT Comics Podcast, we're joined by writer Zack Kaplan to talk about two ambitious new projects that tap into some of today's biggest anxieties. First up is Only the Savage Are Left, Kaplan's new post-apocalyptic series with Stefano Raffaele, which imagines a world overrun by a virus that transforms people into monsters. During the conversation, Kaplan digs into the moral dilemmas at the heart of the series, the challenge of creating a new kind of monster apocalypse, and why the story's central romance is just as important as its horror. We also discuss The Smart Division, his upcoming AI-driven crime thriller with John Pearson, exploring how rapidly advancing technology, generational divides, and questions about institutional trust shaped the book's premise. Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon! NEWS Stan Lee returns through AI as ElevenLabs launches voice, image, and music partnership Money Shot is getting its wildest crossover yet with Patton Oswalt returning for ‘The F* Offs’ #1* Get Hype: Marvel’s terrifying new Midnight Universe gets 'Midnight X-Men' #1 preview Book of Boba Fett series announced Dark Horse employees announce unionization effort with CWA Our Top Books of the Week: Dave: Doomquest #1 (Ryan North, Francesco Mobili) Infernal Hulk #7 (Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Adam Gorham) Alex:​​ Absolute Wonder Woman #20 (Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman) Did You Hear About Mimi Greene? (Connor Goldsmith, Josh Cornillon) Standout KAPOW moment of the week: Alex: The Infernal Hulk #7 (PKJ, Adam Gorham) Dave: Escape #7 (Daniel Acuna, Rick Remender) TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK Alex: Uncanny X-Men #29 (Wilson, Vecchio) & What If...? Uncanny X-Men #1 (Gerry Dugan, Jan Bazaldua) Dave: Deadman #1 (Martin Morazzo, W. Maxwell Prince) JUDGING BY THE COVER JR. Dave: The Twilight Zone #7 (Juni Ba connecting cover) Alex: Poison Ivy #45 Cover B Noobovich Variant Interview: Zach Kaplan (art by Stefano Raffaele) talks Only the Savage Are Left (Out June 3) The Smart Division out August 5, FOC Jun 29th Only the Savage Are Left presents a world where survival itself requires violence. What was the starting point for the virus concept, and how did you land on the idea that the “cure” is tied to killing another infected person? There’s an early suggestion in the book that civilization didn’t collapse because people failed to work together, but because they turned on each other. How much of this story is meant to reflect real-world anxieties about how fragile social order really is? You’ve described the idea that “civilized society is a failed experiment.” How does that philosophy shape Ryder’s journey, especially as someone who begins the story outside that cycle of violence? Ryder starts off relatively sheltered, living behind a wall and seemingly untouched by the infection. What interested you about telling a story through a character who hasn’t yet been forced to compromise his morality? The relationship that pulls Ryder out into the world feels central to the emotional core of the book. How did you approach balancing that love story with the brutality of the setting? Without spoiling too much, how does the virus actually work on a thematic level? Is it purely biological, or is it also meant to represent something more psychological or societal? As Ryder encounters other survivors and “monster-killers,” how do you approach defining who the real monsters are in this world? Shifting to The Smart Division, the idea of an AI being involved in a “perfect murder” is chillingly plausible. What kind of real-world advancements in AI or predictive tech inspired this story? The pairing of a Gen-Z savant and a veteran FBI agent feels like a classic odd-couple dynamic. What makes that contrast especially interesting in a story about artificial intelligence and crime? Fun one: if you had to survive in the world of Only the Savage Are Left, what’s your strategy in the first 24 hours… and are you making it out alive?