# Punk Planet, HeartattaCk and Slug & Lettuce: 90s Zines That Shaped DIY

> How Punk Planet, HeartattaCk and Slug & Lettuce defined 1990s punk zine culture, spreading DIY ethics and politics from photocopied pages to a global network.

- Source: https://menvafan.net/bocker/punk-planet-and-hearts-zines/
- Section: Punk Library
- Language: en
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Updated: 2026-10-17

**In short:** Punk Planet and HeartattaCk were two major US punk zines of the 1990s, both reacting against or alongside Maximum RocknRoll. Punk Planet ran 80 issues from 1994 to 2007, covering music, visual arts and progressive issues, while HeartattaCk, published by Kent McClard and Lisa Oglesby, focused on hardcore punk and anti-consumerism from 1994 to 2006. Their histories show how DIY publishing combined scene coverage with political writing, and how distribution and funding problems could end even well-established zines.

Punk Planet and HeartattaCk were two of the most visible American punk zines of the 1990s, both operating in the orbit of Maximum RocknRoll and both defined by a DIY ethic that went beyond music coverage. Punk Planet ran from 1994 to 2007 and folded after 80 issues; HeartattaCk ran from 1994 to 2006 and was published by Kent McClard and Lisa Oglesby. Their stories show how zines combined scene journalism with political writing, and how fragile the publishing infrastructure around them could be.

## What was Punk Planet?

Punk Planet was a Chicago-based punk zine with a 16,000 print run. It focused most of its energy on punk subculture rather than punk as simply another genre of music for teenagers. In addition to music, it covered visual arts and a wide variety of progressive issues, including media criticism, feminism and labor issues.

The most notable features were interviews and album reviews. Interviews generally ran two or three pages and tended to focus on the motivations of the artist, organizer or activist being interviewed. The zine aimed to be more inclusive than the well-known Maximum Rock and Roll and tried to review nearly all the records it received, so long as the record label was not owned or partly owned by a major label. That approach produced a review section typically longer than thirty pages, covering a range of styles: aggressive rock, certainly, but also country, folk, hip-hop, indie rock and others. The reviews section also covered independently released comics, zines and DVDs.

## Why did Punk Planet stop?

A number of poor distribution deals and the collapse of the Independent Press Association resulted in mounting debts for the editors. In June 2007 a post on the zine's website announced that the final issue was being sent out after 13 years and 80 issues, citing bad distribution deals, disappearing advertisers and a decreasing audience of subscribers. Issue 80 shipped with a cover reading: "This is the final issue of Punk Planet, after this the fight is yours." The subsidiary business Punk Planet Books remained in business.

Editor Dan Sinker decided to place his focus on the website, but it has since gone offline, replaced by a statement that the site was closed two years after the magazine's closure. In January 2021, all 80 issues were uploaded to the Internet Archive.

## What was HeartattaCk?

HeartattaCk was a punk zine along the lines of Punk Planet and Maximumrocknroll, with a strong bent towards hardcore punk and anti-consumerism. It was published by Kent McClard and Lisa Oglesby from March 1994 through June 2006. In its final years it remained one of the most popular zines available, and it has been described as one of half a dozen major punk fanzines in the USA during the 1990s.

McClard, born in 1967, is a record label owner, photographer, columnist and zine publisher from Goleta, California. He has said he grew up in a "broken home" and was a "troublesome" child; during his teenage years he found solace in hardcore punk, which played a defining role in his life. Inspired by its freedom and ethics, he embarked on various DIY ventures, including organizing what is believed to be the first local show and publishing the first fanzine in his town. A former Maximumrocknroll columnist, he founded Ebullition Records in early 1990 with Sonia Skindrud, who wrote the zine Exedra and contributed the label's name, and Brent Stephens of Downcast, who created the logo. It is primarily McClard who manages and operates the label.

## How did these zines fit into the wider punk press?

Punk zines grew out of the DIY aesthetic of the 1970s punk subculture, which created a thriving underground press. Amateur magazines related to punk were inspired by the rock fanzines of the early 1970s, which were themselves inspired by zines from the science fiction fan community. The first punk zine was Punk, founded in New York City by John Holmstrom, Ged Dunn and Legs McNeil in late 1975 and debuting in January 1976. In the UK, Sniffin' Glue was produced by Mark Perry in 1976.

By the 1980s, most local punk scenes had at least one zine, and the politically charged Maximum RocknRoll and the anarchist Profane Existence were notable. Punk Planet was founded in part as a response to the perception that Maximum Rock and Roll was becoming too elitist. HeartattaCk, meanwhile, sat alongside Punk Planet and Maximumrocknroll while leaning harder towards hardcore and anti-consumerism.

## What can today's reader take from them?

Both zines are useful examples of how DIY publishing balanced scene coverage with political writing. Punk Planet's long review section and its interviews about motivation, rather than just output, are a model for how a zine can treat its subjects seriously without losing the thread of the music. HeartattaCk's anti-consumerist bent and hardcore focus show a different emphasis within the same broad tradition.

For anyone wanting to read them now, the practical situation varies. All 80 issues of Punk Planet were uploaded to the Internet Archive in January 2021, which makes that run relatively easy to explore. HeartattaCk's archive has been hosted online in the past, though links have a habit of going dead; if you find a working archive, it is worth saving what you can. Beyond the specific titles, the broader lesson is that zines are fragile: distribution deals, advertisers and subscriber numbers can end a publication even when its editorial identity is clear, and the work of preserving them often falls to volunteers and archives rather than publishers.

## Were these zines only about music?

No. Punk Planet explicitly covered visual arts and progressive issues such as media criticism, feminism and labor issues, and its reviews section included independently released comics, zines and DVDs. HeartattaCk's anti-consumerist stance placed it in a tradition of zines that used music as a starting point for political argument. That broader scope is part of why these publications are remembered as more than record-review sheets.

## What happened to the people behind them?

Kent McClard continued to operate Ebullition Records, the label he founded in early 1990. Punk Planet's Dan Sinker shifted focus to the website after the magazine closed, though that site has since gone offline. Punk Planet Books, launched in fall 2004 in conjunction with the New York-based small press Akashic Books, remained in business after the magazine's closure; as of May 2006 it had published four titles, including Joe Meno's "Hairstyles of the Damned" and Mark Andersen's "All the Power: Revolution Without Illusion."

## FAQ

### What was Punk Planet and what did it cover?

Punk Planet was a Chicago-based punk zine with a 16,000 print run that focused on punk subculture rather than punk as simply another music genre. It covered music, visual arts and progressive issues including media criticism, feminism and labor issues. Its most notable features were interviews and album reviews; the reviews section typically ran longer than thirty pages and covered country, folk, hip-hop, indie rock and other genres, as well as independently released comics, zines and DVDs.

### Why did Punk Planet end?

Punk Planet folded after 13 years and 80 issues due to bad distribution deals, disappearing advertisers and a decreasing audience of subscribers. A post on the zine's website in June 2007 announced the final issue, and issue 80 shipped with a cover reading: 'This is the final issue of Punk Planet, after this the fight is yours.' The subsidiary business Punk Planet Books remained in business.

### What was HeartattaCk and who published it?

HeartattaCk was a punk zine with a strong bent towards hardcore punk and anti-consumerism, published by Kent McClard and Lisa Oglesby from March 1994 through June 2006. In its final years it remained one of the most popular zines available, and it has been described as one of half a dozen major punk fanzines in the USA during the 1990s.

### Who was Kent McClard?

Kent McClard (born 1967) is an American record label owner, photographer, columnist and zine publisher from Goleta, California. A former Maximumrocknroll columnist, he founded Ebullition Records in early 1990 with Sonia Skindrud and Brent Stephens, though it is primarily McClard who manages and operates the label. He also published HeartattaCk with Lisa Oglesby.