ComiXology recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of
ComiXology Submit, the company’s indie comic platform, with a fantastic bundle
sale of some heir best releases. We will
talk more about this later, but the short version is that this meant readers,
including this one, could take advantage of a great price to explore the wide
range of titles released through ComiXology Submit.
One of these was the first volume of Afterlife, Inc. Set in an
afterlife devoid of deities, the series follows a large cast of characters as
they live in/work in/explore the post-life world.
Afterlife, Inc.,
Volume 1: Dying to Tell – Tales from the Afterlife is written by Jon Lock,
and features art from Jack Tempest, Del Borovic, Will Tempest, Roy Huteson
Stewart, Ash Jackson, and Jerry Gaylord.
This first volume features eight interrelated stories following Jack
Fortune, head of Afterlife, Inc. All of
the stories are pretty short in length, but make a very enjoyable whole. We have stories of people who can’t accept
their death, angels who want to be something different, pulp noir crime, an Alice in Wonderland pastiche, and even a
Sherlock Holmes/Jack the Ripper throw down.
Truly, while each of the stories on their own are fun, fast
stories that are clearly well written, the whole presents a very detailed
picture of a strange new setting. The
multiple art styles vary significantly in some degree, with different artists
working on different stories, but they fit the mood of the story quite nicely,
and the varying styles create a homogenous whole that fits the world-building
efforts quite nicely.
Readers will find a nice blend of humor, action, strong
storytelling, and a sense of the bizarre in Dying
to Tell, and the balance is performed quite nicely. For those wanting a story that isn’t your
typical comic, neither superheroes nor the more snobby “literary” graphic
novels, Dying to Tell is a wonderful
mix of intelligence and fun that will have you excited to explore more in the
series. For those interested, there are
currently two more volumes of Afterlife,
Inc. available: Near Life and Other Stories
and Lifeblood.
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