By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Spoiler Alert
Writer Chip Zdarsky has a hit with Afterlift! This digital comic sees the Fast and Furious take on tones from Dante’s Inferno in a tale which changes things up from Showtime’s almost forgotten classic, Dead Like Me. Instead of Janice Chen immediately taking on the role Georgia Lass became, she needs to learn something about what her purpose in life is first.
I assume this story is set in Los Angeles–a cesspool of industry and a place where many lives are struggling is a huge bustling melting pot. Not everyone has hopes and dreams that will come true here. Janice gives up her career in finance to more or less be a cabbie. The money she makes via ride share is better, and she gets to meet interesting people. They help give her perspective on what’s out there. Dumu is a strange individual and is a frequent rider.
The next time she sees him, he’s with a very dazed redhead, Suzanna, and demons on motorbikes are chasing after them! The three have to navigate through Hell and to what exists beyond…
The two ladies have to face not only the terrors around them but also the skeletons they’re closeting away.
I enjoyed this tale not only for the light Buddhist context that Chen’s spirituality comes from but also for how possible it is to find redemption. Jason Loo‘s artwork, especially the transition to entering Hell, feels inspired. Perhaps some of the colour tones were inspired from after watching Nick Cage’s Mandy. Lots of purple and red start to taint the world and the theory feels on course when these characters are facing demon motorcyclists who are just that than tripped out humans. This work is a fun read and worth signing up to ComiXology for to read.
AFTERLIFT—available to read in its entirety—collects issues #1-5 and includes a Jason Loo Sketchbook with commentary by Chip Zdarsky and a process piece called Anatomy of a Page.
