A few months back (2020 I do not miss you) I had the privilege to post about this great graphic novel and I knew then that I’d gladly preach about how awesome it is until they asked me to stop. They have not yet asked me to stop, so here I am today getting a chance to ask Chip Zdarsky a handful of innocuous questions. (I mean, what didn’t I want to know?) And what do you know, (you’d know if you read the story) Chip is funny!
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Where did the idea of AFTERLIFT come from?
It was kind of a bunch of ideas that came together. I was thinking a lot about Michael Mann’s COLLATERAL, thinking of the River Styx and the mythologies around it, and thinking about how at one point ancient ideas felt incredibly modern, which led to the app-based updating of the afterlife journey. After that I started going deeper on themes and what I wanted to say with it all.
What can you tell us about Janice and Suzanna and their journey?
Both have guilt and an inability to confront it and forgive themselves, though they express it in different ways. With Janice she’s somewhat adrift and with Suzanna she’s turned it around into self-harm. One of my favourite parts about writing the book has been to show how they help each other get out of their spirals.
Dante’s Inferno meets Uber in this intoxicatingly ingenious Eisner Award winner for Best Digital Comic, collected here in a trade volume..
How do you feel about your story being compared to Dante’s Inferno? (the Publisher’s Weekly review was amazing)
Ahahaha yeah me and Dante, we’re basically on the same level. But then again, has Dante ever written Spider-Man? Point: Chip.
What’s next for you and your co-creators?
Working with Jason and the team was a really wonderful experience. We’re already several issues into our next project, which I’m pretty excited about! But it’s secret. Sorry.
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*If you’ve not read it yet, AFTERLIFT went on sale February 2 in bookstores and everywhere books are sold (Amazon, Barnes and Noble) and then today, February 3 in comic shops. (released by Dark Horse)
