Afterlife Inc: Glory Days – Comic Review
I’ve reviewed Afterlife Inc in the past. It’s a series I absolutely adore. It exists primarily as a webcomic, written by Jon Lock, lettered by Lucy Lock, and illustrated by a veritable who’s who of indie comic talent. Then every year or so, they run a kickstarter and fund the next volume via publishing company Big Punch Comics. Afterlife Inc: Glory Days is the 5th such volume and it is a doozy. I backed the kickstarter for Afterlife Inc: Glory Days and I’m very glad I did. This is a complex, continually evolving story that has kept me guessing.
The creative team for Afterlife Inc: Glory Days is:
- Jon Lock – Writer/creator
- Lucy Lock – Letterer
- Kit Palmer – Artist
- James Lawrence – Artist
- Eve Greenwood – Artist
- Kris Wozencroft – Artist
- Vee Glass – Artist
- Dean Beattie – Artist
- Warwick Fraser-Coombe – Artist
- Jack Devereaux – Artist
- Matt Rooke – Artist
- Raffaele Ricciardi – Artist
- Del Borovic – Artist
- Jack Tempest – Artist
- Gavin Mitchell – Artist
- Mark Penman – Artist
- Nikki Stu – Artist
Afterlife Inc: A Company You Can Believe In
For the uninitiated, the Afterlife Inc series centres on one Jack Fortune, former con-artist (now deceased) and now CEO of the Afterlife. He runs the corporation that manages the Empyrean, the 7 level Heavenly structure where everything goes after they die. His board of directors include Arch-Angels, warrior angels, and Elizabeth, a self-doubting “mere human”. In the previous volume things got really shaky for Jack, with a shadowy cabal threatening his position.
Glory Days
Synopsis
The afterlife is entering a golden age, but for undead corporation Afterlife Inc. the cracks are starting to show. As Jack Fortune and the board of directors come to terms with recent trauma, a conspiracy is growing that threatens to tear down everything they hold dear.
Things are changing in the Empyrean. Some of those thought gone forever aren’t as gone as we thought, or perhaps hoped. And they have got it in for Jack. Meanwhile Elizabeth is trying to find her place in the organisation, leading her to take a drastic step.
I love the mixture of comedy, drama and action that permeates Afterlife Inc. I also love how the characters are developing as the series progresses. CEO Jack was a cocky con-artist when we first met him. Now the pressures of running the Afterlife are starting to tell on him. One of the biggest character developments happens in Glory Days, as warrior angel Lux decides to change her own fate.
New Faces
Some new characters make their debut in Afterlife Inc: Glory Days. Chief among these is Arjun Arcadia.
Making his first appearance in a scene reminiscent of Neo’s meeting with the Architect in The Matrix Reloaded, Arcadia comes off as almost a cheap knock off of Jack. That said I LOVED the magazine article about him, echoing all those pretentious silicon valley puff pieces you see. The “artisanal manna espresso” line had me roaring.
Another new face is the mysterious figure pulling some strings and driving divisions in the board. This nameless entity is really turning things upside down. Literally. There is one double page section where I found myself slowly rotating the book to keep up with him as he decided to walk off the page upside down.
I won’t say too much about them, but the opening sequence with the ArchAngels is absolutely incredible. It has a sense of scale that makes it feel truly epic. Almost cinematic in fact!
Letterer Love
That reminds me to give a shout out to Lucy Lock and her lettering talents. There can be a problem when you’re dealing with so many characters to keep track of individual voices. The first section after the introduction is a particular showcase of this. Not just lettering styles but also the balloon shapes and colours used help differentiate between several characters. My personal favourite being the dual tailed speech balloons used for Metatron, echoing the two-faced (literally, not in a mean girls way) nature of the character.
About Big Punch Studios
Big Punch Studios are Jon, Lucy, Nich and Ali. They’re the creative team behind Afterlife Inc., 7STRING, Cat & Meringue, Extraversal and numerous other adventures in comics. They’re also the creators of Sandwich Masters – a fast-paced card game about strategy, sabotage and sandwiches – and multiple podcasts.
Where to buy
Afterlife Inc: Glory Days (£15) is available to buy online at www.bigpunchstudios.com/store along with all the other volumes, as well as BPC’s other titles.
You can check out the entire Afterlife Inc webcomic here.
