Afterlife Volume 1

Afterlife #1

by Stormcrow Hayes (Creator), Robert Steen

With the Afterlife decaying due to heavy usage, Thadeus and his fellow guardians use their powers to preserve and rebuild the popular destination until Thaddeus decides to search for a mythical gate leading to a better world.

Genres: Comics, Comics Manga

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It's such a weird story with weird visuals. I'm definitely reading number 2.

After you die, you go to a terrible place that's similar to Hell. Everyone goes there. There's nothing to do. It's dark and it's creepy and you stand around and hope demons don't snatch you up and throw you into the void. Sometimes you riot and then you get frozen by the Guardians.

The Guardians are a few dead people chosen to protect this world from the demons. It's a creepy place, this Afterlife. Sometimes a quake comes and rends the ground in two and then you might be unlucky enough to fall into the void.

As for plot, one of the Guardians is searching for his lost love. Another one eventually embarks on a mission to find the "Gate". Maybe this the gate to Heaven.

Looking forward to the next one!

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sotrmcrow Hayes and Rob Steen combine to make one of TokyoPop's most engaging manga pieces with Afterlife. Thaddeus is one of the chosen guardians of the Afterlife area, an ever-shifting surrealist landscape inhabited by every dead person from earth - no matter your earthly credo. As chunks of the Afterlife fall away into the void, Thaddeus, Mercutio, and the remaining guardians must discover the hidden truth behind their existence and if there may actually be a way out. Establishing that all humanity ends up in this empty space provides a unique twist on the thought of a post-life existence. Kudos to Hayes and Steen for their engaging vision; I am intrigued to see where this Afterlife is headed.

[Keegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My housemate gave this to me randomly and I liked the concept of the afterlife being just as meaningless and confusing as life, having nothing to do but wander around forever and talk to people and eventually go crazy, freeze up in fear, and get shoveled into the abyss, where you presumably freefall for eternity.

I'd be fairly comfortable with the whole affair as long as those demon things weren't flying around fucking things up. Other than that, it's pretty sweet.

Anyway, a good effort.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know how I felt about Afterlife. It seemed to be struggling to find a voice, and wasn't sure whether it wanted to philosophically challenge its readers or gross them out. The illustrations were rather uneven and not very memorable.

[Rick Vickers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept, knocks religion right out of the ballpark

[Scott Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually stop reading a book that rates a two. I came close to the end and decided to just finish. I am not a fan of the artwork and the story is very depressing. I doubt I will read the next one.

[Emageht · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disegni: I disegni sono ben lontani dal poter essere definiti realistici, del resto quando si parla dell’aldilà e di chi lo popola risulta difficile accostarsi ad un qualsiasi tipo di realismo. Importante è però per il disegnatore la figura dei volti, la loro forma, le loro espressioni. Sebbene i corpi siano molto stilizzati, anche quelli dei protagonisti, i volti anche dei personaggi minori sono curati con dettagli maniacali. Del resto una simile storia che vuole invitare alla riflessione sul tema della Morte non poteva far altro che mettere in risalto le problematiche dei suoi protagonisti tramite monologhi lunghi che solo tramite espressioni del volto possono essere ben spiegate anche dal punto di vista grafico.
Storia: La storia di “Afterlife” è nuova nel suo genere. Ambientata nell’aldilà popolato dai protagonisti della vicenda, questa storia vuole evidenziare le problematiche “post mortem”. I protagonisti sono persone defunte che hanno però ricevuto nell’aldilà il compito di fare da guardiani contro dei demoni che rapiscono le anime dei defunti. Il guardiano protagonista è Thaddeus (In copertina), che ha scritto nel corso della sua post-vita, una lunga serie di appunti. Un suo amico, Mercurio, è un guardiano che vaga nell’aldilà in cerca di quella che in vita era la sua ragazza. L’aldilà è un posto sconfinato popolato da chiunque sulla Terra sia morto dall’inizio dei tempi ad oggi, quindi è ormai sovraffollato. Incontriamo anche personaggi esistiti realmente e che nonostante le loro diverse dottrine si ritrovino ora in un aldilà che non era contemplato da alcuna religione. Incontriamo così Gengis Khan, Madre Teresa di Calcutta, Gesù Cristo, Adolph Hitler…Nessuno di loro aveva ragione. L’aldilà è un misero posto dove tutte le “anime” sono riunite senza nessuno scopo apparente. Se non fosse che alla fine del volume appare una ragazza che legge il “diario” di Thaddeus e insieme decidono di partire alla ricerca del “cancello”…
Non è un caso che sia finito nel 2006 all’ottavo posto nella classifica americana dei fumetti.
Mi trovo tuttavia costretto all'abbandono poichè non ci capisco niente di quali siano le intenzioni per la pubblicazione italiana.

[Hazel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found the artwork extremely ugly.

In this world when you die you enter a giant flesh-like tube to a place where everyone who has ever died ever is located... apart from some who have been frozen, or fallen into the void. You can experience emotions but no physical feelings, which doesn't seem that bad apart from some monsters that come from...somewhere.

The story focuses on a group of individuals selected by the, giant flesh tube, to guard against monsters, and rioting humans, not that we are really told how it communicates to them, presumably down the flesh-like tentacles the guardians can swing around on *rolls eyes*.

Of course a bunch of familiar faces from history are shoved in front of you for no good reason other than, hey, everyone who ever died ever is here so why not show famous people from history! There might be a gate out, but I'm never going to find out because I'm not going to read any more of this rubbish.

[AM10000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork for the most part was not impressive, but for me the most enjoyable part is at the end where he shows the historical characters he used throughout this first volume.

[Geo Hendrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not into it.
Touch weird.
You might like it.