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Tony Fleecs had been grinding as an indy cartoonist for years, but it was his work for the My Little Pony license at IDW that got him the most attention. Now, he’s returning to creator-owned with Jeff Steinberg: Champion of Earth, written by writer and friend Josh Fialkov, for Oni Press. I talked to Fleecs […]

Sometimes, it’s just not fair to judge a book by its first issue. They’re just so different from what you’ll end up getting on a monthly basis. First issues have an incredible amount of work to do, work that’s extremely hard to do well in 22 pages–in fact, a lot of first issues are a longer than those that will follow.

I say this because, while The Life After #1–written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and illustrated by Gabo–is a well-executed comic book, with great art and deft storytelling that rewards multiple reads, I am far more interested in what might lie ahead than what actually happened. But more on that later.

The Life After #1 begins with Jude, a young man who leads a terribly monotonous life. It’s pretty standard sad-sack stuff, but really well depicted by Gabo, who chooses to convey Jude’s static life in a meticulously composed fifty-panel grid. It’s one of my favorite things about the book, and it’s the first double-page spread.

But something is off about Jude’s life, and we’re clued in right from the start. He’s being monitored. Everyone is. And when he finally decides to break his routine, to break everyone’s routine, he realizes the truth–he’s in purgatory, and so are the people around him. He lives in a mundane afterlife for people who committed suicide. And now that he’s awake, whoever’s in charge isn’t going to be happy.

At this point, my only real gripe with The Life After is all the comparisons I want to make–not to something like The Matrix, although it did come to mind–but to a little-seen 2006 film called Wristcutters: A Love Story. It’s a black comedy about purgatory for suicides that hits a lot of the same beats. Having seen that film, it sort of robbed me of that thrill you get when discovering something entirely new, and I was worried that The Life After wouldn’t be all I hoped it would.

That’s not to say it isn’t good–there is very deep, somber stuff being explored here, and it’s well worth your time. It just felt familiar to me, and I had trouble adjusting to that.

And then Ernest Hemingway showed up, and I think everything is going to be alright.

I’m serious. Hemingway is going to be a big part of the book. Ask the author, he’ll tell you.

It’s not so much Hemingway’s inclusion that excites me, but what it represents. It was that spark I was looking for, that flash of something new and exciting and full of possibility. It suggests that this world, this story, is only going to get weirder and more whimsical, that there might be more afterlifes to explore than this one, that there are interesting questions and ideas to wrestle with here.

The Life After is off to a slow start, but I’m extremely hopeful for the ride that lies ahead. It could be a good one.

As always, support your local comic shop if you can, patronize your local library if you have one, and say hi on Twitter if you like.

By Matt O’Keefe

The first series out of Dynamite Entertainment’s Creators Unleashed program, The Devilers is a comic book about an apocalypse inspired by a number of different faiths. Joshua Hale Fialkov writes and Matt Triano illustrates a group of holy men going into battle against an enemy that’s a culmination of all their beliefs. I spoke with Fialkov to learn what part of himself he tapped into to write his multi-religious armageddon.

How developed was The Devilers when you came aboard as the writer? How did it grow after you did?

JHF: I think the broad idea was there, and they had a sense of the tone they wanted, but, a lot of it was left up to me to do what I (theoretically) do well. For me, part of the fun is taking the religions not as dogma, and not as hard fast rules, but as a place to build story. The trick is doing it without being, y’know, horrifically offensive, which I think we manage to do pretty well. If you take their religions and the methodology behind their powers as, well, just that, as superpowers, it becomes a lot of fun to play with .

The Devilers features a Catholic Priest, a Jewish Rabbi, an Islamic Mullah, a Hindu Brahmin, and a Buddhist Monk. With such diverse viewpoints, where can they find common ground?

JHF: There’s also our non-believer who’s a bit of our POV character through out. Again, part of the fun is that ALL of them are right. Each of their religions sort of rub up against each other in the evil department, although, obviously, there’s some stretching. Ultimately, the fact that they don’t see the world the same way as each other contributes to the tension and drama of the story. So, stay tuned.

Each Deviler has a different view of the afterlife. How do you compile those into a single Hell?

JHF: We actually play with that a bit in the issues. It’s a hell, that I think, is fairly pan-religious, and, our villains are not quite the typical renditions of the evil below, so to speak.

How will the characters’ religions be put to the test in the series?

JHF: I think being constantly confronted by the truth and fallacy of your beliefs forces those beliefs to become a bit more practical. Again, even our atheist character is put in a place where suddenly he has no choice BUT to believe.

Where do God, angels, and Heaven fit into The Devilers? Do they at all?

JHF: Oh they do, but not the way we’re used to seeing them. God himself shows up around the end of Issue 3.

The demons’ looks are far removed from the stereotypical red with horns. What inspired their appearances?

JHF: It’s a mash-up of the various hells. The idea of it being a true place of eternal suffering, and something that every creature sentenced to live there is in abject misery and pain creates some visually wonderful stuff, especially in Matt Triano’s immensely talented hands.

I love the way sound effects are used for subtle actions like a gulp or look of confusion. Was there a specific intent to focus on those kind of uses instead of the standard “Bif! Bam! Pow!”?

JHF: Jeez, completely unintentional. I think that’s just how I do sound effects, and with Simon on lettering, there’s very cool stuff afoot.

The solicitations say seven issues, but it looks like the story could easily grow bigger than that. Have you considered future Devilers stories?

JHF: Of course. I have a feeling there’ll be Devilers stories for years to come.

Religion is such a divisive topic. What kind of questions do you hope this series raises about it?

JHF: I don’t know that I’m looking for profundity on the religious front. For me, it’s about a bunch of people who believe things that aren’t quite the same in practice as they are in concept. Each of them is going to be challenged with their understanding of the universe and their roles in it. So, I guess the message is don’t be so damn sure all the time.

You’ve written creator-owned comics for a lot of different publishers. What’s different about the Creators Unleashed program from Dynamite?

JHF: Nick and the crew are throwing their backs behind these books in a way that you usually don’t see from independent publishers. I’ve been given a completely free hand to tell the kind of story that interests me in the way that interests me, which, again, is not quite as easy to come by.

The Devilers is on sale July 16.