By Zack Quaintance — I don’t know how I got this in my head, but I was under the impression that Afterlift — a new digital-exclusive release from ComiXology Originals — was a horror comic. This is most certainly owing to my own inability to parse the marketing material. Anyway, this comic is something so much more than just rideshare driver has a scary night.

Written by Chip Zdarsky (who at this point is probably best known for penning superhero comics for Marvel) and illustrated by Jason Loo with colors by Paris Alleyne and letters by Aditya Bidikar, Afterlift is a comic that unfurls the true scope of its ambitions as its story proceeds. At first it does perhaps start by feeling a bit like a horror comic. There’s a mysterious stranger, and a job driving an equivalent for Lyft or Uber, which to me feels inherently just a little scary given the nature of having to pickup and transport pretty much anyone who has a credit card and can download an app.

From there, however, the book is all surprises. I don’t want to spoil anything that happens, so I’ll just note that the two aspects of this comic I was most taken with were how thoroughly the book ends up being rooted in a character journey that has little to do with basic survival and much more to do with larger questions about how we conduct ourselves in life. Second, this story is biblical. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

In terms of the execution, Zdarsky does a good job slowing the plot and script down where it hurts the most, pushing the reader to linger in the deep emotional beats of the story. Of course, none of this would be possible without the stunning visual work done by artist Jason Loo, who is complimented just perfectly here by colorist Paris Alleyne. Loo is repeatedly asked to do difficult things as an artist here, be it drawing car after car after car, or rendering the aforementioned biblical touches in ways that make them cohesive with familiar modern objects, namely all those cars. And he pulls it off flawlessly, delivering multiple action sequences that incorporate the disparate aesthetics seamlessly. 

This book feels like a bit of an artist showcase at times, or at least Loo steals the show during many of the action segments. He also does a great job depicting some of the more ethereal scenes he’s asked to complete, too, managing the difficult double task of putting forth work that is at once familiar without ever feeling devoid of imagination or cliched to the point of tired. 

Overall, this is an excellent and contained story that wraps up perfectly, all but guaranteeing readers will walk away satisfied. The biggest question coming out of it (for me, anyway) is what will Jason draw next and when will we get more original comics ideas from Chip Zdarsky?

Afterlift
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jason Loo
Colorist: Paris Alleyne
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: ComiXology Originals
Ride-share driver Janice Chen has enough to deal with, from annoying passengers to overbearing parents. But when she picks up a pair of mysterious passengers who are pursued by otherworldly forces, Janice realizes that her already-terrible day might be headed straight to hell. From CHIP ZDARSKY (Sex Criminals, Daredevil) and JASON LOO (The Pitiful Human-Lizard) comes a new series featuring car chases, demon bounty hunters, and figuring out your place in this world and the next.
Release Date: April 1, 2020

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.