July 17th, 2019 – San Diego, CA / New York, NY – ComiXology, Amazon’s premier digital comics service, announced that Eisner-nominated writer Chip Zdarsky and acclaimed artist Jason Loo are collaborating on Afterlift, an all-new five-part comics mini-series about an unexpected ride-share to a very final destination: Hell. The series, which will debut from the comiXology Originals program this winter, was announced at comiXology’s Comic-Con International San Diego 2019 press event today.
Best known for his work on Sex Criminals and his Eisner nominated runs at Marvel Comics, Zdarsky made a surprise, unannounced appearance at the event to tease his collaboration with Jason Loo, the acclaimed artist of The Pitiful Human-Lizard. “The upcoming publication of Afterlift marks a major turning point in the literary career of Chip Zdarsky, award-considered writer,” said Zdarsky. “Someday soon an Afterlift trade paperback will sit on the shelves of libraries around the world, alongside dusty, leather bound tomes of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and other books.”
In Afterlift, Janice Chen is adrift. She quits her day job in finance and signs up to be a driver on a ride-sharing app. But what was at first a mundane but enjoyable way to pass the time takes a terrible turn when a mysterious passenger updates his ride with a new final destination: Hell.
“This is an epic story about guilt, responsibility and breaking rules,” said Chip Mosher, comiXology’s Head of Content, who oversees the comiXology Originals program. “Fans are going to be blown away by the scope of Afterlift, which stretches through the byways of the afterlife, through hell, and beyond.”
“When Chip Zdarsky asked me if I wanted to be part of his next award-winning comic work, I was like ‘HELL YES!’ and he was like ‘Exactly!’ I didn’t know what to say after that so he showed me the script and pointed out my pun,” said Loo. “Anyway, I’m really excited to work on the most ambitious comic of both of our careers.”
“This is our brave, unrelenting portrait of a modern Hell,” said Zdarsky. “People will read it and ask themselves: ‘Did they relent?’ No, they did not. ‘Were they brave?’ Yeah, probably.”
“Join us,“ said Loo. “In Hell.”
The 5-issue series is set to debut later this year, as part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content, Afterlift will be available to read on release at no additional cost to members of comiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited and Prime through Prime Reading, and for purchase on Kindle and comiXology, including a full color print edition exclusively on Amazon.com.
For more updates on comiXology Originals, check out http://comixologyoriginals.com
About Chip Zdarsky:
Chip Zdarsky creates comic books and PERSONAL movies from his home in Toronto, Ontario. For almost 14 years he worked at the National Post newspaper as a columnist, illustrator and Spider-Man under the name Steve Murray. In 2013 he made the jump from one dying print industry to a different dying print industry as a comic-boy, co-creating the award-winning comic Sex Criminals with Matt Fraction. Since then he’s written several titles for Marvel Comics, such as Spider-Man: Life Story and his acclaimed run on Daredevil. For more information go to zdars.co.
About Jason Loo
Jason Loo is a Toronto-based cartoonist best known for The Pitiful Human-Lizard, a comic book series he wrote and drew, set in Toronto about a struggling Canadian superhero making the best out of his shortcomings, which he Kickstarted in 2014. Loo was nominated for the 2018 Doug Wright Spotlight Award for his work on The Pitiful Human-Lizard. He has also worked on the G.I.Joe: Canadian Convention Edition comic books and has contributed a comic short to the Kill Shakespeare series by IDW. Loo’s freelance illustration work has appeared in THIS Magazine, CBC, National Post, Globe and Mail, and 24 magazine.
About comiXology
ComiXology, an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is a revolutionary, cloud-based digital comics service. With content from over 125 publishers as well as thousands of independent creators from around the world, comiXology provides an unrivaled library of comic books, graphic novels, manga and bandes dessinées. The company’s first-in-class innovations include the exclusive Guided View technology which provides an immersive and cinematic reading experience and a new monthly subscription service. ComiXology is based in New York City, with operations in Seattle and Los Angeles. For more information, visit comixology.com and follow the company on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
