A.D. After Death is a chilling new sci-fi comic from Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire.
They told us all about it.
What if there was no death?
We down with Snyder and Lemire to discuss the one of a kind world ofA.D.
Den of Geek: Can you talk about the genesis of this project?
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Scott Snyder:It started a few years ago.
I had this story I wanted to do that was very small.
It imagined a future where death was cured.
We started developing it, and the more we developed it, the more ambitious it became.
So, what we ended up with is something Im so proud of.
Im very grateful to Jeff because this has all stretched me as a writer.
Everythings on the very edge of my imaginative capabilities.
Jeff Lemire:When Scott mentioned it me it was much smaller in scope.
So we just worked in our schedules…and I really committed to drawing.
It was the first time Id ever drawn something this size that someone else has written.
Its been an amazing project as well.
Scott, what was it like returning to prose?
Snyder:It was really scary, honestly.
I hadnt worked in prose in such a long time, I thought I might have gotten rusty.
I started to gravitate to prose in comics again.
I did an issue ofBatmanthat was prose heavy and I did an issue ofAmerican Vampirethat was prose heavy.
I had been thinking of going back to it in different ways.
Jeff was the one who pushed me to going back to prose.
The prose parts are written as a main characters journal.
When Jeff suggested I do it, I was really scared.
In comics, I get so used to saying, Its a dark and stormy night.
OK Jeff, go!
It just gave me a way to switch muscles.
People like Jason Aaron, Grant Morrison, or Mark Waid.
Jeff, the art was frightening in its portrayal of everyday life with a shadow underlying of fear.
Can you talk about creating the visuals that make the mundane scary?
Lemire:It was really fun.
At this point, Ive drawn tons of comics.
Ive drawn thousands of pages of comics.
Its very freeing to do illustrations when sequential storytelling gets challenging.
Scott, why this subject and why now?
Not in a silly platitude way but in mysterious ways, ways that youll never be able to define.
I dont agree with him, hes the big antagonist of the book.
The book explores those warring impulses.
I think its something thats in the air.
Lemire:Ive illustrated a few short stories, ten pages each for guys like Damon Lindelof.
Doing short stories like that is a different muscle than this.
This is the only time Ive done a significant project that I havent written myself.
Scotts one of my best friends.
Even if he wasnt if I was just reading his work, hes be one of my favorite writers.
I think we both grew, its definitely my best artwork and Scotts best writing.
Did either of you do any research into any science that is trying to cheat death right now?
Can you recommend any books or authors that you found particularly compelling?
Lemire:I know Scott did.
Snyder:I did, I did quite a bit.
The story begins with a reporter trying to get an invitation to the island.
At the end of the book, he gets a response and gets to go visit.
Its a good, funny book.
It makes you also see the balance of things in some ways.
You see the extension of these things doesnt make you feel better.
Adding twenty or thirty years to your life at seventy doesnt lessen the core fears.
Fears that I hope are in the book and are potent for people.
Those are definitely the themes of the book.
Why choose Image Comics for this project?
Image is awesome to us and Eric Stephenson has been great adjusting to the project.
His commitment to it and Images have been inspiring.
Theyve been a wonderful and supportive place to work.
Whats scarier a world with death, or a world without it?
Lemire:Without it.
Because then Donald Trump would live forever.
It would be hard to give any meaning to anything we do.
But the more I wrote, the existence that you would have there.
That sense of total repetition, the sense of never having a story.
So yeah, I would agree, except if you came over and said, Heres the cure!
I think Id take it.
The first issue ofA.D.
After Deathhits stores on November 23rd.
And seriously, if we had an eternity of comics likeA.D.
After Death, immortality would truly be a blessing.
