Afterlife Released

By John Freeman on June 8, 2008

After a year of long evenings after work, indie British comic creator Michael Crouch has finally produced Afterlife, a one-off science fiction tale.

Afterlife is the story of a group of people on the distant Earth colony world of Nightfall. During a routine mining operation they discover a large stone cross buried underground with a hole in each extremity. A satellite in orbit, their only connection to home, is experiencing unexplained communications black-outs. On top of that is the discovery that this barren world was once home to a race of warriors, long since dead. Or so it seemed.

Pooling their knowledge and skills together, the colonists piece the events together eventually leading them to take a giant leap of faith. Only then can events resolve themselves and the colonists learn that there may be more worlds than the purely planetary.

“I’ve printed this up as a 32 page comic containing the full 28 page strip in black and white with a colour cover,” Michael tells downthetubes. “I had it printed by Warpton Creative, who have done a very nice job of it. It is released under my publishing name, Storm Comics (www.stormcomics.com) and is available from the web site now for £2.25. I am currently working on a historical story which I aim to publish as my second release later in the year.”

• Storm Comics: www.stormcomics.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.