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A.D. After Death #1
A.D.: After Death Vol. 1
WHAT IF WE FOUND A CURE FOR DEATH? Two of comics' most acclaimed creators, SCOTT SNYDER (WYTCHES, Batman, American Vampire) and JEFF LEMIRE (DESCENDER, Moon Knight, Sweet Tooth) unite to create a three-part epic like no other, set in a future where a genetic cure for death has been found. Years after the discovery, one man starts to question everything, leading him on a mind-bending journey that will bring him face-to-face with his past and his own mortality. A unique combination of comics, prose, and illustration, A.D.: AFTER DEATH will be serialized monthly as three oversized prestige format books written by SNYDER and fully painted by LEMIRE.
71 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 23, 2016
12 people are currently reading
494 people want to read
About the author
Scott Snyder
1,780 books5,162 followersScott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
November 24, 2016
Wow, that sucked – for me A.D. stands for Awfully Disappointed! You’d think with a concept about humans no longer dying and two big name creators like Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire attached, A.D.: After Death would be awesome - nope! Half of it’s not even a comic! Dear me…
Snyder does enjoy being cryptic - you saw it in his Batman run and his Vertigo series The Wake, where he’d throw in puzzling scenes that seemingly didn’t jibe but later on had some significance - that’s what the whole of After Death Book 1 (of 3) feels like.
We don’t find out how humans stopped dying, there’s a bizarre scene where our protagonist, Jonah Cooke, is being attacked by alien plants, and there’s some stuff about a cow somehow being the key to everything before ending at a bunker inside a mountain. Very “Lost”, Mr Snyder, JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof would approve!
Unfortunately it’s not at all engaging. As “out there” as it all seems, these pieces don’t hang well as a narrative so it’s hard to become invested, let alone follow. And then there’s the half of the comic that’s really an illustrated short story - blocks of text in typewriter font accompanied by a Lemire drawing. That’s what really killed my interest in this series. Not because I’m totally averse to this style of comics - although I do read comics as a change of pace to novels/nonfiction - but because the writing is so boring!
Jonah recounts his first memory of his family’s sad Florida vacation and then his parents’ deaths, ironically before whatever happened to stop humans from dying happened. I’ve tried reading Snyder’s short stories before, like his collection Voodoo Heart, and they’re not good - he hasn’t improved with After Death. It reads so self-consciously arty with heavy-handed symbolism and an emphasis on description over plot, dialogue, anything else - the interesting stuff! It’s such wearisome, laboured prose and stops dead any pace to the book – so strange because his comics writing is generally top notch.
I’ve always enjoyed Lemire’s wispy art style though and I still do with After Death. He’s experimenting with gorgeous watercolours to highlight the peculiar weather patterns of the future which look fantastic. The visuals are about the only thing I really liked about this comic.
I guess After Death is a little different from most comics but shouldn’t “being different” be a positive thing rather than a negative? Kudos on the ambitious vision, chaps, but you ended up producing an extremely dull and disjointed comic. I don’t know who the audience would be for After Death but those readers would need to be very patient with a high threshold for tediousness!
Snyder does enjoy being cryptic - you saw it in his Batman run and his Vertigo series The Wake, where he’d throw in puzzling scenes that seemingly didn’t jibe but later on had some significance - that’s what the whole of After Death Book 1 (of 3) feels like.
We don’t find out how humans stopped dying, there’s a bizarre scene where our protagonist, Jonah Cooke, is being attacked by alien plants, and there’s some stuff about a cow somehow being the key to everything before ending at a bunker inside a mountain. Very “Lost”, Mr Snyder, JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof would approve!
Unfortunately it’s not at all engaging. As “out there” as it all seems, these pieces don’t hang well as a narrative so it’s hard to become invested, let alone follow. And then there’s the half of the comic that’s really an illustrated short story - blocks of text in typewriter font accompanied by a Lemire drawing. That’s what really killed my interest in this series. Not because I’m totally averse to this style of comics - although I do read comics as a change of pace to novels/nonfiction - but because the writing is so boring!
Jonah recounts his first memory of his family’s sad Florida vacation and then his parents’ deaths, ironically before whatever happened to stop humans from dying happened. I’ve tried reading Snyder’s short stories before, like his collection Voodoo Heart, and they’re not good - he hasn’t improved with After Death. It reads so self-consciously arty with heavy-handed symbolism and an emphasis on description over plot, dialogue, anything else - the interesting stuff! It’s such wearisome, laboured prose and stops dead any pace to the book – so strange because his comics writing is generally top notch.
I’ve always enjoyed Lemire’s wispy art style though and I still do with After Death. He’s experimenting with gorgeous watercolours to highlight the peculiar weather patterns of the future which look fantastic. The visuals are about the only thing I really liked about this comic.
I guess After Death is a little different from most comics but shouldn’t “being different” be a positive thing rather than a negative? Kudos on the ambitious vision, chaps, but you ended up producing an extremely dull and disjointed comic. I don’t know who the audience would be for After Death but those readers would need to be very patient with a high threshold for tediousness!
January 9, 2017
A.D.: After Death is a comics series that explores an ambitious premise—what happens if “the last frontier,” death itself, is finally conquered? I am of an age where all my social media alerts me to supplements I can take to “reverse the aging process,” (which is in addition to all the Viagra ads and invitations for me to connect to plus-forty women looking for mates), so I may be within the target audience for this comic, which is co-created two rock stars of comics, Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire, and is being released in an unusual format by Image: It’s oversized, it will come out not weekly or monthly, but in three installments, and almost full trade sized.
The format is a combination of some story told by Snyder and illustrated by Lemire, and some comics. This first issue introduces us to Jonah, a kleptomaniac, and from there a lot of it is confusing. They’re hoping all the vagueness will be intriguing and mysterious, and I guess it is. It’s confusing to me, mostly. It’s set in the future when someone found a cure for death. Jonah steals a cow. . . there’s purple space creatures, chronology seems skewed. Now, in a three part series I can deal with a lot of ambiguity coming in the first part, so I am hoping.
Visually this is more impressive so far than anything else. I have the second installment so will let you know if it gets clearer. But it is an innovative format/packaging approach, ambitious!
The format is a combination of some story told by Snyder and illustrated by Lemire, and some comics. This first issue introduces us to Jonah, a kleptomaniac, and from there a lot of it is confusing. They’re hoping all the vagueness will be intriguing and mysterious, and I guess it is. It’s confusing to me, mostly. It’s set in the future when someone found a cure for death. Jonah steals a cow. . . there’s purple space creatures, chronology seems skewed. Now, in a three part series I can deal with a lot of ambiguity coming in the first part, so I am hoping.
Visually this is more impressive so far than anything else. I have the second installment so will let you know if it gets clearer. But it is an innovative format/packaging approach, ambitious!
October 1, 2017
Reading A.D. Death without any clue what the back story really is got me so confused. I mean, what the heck is happening here? If not with the book's description here in Goodreads, I have no idea that this is a story about humans finding the breakthrough formula in conquering death, hence the title of this three-part series.
A.D. After Death at its best is an intriguing take about our species under the premise of being literally immortals. And with Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire on the reins of the creative chariot, nothing could go wrong. Unfortunately, A.D is very flawed. So intriguing may be a good word to describe this, but I prefer this one: incohesive.
For example, there are these panels where our protagonist Jonah is in this some kind of jungle, then suddenly a hentai tentacle plant or something attacked him (and without having known of the plot beforehand, this would pass for a weird alien invasion thing). Of course, there will be some kind of explanation on how this will fit in with the whole story. But that left me more confused than intrigued. For those who have read Trillium, it also felt that Lemire cut those pages out of that book and pasted it in A.D.
So our main guy Jonah Cooke who had a tragic past turns out to be a klepto, he stole a cow (named Darwyn, an absolutely awkward tribute to the late Darwyn Cooke) which is vital to the story somehow, then he left the barn or something like that to go into this fututistic-ish mountain town and work in a SETI-like lab with rainbow clouds somehow seen outside the window as a reliever to a woman he seemed to haved loved before but he will forget soon because for f*ck's sake I do not know the side effects of being immortal! That is how vague this book one is!
There's even an illustrated story (nope, not a comics) embedded inside. I didn't hate reading it, but it also felt like a lazy take on an otherwise beautifully sad flashback that could have been best told in panels than paragraphs.
Snyder's narrative style of beefing the story with mystery and wiki-worthy information just doesn't fit with Lemire's trademark themes on loneliness and separation. These two guys doesn't blend perfectly to tell a convincing tale. They honestly need to deal with their creative differences and come up with a better book two.
A.D. After Death at its best is an intriguing take about our species under the premise of being literally immortals. And with Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire on the reins of the creative chariot, nothing could go wrong. Unfortunately, A.D is very flawed. So intriguing may be a good word to describe this, but I prefer this one: incohesive.
For example, there are these panels where our protagonist Jonah is in this some kind of jungle, then suddenly a hentai tentacle plant or something attacked him (and without having known of the plot beforehand, this would pass for a weird alien invasion thing). Of course, there will be some kind of explanation on how this will fit in with the whole story. But that left me more confused than intrigued. For those who have read Trillium, it also felt that Lemire cut those pages out of that book and pasted it in A.D.
So our main guy Jonah Cooke who had a tragic past turns out to be a klepto, he stole a cow (named Darwyn, an absolutely awkward tribute to the late Darwyn Cooke) which is vital to the story somehow, then he left the barn or something like that to go into this fututistic-ish mountain town and work in a SETI-like lab with rainbow clouds somehow seen outside the window as a reliever to a woman he seemed to haved loved before but he will forget soon because for f*ck's sake I do not know the side effects of being immortal! That is how vague this book one is!
There's even an illustrated story (nope, not a comics) embedded inside. I didn't hate reading it, but it also felt like a lazy take on an otherwise beautifully sad flashback that could have been best told in panels than paragraphs.
Snyder's narrative style of beefing the story with mystery and wiki-worthy information just doesn't fit with Lemire's trademark themes on loneliness and separation. These two guys doesn't blend perfectly to tell a convincing tale. They honestly need to deal with their creative differences and come up with a better book two.
September 9, 2017
If you know me, you probably know how much I love Scott Snyder's work (for those I've read at least, oh and except for American Vampire... that sucked). So when I see a work from him, it's an auto must read.
A.D After Death is just the beginning; you can easily tell. Why? Because nothing much happened here. It's a set up for what is to happen in the next books. The thing is, even as a set up, it should already give you a glimpse of what to expect in the next installments - this didn't give me that.
While I loved the writing, especially those parts where there are lengthy narration partnered with illustrations, I feel that it's still lacking. I want more. Unfortunately, there is just too little substance here. I could tell there is more to come though, so that's something at least.
The illustrations were good, at times. They just aren't what I prefer.
A.D After Death is just the beginning; you can easily tell. Why? Because nothing much happened here. It's a set up for what is to happen in the next books. The thing is, even as a set up, it should already give you a glimpse of what to expect in the next installments - this didn't give me that.
While I loved the writing, especially those parts where there are lengthy narration partnered with illustrations, I feel that it's still lacking. I want more. Unfortunately, there is just too little substance here. I could tell there is more to come though, so that's something at least.
The illustrations were good, at times. They just aren't what I prefer.
December 9, 2016
This may end up being a work best read as a whole (all three volumes). An intriguing concept, unique art style, and nicely written prose all make this worth the read. I've enjoyed Lemire's artistry with Descender, but in A.D. it takes on a much more surreal, cartoonish quality. The colors don't jump out at you with their brightness, maybe highlighting a dullness with a life lived so long (humanity has conquered death), and yet they add to the beauty of the work. The characters, as young-looking as they are, have bags under their eyes as if perpetually tired.
Scott Snyder mixes prose writing with comic book style narration and dialogue. The prose is very well done. Snyder seems less concerned with plot and more interested in human details. This is seen not only in the prose, but in the dialogue. The writing seems meant to tell the reader that there is a lot under the surface, without actually revealing much of anything. This is maddening, in a way. I was curious. I wanted to know more. And I read and reread sections of dialogue and prose yet couldn't make much out of what was written. There is a lot about this world and the situation that this first volume does not reveal. You will puzzle over its details, its dialogue intent on revealing only the tiniest of hints. In the end, I knew I had enjoyed the experience, and yet I don't know how much. It is a risk to tease readers like this because if the results are underwhelming the series will fail.
The cow, however, should win some hearts.
Scott Snyder mixes prose writing with comic book style narration and dialogue. The prose is very well done. Snyder seems less concerned with plot and more interested in human details. This is seen not only in the prose, but in the dialogue. The writing seems meant to tell the reader that there is a lot under the surface, without actually revealing much of anything. This is maddening, in a way. I was curious. I wanted to know more. And I read and reread sections of dialogue and prose yet couldn't make much out of what was written. There is a lot about this world and the situation that this first volume does not reveal. You will puzzle over its details, its dialogue intent on revealing only the tiniest of hints. In the end, I knew I had enjoyed the experience, and yet I don't know how much. It is a risk to tease readers like this because if the results are underwhelming the series will fail.
The cow, however, should win some hearts.
May 12, 2017
My first book of 2017 is a graphic novel, & I'm actually pretty excited to get the next installment. This could be a whole new world of reading for me...
February 6, 2019
Tohle je tak strašně silný. Tak silný až se mi tomu blbě něco vyčítá ale musím. Je tu jenom pár stránek v klasickym komiksovym formátu a zbytek je souvislej text. Což samo o sobě není problém ale tohle mohl bejt naprosto geniální komiks s minimem slov nebo naopak skvělá knížka, kdyby byla delší. Tenhle hybrid ubližuje výsledku. Ilustrace dělal Lemire a vypadají moc dobře, jsem si jistej, že při užší spolupráci Snydera a Lemira mohlo bejt AD: After Death ohromný dílo. Ale je to klasickej Snyder. Má výbornej nápad, skvělej námět... Už ale bojuje s tím jakou formu tomu dát a neumí ho vybrousit do diamantu. V souvislym textu je znát, že je komiksovej scénárista, je zkratkovitej a něco tomu chybí. A ty části knížky, který jsou klasickej komiks, tak tam ztrácí čas zbytečnejma oknama, který nic neříkají a neposouvají děj.
Přitom s tímhle se dalo tak čarovat. Ale to by musel Snyder umět sdělovat myšlenky obrázkama. Skoro je mi líto, že nefungoval jenom jako člověk, kterej přišel s námětem za Lemirem a nechal ho to celý stvořit.
I tak jsem po první knížce nadšenej a těším se na zbytek. Ale mohl to bejt masterpiece se správnym přístupem.
Přitom s tímhle se dalo tak čarovat. Ale to by musel Snyder umět sdělovat myšlenky obrázkama. Skoro je mi líto, že nefungoval jenom jako člověk, kterej přišel s námětem za Lemirem a nechal ho to celý stvořit.
I tak jsem po první knížce nadšenej a těším se na zbytek. Ale mohl to bejt masterpiece se správnym přístupem.
December 1, 2016
I really liked the format of this first book. A great mix of prose, illustrations, comics, and just plain ol text to start a story that I'm 100% on board with. I have a good feeling that this will go to some deep and really great places with the second and third books.
February 26, 2019
Set within a genre-bending tale, Snyder delivers heavy existential rumination on hope and perserverence. Alternating between pages of prose and comic book panelling, Snyder goes deep into the tortured psyche of these characters. Lemire's artwork matches the frenetic pace of the story quite well. Overall, a pretty amazing collaboration.
April 26, 2019
Je to fajn depka, Snyder s Lemirem se našli. Tohle kombo funguje suprově, Lemirova kresba se ke Snyderově depresivnímu příběhu hodí skvěle. Bohužel mi ale připadá že se za celej book nic moc nestalo a příběh se neposunul. Formát beletrie/komiks podle mě funguje dobře.
January 23, 2024
The first book of the three part A.D. series is the least impressive of the bunch but it’s still full of gorgeous illustrations and sets up a somewhat confusing premise for what is to come.
December 4, 2016
The mixture of prose and comic storytelling infused together by a beautiful use of water colours is well executed and could've been a great accompaniment to what might have been a great story had it not felt so disjointed. Too many times throughout A.D.: After Death I found myself thinking "what the hell did I just read and how does this fit into a futuristic story where humans have conquered dying?" - that and the constant, seemingly irrational change of tense make this comic (if I can call it that) difficult to enjoy.
There is no payoff for the reader. I kept waiting for that "oh, now I get it" moment; that page, panel or paragraph that ties it all together in one illuminating lightbulb moment of clarity. It wasn't there and I feel cheated; Rather than answers to the Jonah Cooke story all I got were more questions, more plot threads and little meaning.
A.D.: After Death looks great but, for me, those looks are deceiving. I need a story, irrespective of the medium to grip me, to make me want to read it, and, while I don't mind there being questions of where the story is heading, there should be some answers; the story should be coherent and this just wasn't.
2 out of 5 stars. This could have been something special - it still might be; this is book 1 of 3, but it may have missed the opportunity by virtue of the odd opening stanza.
There is no payoff for the reader. I kept waiting for that "oh, now I get it" moment; that page, panel or paragraph that ties it all together in one illuminating lightbulb moment of clarity. It wasn't there and I feel cheated; Rather than answers to the Jonah Cooke story all I got were more questions, more plot threads and little meaning.
A.D.: After Death looks great but, for me, those looks are deceiving. I need a story, irrespective of the medium to grip me, to make me want to read it, and, while I don't mind there being questions of where the story is heading, there should be some answers; the story should be coherent and this just wasn't.
2 out of 5 stars. This could have been something special - it still might be; this is book 1 of 3, but it may have missed the opportunity by virtue of the odd opening stanza.
January 14, 2017
Wow, I thought this was awesome.
July 23, 2019
Confusing and building in a good way, odd and strange too
February 24, 2018
I just couldn’t get into this one. DNF.
December 15, 2016
This was a very interesting reading experience. Though my foray into the medium of comics began only recently, I’ve been reading a lot of them this year and A.D. After Death Book One by Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire is one of the more unique stories. I admit that the writing in this book might not be of the finest quality, but I really appreciated the experimental format.
The basic premise of this book (I think) is that it takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where mankind has actually found a cure for death. The protagonist, Jonah Cooke, who exhibits signs of kleptomania, is…well he’s kind of all over the place. The chronology doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, as the story seems to bounce back and forth between the past and the future, but as this is only part one of a proposed trilogy, I think that things will start to make more sense as the story continues. One minute he’s hacking through jungle vines with a machete as he’s being chased by purple space invaders, the next he’s stealing a cow. I mentioned that it’s all over the place, but there’s enough coherence for the reader to start forming ideas about this intriguing world (and enough to get me excited for book 2).
I really enjoyed the format of this book, which is what goodreads defines as “an oversized prestige format book”. Retailing for $5.99 as opposed to the traditional $2.99 single issue comics, I felt like it had a lot more story (though not necessarily more artwork) than a single. That’s because some of the pages are written in a short-story style of prose that I’m not used to seeing in my comic books, and as an English major I have to say that I absolutely loved this. Snyder’s mysterious prose, combined with Lemire’s watercolors, adds elements of darkness and allusion to the story. This is what I’m looking forward to most in the next volume. I can feel some great themes/truths just beneath the surface of this book, but without book two it still seems a bit murky.
The basic premise of this book (I think) is that it takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where mankind has actually found a cure for death. The protagonist, Jonah Cooke, who exhibits signs of kleptomania, is…well he’s kind of all over the place. The chronology doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, as the story seems to bounce back and forth between the past and the future, but as this is only part one of a proposed trilogy, I think that things will start to make more sense as the story continues. One minute he’s hacking through jungle vines with a machete as he’s being chased by purple space invaders, the next he’s stealing a cow. I mentioned that it’s all over the place, but there’s enough coherence for the reader to start forming ideas about this intriguing world (and enough to get me excited for book 2).
I really enjoyed the format of this book, which is what goodreads defines as “an oversized prestige format book”. Retailing for $5.99 as opposed to the traditional $2.99 single issue comics, I felt like it had a lot more story (though not necessarily more artwork) than a single. That’s because some of the pages are written in a short-story style of prose that I’m not used to seeing in my comic books, and as an English major I have to say that I absolutely loved this. Snyder’s mysterious prose, combined with Lemire’s watercolors, adds elements of darkness and allusion to the story. This is what I’m looking forward to most in the next volume. I can feel some great themes/truths just beneath the surface of this book, but without book two it still seems a bit murky.
February 4, 2017
A.D. AFTER DEATH, BOOK ONE (3.5/5.0)
When I prepare to review a comic book or graphic novel, I generally comment on the story and art as separate and distinct elements of the overall experience. With A.D., however, it is impossible to talk about one without referencing the other. The book itself is beautifully presented as an oversized floppy or an undersized trade (depending on your perspective). The faux-weathered cover on textured stock is a gorgeous addition to any collection. Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire’s story and art, respectively, flow effortlessly between sweeping prose and more traditional comic book panel format. Snyder’s work is among the best fiction I’ve read in recent memory - comic book or otherwise. And Lemire’s art is absolutely stunning - providing an ethereal tone during the flashback/prose sections and lush, vibrant panels throughout the “comic book” sections.
Overall, A.D. was a bittersweet reading experience. Despite the exceptional writing and art, this book felt like a protracted (and pricey) introduction that offered very little by way of presenting even a hint of what’s to come. In spite of that, I eagerly anticipate reading Book 2 based almost entirely on an unwavering faith that Snyder and Lemire have laid the foundation for what will undoubtedly be a revered work in their collective catalogues.
When I prepare to review a comic book or graphic novel, I generally comment on the story and art as separate and distinct elements of the overall experience. With A.D., however, it is impossible to talk about one without referencing the other. The book itself is beautifully presented as an oversized floppy or an undersized trade (depending on your perspective). The faux-weathered cover on textured stock is a gorgeous addition to any collection. Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire’s story and art, respectively, flow effortlessly between sweeping prose and more traditional comic book panel format. Snyder’s work is among the best fiction I’ve read in recent memory - comic book or otherwise. And Lemire’s art is absolutely stunning - providing an ethereal tone during the flashback/prose sections and lush, vibrant panels throughout the “comic book” sections.
Overall, A.D. was a bittersweet reading experience. Despite the exceptional writing and art, this book felt like a protracted (and pricey) introduction that offered very little by way of presenting even a hint of what’s to come. In spite of that, I eagerly anticipate reading Book 2 based almost entirely on an unwavering faith that Snyder and Lemire have laid the foundation for what will undoubtedly be a revered work in their collective catalogues.
December 23, 2016
I've been really excited for this since it brings together two of my favorite comic book creators at the top of their game. It's also going to be a movie!
This first book was full of mystery, intrigue and a sense of foreboding. The style is interesting in that it switches between illustrated prose and the more familiar speech-balloon comic style.
It is a little hard to review the book as a stand-alone, because its role definitely seems to be set up for what's to come. In that sense, it's not a completely satisfying read on its own. I'm certainly going to keep reading, though. When the trilogy is complete, I suspect my own feelings for this book -- and the average Goodreads rating -- will rise.
This first book was full of mystery, intrigue and a sense of foreboding. The style is interesting in that it switches between illustrated prose and the more familiar speech-balloon comic style.
It is a little hard to review the book as a stand-alone, because its role definitely seems to be set up for what's to come. In that sense, it's not a completely satisfying read on its own. I'm certainly going to keep reading, though. When the trilogy is complete, I suspect my own feelings for this book -- and the average Goodreads rating -- will rise.
December 11, 2016
En un formato de mayor tamaño que lo habitual (asumo que para potenciar el apartado gráfico en acuarela de Lemire), tenemos la primera parte de esta trilogía.
Mezclando páginas de texto ilustradas por Lemire y páginas con viñetas, de manera de ir jugando con dos tiempos narrativos (para conocer el pasado del protagonista, Jonah Cooke y su estado actual), nos encontramos en una historia ubicada en algún futuro donde los avances tecnológicos han permitido superar la muerte y al protagonista en un momento de su vida donde se cuestiona y se replantea todo.
La historia sirve solamente de presentación y te deja con muchas dudas de cuál es el camino a seguir en el siguiente número.
Mezclando páginas de texto ilustradas por Lemire y páginas con viñetas, de manera de ir jugando con dos tiempos narrativos (para conocer el pasado del protagonista, Jonah Cooke y su estado actual), nos encontramos en una historia ubicada en algún futuro donde los avances tecnológicos han permitido superar la muerte y al protagonista en un momento de su vida donde se cuestiona y se replantea todo.
La historia sirve solamente de presentación y te deja con muchas dudas de cuál es el camino a seguir en el siguiente número.
November 23, 2016
Went into this one blind, Snyder/Lemire don't give you too much but some main character's memories and hints about issues related to the cure, impacts of what appears to be agelessness, and some issue with memories. It will be interesting to see where it's going and hopefully more revealed in book two. Expect a lot of mystery in this first book though...
December 16, 2016
The story is still somewhat nebulous for being a relatively long comic. Still, they give you just enough to keep you going.
My only complaint is less about the story and more with the storytelling. The ratio of image/text is very important to me and this has several pages with only text (and a difficult font at that.).
The artwork is stunning and worth the cover price.
My only complaint is less about the story and more with the storytelling. The ratio of image/text is very important to me and this has several pages with only text (and a difficult font at that.).
The artwork is stunning and worth the cover price.
December 22, 2016
There is a lot going on here but it is so clouded and incoherent I have no idea what I just read. Maybe by book two or three I will understand. But for the first book it was a flash back story, some grabby things and a future where no one dies.... that's it. Maybe after later issues it will all make sense I hope
February 7, 2017
This series is shaping to be a slow burn, but it's deftly handled by Snyder. There's a LOT of writing in here, enough that some pages are sparse of any art but filled with story, making it a very original graphic novel. Interested to see how this develops.
February 7, 2017
Kept me interested. I'm not a fan of science fiction, but the fact of immortality fascinates me.
July 31, 2019
Enjoyable, interesting story, marred by the medically inaccurate condition, that caused a character's death, (EDS doesn't do that). Would've been a five-star, otherwise.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2017
If you have a friend who you want to get into graphic novels, but who isn't interested in reading your Sandman or X-Men collections, and who balks at Maus or Persepolis (no offense, but your friend sounds like kind of a snobby jerk), you might find Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire's A.D. works for them. Unlike most modern comics and graphic novels, there's a great deal of prose text, in addition to the graphic elements, so they're not going to finish reading it in ten minutes.
If you're familiar with Snyder's writing or Lemire's art, there aren't any real surprises here. The combination of their arts gel really well together, but I could tell by page three that Snyder was up this typical trope of...I don't want to spoil anyone else's Snyder-reading experience but you don't have to look too close to realize that all of his stories are the same core with a few different baubles. Luckily, he's really good at writing that one story, so it's always entertaining, if you can get past that particular trope.
In addition to people who aren't into most graphic novels, I recommend this for people looking for an unusual graphic novel experience, or for people who like they're sci-fi a little more Twilight Zone and a little less Battlestar Galactica.
If you're familiar with Snyder's writing or Lemire's art, there aren't any real surprises here. The combination of their arts gel really well together, but I could tell by page three that Snyder was up this typical trope of...I don't want to spoil anyone else's Snyder-reading experience but you don't have to look too close to realize that all of his stories are the same core with a few different baubles. Luckily, he's really good at writing that one story, so it's always entertaining, if you can get past that particular trope.
In addition to people who aren't into most graphic novels, I recommend this for people looking for an unusual graphic novel experience, or for people who like they're sci-fi a little more Twilight Zone and a little less Battlestar Galactica.
December 31, 2020
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but; when I pick up a comic, I mean a comic not a novel.
The amount of writing was crazy, I constantly thought what was the point of this comic, it feels like the writer wanted to write a novel not a comic but change last minute and couldn’t translate the novelisation down to some subtext.
On top of that, of your going to choose the unorthodox magazine size format, make sure to utilise the large space. Due the the sheer amount of writing, most of the pages were left with massive blank areas, utter waste. The artist couldn’t even draw images large enough to fill those gaps.
Which brings me onto my last negative, the artwork is awful and ugly, I can see why Jeff Lemire went into writing instead (not that his writing is an improvement).
The plot is kindly interesting which is why I’ll stick with it but if the current format stays like this it’s gonna be a bad book overall. It’s a shame really as I’m a huge fan on Scott Snyders work, I can even say I most/own all of his comic book works which I generally love. This one may just be the only one I’m not a fan of.
The amount of writing was crazy, I constantly thought what was the point of this comic, it feels like the writer wanted to write a novel not a comic but change last minute and couldn’t translate the novelisation down to some subtext.
On top of that, of your going to choose the unorthodox magazine size format, make sure to utilise the large space. Due the the sheer amount of writing, most of the pages were left with massive blank areas, utter waste. The artist couldn’t even draw images large enough to fill those gaps.
Which brings me onto my last negative, the artwork is awful and ugly, I can see why Jeff Lemire went into writing instead (not that his writing is an improvement).
The plot is kindly interesting which is why I’ll stick with it but if the current format stays like this it’s gonna be a bad book overall. It’s a shame really as I’m a huge fan on Scott Snyders work, I can even say I most/own all of his comic book works which I generally love. This one may just be the only one I’m not a fan of.
May 23, 2019
I just finished AD today and it’s odd but only after did I realize that Snyder wrote it, not LeMire, which surprised me. My focus was, of course Black Hammer’s Jeff Lemire, not the accomplished Mr Snyder who is known as one of the best Batman writers. I was really rather smitten by this book, with its mixture of words just on one page and a very nice watercolor for company, then the usual panels. It seems that somehow folks are living longer, and Snyder has a good touch on the story here, about the son of a mother who sometimes just drops down unconscious and where as a family they visit mansions on a deserted beach, just entering and pretending they live there, very surprising stuff. I liked such a lot. Anything out of the ordinary, anywhere and any time is all that is needed anymore. Just to escape the dull monotony is a great thing. I want to go onto the next book of this there are two more, so hopefully I’ll be writing about those as well. In the meantime I’m going to have to hunt down Mr. Snyder a bit, he may be an ‘adult’ after all!
July 10, 2021
Will it ever go away, you wonder? Or will it always be there, that shadow at the edge of things? But, even at a young age, you know the answer to that question, don't you? You know it: of course not. Because it's just there. so close to the surface.
This is so much more than a simple graphic novel. The story is split between tradition comic and a more structured novel, paragraphs and all. It makes it something special and I feel it was needed for them to convey the story, which is deep and complex.
Set in a dystopian future, which has to be my favourite kind, humanity has found a cure for death. But one man, who helped create this eternal life, Jonah Cooke, can't escape the ghosts of his past. We flick between his adolescence, learning about his family and the start of his kleptomania, whilst also seeing him question the future that he inhabits.
I won't say much more except go and find this, read it, and, hopefully, enjoy it as much as I did. 5 stars.
This is so much more than a simple graphic novel. The story is split between tradition comic and a more structured novel, paragraphs and all. It makes it something special and I feel it was needed for them to convey the story, which is deep and complex.
Set in a dystopian future, which has to be my favourite kind, humanity has found a cure for death. But one man, who helped create this eternal life, Jonah Cooke, can't escape the ghosts of his past. We flick between his adolescence, learning about his family and the start of his kleptomania, whilst also seeing him question the future that he inhabits.
I won't say much more except go and find this, read it, and, hopefully, enjoy it as much as I did. 5 stars.
December 26, 2018
I’m a Snyder fan, but this issue fell flat for me. I decided to get the original issues and not the complete collection because I wanted to experience what the co-creators intended with this project. The large magazine size and the texture of the cover add and support the narrative in small ways. The first issue deals with the lead’s past trauma while softly touching on the present day post-death cure world. Snyder usually does a great job in delivering internal monologues (see: Batman run and Superman run), but this one felt a bit hampered down with the internal narration. The water color aesthetic is lovely and pairs well with the monologue, but the story is it grabbing me. I’m mostly left disconnected and confused after the first issue.
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