New York Times bestselling artist John Stanisci is teaming with Emmy Award-winning producer Jared Safier and veteran actor and producer Stelio Savante to help his upcoming sci-fi graphic novel LifeDeath find a home as a series and to explore its development as a feature. Here’s a look at the cover to the graphic novel, painted by Tony Fernandez…
In the year 2211, Dr. Emil Heydrich, a fugitive scientist on Mars, discovers that humans invented the afterlife long before man existed on Earth. The ‘afterlife matrix’ is an ancient computer program, an uploading device to preserve human consciousness. After many millennia, that matrix grew to sentience and now, like anything that lives, the afterlife matrix is dying.
Deke Renner, an elite Martian soldier, is slowly going insane. His mind is being torn apart by his memories of a past life where he was Lucet, a Jewish 14 year-old female resistance fighter in World War II. An ancient evil has entered Deke’s past life as Lucet, in hopes of corrupting his past life soul. If it succeeds, and Deke dies in his current life, he will be erased by the Lifedeath. The story takes place over two timelines: the future year of 2211, and the year 1944, during the Jewish uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto. Lifedeath is an action packed thrill ride where the spirit world collides with a future science spiraling out of control.
Check out an exclusive preview of a four page action seqence from the third chapter of the book, which features the three main characters from the future storyline : Deke Renner, Dr Marion Ross and Golem…
“Having a strong female character at this time is very important to where we are heading as a society” states three-time Emmy winner Jared Safier. “Beyond that, the bravery of a 14 year Jewish freedom fighter during the Nazi regime really hits home with me personally. I grew up in a Jewish family with many stories of oppression that my ancestors had to endure. It’s great to see a strong female Jewish character standing up to this oppression that past generations have had to do endure.”
LifeDeath will debut as a 140 page graphic novel, written and drawn entirely by Stanisci, and is slated to arrive in early 2018.
Originally published October 21, 2017. Updated October 22, 2017.
