What Afterlife Inc. does

Afterlife Inc. is a creator-owned serialized webcomic by writer and artist Jon Lock, first published on December 26, 2014. The narrative follows Jack Fortune, a con-artist who dies, seizes control of the afterlife amid a Calamity that destroys its ruling body, and re-establishes it as a modern corporation operating in the Empyrean, a seven-layered city of the dead. Content is delivered as page-by-page installments on a WordPress website (afterlife-inc.com) using the Toocheke theme by LeeToo, with seven completed or ongoing volumes (Dying to Tell, Near Life, Lifeblood, Man Made God, Glory Days, The Great Gig in the Sky, and Imitation of Life) collectively spanning over 500 pages of continuing serialized narrative.

The business is structured as a one-person creative operation associated with Big Punch Studios, a comics collective Jon Lock co-founded in 2015. The technology footprint is modest: there is no proprietary platform, no mobile app, and no public API. Operations rely on a small set of standard third-party services — Patreon for subscription gating, Discord for community discussion, Mailchimp (via eepurl.com/hV3E5X) for newsletters, Eventbrite for exhibition ticketing, and a WordPress storefront plus jonlock.com/shop for merchandise. The creator retains full ownership of the IP, with no parent company, institutional investor, or external equity evidenced.

Revenue is generated through three small streams: a £2 per month Patreon 'Special Employee' subscription tier providing advance access to new pages and exclusive content, physical and digital comic volume sales through the storefront, and merchandise such as posters and art prints. The company received a National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England covering Volume 7 production and free community comic-making workshops in Gloucester, England. Audience is described as worldwide for digital content and regional (UK, Gloucester) for in-person exhibitions. The target customer is the long tail of individual comic and webcomic readers — a horizontal, persona-based segmentation with no enterprise or B2B component.

Name

Afterlife Inc.

Legal name

Afterlife Inc.

Website

https://afterlife-inc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Afterlife Inc. is a creator-owned serialized webcomic by Jon Lock, delivered via WordPress since 2014 across seven volumes. It serves long-tail individual readers through Patreon subscriptions (£2/month), physical and digital comic sales, and merchandise, with no enterprise or B2B customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Patreon Subscription: Monthly subscription model at £2/month for 'Special Employee' tier providing advance access to new pages and exclusive content.
2. Comic Book Sales: Physical and digital comic volumes sold through own store. Volume 7 soft launch with wider release planned.
3. Merchandise: Posters, art prints, and other merchandise available through jonlock.com/shop.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Afterlife Inc. is a creator-owned serialized webcomic series by Jon Lock, published since 2014 across seven volumes, that follows con-artist Jack Fortune as he runs the afterlife as a modern corporation. The core offering is free public webcomic pages on afterlife-inc.com, supported by a Patreon 'Special Employee' subscription tier (£2/month) that grants advance page access and exclusive content. Physical comic volumes, merchandise (posters, prints), and exhibitions complement the digital core offering.

Product overview

Afterlife Inc. is a webcomic series presented as a platform of comic volumes. The core offering is the serialized webcomic published across seven volumes to date, with the latest Volume 7 'Imitation of Life' currently releasing. The comic follows protagonist Jack Fortune who transforms the afterlife into a modern corporation. Revenue is generated through free public webcomic pages, a Patreon subscription tier (£2/month) offering advance access and exclusive content, and merchandise. The series has expanded to include crossover events (The Heavenly Chord with Big Punch Studios) and spin-off products. Comic volumes are released serially online before compilation, with Patreon supporters receiving content earlier.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Afterlife Inc. Webcomic A serialized webcomic series following con-artist Jack Fortune who, after dying, takes over the afterlife and runs it as a modern corporation. The comic spans multiple volumes with ongoing story arcs set in the 'Empyrean,' a seven-layered city of the dead.
• Afterlife Inc. Volume 1: Dying to Tell First volume of the Afterlife Inc. webcomic introducing the Empyrean setting and the Afterlife Inc. corporate afterlife premise.
• Afterlife Inc. Volume 2: Near Life Second volume of the Afterlife Inc. webcomic continuing the serialized narrative.
• Afterlife Inc. Volume 3: Lifeblood Third volume of the Afterlife Inc. webcomic exploring the manna energy source of the dead and industry secrets.
• Afterlife Inc. Volume 4: Man Made God Fourth volume of the Afterlife Inc. webcomic addressing Jack Fortune's right to power and the return of the archangels.
• Afterlife Inc. Volume 5: Glory Days Fifth volume of the Afterlife Inc. webcomic showing Afterlife Inc. at its height of power while cracks begin to show across the Empyrean.
• Afterlife Inc. Volume 6: The Great Gig in the Sky Sixth volume of the Afterlife Inc. webcomic featuring a gig event and revelations that shake the company to its core, with 100+ pages plus epilogue.
• Afterlife Inc. Volume 7: Imitation of Life Seventh and current volume of the Afterlife Inc. webcomic, with new story arcs and Patreon-exclusive Act 2 content released in 2024-2025.
• The Heavenly Chord Crossover comic event with Big Punch Studios that spawned the Big Punch Studios multiverse, featuring Zachary Briarpatch and the 7STRING blade.
• Patreon Membership (Special Employee tier) Subscription tier at £2/month providing 'Special Employee' status with advance access to new comic pages and exclusive content.
• Comic Writer's Journal A customisable journal created by Jon Lock to help comic writers of all skill levels bring their stories to life.
• Physical Merchandise (posters, prints, comic volumes) Physical merchandise including posters, art prints, and comic volumes sold through the Jon Lock storefront.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• JOLT Studios GloucesterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExhibition venue partner for Volume 7 art showcase. JOLT Studios hosted the free exhibition (15-21 March) showcasing artwork from the new book and featuring an amazing team of comic creators.
• Big Punch StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduction studio co-founded by Jon Lock in 2015. Afterlife Inc. transitioned from solo project to Big Punch Studios production. The Heavenly Chord crossover spawned the Big Punch Studios universe.
• PatreoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPlatform for exclusive content and monthly subscription revenue. 'Special Employee' tier at £2/month provides advance access to new pages.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Webtoon: Major digital comics platform hosting serialized webcomics and offering monetization to creators. Comparable to Afterlife Inc. as a wider distribution and monetization channel for serialized digital comics, though Afterlife Inc. currently self-distributes via WordPress.
• 2000 AD: Established British weekly sci-fi comic anthology that Jon Lock has written for. Relevant peer as a long-running UK-published serialized comic publisher, providing a comparable market and tone for satirical, genre-mixing serialized British comic work.
• Hiveworks Comics: Webcomic publisher and ad network that hosts and monetizes multiple long-running independent webcomics. Comparable to Afterlife Inc. as the broader ecosystem in which independent serialized webcomics operate, with shared distribution and ad-revenue models.

Direct peers

• Explosm (Cyanide & Happiness): Independent webcomic/short comic brand by Kris, Rob, and Dave McElfatrick with a vast merchandise and book catalogue. Comparable to Afterlife Inc. as a creator-owned webcomic that monetizes through books, merchandise, and direct-to-consumer storefront sales.
• Big Punch Studios: Comic creator collective co-founded by Jon Lock in 2015 that spawned the multiverse crossover containing Afterlife Inc. Closely comparable as a direct creative partnership and the umbrella organization producing Afterlife Inc. content alongside other comics.
• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC): Creator-owned daily webcomic by Zach Weinersmith with merchandise and book sales. Comparable to Afterlife Inc. as a solo creator webcomic publishing serialized satirical content with archive volumes and a direct-to-consumer shop.
• Order of the Stick: Long-running creator-owned webcomic by Rich Burlew with printed compilation volumes and a strong community. Comparable to Afterlife Inc. as a multi-volume, decade-spanning creator-owned webcomic with serialized releases and physical book compilation sales.
• The Oatmeal: Creator-owned webcomic by Matthew Inman with a strong merchandise business (prints, books, plush toys via Kickstarter). Directly comparable to Afterlife Inc. as a single-creator webcomic monetized through web traffic, Patreon-style supporter culture, merchandise, and physical product sales.
• Penny Arcade: Long-running creator-driven webcomic turned multimedia brand with conventions (PAX), merchandise, and Patreon-style supporter programs. Comparable to Afterlife Inc. as an independent webcomic that has built a multi-decade content archive and community ecosystem around serialized comic releases.
• XKCD: Creator-owned webcomic by Randall Munroe with merchandise, books, and a long-running archive. Comparable to Afterlife Inc. as a long-running, single-author webcomic with a mature content library and direct-to-consumer sales of physical products.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/jonlockcomics
• Facebookfacebook.com/afterlife
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/afterlife-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Afterlife Inc.