Hey. So how is everyone holding up?

Last week was notably more emotional than we planned, so Zack and I will be taking a much needed 2 week break. Unlife will return with the explosive chapter 7 on March 15th. I hope you’re ready, because we’ll be hitting the ground running with what is my favorite chapter so far. Get pumped.

Instead, we have a very special treat in a guest comic from Veronica Valencia. This is actually Veronica’s second guest strip, and we couldn’t be happier to have her. Her art perfectly captures the tone and emotion that Unlife is all about, and I can’t tell you how much I love this piece. You can find more great art from Veronica on her Website and follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.


So, unrelated, but have you guys ever had filtered water?

It’s pretty good.

Through the purification process, undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, and other bad juju is removed for the purpose of human consumption. Improper filtration and distillation can lead to some pretty bad stuff. Sometimes, even some apocalyptic stuff. And though I prefer a normal sink pour over the “extra credit” of a Britta filter, even that water has been purified by New York State first. Everything goes through some sort of filtration when it’s being released, so that the general public can use and enjoy it.

In writer terms, water needs an editor, so that the stuff that makes water good can be great, and all the things bogging it down can be removed.

My point here is that Unlife is not an unfiltered product.

Ideas go through a vetting process, each chapter possessing multiple drafts. Antagonists have been changed into protagonists and vice versa. Even after the writing is done, Zack still moves slowly and deliberately, correcting pacing errors and acting choices from sketch, to ink, to color, to bubbles. The process never stops until it turns midnight and the new page goes online for the world to see. But before all that, it’s just dirty water.

And webcomics hardly compare to TV and movies, which have a MASSIVE filtration process, between production costs, director vision, actor intent, cinematography, and beyond. It has been filtered to such a perfect point that it’s distillation is one of the purest, most refreshing products ever created, and it has the billions to prove it. Unlife doesn’t have that time, money or that manpower itself, but honestly, I like this filtration system as it is. The freedom, the stability, the fact that it’s actually getting done – I have nothing to gain from messing with our tam of three.

For those wondering, no I didn’t make a mistake, and I wanted to sing the praises of Unlife’s third hero – Jena. Jena is the unofficial editor of Unlife reading over every script, every strip, and every blog post. It all goes through her, and if you’ve read a single thing on this site, it’s been filtered through her first. I can not overstate how much she does to keep this comic working as well as it does.

Look, the reason I’m bringing this up is because Unlife is a malleable thing that has gone through changes as it’s progressed. We have adjusted, filtered and edited out what doesn’t work for both us and the audience, and tried to bring about the purest distillation of what Unlife is – a story about death and when it isn’t (or is) the end.

I wanted to do this post because I wanted to give you guys a taste of unfiltered water. This blog post has not been touched by Jena, Zack, or anyone else, because I wanted you to know, in no uncertain terms that…

Yeah. I miss her too.