In the Ancient Greek hereafter , souls that go to Tartarus drank from the puddle of Lethe , whose waters do them to forget the lives they ’d moult . In the webcomic Helvetica , wasted souls make it in the afterlife with no memory of their past lives — or even their names . Most are content to eke out new afterlives in the cities of the dead , but one soul makes it his mission to repossess his identity element , no matter what .
Helvetica opens in the desert where a distich of afterlife Greeters — the brassy Mr. Good Heavens and problematic guy Steak — await the arrival of their newest charge . When he appears , he ’s a petit skeleton who call out “ Helvetica ! ” saddling himself with that name for the respite of eternity . Everyone arrives into this afterlife utterly naked — skinless and nameless — and its the Book of Job of the Greeters to get them settled . Fortunately , Mr. Good Heavens and Steak , despite their differences , are well signification cranny who get youthful Helvetica set up with clothes , a position to survive , and a depository financial institution account . For Mr. Good Heavens , it ’s a simple , orderly line , one that goes well when no one asks too many question . For Steak , it ’s a matter of protecting Modern individual from exploitation .
But Helvetica is n’t content with this novel order . Sure , everyone in Farwolaeth City ( Welsh for “ death ” ) seems quite nice , and he ca n’t really sound off about his young digs . But Helvetica hanker to know who we was before he died , and no issue of assurances from Mr. Good Heavens or minacious grumbles from Steak are enough to deliver him complacent . Fortunately , Helvetica may have establish an ally in his quest , one who knows a routine more about the closed book of the hereafter .
The look of Helvetica ’s haggard eccentric brings to mind the similarly skeleton - filled hereafter of LucasArts ’s classic video game Grim Fandango , and while Helvetica is n’t as closely tied to Grim Fandango ’s Mexican influence , Wiedle ’s construct art suggests that the Mexican calacas are an aspiration for his own characters . And one chapter in , it appears Helvetica has the potential to channelise a similar brand of comedic noir .
Helvetica is currently on a brief hiatus while creator JN Wiedle finishes up his work for the school year . Hopefully , by May we ’ll see the 2d chapter of Helvetica and search a bit more of Farwolaeth .
[ Helvetica ]
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