“After You Die” by Ramin Nazer

Ramin Nazer is a prolific artist of many mediums — he’s a writer and illustrator, stand up comedian and host of The Rainbow Brainskull Hour Podcast. His website, raminnazer.com, showcases a large collection of his art and philosophies in the form of colorful posters, books, clothing, games, animations and more.

No matter what the medium, his primary topic of interest appears to be the exploration of deep, cosmic ideas, including the concepts of time, consciousness, life, love, hate, change, and death — heavy subjects that he approaches with an artistic, sincere and lighthearted touch.

His art-comic book, “After You Die,” is a perfect example of this. It’s a fantastical collection of full-page illustrations entertaining 21 post-death imaginations and models. While it takes some of its ideas from various religions, it does not, as stated on the cover, contain any particular religious agenda.

The book itself is glossy, gorgeous, hyper-colorful and presents big ideas in a simple way that is both edgy, approachable, and all-encompassing. I loved looking through it and thinking about the infinite possibilities. 

Ramin Nazer begins with more traditional, western ideas of what could happen after death — Oblivion (aka Absolute Nothingness), Heaven, Hell, Purgatory — before branching into Dharmic beliefs such as Reincarnate and New Game+, and others.

Then it starts to get really trippy and interesting, as Nazer begins diving into more esoteric, or dare I say, psychedelic models of life after death. I really enjoyed reading through the second half of the book, as it challenges more traditional thoughts and beliefs and encourages expansion, imagination and openness.

You can preview the entire book on Ramin Nazer’s website, download a digital PDF version for a few bucks, or order a physical version. Personally, I recommend buying a physical copy of “After You Die” to have around. The unique, colorful illustrations provide incredible eye candy and the ideas contained within are a great conversation starter and positive reminder. As Nazer states in the introduction, while we don’t know what happens after death, “If you’re reading this, then you are alive. Congratulations!”