Danica is the daughter of the Devil. She’s a knockout redhead who owns the Eternity Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the price of one’s soul, all patrons of the Eternity are given $10,000 and unlimited access to beauties for, well, what do you think? How many men are willing to sign away their eternal salvation for a night or two of earthly pleasures? I’m not really surprised that the number is 100 percent.
That is the basic premise of Tom Hutchison and J.B. Neto’s Penny for your Soul, and it should not be missed. Yes, it’s a comic book filled with babes and sexual allusions. But it’s also light-hearted and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Hutchison clearly isn’t afraid to rub some folks the wrong way with his jabs at religion and “morality.” But he’s clever and cunning as he does it, forcing us to wonder if we’re just as self-righteous as the characters in his comic, that is, until they fall under Danica’s spell. I’m sure we all would, too.
The story opens with an unknown narrator singing the praises of Vegas, a town where anything goes. And as the voiceover speaks to us, we see a random guest arriving at the Eternity. His name is simply Mr. Anderson, and it seems that the pleasures of the flesh aren’t what they used to be back at home. In need of relief, he finds his way into Danica’s lavish hotel and casino, as so many men do. He signs his soul away for $10,000, and in return is given a nameless blonde beauty who will act as his “pet” for the entire weekend, fulfilling whatever desires he has.
Such a transaction is but a taste of what happens in the Eternity day and night. Thankfully, because Hutchison is such a crafty writer, there is a lot more going than is initially expected. The delights of the Eternity are simply business as usual for Danica and her number two, a one Mary Magdalene. It appears that Mary works for Danica because her high-school sweetheart, Jesus, is a bit of a romantic flake that is more interested in fame and glory than a loving partner. And so, she’s on her own.
But all things considered, Mary and Danica share a charming friendship. Neither one is above a joke; further, I can tell that they enjoy ridiculous bets where Danica will always come out on top. Of course she will: she’s the succubus-daughter of the Devil. Even nuns are in her league, but I’ll leave it at that.
I’m no Christian scholar, and all of the Dan Brown hype in recent years has left my head reeling over what is right and wrong concerning Christian mythology. Mary Magdalene is a prostitute, then she isn’t, and then she is again. But whatever her occupation was in the old stories, she’s a real gem here in the current pages of Penny for your Soul. We eventually learn that she’s the narrator of the book and not the suspected Danica, which is perfect. I wouldn’t want this story told by anyone else. She’s witty, smart, and subtly charismatic. Think a post-feminist woman who’s simply trying to make it on her own in the world.
The pencils of artist Neto are really interesting here. They’re light and airy, bringing to life bright-faced characters who are just trying to have some fun. Combine that with the book’s impressive color pallet. Colorist Oren Kramek uses a wide array of bright and vivid colors that really make the book beautiful to look at. There’s a fine-looking shot at the beginning of the comic that shows the Eternity in all of its sinful glory. It’s colored with beautiful pinks and violets, and has a true feel of the night life in Vegas.
This is the second book I’ve read in recent months about the Devil’s agents collecting souls. The first was Visionary Comics’ Aposperos, written by Nektarios Chrissos and photographed and painted by George Martzoukos. That book, too, was a real wonder. But unlike Penny for your Soul, it carried a much heavier tone in its examination of human fatalism and our desire to defeat undefeatable odds. Not so in Penny: I’d say the message here is to enjoy life, because it’s the only one we have, no matter what religion says.
Simply put, Penny for your Soul is a witty, sexy, fun, lovely, and insightful comic book that is well-worth the cover price. The story’s basic plot is easy to enjoy, but there is a whole lot more to take away from it for anyone who’s willing to set aside religious stigma in order to lighten up and have a good time—which, in fact, you can do at the Eternity. I hear that once a soul is collected, it’s forced to work at the Eternity for, well… eternity. And the more I think about it, that doesn’t seem like such a bad fate.
This comic book review originally appeared on Broken Frontier on 16 September 2010.
