Here we have the briefest of installments in the Penny for Your Soul miniseries, but it’s no less exciting than every one before it. Being the fifth issue, the story is well on its way to nearing its flashy conclusion, but I am at a loss for how events are going to play out. I haven’t the faintest clue. That’s what makes this book so intoxicating.
We’ve journeyed a long way since the first issue of Penny: this series started out as a Las Vegas rendezvous for the damned. Anyone willing to fork over his or her soul (but usually his, which is no real surprise) will be awarded 10 grand to spend at will in the Eternity Hotel and Casino. The most popular purchases? Sex, alcohol, and gambling. What’s not to love about Vegas?
But there’s more going on than meets the eye. The Eternity, owned and operated by the devil’s daughter, Danica, is siphoning off souls from both Heaven and Hell, and the celestial powers that be have taken notice, and they’re angry—quite angry. And that anger and frustration has led to cosmic warfare. No, Danica is not solely responsible, but who cares about divine prophecy and Biblical hocus pocus. It’s more interesting when focusing on this red-headed vixen.
The fifth issue is a work of well-orchestrated action, and I’m not one to pay this compliment much. After all, not everything can be as exciting as the Sinestro Corps War or Final Crisis. My appreciation almost always lies with strong characterization and interpersonal plotting, which this book has done masterfully since the beginning. But now we’ve reached a battle between Lucifer and the angelic vanguard of Christ. I will admit that I was skeptical if writer Tom Hutchison could successfully transition from a character study of religious figures placed in sexual situations to rough-and-tumble warfare. But he has—quite well, actually.
I’ve read quite a few independent books that are good from the beginning, but it’s rare that a new writer takes the plunge into this outsider’s world of storytelling and finds his footing immediately. But Hutchison did, and he has yet to fail at delivering a phenomenal story. But this is a collaborative effort, and I don’t know where the book would be without artist J.B. Neto and colorist Oren Kramek. There are a handful of sections where we are given duel-page splashes, and they’re so vividly illustrated and colored that the pages are evocative of a tangible war of the heavens that has spilled over onto earth.
Penny for Your Soul has seduced me since the beginning, and I’m still in love. Onward to the sixth and final issue!
This comic book review originally appeared on Broken Frontier on 02 February 2011.
