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Penny For Your Soul #1
Publisher: Big Dog Ink
Writer/Creator: Tom Hutchison
Art: J.B. Neto
Colors/Letters: Oren Kramek
Price: US $3.00
Release Date: May 26, 2010

***CAUTION: This Review Contains Spoilers!***

(As an extra caution, this comic book is not for the conservative reader, the feint of heart, or those who cannot keep an open mind.  If you’re sensitive about Christianity and theology, this comic book isn’t for you.)

Las Vegas.  Sin City.  Inside the Eternity Hotel and Casino there is already a whole city’s worth of sin behind its doors.

Meet Danica…from Utah.  She runs Eternity Hotel and Casino.  There, her guests are encouraged to sell their soul for ten thousand dollars.  If one sells their soul, the money is theirs to spend as they choose in the hotel or casino.  When the person dies, however, they do not get to go to Heaven, but they do get to avoid Hell.  You see, when someone who sells their soul to Eternity dies, they have to return to Eternity and work for them for…well…eternity.  Sound like a deal?  Well, that all depends on how much you value your soul and how much you value ten thousand dollars.  The choice is yours.

Another character we meet is Maggie.  Maggie is the hotel manager.  Her name is Mary, but Danica is more comfortable calling her Maggie.  Danica pulled Maggie out of Purgatory to come work at Eternity Hotel and Casino.  I’m sure you can gather who Maggie is and where this is going.  In Big Dog Ink’s version of Las Vegas, Jesus Christ himself has left Heaven to host his own radio show every Sunday.  He still needs to get his message out to the masses.  On this particular night, Danica’s father decides to crash the party and have a word with her.  The Devil’s at the door.

Okay, everybody.  Please keep in mind that this is a work of FICTON.  Much like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hutchison is merely telling us a STORY.  If you can keep your head level, focused in reality, and understand that this is, in fact, JUST FICTION, you will be able to see that it is an entertaining read.  There’s no reason to get all worked up.  Leave it on the shelf if you think you’re going to throw a hissy.

Hutchison is running with a creative, entertaining, and original idea.  What Zenescope Entertainment is doing with Fairy Tales, Big Dog Ink is doing with Theology.  Neto’s art teams up with the writing very well in the fact that he is able to bring the beautiful, handsome, sexy, and demonic sides of casino life together in harmony on the page.

I get the gist of this series, but I don’t know where it’s all headed.  I don’t know what Daddy Dearest wants with his little angel demon, Danica.  What I do know is that I’m gonna stick around and check out issue #2 to find out.  Who’s with me?

Aron White
aron@comicattack.net