Creative Staff:
Story: Michael Moreci
Art: Nathan Gooden
Colors: Addison Duke
Letterer: Jim Campbell
What They Say:
Owen is in hell. Soren is…also kind of in hell. She’s made a dangerous pact with Ka, the deadly assassin looking to exact revenge on a nearly impossible target. Meanwhile, Owen and Deadheart reunite for one hell (wink wink) of an adventure!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The recent storyline that wrapped up a couple of months ago with Axe to Grind and it was a great way of getting back into this property and just being in the thick of it. With this run getting underway at the start of 2023, Michael Moreci got things working well in advancing the storyline, filling in more of the blanks, and just having a wild time. His work over the last few years and working the original story around just three issues really made everything work well and leave you wanting more. Nathan Gooden and Addison Duke are on board for the artwork once again for it and through them, we get some fantastic character designs and a great sense of power to it overall that really delivers. There is a ton of material here and it works incredibly well to deliver a cohesive, coherent, and engaging world to sink our teeth into.
The two main tracks of this series are moving pretty well and it’s a lot of fun to see Owen dealing with being in hell. He’s obviously loving being with Deadheart again but we see that there are issues with it as well, guilt in what happened with her and with him wanting to be back with the group he’s been traveling with. The battles in hell are basically just a giant free-for-all that’s letting him cut loose without dying and it’s fun to watch that as is seeing him being whiny in dealing with Deadheart. But she’s not stupid and knows what he’s going through and works to absolve him of some of it. But she’s also got a way for him to potentially get back to the real world and out of hell and that’s setting the stage for what’s next. It moves fast when you step back a bit and look at it but there’s only so much to really engage with when your characters can tear off arms and nobody really suffers from it. Toying with real threats and consequences in a land across the sea in hell in order to make it out works a lot better. But the context and character dynamics, even with General Frogly, are done well so that we’re invested.
With Soren and her group, they’re being used for the moment to deal with the duke threat but that’s turning out to be something larger going on. While on the way to the castle, they come across some disturbing creatures that are just made of magic, essentially, which has Soren being quite wary while Axe is basically strung out on too much magic from slicing them. But it’s when they’re in the castle that Soren senses more of something there and is drawn to it and like Owen’s story, it’s another piece of their past that’s coming back to haunt them. It’s a lot of fun win watching this play out as Soren is trying to lead while being in debt to Ka and you’ve got Steel essentially just not liking how any of this is going. And a really drunk-like Axe. I’m not thrilled with the initial approach to the story but showing that there’s more going on with these magically-created creatures helps to create a new interest.
In Summary:
The Hell to Pay storyline is definitely delivering on the fun, though I felt like Owen did upon seeing the frogs as well. Dropping into what’s going on there takes a little bit to connect with and get the feel of but once it gets underway it’s definitely a lot of fun but something I’m glad we’re not spending too much time on. I like getting some time with Deadheart and the tease of what’s to come there and there’s a lot to like in seeing Soren doing her best to get serious and work toward their goals, even if they’re being sucked into a sidequest that will be interesting to see how it unfolds. It’s a solid installment that’s showing more of what the real focus will be.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Vault Comics
Release Date: February 22nd, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
