Posted in: Comics, Review | Tagged: Ben Kahn, Bruno Hidalgo, comedy, drama, heavenly blues, HRL, scout comics

Heavenly Blues #2 Review: Ocean's Eleven in Hell

We get the story of Erin's death as she and Isaiah figure out how the heist is going to go down. Isaiah says they need a crew, and the two split up to recruit the team members. Among them are a cowboy gambler, a drugged-out samurai, and a thief from ancient Egypt.

Heavenly Blues #2 plays as a mixture of a deep cut into Erin's personality and a Perdition-based Ocean's Eleven. We meet the rest of the crew that builds around Erin and Isaiah.

The opening qualities about the other members say a lot about these characters with impressively little page-space. The cowboy is egging on a barroom brawl. The samurai is drugged out on visions of his descendants. The thief is a slave for her crimes, but we learn she could have broken out any point if she were only given motivation. You can extrapolate a fair bit based on those lines alone.

Erin's backstory is great too, and it explains her current character very well. The great kicker about her story is that she was the same person in life; she was only less severe.

There are more questions and ponderances about how fair these characters' damnation is. Agency is brought up, and there are some lines that lean towards universalism. These thoughts fill in the cracks from scene to scene and keep the plot thoughtful.

The art continues to fit the tone. Bruno Hidalgo's work is stylized, expressive, and cartoony enough to complement the lighter moments. The fight sequences are impressively impactful. He knows when to tone down the goofy and emphasize emotion too, which is important. The colors are well balanced and don't go for wild. This also serves to keep things toned down when needed.

Ben Kahn and Bruno Hidalgo bring another comic that is equal parts thoughtful, dramatic, and funny. Heavenly Blues is a darkly beautiful comic about agency and finding purpose. This one earns another recommendation. Check it out.

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