Heavenly Blues, from Scout Comics, written by Ben Khan with art and colors by Bruno Hidalgo, is the story about five souls trapped in Hell merely existing in the depths of torture and chaos. This all changes when the main two protagonists, a former bank robber, Isaiah Jefferson, and orphaned witch, Erin Foley, were approached by an angel named, Barbiel Angelus. Barbiel was looking for capable souls to pull off the greatest heist ever to happen in Heaven. With nothing more than scarce details and a portal to access Heaven, Isaiah and Erin must create an elite team of damned souls with the abilities to pull off the job.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
Across a series’ six issues, Isaiah and Erin develop their team to include Hideki Iwata, a voyeur addicted ninja, James Turner, a thrill-seeking coin counter, and Amunet, a master thief turned slave for assistance. Each with their own respective skills, they infiltrate heaven to pull off the job. They played a very dangerous game of attention seeking to lure out the main target and then gain their trust. Once doing so, they laid their trap and let the chaos begin. The entire plan masterminded by Isaiah was so in-depth with layers of misdirection, faux betrayal, attention seeking, and more all implemented with the end goal of achieving the completion of the heist.
The art style of Heavenly Blues is vibrant and easy on the eyes. All the characters have great facial expressions and easily able to discern how they’re feeling at any moment. I really like how they keep the human “gore” to a minimum, but go all out when the scenes are between spirits. The theme of the comic was actually pretty well thought out, though there were some areas that I felt were a bit muddled and could’ve used a bit more fleshing out, it overall was enjoyable.
The lettering was easy to follow, as you read the text from left to right as you do most traditional comics, and when there was an exchange the text bubbles were placed properly so you knew how to read it properly to keep from being confused. However, there were times I wish the text was a bit bigger or bolder, especially in moments of argument or tension. I would have to say the creative team at Scout Comics worked wonderfully together to make a great story that kept me thoroughly engaged, excited, and at the end wishing there was more to be had.
On a personal level, I would have to say Heavenly Blues is a story I can relate to because there are times I could see myself in all the characters, from the bond of the team to even some of their personal struggles or vices. The overall story had me thinking of times I felt like giving up, but found ways to push through and even when things got in the way, made way to come out on top.
Heavenly Blues
TL;DR
On a personal level, I would have to say Heavenly Blues is a story I can relate to because there are times I could see myself in all the characters, from the bond of the team to even some of their personal struggles or vices.
