If you are ever at any convention, stop by the small press booths. You are sure to find a real gem of a diamond among many talented companies. I just happened upon one at this year’s C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo) 2011. It was for the company Big Dog Ink and most notably I was speaking with Tom Hutchison one of the creator of the comic we are reviewing: Penny for your Soul #1.

The first thing that you notice is the art. J.B. Neto’s character designs and landscape take the ‘Sin’ in Sin City to a whole new level. The amount of detail in not only every page, but every frame showcases his talent as professional artist of many years that has passion for what he does.

Add in the colourist and letterer Oren Kramek and his use of colours not only with the characters, the glitz and glamor that is Las Vegas really, pardon the expression, shines through with every page and panel. Specifically the characters from Danica to Maggie, even the background characters all come to life.

What truly ties this story all together is Tom Hutchison’s writing and concept. It’s such a simple concept, take Heaven and Hell and have them battle it out not in war (too costly with lost lives being as it’s hard to train Angels and Demons these days), but in poker. Just a brilliant idea… why didn’t I think of that?

This isn’t just about how much your soul is worth, but how much you truly value it and in a city that is built on greed, souls, morals, and those other traits that we as humans have are ripe for the picking. They say greed is good, care to make a wager?

While this is a 24 page book, the price is definitely right. This was the steal of the convention and you easily got your money’s worth without a doubt. Like in Vegas it gets you hooked and you’re itching for the next issue.

Place your bets, Heaven or Hell everyone’s going all in for Penny For Your Soul. Don’t be the last one betting as the everyone is going All-in for this comic.