The Lucky Devils #1: Romance and Revolution
Creative Team
writer: CHARLES SOULE
artist: RYAN BROWNE
colorists: RYAN BROWNE & KEVIN KNIPSTEIN
letterer: CHRISTOPHER CRANK
publisher: IMAGE COMICS
Reviewed by Seth Adrian Romo
The Lucky Devils #1 brings the chaos and stress that comes with wanting to be a good person—especially when outside forces are working against you.
Collar and Rake are devils who aim to disrupt the system that upholds Hell by manipulating two good-natured people. Despite their low-level jobs often causing minor mayhem and bringing out the worst in humans, their newfound mission shows there’s always room for revolution.
This series premiere opens with Cam, an adjunct professor of philosophy at a community college, lecturing about ethics and how easy it is to imagine a bad person as opposed to a good one. During his presentation, a string of bad luck ruins his day progressively and tests how much he can take. Meanwhile, a nurse named Starr is facing similar challenges in maintaining a moral compass as her shift continues to deal her one bad experience after the next.
Writer Charles Soule is no stranger to compelling “what if” scenarios as evident by the breakout hit “Eight Billion Genies,” a story about what would happen if everyone on earth got their own wish fulfilling deity. In The Lucky Devils, readers get a new scenario centered around moral compasses and this results in a strong opening issue.
Illustrated by Ryan Browne, who also colors the issue with Kevin Knipstein, the visuals are semi-realistic and filled with bold lines, emotional close ups, and color palettes that let the “reds” dominate the scene when they can.
From a story and visual perspective this issue is top notch, although some of the pacing elements feel a bit heavy-handed. As mentioned earlier, the issue begins with Cam discussing goodness and much of the script tends to handhold readers as it makes its case. While this isn’t inherently bad, writer Soule has created such an interesting scenario with devils Collar and Rake and readers may find themselves wishing more pages were given to their story and the world they exist in. Like Cam mentions, discussing good and bad is easy to conceptualize—so it’s a shame that much of the page length is given to the humans rather than the anti-establishment horned creatures.
Regardless, the pacing still keeps readers engaged although the attention to Cam and Starr takes away from the interesting hook at the end of the issue.
Final Verdict
The Lucky Devils is a fresh blend of comedy and meaningful discussion of morals and internal goodness that makes for imaginative and riotously fun storytelling.
| Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Writing | 8.0 |
| Story/Plot | 9.0 |
| Art/Line Work | 9.0 |
| Colors | 9.0 |
| Final Score | 8.8/10 |