‘Lucky Devils’ #3 Levels Up The Plot And Art — Review

A number of significant plot elements occur over the course of Lucky Devils #3. Both on Earth and in Hell, and in terms of Rake & Collar’s overall plot, things happen that push the narrative in new and interesting directions —including the series’ first out-and-out “shit just got real” cliffhanger ending. But for all that the issue pushes the story forward, the real takeaway is just how much it represents artist Ryan Browne cutting loose on the series visually. 

Structurally, Lucky Devils #3 is much like the previous issue. Writer Charles Soule gives us a “cold open” set in the recent past in Hell (here, it’s revealed that Collar and Rake first met when the latter was a slam poet, the kind of random-yet-in-hindsight-very-apt detail at which this book excels).

The bulk of the plot involved the demons’ latest schemes to increase the influence of their humans utilizing the thematic sin of the issue (here, a gluttony-inspired eating contest leads to food poisoning at a faculty event, which culminates in Cam becoming a dean at the college while Starr earns another promotion for correctly diagnosing the issue when the sickened faculty arrive at her hospital). And it concludes with a Hell-set epilogue as Rake and Collar rise in their own ranks and assess the operation of their overall plan. But two significant deviations occur which help kick the series up a notch. 

The first is a significant leveling up in Ryan Browne’s art. While his work has certainly been strong in previous issues, this issue shows him pushing his craft even further, literally pushing the narrative outside the panel borders via a series of sequences involving tiny little Collars going on adventures in the gutters, juxtaposed against the main narrative events happening inside the panels. 

Browne similarly stretches the boundaries of page layouts later in the issue. As Collar goes on a surprise inspection with Mr. Bunion following Collar and Rake’s latest promotions, their journey takes them first down a slide and then up the different levels of Hell (represented by vignettes of previous Image series, including Soule & Browne’s own Eight Billion Genies) via elevator.

Browne renders the whole journey in one page, drawing the reader’s eye down, up and across the page at the same time via panel borders and gutters that effectively exist both in the story and on the page. Both instances represent a significant expansion of the visual language of the series, shifting that aspect of the book into a higher gear just as the plot continues to thicken.

That plot thickening culminates in the arrival into the narrative of a character who is presumably Satan himself. With Collar and Rake’s manipulation of Hell’s carefully-constructed social and political hierarchy wreaking havoc across the realm, the big man himself steps in, calling in all of Hell’s oligarchs to address the unrest. It’s a significant plot development which, combined with Browne’s artistic innovations, makes Lucky Devils #3 more than just another issue of the series.