After a revealing issue centered on the villain, Hell to Pay #5 continues the main story this week. In a story about coins from hell, a mysterious group called the Shrouded College, and the penultimate issue of the beginning of a shared horror universe, Will Sliney and Charles Soule don’t disappoint with the fifth issue.
This issue starts similarly to the past issues, picking up a deal between a demon and a human. Each issue has shown how the coins from Hell have helped guide capitalism, the stock market, and other nefarious things that have made our culture centered on the evils of money. In Hell to Pay #5, we learn how diamonds went from an overabundant worthless stone to something coveted. Soule reminds us the state of the world is worse off thanks to these deals with demons.
These deals have been building up our understanding of how our natural world was artificially tilted toward evil. That’s an interesting concept to think about since the villain is trying to reverse it. Maybe he’s not so wrong, and since he doesn’t play by the rules similar to the good guys, who can say which side is on the right side of history?
Freaky demon, yo!
Credit: Image
Those deals get reversed later in the issue as Maia races to save her husband, Sebastian. A couple of significant developments have been set to a low simmer up until this point, which makes this a satisfying issue. That includes a man in a cage Sebastian and Maia had captured, the villain’s end goal, and even a little about the Shrouded College. Penultimate issues in comics tend to feel flat as they spend all their time setting up the finale, but this issue gives us satisfying reveals and action to satiate the adventure here while raising the stakes for the final issue as well.
The only weakness is it’s not clear what the cost will be to Maia or her child by using the coins, so the stakes aren’t very clear as far as that element. One can assume it will cost something, but the coins are used to move the story forward quickly and too conveniently.
The latter is important since they are central to this universe’s future. A self-proclaimed heroic effort, it’s made up of strange creatures like a tree man and a creature that looks like a ghost.
Will Sliney goes hard on the demons in this issue, and their designs are freaky and unique from anything you’ve seen before. The opening demon has two heads loosely connected to a body in a grotesque style. We get to see three different demons in this issue, each with a different look. The play with the layout and composition of the page also continues to be energetic and fun. Double page layouts that are slashing diagonally add excellent energy to the page.
Hell to Pay #5 is a good penultimate issue setting up a final battle and delivering key details to further flesh out the world.
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