_Proposition Player_ by Bill Willingham, Paul Guinan

Interesting graphic novel of the angels-and-devils-are-real variety. This one turns a small-time gambler into the biggest of bigshots. I thought it had some great ideas and held together pretty well, though it was never clear to me why the angels turned out to be jerks and the devils relative nice guys. Not that that's not a good idea for a story setup, but it seemed to be lacking some justification. A lot of fun visuals, and a lot of different mythological characters thrown into the mix.


Update 1/27/11: Looking at this, I realize I wasn't clear. This thing was worth a look, but it's not up to Willingham's usual standards. I guess I was hoping to damn it with faint praise. I couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like, but I think this review from IGN hit it...

"But the characters are generally unlikable, making it difficult to care what happens to Joey. The main character is an ass, remiss of any endearing or empathetic qualities. Only the strength of curiosity ("what happens next?") pulls the reader through to the clever finale."(IGN's Proposition Player Review)