Spinning off of the series "Penny For Your Soul" the special follows a day in the life of Mary Magdalene the new manager of the casino and hotel where you can sell your soul for 10,000 dollars. The catch is that when you die you come and work for the hotel rather than go to Heaven or Hell. Two men are considering the transaction as they gaze at Mary's beautiful body from a distance. The men are about to sign the contract when one of them wants a date with Mary to be included. He has delusions of sleeping with someone that hooked up with Jesus. Mary says that she's far too busy and not that interested in their souls, until the man says they'll both spend their $10,000 on her. Mary perks up and agrees to the offer.
They meet at her place and find her hotel room covered in Faberge eggs. The story flashes back to a scene of Mary in the Roman era holding an egg and announcing that Christ has risen. She is mocked saying that Christ has as much of a chance at raising from the dead as the egg she holds turning red, which the egg then turns red. Back in the present day, Mary and the boys head out for a fun night out. They buy her things and take her all sorts of places before ending up in a club.
At that point one of the men grows a conscience about trying to "bed" Mary. She brushes it off until the other man calls her a whore and tells her to do what he says. At this point Lucifer interrupts her pausing the room as she's about to tell off the man. At that point he makes her an interesting proposition.
The special is pretty interesting and chalk full of biblical references. It's also a great standalone issue since you don't actually have to be following the main series in order to understand what's going on and in a way is a great book to pick up if you were looking to start reading "Penny For Your Soul." The narration is the strongest part of the writing as the two male characters are basically there as catalyst for the story. There dialog is pretty forgettable, but the parts with Mary and especially Lucifer are much better.
The art is also very good and fits with the story very well. Mary has basically become a sex object and as such her character design is quite beautiful. She wears short skirts and tight tops that would make any young boy blush. The artist also does a good job of showing Mary in the Roman era. The pencils are very rounded without harsh lines to give the book a very soft and smooth look. Because of this the story is able to move between the two moments in time without it being a harsh difference for the reader.
Overall I was a bit surprised by this issue. It was good solid story that I think can be a good jumping on point for new readers of the main series. The subject matter is most definitely not for everyone, but I honestly feel that there is a particular amount of care when dealing with the subject matter of religion. This book just released this last week so you might have to go to Big Dog Ink's site to pick it up unless you were lucky enough to find it in your shop.
At that point one of the men grows a conscience about trying to "bed" Mary. She brushes it off until the other man calls her a whore and tells her to do what he says. At this point Lucifer interrupts her pausing the room as she's about to tell off the man. At that point he makes her an interesting proposition.