TEN GRAND, Vol 2 (graphic novel review)

Review by Lily Fierro

Picking up where the first volume left off, volume two follows Joe Fitzgerald’s quest to save his love Laura, who has been pulled into Hell. Joe does not know why the demons from Hell imprisoned Laura, and unfortunately, he has a sense that he may have been double crossed by the angels who protect and aid him, so his voyage into Hell is one filled with ambiguities he needs to clarify sooner rather than later before he loses Laura forever.

Whereas the first volume of Ten Grand spent of its much time constructing the character of Joe, his history as a mafia enforcer and hit man, his and Laura’s death, his immense love for Laura, and in his eternal fate to remain on Earth to fulfill Heaven’s missions, the second volume focuses entirely on Joe’s mission to save Laura, with the flashbacks in this collection dedicated to understanding of the origins and imperfections of Hell and Heaven.

While volume one is more character oriented, with enough pieces of action to prepare for the events to come, volume two is completely action focused with pieces of history intertwined in order to better understand how Joe’s mission fits into the plans of the angels of Heaven and the demons of Hell.

Interestingly, the key action events are not quite the stars of the second volume of Ten Grand. Like a battle in a war, occasionally, the fight itself has less meaning than the motivations and consequences of the fight. In the battle between Heaven and Hell, Heaven is not purely good, and Hell is not purely evil. Consequently, when war erupts in the second volume, the reader becomes less interested in the battle and its winner and more in how Joe became both the instrument of Heaven and Hell, who he sides with, and how he will proceed with his life as his mission wraps up.

As expected, Ten Grand Vol. 2 raises further philosophical questions about one’s own existence and fate.

In the course of trying to save Laura, Joe saves Heaven, denying the offer of Hell to earn a place with Laura in a new Heaven ruled by fallen angels and demons. With the angels of Heaven owing Joe for not only saving them but also for double crossing him, rather than asking for a permanent place by Laura’s side or even a full day with her, he merely asks for the opportunity to torture his former mafia boss who betrayed him and an hour with Laura. Joe by no means is a loyal and obsequious agent of Heaven, but he did save the angels of it, entitling him to a large request, yet, the reward he asks for is a modest one, revealing a certain quiet resolve Joe has with his fate to live on Earth, die and see Laura for a moment, and then return to Earth again.

By the end of Volume Two, at the end of all of the action in the battle between Heaven and Hell, Joe’s mission, and his reward of an hour with Laura, we are left wondering, why exactly does Joe accept his fate?

We know that love motivated Joe to accept his servitude to Heaven and continues to motivate him to fulfill the angels’ tasks, but why does he not take the opportunity when it arrives to spend more time with Laura? Does Joe feel a perpetual guilt he needs to atone? Does he feel his existence belongs on Earth, and only Earth alone? Are there other greater forces controlling Joe despite his belief and exhibits of free will?

The answer is unclear, but this second volume prepares the series to return to a more character focused narrative, one that will most likely raise further questions about identity, love, and most assuredly, the grey areas between good and evil and the current life and the afterlife.