“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” That famous quote, often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, was what came to mind as I read DEVIL’S LUCK: A HAILSTONE STORY #3 from the team of writer Rafael Scavone and artist Eduardo Ferigato. This review is essentially for issue #3, but I was new to the series so I decided to fire up Comixology and get caught up on the first two issues before diving in to issue #3, which will be available to the public on February 17, 2026 through Comixology Originals.
DEVILS’ LUCK: A HAILSTONE STORY takes place in 1935 in the fictional town of Hailstone, Montana. A young, local dentist named Tim is installing gold teeth, by request, into the mouth of a wealthy mine owner named Mr. Auberon. The rich man boasts of his great luck and how he came upon said luck after encountering a mysterious, snake bitten man named Astaroth. After getting Astaroth to a doctor, saving his life, Astaroth presents Mr. Auberon with an amulet. He tells Auberon that the amulet would make his greatest wishes come true. This seems to be the case, evidenced by his great wealth and financial fortune. Three disgruntled, former employees of Mr. Auberon enlist Tim in a plot to kidnap the tycoon, remove his gold teeth and split the proceeds of the heist. What could go wrong?
When everything goes wrong, the motley thieves devolve into a powder keg of murderous paranoia and questionable morals. Issue #3 picks up as our protagonist, Tim, makes a character altering decision that shifts the balance of power within the group. Now, the remaining members must figure out if a gentlemen’s agreement is even possible among thieves.
I’ll be transparent and tell you straight out that I’m enjoying the hell out of DEVIL’S LUCK. (See what I did there?) The storytelling of the art and page layouts are clear. There’s a hint of scratchiness to the penciling that the inking maintained without sanitizing too much of it away, which is a good thing. The moody shadow work in the darker scenes are rich without obscuring anything important. The action scenes have lots of movement but nothing gets lost or difficult to follow. Overall, the artwork is rock solid.
I think the writer, Rafael Scavone, understands that this type of story works best with a small “cast” and hasn’t, as of yet, injected too many unnecessary characters into it. It’s a small story that needs the existing characters to be isolated enough from the larger world for their circumstance to feel inescapable and for their paranoia to feel justified by this circumstantial inevitability. They are trapped by their own decisions and flawed plan execution.
The members of the heist group have very distinct personalities ranging from calm and steady all the way to unhinged and unpredictable. So far, Tim is the only character to make any significant character change and it’s this change that creates additional tension going into issue #3. Watching the remainder of the group figure out how to deal with Tim once he is in possession of Mr. Auberon’s amulet changes not only the group dynamic, but the trajectory of the story overall and I’m very excited to see where we go from here.
There were a few quirks in the dialog that bumped me. It’s obvious that the intent is to imbue the way the characters speak with a certain folksy, time period appropriate charm which it is quite successful at. However, there were a couple of turns of phrase and a few lines of dialog that were slightly confusing. Rafael Scavone is Brazilian, so maybe that is what I’m picking up on. Maybe my sense of linguistic perception is so fine tuned that I picked up on that, or… maybe I’m full of shit and imagining things. Either way, it wasn’t enough to distract from an otherwise awesome comic. This is a five part series and I am looking forward to seeing how it all comes together and ends. Who knows? Maybe there is honor among thieves. Maybe the gang can pull it all together, honor their agreement and each party can sail off into the sunset, making it rain and living the good life. Or, maybe it’s the same as it ever was and it’s only the Devil who ever truly gets his due. We’ll see… and I’m here for it.
SCORE 8 out of 10
Written by: Rafael Scavone
Art by: Eduardo Ferigato
Publisher: Comixology Originals
Story page count: 17
