Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Greg Scott
Colourist: Andy Troy
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: Ahoy Comics
Why did the chicken cross the road? It's one of the oldest jokes that you might still hear told every now and then. The thing about this joke is that it's all set up. There are countless answers, and some of them are even funny, but the thing that matters most is the question itself. High Heaven is like that.
The set up for the story is perfect. David arrives in Heaven, only to find that it is just awful. His surroundings fail to meet the standards of even the worst motels, the staff are at best unsympathetic, and all the other inhabitants hate him. The early pages mostly involve David seeing just how disappointing Heaven is, and this is when the book is at its best.
Both the writing and the artwork do a great job of showcasing just how mediocre heaven is. The food is tiny, and nothing really works. The creative team achieve exactly what they set out to do in showing what it would be like if your eternal reward turned out to be just as disappointing as a bad package holiday.
High Heaven's problem is that, much like the question of why the chicken crossed the road, it eventually has to lead somewhere, and it isn't as good when it tries to have a plot. There is a side story set on Earth while the main story plays out in Heaven, and it doesn't amount to much. It involves something of a climax but it all proves to be insubstantial.
The main plot fares somewhat better, and the ending is fitting, but it doesn't feel like much has been achieved. It could be argued that this is the point, given the way it ends, but there is a difference between a story about someone who fails to achieve much ,and a story which fails to achieve much itself.
In all honesty it feels like the time that was spent on the conspiracy and David's personal quest could have been spent with the character just milling around heaven some more. Doing so would have allowed for more time for the character to interact with other people around heaven. They are all repeatedly shown to hate him, but none of them spend enough time in the book for that hatred to feel either deserved or understandable.
High Heaven is different. It takes the statement that "Hell is other people" and imagines what it would be like if that sentiment was just as applicable to Heaven. It is worth checking out to see its main character struggle with the reality of the afterlife, and it even has a few answers for why Heaven is the way it is. Unfortunately, just as with the chicken and the road, the question being asked proves to be more engaging than the answer the book ultimately provides. It's good; the writing is sharp, and the art manages both glamour and grime, but it definitely could have been better.
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