Image Comics 2017
Written by Tini Howard
Illustrated by Celor
Coloured by K. Michael Russell
Lettered by Crank!
Cassie Hack is the lone survivor of an attack by a Slasher called the Lunch Lady….a Slasher that happened to be her mother! She travelled the world with her monstrous partner and friend Vlad, hunting down and destroying Slashers wherever they found them! But then Vlad died and Cassie disappeared….
I was a little weary of trying to get back into Hack/Slash after not having read it in so long, and it has been three years since the last run ended. Vlad is one of those beloved characters and his death was, I don’t want to say a surprise but it didn’t sit well with me even though I get the rational behind it. I love Seeley’s work so I was like okay then I discovered that Tini was writing and I thought okay interesting. I’m kind of glad I’m reading this right now because it’s a new chapter with a new direction for Cassie and it still feels like it’s her, so Tini gets what Cassie is like and about.
Her job as it is is pretty cool even if she hates it but without going out and fighting monsters what’s a girl like her to do? At least this way she can wear her t-shirt, undies and thigh high socks and be comfortable without having to wear “pants.” By the by thanks for not making her really overly sexualised with this look either it is attractive and feminine while not being sexual so kudos. Still no matter how hard you try when you did was Cassie did you are bound to have something find you.
So when her trailer has visitors in orange jumpsuits and are twins but they are also zombies well I would’ve been all about solving that mystery. Not Cassie, she’s hellbound and determined to not be in that line of work, or that lifestyle any more. Still if it’s not visitors then it’s her dreams where she sees Vlad and ya know it’s that whole guilt, loss and grieving that she’s loathe to do rearing it’s head.
There are two interludes here and they play against each other nicely. One is a mad scientist type who is happy Miss Hack is around so he can test out his ever improving undead soldier's and the other an unexpected call from an old co-worker of her mother. With an offer that well she thought she’d outright refuse. Funny how things in life always go against what you want to do at least from my own experiences that is.
This is my first real exposure to Celor as an artist. From what I can see he’s got what it takes to do a monthly books interiors but still needs time to adjust to it. There are some inconsistencies when it comes to style of how characters look, the mad scientist in the prison has a much different take than seeing Cassie, like its two separate books. The book would benefit from more backgrounds being used to fully set the stage, tone, mood and feel of what’s going on here. Also side views of faces shouldn’t be so first year art student to say nothing of human anatomy at times where Cassie’s legs should never fit where they meet her pelvic region.
Tini has a great way of making the story flow. The way this is structured so that the events unfold and it feels like there’s this natural progression is great. There are multiple angles at play here with more seemingly on the horizon as Cassie joins the ranks of camp counsellor on the last page, which isn’t really a spoiler if you look at the cover. So what’s next in this new life Cassie is building well it certainly doesn’t appear much different than her old one at this point but it should be fun to see what’s next. Hopefully Celor will improve with each issue as the process begins to feel more comfortable.