Posted on: June 9th, 2010 Comically Challenged-Hack/Slash: My First Maniac #1
Making the jump from Devil’s Due Publishing to Image Comics, Tim Seeley’s Hack/Slash: My First Maniac #1 hit the stands this week! Now, sadly-I’ve never read a Hack/Slash until today. Fortunately, the whole point of this four-part mini-series is meant to be a jumping on point just for silly, inexperienced readers like me! Oh boy! Are you like me? Have you not had the pleasure of being introduced to Cassandra Hack? Well strap in, Sucka-here we go…
Cassie is a teenager. A social reject. An outsider. Who the hell doesn’t know what that feels like? I bet you ten to one you don’t know what it’s like to have a mother that murdered and cooked up every kid that ever bullied you though. If I lost that bet, I’m sorry. Like really, really sorry. Anyway, that’s the hand that Cassie’s been dealt. But then her mom died, but then her mom came back from the dead and did the same crap. Then Cassie shot her resurrected mother in the face. Enter a new-found calling for hunting down and killing slashers.
Obviously, judging from the title of the book, this mini will take us through the first time Cassie took down a creepy killer. (Evidently her mom “The Lunch Lady” didn’t count. I guess.) Instead, we’re going to go after Farmer Fig! Another back-from-the-dead guy that kills anyone that goes in his fields or tries to hump his daughter. You know, both the Farmer and the Lunch Lady mean well. That’s nice at least. I’m pretty certain we’ll see how she meets up with her soon-to-be partner Vlad in the next issue or so. Not sure who that is but with a name like Vlad, he’s got to be neat.
I love the fact that Tim Seeley is basically paying homage to all of the urban legends and horror cultural icons. We’ve all grown up with those movie icons that scared the crap out of everyone. I was treated like royalty in elementary school after I busted out five Candyman’s in the school bathroom mirror. And yeah, Bloody Mary, I killed your baby. What of it? But to actually ride around in a crappy van with a dude named Vlad and hunt them down? That’s awesome. With any luck we’ll run into a guy that wanders through campsites asking “Who has my tooooe?”
Another thing I enjoy about this book? It keeps the tone of the slasher flicks. Like it or not, those movies are sexy. That’s why they exist. Half-naked teenagers with their raging hormones getting murdered mid-bj is what it’s all about. (To be clear, I don’t condone murdering teenagers engaging in oral sex. Just wanted that out there…) It’s like Buffy the Vampire Slayer-here’s this pretty teenager that basically is fodder for the killer; but the twist is, she’s actually prepared to destroy you-not just run away crying after she gets out of the shower. Probably in her underwear. Now we’re kicking ass in our underwear and I approve.
Daniel Leister is on art and he’s doing just fine. The Lunch Lady looks like a dead Paula Dean. You know what’s super scary? DEAD PAULA DEAN! He also does a sweet, sweet splash page with all these slashers. I just sat and stared at it for 10 minutes. It’s pretty cool. I want to know the backstory of each and every one of these monsters. Especially the knock-off KISS band at the bottom. How do they kill people? By rock ‘n’ rolling all night and partying everyday I suppose.
On a very minor and unimportant sidenote, Mark Englert’s colors seem a little bright for the content. It seems to be a running theme in the book though. It’s obviously done on purpose, I just don’t get it. I like my horror dark and ominous. That’s just me.
Speaking of ominous, the omnibus…es. Omnibi? Omniboo? Doesn’t matter. The collected editions of all the previous stories are going to be reprinted by Image. Three volumes and I believe an annual will be available soon. Providing sales don’t suck, Seeley’s hoping to start up an ongoing much later in the year. So guys? Be nice to me and go buy the books. I’d like to read a lot more Hack/Slash in the future.
2 Responses to “Comically Challenged-Hack/Slash: My First Maniac #1”
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Kate Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 6:57 amHack/Slash is AWESOME. Honestly, it’s one of my favourite comics.
I’d recommend reading the other issues (published under Devil’s Due I mean).
What’s better than a hot girl kicking ass, I ask you?
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Auburn Says:
July 6th, 2010 at 9:45 pmIt’s pretty clear that you have amazing taste then, Kate. I can’t wait for the reissues of those earlier books. What’s better? Not much, ma’am. Not much.