Hack/Slash: Back To School #1 Review

Hack/Slash: Back To School #1 Review

Zoe Thorogood is a name that, if you don’t already know, you’re going to want to remember because, for the first time, Zoe will dive into the greatest back-to-school mini-series comics have ever seen. Zoe is an Eisner Award winner for Most Promising Newcomer with her title Eternity, Eternity, Eternity, and went on to grace the pages of Creepshow Vol. 2 #3, working with heavy hitters like Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys), Becky Cloonan (Wonder Woman), Phil Hester (Gotham City: Year One), Michael Wash (The Silver Coin), Dan Watters (Homesick Pilots, ArkhamCity), and Abigail Larson (Sandman Universe: The Dreaming).

Great things keep on happening for the 2023 breakout talent now with Hack/Slash: Back To School being published through Image Comics, and Geek Network gets to spin its reaction on the first issue.

In the spin-off series of one of Image Comics longest-running series, this Hack/Slash chapter is dedicated to the character Cassie Hack, a villain lamented in previous Hack/Slash titles. Now I’m usually pretty critical of these horror types, because most of the time, as Stephanie Phillips said in our interview on Comics’N’Poptarts, “murder porn” is usually the object of these types of stories.

While Hack/Slash definitely fulfills that 70s slasher vibe, Hack/Slash: Back To School has shown up to show out because Casandra Hack has something to say, and the vitriol is just scenery. I can’t deny the good storytelling here, but if there were ever a character going to arc in this series, you’ll bear witness to it here.

My initial reaction is basically a shocked executive who is impressed, and that doesn’t usually happen, so kudos to Zoe Thorogood for depicting probably one of the hottest grannie slashers you’d hope to meet on Halloween. Vlad emerges from the pages of Cassie’s previous adventures, but we find her at a burger joint, vexed with inner turmoil, trying to make sense of herself but, more importantly, holding onto something that matters.

Nothing leads people astray more than feeling like you lost what you believe in, and her words literally cattle-branded my soul. Now I’m just speaking for myself, but no one is perfect, and Casandra is just trying to fit in, but after the server in the bunny costume goes supernatural Rambo on some kids, as a reader, you might think that Casandra might be where she needs to be—as a slasher.

Of course, once that smoking hot granny slasher comes out of nowhere to save the day, Casandra, obviously dealing with some grassroots trauma, leaves in a flurry. Casandra sees this old slasher as her white rabbit and rushes after her. Hack/Slash: Back To School is the slasher hunter gore factory you didn’t know you might need. The art is spectacular, and the visual storytelling is completely in sync with what’s being told by Casandra herself. For someone who is completely new to the series, I have to say that I just hit subscribe on my comics list because I need to know how this story ends.

They say never judge a book by its cover, and if you see Hack/Slash, you get the sense that what it looks like is what it is, and I’m telling you right now, eat your foot and take a seat because there is depth in the grotesquely depicted guts of this saga. A big shout out to Image for letting us review this and say a few words. Zoe has done a phenomenal job with this story. Don’t forget to support your local comic store or visit your favorite artists and creators at cons. As always, stay geeky, share the network, and don’t forget to catch me on the latest episode of Comics’N’Poptarts.