Hack/Slash: Back To School #2 Review

Hack/Slash: Back To School #2 Review

Hack/Slash is back for issue #2, and I’m not sure what direction the story is headed or hanging depending on the page turn. Pun, activate! But the issue did do some creative transitioning and laid down some pretty cool art combos that I’d like to get into. But if you’re new to Hack/Slash, then I’ll refer you to my first Hack/Slash #1 review, but here is a quick up-and-down on the character Cassandra Hack.

This is an ongoing mini-series written and illustrated by Zoe Thorogood and created by Tim Seeley and Stefano Caselli. It’s crazy; it’s horrifically gratifying, uniquely creative, and very twisted modern, so if you’re into hacked heads, blood bodies, and bludgeoned brains—Hack/Slash is your cutesy horror hack.

SLASH FUN H-ACT: Did you know that Hack/Slash did a crossover with Chucky? WHAT?!

The issue opens with a creepy black masked demon fronting as a BDSM porn shoot extra listens to the director tell a pretty blonde actress how the shoot is going to go. It doesn’t take long before the director realizes that his company has false intentions, but he takes a knife right up medulla oblongata alley before getting a chance to react.

I believe the judges give him a solid 8 across the board for the boomerang split, his real assistant making a break for the door. I feel like Zoe is giving us some context on the older woman from the diner in issue one, explaining how she got her cut. Zoe gave us a real statement as the murderer carves into the hanging actress’s face, a statement that most women feel about porn work.

I was honestly shocked to see it make the pages. I remember a time when porn work and school shootings were off-limits topics. I’m really glad the boldness and raw truths of the world around us can exist in a story; it makes the world that much more relatable.

I have to say that I’m not sure what the bits of story worry about some award-winning meme at the academy. The dialogue and actions made the reading boring for me. I can’t speak for die-hard fans, who must know some level of Easter egg or deeper reasoning behind it.

My attention peaked above the lackluster page turns around page nineteen, which ended up turning out to be so entertaining; that quality fell to the bottom of my analytical list. As a reviewer, I can forgive funny moments like Vlad dancing with Baby Boo if it means that we’re about to hop into a computer game that reflects a game I grew up playing on the Atari.

You have to be open to the style and variances of art, the way the writing, lettering, and color work in unison to present a scene or series of events, and you have to be open to the comic breaking normal cadence to be different. So when Mabel sent Cassie, Boo, and Darla on a hunt, the team broke cadence and gave us something different in the same format.

 “I repeat, his dick is out,” says Baby Boo, seemingly annoyed by the body that was found hung and sliced in two. Thinking the job was over, Cassie smelled trouble, and that’s when they were sucked into a computer screen, landing in the world of Frog Boy.

Frog Boy, a forgotten video game raved about by its buzz feeders in the past on social media, is the container for these hunters’ demise. I loved the 2D-style pixel art Zoe gave us throughout the rest of the issue. At one point there was a crayon transition, and I couldn’t help but use my powers of empathy to think methodically about how much she enjoyed drawing this page.

It’s easy to sit back and judge something based on merit or even not knowing the direction a piece of art is taking, but in all your years of learning about art, you’ll discover—that is, exactly what true art is about—the process.

And I’m here for that, because if the creators we love enjoy the content they are making, then we know we’re getting something special, not just another formula-driven piece of industry that adds pages to our book count.

I’m left with questions, though, so I’ll share those with you, as I reserve the right to inform you that if you’d like to find out how the girls escape this Frog Boy game, then hack/slash your way to the nearest comic shop today. As always, stay geeky, share the network, and don’t forget to catch me on the latest episode of Comics’N’Poptarts.