Hack/Slash: Resurrection #1 Review

Hack/Slash: Resurrection #1
Writer: Tini Howard
Artist: Celor
Colorist: K. Michael Russell
Letterer: Crank!
Publisher: Image Comics

Review by John Dubrawa

Like the reanimated corpse of the killer in an 80s slasher flick, Cassie Hack is back. Just in time for Halloween, the aptly named Hack/Slash: Resurrection #1 is both a continuation of the on-again-off-again Tim Seeley-created series that started back in 2004 and a perfect starting point for new readers.. In fact, everything you need to know about the series up until this point is laid out by new writer Tini Howard before a panel even hits the page:

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 traveled 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.

That’s it.

Howard gets right to business in this first issue, giving the “retired” Cassie Hack enough temptation to get back in the slashing-slashers game as it were. That includes a new job opportunity that I won’t spoil here but suffice it to say it’s one of many homages to 80s slasher flicks that Howard peppers in her script. For the most part, though, Howard is setting the stage for what is to come, so the issue is a bit heavy on plot conveniences to get all the pieces where they need to be. Yet it’s obvious in just this one issue that Howard has the darkly humorous tone of this series down right from the get-go.

Much of that tone can also be attributed to Celor’s more lighthearted artwork. Cassie is rendered cartoon-like in nature, with expressive features and an anatomy that doesn’t befit any real-world human being. While Celor’s art can, at times, revel too much in this impossibly skinny Cassie traipsing around her trailer in her underwear, it also shows a much more modest, clothed version of our main character that we’re not used to seeing. That suits colorist K. Michael Russell well, who gets to try out a wide range of colors throughout the book, rather than draping it in the traditional black (and blood red) that’s typically used for the Hack/Slash world. I have to imagine Cassie will revert to her iconic goth makeup and clothing eventually, but for now it’s nice to see what the art team can do with her a little more grown up.

Verdict
Buy! If you’re a fan of the Hack/Slash series from before, this is another entry that looks and feels like all that has come before it. Still under the vision of creator Tim Seeley (he edits the issue), this newer version of Cassie Hack comes across as a bit more grown-up, but still with that biting wit and dripping with sarcasm at every turn. New series writer Tini Howard understands the character and the world that she inhabits, and makes sure that this is an issue suitable not only for Hack/Slash regulars, but new readers as well.