Comics
Review: ‘Hack/Slash’ #22
Readers should be prepared as Hack/Slash #22 triggers the inevitable countdown of the series’ last issues. At their weakest, the slasher slayers, Vlad and Cassie Hack, are about to face their deadliest enemy. The issue is riddled with questions about whether these two will ultimately make it to the end.
WRITTEN BY: Tim Seeley
ART BY: Elena Casagrande
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: January 9th, 2013
The slashers the duo once defeated are now coming back to life with a vengeance. As if they are being led by a psychotic mastermind, the slashers are targeting the loved ones of the slayers and anyone they previously rescued. The future doesn’t look too bright for Cassie and Vlad as they are destined to lose their greatest battle ever.
I really enjoyed how Tim Seeley steadily builds the somber atmosphere. After this heavy loss, Vlad and Cassie do not want to fight anymore. The opposition appears to have the upper-hand because this latest defeat has left everyone feeling beaten and exhausted. To heighten the suspense, Seeley hints that someone isn’t going to make it out to the last issue. The major question is whether or not this partnership will actually survive at the final moment.
Though there is very little action, the issue is really heavy on plot. Seeley focuses on the emotional toll that has fallen upon the inseparable slayers. Though readers have to wait to see Cassie in action, the payoff is definitely a major surprise during the last pages. Longtime fans finally discover what put Cat Curio, the semi-private detective, in a deep coma. The issue ends with a shocker, promising the missing action will be found in the next chapter.
Artist Elena Casagrande centers the emotional weight of the themes in close-ups, as the characters deal with their grief. In Casagrande’s character design, Vlad looks more like a muscleman, which is different than the hulkish beast that Vlad is usually portrayed as. There is a tremendous amount of detail in the clothing, especially when the slashers make their appearance known.
What really stood out for me is Casagrande’s visual interpretation of Cassie, who looks more like a supermodel. With her chic hairstyle, Cassie has a keen fashion sense as she wears her purple jacket. Though Vlad looks like a freak, he has the mind of a naive and innocent child. Casagrande focuses on Vlad’s child-like expressions as he tries to understand about death and the loss of his friends.
Ending on a major cliff-hanger, “Hack/Slash” #22 is an enjoyable read that works well for longtime fans and newcomers. The “Final” story arc promises that the “Hack/Slash” series will end at a grand-scale conclusion. As a fan of the “Hack/Slash” series, I really want to know how it will end for Cassie and Vlad.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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