Publisher: Image Comics
Writer(s): Michael Moreci, Steve Seeley
Artist: Emilio Laiso
Release Date: 2nd July 2014

Tim Seeley’s Hack/Slash looked to be done and dusted when its Image run finished up last year. Cassis Hack had lost everything, but the Slasher threat was finally gone too. It was over.

As any horror fan knows though, there’s always room for another sequel. The difference is however, while most Slasher movies suffer from the law of diminishing returns, Hack/Slash is back and is every bit as strong as ever.

Time has passed since we saw Cassie last (told in smart little silent panels inside the words Hack Slash), and we find her putting her skills to use as a bounty hunter. Everything changes when she’s tracked down herself by Delroy, a fellow monster-hunter who needs help with a race of underground nasties, a sinister cult and the return of an ancient, primal God.

With Seeley now taking a backseat, Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley prove to be more than adequate replacements in the scripting department. Their take on Cassie is world-weary and clearly damaged by previous events, but still as brave and resolute as ever as she steps up to fight the new evils. The moment she finally pulls out her old baseball bat with nails hammered through it will have old fans cheering with joy.

Emilio Laiso’s art is absolutely spot-on here, so hopefully he gets a nice long run on the book, as he definitely gets the balance of horror, sexiness and humour so essential to Hack/Slash just right.

It was never as big a book as it should have been, but hopefully this is not just the start of new era for Hack/Slash, but the time for it to become a huge hit.

Rating: 4/5.

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The writer of this piece was: Jules Boyle
Jules tweets from @Captain_Howdy