By Tim Seeley (Writer), Emily Stone & Kevin Mellon (Art), and Mark Englert (Colors)
Some Thoughts Before The Review: The recently completed Re-Animator crossover left me itching for a stand alone, one-and-done Hack/Slash story about Cassie and Vlad taking care of some random slasher. Unfortunately, it looks like I may have to wait at least a little while for something like that. Why? Well, for starters, there is some serious character work to be done in the aftermath of the crossover. In addition, a few overarching plot threads are in serious need of some advancement. Luckily, it looks like Hack/Slash #18 is going to start dealing with those very issues so that the series can get back to what it does best sooner rather than later.
The Story: Picking up shortly after the traumatic events that involved Dr. Herbert West, the latest Hack/Slash finds Cassie and Vlad at a crossroad of sorts. Both characters question the status of their relationship and how they exist in the world in general. Vlad takes his questions to the bar where he finds himself facing off against a plethora of guest stars. Cassie, thanks to Vlad, spends some quality time with her lady-friend Georgia. Meanwhile, the demon from another dimension introduced last issue on a rampage in search of Cassie and the dog-like alien currently living with Cassie’s friends.
What’s Good: Tim Seeley’s character work for both Cassie and Vlad is incredibly effective considering how easily it could have come off as forced or overly dramatic. It’s next to impossible not to feel for the characters in some way, especially considering what went down over the past few months. As for the visuals, the best thing in the issue is Vlad’s brawl with a number of familiar comic characters. It’s a fun, well-choreographed surprise among all the weighty themes.
What’s Not So Good: The whole alien dog storyline just doesn’t do it for me as a whole. It has been going on for a while now and to this very day, it still seems out of place in a series so heavily based around the things that make the horror genre so fun. Hopefully the arrival of the demon-warrior thing signals the beginning of the end for that particular plot thread, because it feels like it just gets in the way of the good stuff.
Conclusion: Hack/Slash #18 is very good when dealing with Cassie and Vlad. On the other hand, it definitely loses a bit of momentum anytime anything else takes the spotlight. That said, the good most definitely outweighs the bad in what ultimately amounts to a strong, character-driven issue of an entertaining series.
Grade: B
-Kyle Posluszny
Filed under: Devil's Due Publishing, Reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged: aliens, Cassie Hack, Comics, Devil's Due Publishing, Dog, Dr. Herbert West, Emily Stone, Gore, Hack/Slash, Hack/Slash #18 Review, horror, Kevin Mellon, Mark Englert, Nef, Re-Animator, Reviews, Tim Seeley, Vlad | No Comments »
Some Thoughts Before The Review: After an extremely promising start, the latest installment in the Front Line series has sort of stumbled to the finish line (sounds like the main Invasion series more than a little bit eh?). And to be honest, I’m not exactly sure why that is, considering that the characters and situations have been compelling enough to hold my interest. I suppose my main complaint is that the story just hasn’t captured the situation as well as I’d hoped it would. With that said, I am still very interested in seeing how Brian Reed and his creative team handles the street level reaction to the main event battle in New York.
Grant Morrison takes a trip down memory lane, flashing to key points of Batman’s life while slowly weaving the story into the events happening in Final Crisis. These memories run all over the place, ranging from golden age to modern times. There’s a good story flow here and one that even casual readers will be able to follow without too much trouble. But per usual, those with intimate Batman knowledge will get the most bang for their buck.
The story: For the time being, at least until Ed McGuinness returns, Hulk Has been split into two separate stories with Art Adams and Frank Cho taking up the artistic duties on green and red Hulk respectively. The story. “What there is of it” seems to be written to match the artists strengths, so Art gets to draw slavering hordes of Wendigo’s and Cho gets to draw lots of ass and giant breasts as She- Hulk along with her Lady Liberators take on Rulk.
Once again, Brian Bendis (one of my favorite comic book writers) fumbles the ball on yet another Marvel event. If you thought House of M and Secret War was lame, well, feel free to lump Secret Invasion right along with those titles. Sure, the series had some great highs, but the conclusion is so anti-climatic and uneven that I couldn’t help but shake my head the entire time. What a waste.
Some Thoughts Before The Review: Let me just get it out of the way and say how pleased I was to find the art team of Adriana Melo, Mariah Benes, and Chris Sotomayor working on Ms. Marvel again. The three of them make for one hell of a team in my opinion. It will be interesting to see what they can do with a story that is much more subdued than the Secret Invasion arc that they worked on together.
Some Thoughts Before The Review: In my opinion, Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most consistently entertaining and visually impressive books Marvel puts out. It effortlessly blends action, comedy, and drama into one hell of a satisfying package. The question now is whether or not the series can maintain momentum since Secret Invasion pulled the team apart. My guess is that it can.
The Story: Bruce Wayne wrestles with his feelings for Detective Clarkson, while Batman tries to find her missing partner. Detective Lucas’ disappearance at the hands of Killer Croc clears him of being Midnight, but the harder Batman looks for Lucas’ body the further he gets from the truth about Midnight. 
Some Thoughts Before The Review: The Inhumans Secret Invasion tie-in has for the most part, been quite successful. It tells an engaging, cosmic chapter in the Invasion story while, at the same time, working to re-establish the Inhumans within the current Marvel Universe. I have had my issues with the series from time to time, mostly concerning the inconsistent artwork and unnecessarily complex storyline, but I look forward to seeing how the Inhumans are going to be situated for the future.