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HACK/SLASH - THE SERIES #10

"Now go find out about Wet Lesbians." - Vlad, Hack/Slash, issue 9

So what have we learned in issues 6-10 from "Hack/Slash"? We learn that even in comics girl on girl is hot, we learn that Elizabeth Bathory is still a fun idea to draw inspiration from in horror comics and we learn that Seely is intent on keeping Cassie's sexuality as ambiguous as humanly possible. Is she bisexual, bicurious, sexually confused, or just plain homosexual and doesn't know it? Is Vlad jealous of Cassie's time with Georgia as a friend, or as... a love interest? One can only really guess, but you have to appreciate the balls to draw such sexual appeal from Cassie Hack only to have her possibly be playing for the other team and risk losing the fan base of horny comic geeks of the male persuasion.

I speak of other people, obviously. Cassie still has my heart. Not literally, of course.

Issue 10 begins the newest of arcs, "Little Children," which features our young Cassie and consistently sexually curious Vlad on the road still healing from their battle with the skin sucking lesbian eel from "The Tub Club." With Cassie now on the track of her father thanks to a confrontation with law enforcement, and her increasing dismissal of her feelings for her friend Georgia, the duo have now come at a crossroads in their partnership after they're confronted with a brand new menace they never expected.

What begins as random ramblings in an aging hippie's journal progresses into a possibly possessed tribe of cannibal children who are seeking only to survive and recruit, and in effect, strike at all adults through vicious forms of hunting rituals. This new enemy may also lead to Cassie's dad Jack who may or may not be as much of a monster as her mom was. Though the allusions are made that he took part in horrible government experiments, writer Seely is thankfully keeping his identity and inevitable backstory a series of hints and allusions that may ultimately decide how Cassie lives the rest of her life.

"Little Children" begins with many a disturbing moments and force Cassie and Vlad to re-assess what they do as monster hunters and to distinguish what is crossing the line and what is absolutely necessary. This new menace has the face of innocence, but is surely posing a threat, with a purpose that has yet to be properly explained or defined. Another new arc is under way and it's much different than the previous villains. Vlad feels a connection to them since they are abandoned children raised in the dark, while Cassie really has to come to terms with her inevitable actions to prevent this menace from spreading while also wondering if these children can be saved at all.

In the background there is now a police investigation underway, which may hurt Vlad and Cassie for sure, since they're just seeing children being murdered and nothing more, which Seely alludes may cause them severe problems in the future, while the connection to Cassie's dad Jack gets thicker and thicker. Is Jack still alive? Is he around? Will he accept his daughter? Will he cast her away? More importantly, is he just another slasher like her mother was? Stone is once again the perfect artist for "Hack/Slash" able to convey Cassie's nuances of subtle sex appeal and pure vulnerability in the process. The art is immaculate and set the tone for this new arc. Issue 10 comes to a rather gripping climax that will spell big things, disastrous and new for the entire "Hack/Slash" cast, and I'm looking forward to what Seely and incredible artist Emily Stone can offer up as this story progresses.

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