HACK/SLASH – Issue #10
Written by Tim Seeley Art by Emily Stone
Devil’s Due Publishing

After bringing Cassie and Vlad closer together in the Tub Club, issue 10 kicks them out of the tub and back on opposite sides of the pool. When Cassie learns of her father’s dabbling with children and animal instincts, she finds herself making decisions not seen clearly by her partner in crime, and almost the point where he wants to put a knife in her back. To the reader, we believe Cassie’s intentions, but then we’re also a little confused toward the end. Tim Seeley does a great job at establishing this conflict for both Cassie and the reader, making it interesting to see how well our girl is growing up around all this murder, mistrust, and mayhem. I love the timeframe Seeley gives his characters as well, giving his audience a steady progression for Cassie and Vlad into each new story. In fact, one could argue the main subplot through the entire series is Cassie’s mental state, whether it be the confusion with her sexuality or the frustration in being far from human in a female body. Her best friend is abnormal and yet, she continues to find normalcy in him and what they do for a living. It’s these challenges that Seeley brings to the book the makes his characters not only rich in development, but embracing to audiences. If there ever was a secret formula in creating the ultimate comic book, (you know, where one needs to go at least 100 issues), Tim Seeley has perfected it. It’s all in the characters and the stories you bring them; allowing them to grow and move to the next level without jumping or skipping a beat. And it doesn’t hurt to have a great artist on board as Emily Stone returns to knock out some more TV-sized panels. I tell ya, the more issues Devil’s Due puts out of Hack/Slash, the harder it’s going to be for Rogue Pictures to make a movie live up to these new and extremely high expectations. We’ll have to wait and see.

GRADE: A- CONTINUE READING? Tis only my favorite book to read every month. If Ronald McDonald shows up, then I might stop reading.

LOCKE AND KEY – Issue #1
IDW Publishing
Written by Joe Hill Art by Gabriel Rodriguez

Last year, IDW Publishing put out a great adaptation of Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show, allowing fans and ultimately other publishers know that novels can be turned into comic books. Oops. Sorry. I’m supposed to say, “graphic novels” to protect the shy and geeky. From the looks of it, IDW and the artist on TGASS, Gabriel Rodriguez, couldn’t get enough of that dead but living, witchcraft world as Locke and Key mixes elements of Barker’s cult favorite and Alexandre Aja’s guilty pleasure, High Tension. (I’m not saying the French title because I’m not freaking French!) At first, the time-jumping throws off the reader a tad bit since father and son look too much alike, and I didn’t see it clearly until the second time I read it. The structuring is the only real problem thus far as the rest, especially the art from Rodriguez, is a treat. He really has a cinematic presence to his paneling and captures the emotion in a scene like a video camera would. Writer Joe Hill does a great job at setting up the story, creating characters that are both realistic and alluring. Especially the bad guys, giving them half a brain as one counts shots from a gun to engage in man-to-hatchet combat. I can see why this property has already been picked up to made into a film as it feels like one on paper thanks to Gabriel Rodriguez. I just hope they don’t jump around too much in time because it didn’t make much sense to. Keep an eye on this book.

GRADE: B+ CONTINUE READING? Definitely keep reading. This story appears to only get better.

SPOOKS – Issue #2
Written by Ryan Schifrin and Larry Hama Art by Adam Archer
Devil’s Due Publishing

So after a decent setup in issue one, Spooks heads down the Saturday Morning cartoon route. You know, where everyone goes after everyone and it’s all, “I’m gonna get you!” and “No, I’m gonna get YOU!” and then they slapfight one another into a sugar-induced coma. I’m surprised Orko didn’t pop out at the end of this book to teach me not to stick my fingers in the nearest wall circuit because I kind of wanted to after reading this. After starting out with a sigh-induced nod to The Silence of the Lambs scene where Hannibal Lecter (yeah I know it’s spelled three different ways) and Clarice are talking about gyros, this book just kept tumbling down the hill like a runaway bouncy ball. There’s no real texture to the story, as it’s basically man vs. monster. It’s war! Who needs a story? Well, I do. I read books, and I’m not eight years old again watching M.A.S.K and pullin on mom’s shirt for a new Transformer. Now that I think of it, I bet this whole series is geared toward landing a deal with some production company that creates Saturday Morning cartoons! Wow, that’s both brilliant and transparent. The biggest letdown was The Headless Horseman as I was interested in where his story was going, and guess what? It was worthless. So disappointed that I must stop myself here before I continue on with the dumping and transition to diarrhea and vomiting. Spooks pukes.

GRADE: D+ CONTINUE READING? I’m sorta relieved the second issue bombed because I’m uncomfortable reading it anyway.

SILENT HILL: SINNER’S REWARD – Issue #1
IDW Publishing
Written by Tom Waltz Art by Steph Stamb

I was skeptical of reading this at first because I was bored to tears during the movie and the video games didn’t make a lick of sense. Maybe it’s because I was such a Resident Evil freak on the Playstation that this franchise never really had a chance with me. I played the first two games, and mainly enjoyed it for the graphics and sound. Story? Fogeddaboutit! So when I started to flip through Sinner’s Reward, I was amazed that the story was solid, linear, and moving along without getting stuck. A hitman takes off with the mob boss wife only to be tracked down to a gas station just outside our spooky haven of Silent Hill. There some bad stuff goes down, and leads everyone into the town to make things complicated. Thing is, it’s not, and I’m thankful. I love the atmosphere Silent Hill brings as it’s one of the scariest settings for ghosts and things that go bump in the night, but the psychology behind it never clicked, or as I like to say, never turned on all the buttons to make the machine work properly. Perhaps writer Tom Waltz felt the same way as he doesn’t even hint at things going from A to L without skipping beats, characters and story. It’s straight up, straight through a solid story. The art by Steph Stamb is good too as it feels real, giving readers a nice, photographic look for these new characters and establishing that “on edge” feeling Silent Hill is famously known for. I only hope the path continues in a straight line because to me, each game and the movie is good at setting up the trick, and then running away from it like a man on fire. But I have faith… and I guess Resident Evil to fall back on.

GRADE: B+ CONTINUE READING? This appears to be a meaty story for a franchise struggling to stay afloat.

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