Hack/Slash #5 – Review

By: Tim Seeley (writer), Kyle Strahm (art), Mark Englert & Nate Lovett (colors), Crank! (letters) & James Lowder (edits)

The Story: Cassie & Vlad run into Fantomah, protector of the Jungle,  in this done-in-one story.

What’s Good: Ya know, sometimes it is nice to have a comic that stands on its own and isn’t part of a 4-6 issue story arc.  It almost doesn’t matter whether the story is good, bad or just kinda “blah” because it changes up the pacing of the series and keeps future stories from being so predictable. This done-in-one story features the “Return of Fantomah” who must have been a character from one of the latter Hack/Slash stories at Devil’s Due Publishing that I haven’t read yet (all on my iPad, just no time…), but no prior experience is necessary because Seeley and Strahm give us a really nice little intro to who she is with a ~5 page intro.  The cool intro is written and illustrated in a very 60’s manner that shows us how Fantomah is some supernatural protector of the rainforest.  Then we cut forward in time to the present day and see Fantomah have a quick adventure with Cassie and Vlad revolving around Cassie’s ongoing desire to rid the world of the Black Lamps.  Not everything is what is originally seems and the pacing of the twists and reveals is really nicely done.

We get an art change for this issue too.  It is probably unfair to do this, but comparing Strahm’s art to regular series artist Daniel Leister’s, you’ll see that Strahm’s art is (mostly) much coarser.  You can see a lot of Chaykin influences and he has that interesting combo of some characters looking rough and scratchy combined with his women looking soft and curvy.  It’s a nice change.  And, the aforementioned intro section of the comic is really great.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Invincible Iron Man #505 – Well, there were only two comics for me this week, and while neither of them were at all bad, I’m going with Matt Fraction’s Iron Man.  This issue showed what I wish a lot more event tie-in arcs would do: tie in to the event in question without forgetting or putting aside dangling plot elements and characters.  A fun read all around and that showed that an event tie-in arc doesn’t have to be something to groan about.

Most Anticipated: Captain America #619 – I’ve been absolutely loving everything about Ed Brubaker’s latest arc in its tone, story, voice, and unique structure.  Not only am I excited to see how he ties it all up, but I also want to see how he deals with Bucky’s death and Steve’s return to the shield.  Big things are afoot this month for Cap and Brubaker’s been in prime shape as of late.

Other Picks: Batman: Gates of Gotham #2, DMZ #66, Mighty Thor #3, Wolverine #11

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: 28 Days Later #24 – Endings are hard, so the degree of difficulty on this final issue of the series was pretty high.  The creators really nailed it and gave us a heartfelt finale that bridges the gap between the two films and does some interesting things with two characters that I’ve grown quite fond of.  Now that the series has wrapped, be sure to check out the trades.  Runner-up: Graveyard of Empires #1

Most Anticipated: Dark Horse Presents #2 – It’s a pretty light week for my pull list, so I’ll go with this second issue of Dark Horse’s revived anthology series.  I have no idea what will be between the covers, but chances are pretty high that there will be something good on the menu.

Other Picks: All Nighter #1, Hack/Slash #5, Thunderbolts #159, Wolverine #11, Incredible Hulks #631