THE STATIC AGE: All Hacked Up

Hack/Slash, do you know it? No!?! What the heck is wrong with you? I thought my readers liked comics, and horror. Then why wouldn't you know about one of the raddest horror comics out there? O.K. I'm judging. Maybe it's your favorite comic and I'm just assuming, and you know what they say about that. I know you're all familiar with the slasher genre, but just in case you're not let me fill you in. They usually revolve around a madman terrorizing a group of hip and sexy teens, made famous in the 80's with the likes of Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers (In my opinion Halloween is the pinnacle, all others just aped Carpenter).

So let me pose a question. What if there was someone out there who hunted down and killed these killers? Now what if that person just so happened to be one tough, sexy and scantily clad female? Now that's something that might spark your interest, eh, ehhh. The concept is so good I wish I thought of it. The stories revolve around Cassie Hack (daughter of slasher The Lunch Lady, Dun Dun Dunnhhh!) and her over-sized monster partner Vlad.

As a child Cassie was an outcast, constantly made fun of. You know the type. She knew her mother was killing those who did the fun poking and had no choice but to get the authorities involved. Unfortunately her mother didn't know when to stop and Cassie was present as she committed suicide to escape the fuzz. Finally, she found comfort with her new foster father but soon he died at the hands of another slasher. Witnessing these events transformed once introverted nerdy Cassie into outspoken bombshell slasher killer Hack.

Devil's Due Publishing dropped the first Hack/Slash one shot, Euthanized, in 2004. It became a cult hit, so DDP quickly followed with more and a crossover with Chaos Comics'Evil Ernie. After that young Cassie was glorified in her first trade collecting the first three one shots and a slew of sketches and a never-before printed story.

Next up we were treated to two mini series (Land of Lost Toys and Slice Hard) but between the two were one of the most clever comic ideas I've ever heard of. Another one shot simply called Trailers a collection of shorts featuring the Hack/Slash stories we've never seen but always wanted to (kinda like movie trailers, duh!).

Most recently, DDP has really been cashing in on this title's success with a second trade, a crossover with everyone's favorite loud mouth good guy doll Chucky (the first non series created slasher to grace the pages) and finally the very long over due Hack/Slash ongoing series. "Wait did you just say Chucky was in an issue of Hack/Slash?" Why yes I did. "But how can that be possible Chucky is a licensed character?" Well here's the deal, kids. Rouge Pictures which owns the license to Chucky recently bought the rights to make a Hack/Slash movie. I know this is all too overwhelming but control yourself. It's supposed to come out some time in the Oh Eight and is going to be directed by Todd Lincoln whose only other film credits I can find are as a P.A. on From Dusk Till Dawn, which is cool by me.

Other than that there's really little info leaked on the film as of yet. Other than just getting excited about the live action version of this kick ass series think about the other possibilities that Rogue Pictures have opened up for the comic. How's about a Shaun Of The Dead crossover! Not to mention Rogue has also announced a Castlevania movie. Cassie Hack and Simon Belmont, if that's not a match made in heaven I don't know what is. So thank you Tim Seeley and Stefano Casseli (creators of Hack/Slash, I had to find some way of getting their names in here) for pumping out such a wicked horror comic. I'll be collecting the new series and will be patiently waiting for the movie's release.

-Matt D.