Hack/Slash vs Vampirella #2

Written by: Shawn Aldridge
Art by: Rapha Lobosco
Colours by: Chris O’Halloran
Published by: Dynamite

After the exciting first issue, Cassie, Vlad and Vampirella are back in this second issue, finally teaming up to try and take down the Blood Queen. The issue starts off with Cassie and Vlad as they are taking on a servant demon in a Las Vegas hotel, and not really getting anywhere. As the fight rages on, we get some inner-monologue commentary from Cassie explaining how the monsters in her circles tend to be, which allows readers to get an idea about the world of Hack/Slash - as compared to that of Vampirella’s. We get some of that information from Vampirella as she shows up to dispatch the servant demon, saving Cassie and Vlad in the process.

This is where the true team-up begins. Vampirella fills in Cassie and Vlad on the history of the Blood Queen: who she is, why the killing spree and how she goes about doing it. It’s a lot of exposition for a book you would imagine would all be about the action, but in a four-issue miniseries like this, sometimes taking a brief breather during the action is appreciated to allow the reader to not only understand what is going on, but invest in the storyline itself.

One thing I really enjoy when reading comics is when a writer will make an effort to make it so that I’m invested in the characters. There are many ways to do this, but one of my favourites is by giving them a personality that can be shown in a subtle fashion. Here, Barber does so with our three main characters Vampirella, Cassie and Vlad (Vlad’s reaction to Vampirella’s original costume is priceless), but he also establishes a personality for the servant demon. That’s right, a bit character, in a few panels, gets a personality. Bravo!

Lobosco and O’Halloran continue to work wonders on art. Lobosco’s line work is clean and O’Halloran’s colours give the whole issue a nice, flat look that works well for this type of comic. I like my horror comics o be slightly darker and less flashy.