"The Crow: Hack / Slash #1" Comic Review

By now most of us know the legend of the Crow. When someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. When that death is wrongful, the bird can bring the soul back for vengeance. A new Crow has risen and it's gotten the attention of Cassie Hack and Vlad. They usually put down undead things that start killing people, regardless of who the victims are. This is going to be a bumpy ride.

The basic Crow myth would be enough to make this crossover entertaining. Writer Tim Seeley adds a unique spin to it to make things far more interesting. This is a wrinkle that ups the ante for the story and gives the Crow more meaning that just a ghost-like vigilante. I'm eager to see how this will play out, as there are a slew of possibilities available here.

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I will never get tired of Cassie Hack's attitude or her willingness to go against any opponent with little more than a baseball bat and a chip on her shoulder. She wields this bat like it's a mighty sword, delivering deadly blows with each swing. Artist Jim Terry shows us some of the crazy gore that comes as a result of these attacks and it's some chilling stuff.

The Crow's color scheme tends to be pretty black and white. This makes the appearance of blood really pop on the page. It stands out as an unnatural entity that really draws the eye. There's a shock factor to it.

This book isn't all doom and gloom. Cassie and Vlad bring with them a healthy dose of humor. They're cognizant of how insane their lives are when undead bird men are just an average Tuesday. Seeley peppers in some great dialogue that keeps the overall narrative moving at a breakneck pace while walking a fine line between comedy and horror.

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This also reveals the relationship between the two. Cassie may look physically vulnerable when compared to the lumbering Vlad, but she's more protective of him than he is of her. It's a sweet friendship that continues to delight. There's a great example of this when they come across a witness and try to decide what to do next. Cassie sees the woman for what she is: a junkie. Vlad doesn't see that. He's too innocent to notice. Letterer Neil Uyetake shows them whispering in word balloons framed in dotted lines.

The Crow: Hack / Slash is a crossover that just makes sense. Of course these two franchises would cross paths. There's some nice overlap, especially in the goth scene. If I could go back in time and tell myself in 8th grade about this comic, it would knock me right out of my JNCOs. Fortunately, this book is much more than a dark tale. There's a story of vengeance wrapped in good old-fashioned supernatural ass-kicking.