Writer Tim Seeley drew inspiration from the slasher movies of the 1980s when he created the Hack/Slash comic book series in 2004, and over the years the characters of the series have crossed paths with several horror icons that have their roots in the '80s in one way or another – CHILD'S PLAY star Chucky, Victor Crowley of the HATCHET series, Herbert West from RE-ANIMATOR, Ash from the EVIL DEAD franchise.
This October, Hack/Slash will have a mash-up with the world of a comic series that predates Seeley's creation by thirty-five years, as Dynamite Entertainment has announced that they will be publishing the crossover Hack/Slash vs. Vampirella.
Hack/Slash follows the story of young Cassie Hack, the very epitome of horror movie clichés: the young woman and lone survivor at the end of every horror movie who then channels her emotional trauma into becoming the ultimate "killer of killers" herself! Along with a burly protector named Vlad, Hack travels across the country hunting slashers in the vein of Halloween's Michael Myers, Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees and A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger.
Now, the Vegas strip heats up as Cassie Hack, accompanied by her protector Vlad, are on the trail of a deadly slasher and meet the lovely, yet lethal Vampirella. The team-up event you've been waiting for is a high-stakes game of chance when they have to take on The Queen of Hearts!
Created by Forrest J. Ackerman and Trina Robbins in 1969, Vampirella has had her origin altered multiple times over the decades, but the gist of it that she's a vampire from a place called Drakulon, part of a blood-consuming race that has the ability "to transform themselves into bats at will, possess superhuman physical attributes, and sprout wings when required to fly." Legendary director Jim Wynorski helmed a VAMPIRELLA feature film starring Talisa Soto that was released direct-to-video back in 1996.
Hack/Slash vs. Vampirella is being written by Shawn Aldridge, with Rapha Lobosco providing the art.
Dynamite editor Kevin Ketner had this to say about the crossover:
Getting to see Cassie and Vlad team up with Vampirella is kind of a dream come true for a horror nerd like myself. It's times like these that I'm really glad that I'm not a demon here on earth trying to cause havoc, because I would honestly be afraid to find out they were working together against me. Shawn and Rapha are doing a beautiful job blending these worlds and giving us a scary, but incredibly fun story and I can't wait for everyone to check it out."
Hack/Slash vs. Vampirella will hit store shelves on October 4th.
I've been collecting every Hack/Slash comic ever since the first issue was released back in '04, so this crossover will definitely be added to my collection as well.