Story by Tim Seeley
Art by Kyle Strahm
Following the conclusion of the first arc of the new Hack/Slash series, issue #5 is a one-shot centered around the return of a godlike jungle protector named Fantomah. Fantomah shows up on Cassie’s doorstep to recruit her for a mission, luring her in with the promise of being able to infiltrate and destroy the Black Lamp once and for all. But not all is as it seems…
Issue 5 is a comparatively weak follow-up to the first 4-issue arc. Very little of consequence occurs, and even the series trademark cheeseball is a little lacking. The entire car-ride with Fantomah feels discombobulated, an oddly pointless discussion that hints at later impact and leads nowhere. The fight that encompasses most of the latter part of the book feels equally muddled, and ultimately lacks consequence.
Much of this confusion can be attributed to Kyle Strahm’s art. Previously, Daniel Leister’s art was sleek and well suited to the subject matter, lending the requisite sexy charm to the leading ladies and humanizing characters like Vlad and Pooch enough to make them likable. The switch to Strahm’s rough figures and gritty linework will be jarring to readers accustomed to Leister’s art, and his characterizations of some of the characters (Pooch in particular) feel off. Everything in the book comes across monstrous, draining the women of their sex appeal.
Additionally, his choice of viewpoint and framing in many later panels adds undue confusion to the final few scenes, but Seeley’s script doesn’t really help. This book feels like a throw away story that Seeley tossed into the mix as filler between arcs, which is disappointing after such a strong start for the book’s new incarnation. Hopefully things pick up with issue 6.
