Although the "supernatural vs. cheerleader" motif has been done to death in the last decade or so, Zombies vs. Cheerleaders has been a great series, usually featuring short stories within the issues.
Hack/Slash has been a brilliant series from the get-go. Cassie Hack's mother was a serial killer and after her mother came back as a supernatural "Slasher," Cassie chose to pursue these evil killers and kill them all over again. Teaming up with a sheltered, deformed man with a childlike mentality named Vlad after mistaking him for a Slasher, Cassie and her partner form Hack/Slash Inc. and traverse the country, hunting these killers.
Summary: The issue opens to a football player beginning to change into a zombie, as his coach walks in. We quickly cut to a Seatle coffeehouse where Cassie and Vlad are getting the scoop on a rash of unexplained disappearances at a local high school. After a great scene dealing with Vlad's love for coffee and how much Cassie hates everything, the two decide to go undercover as high school students. Vlad is enrolled in special eduaction, and is quickly snatched by the football coach to be on the team. Cassie is almost immediately sent to the principal's office for getting into a fight and is placed on the cheerleading squad as punishment, so that she can learn to be a team player. Cassie has bonded with the squad by the end of the day and Vlad has become an instant favorite for the football team. Sleeping in their van in the school's parking lot, the two witness the coach dragging a bodybag into the gym and attack him. The coach doesn't even notice that they are armed with weapons, and quickly shoos them away, revealing a tackling dummy inside the bag, and threatens to turn them in for attacking a teacher. The dummy is opened up to reveal the body of a student and the coach hacks the body up, throwing the pieces to the multiple zombies in the basement. Vlad goes tot eh coach to ask him honestly what was going on, and after drugging Vlad, the coach tearfully reveals what happened. After giving his son some experimental steroids for football, the son attacks his mother and brother, turning them into zombies. Cassie hears everything and attacks the coach, but he locks the two heroes up with the zombies, and gets away. They escape, but also free the zombies from their chains, and all head for the gym. The cheerleaders do not miss a step as they pickup the nearest weapons and quickly dispatch the zombies, using some great 4th wall destruction. The issue ends with Hack/Slash leaving, believing the school is in good hands.
High Points: The art in this issue is very cartoon-y and some of the more serious moments manage to still be lighthearted thanks to that. Cassie and Vlad are written extremely well, despite being handled by a writer who hasn't worked with them before.
Low Points: Unfortunately, no other character is given much depth. Even the cheerleaders, coach and the principal who all appear frequently are barely given any real characterization.
Verdict: A. The humor is brilliant, but a lot of it rests on knowing some basics of Hack/Slash, so I strongly suggest that series before reading, and in general, and I hope to review some of it down the line. If you're looking for a book to spend a few extra bucks on to try something new, you could do a lot worse than pick this up. Plus, its gone some very hot cartoon women, if that's anyone's thing...
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