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Writer's Commentary: Shawn Aldridge Talks Hack/Slash Vs. Vampirella #2
Dynamite has sent us a writer's commentary featuring Shawn Aldridge talking about Hack/Slash vs Vampirella #2, with covers by Carli Ihde and Goran Sudzuka. Interiors by Rapha Lobosco.
Summary: The Blood Red Queen of Hearts continues her quest to win the love of the Mad-god Chaos by sacrificing innocents. Cassie Hack and Vampirella have teamed up to put a stop to it by any means necessary. Including a good, old-fashioned baseball bat beating.
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Shawn Aldridge:
Pages 1-4:
Picking up where we left off with issues #1, Cassie and Vlad are battling a demon. Here I wanted to establish that Cassie isn't necessarily in a situation she's unfamiliar with, not a fish out of water. She's just doesn't care for the water. Demons ain't her thing. Another element is seeing that Cassie and Vlad know how to fight together. They're a team.
Page 5:
Things look lost for our heroes. Cassie's stabbing the demon in the balls is a way to show she's a bit of a dirty fighter. Rapha's angles and perspective really help sell the kinetic energy of the fight.
Page 6:
Speaks for itself.
Pages 7-8:
Again, stressing the difference between Vampirella and Cassie's relationship vs Vampirella and Vlad's. The other thing I try to accomplish with this transition scene is give a little more bits of character definition. Info that makes the characters feel a little more real and layered.
Page 9:
The Blood Queen. A simple scene. Just giving a little more character to Blood Queen. Her hate for Vampirella.
Pages 10-11:
A scene that's told more through Rapha's art than the writing. There's a lot of body language that's selling who Cassie is — Cassie's impatience.
Pages 12-13:
If you have to do an info dump, in this case, the origin of the Blood Queen, you try to find an interesting way to do it. I like doing scenes where the info is overlaid on a scene where the action matches but only in a metaphorical way.
Pages 14-15:
Intro the classic costume. This is one of my favorite scenes in the book. The reactions of Cassie and Vlad convey so much of who they are.
Pg 16-17
Vampirella has no time for Cassie's attitude or opinions on her attire. Cassie and Vlad get a moment. Fist bumps are never bad.
Page 18:
I poke a little fun at myself with the abandoned warehouse line. I really like Vampirella's last line.
Pages 19-20:
We finally get to see all three in action together.
Page 21:
Cassie makes a mistake and the tension mounts.
Page 22:
Leave them wanting more. Also, you knew the Cassie vs. Vampirella fight was coming.