REVIEW: The Slasher’s Apprentice #1

WEPA! Now THIS is what I’m talkin’ about! Blood on the panels, trauma in the script, and a creative team that slices deeper than your favorite ‘80s VHS bootleg—The Slasher’s Apprentice #1 is here and it ain’t askin’ permission. It’s busting down the comic shop door like Jason on a bender and dragging the horror genre back into the shadows where it belongs. Welcome to the mad mind of Mad Cave Studios, baby. Let’s take a walk through this crimson masterpiece.

So dig this—The Slasher’s Apprentice doesn’t waste your time with slow burns or cheap thrills. From the first page, writer Justin Richards grabs you by the jugular and whispers, “You ever wondered how a killer gets made?” This ain’t just a slasher story—it’s an origin tale with teeth. Our protagonist, Riley, is no victim, no final girl. She’s a true-crime junkie podcaster obsessed with slashers and infamy, and she’s about to live her dream in the most twisted way possible—by helping her favorite serial killer, The Hopton Valley Slasher, reclaim his gory glory days. That concept alone? Straight-up sick—and I mean that in the best way.

Justin Richards has this wild ability to balance grounded psychological storytelling with full-blown horror mayhem. There’s tension in every panel, unease in every word balloon, and it builds like a slow knife press to the gut. You’re not just watching someone fall into darkness; you’re watching them run toward it, arms wide open, selfie stick in hand. It’s unnerving, it’s raw, and it feels horrifyingly plausible in today’s fame-hungry world. Richards doesn’t just tell a story—he lures you into a moral swamp and dares you to look away. Spoiler: you won’t.

But let’s talk about the art—Val Halvorson is a freakin’ beast with the pencils. The man’s style hits you like a back-alley ambush. His gritty, expressive linework gives every page a sense of decay and danger, like you’re reading this thing in a condemned cabin. The way he captures facial expressions—especially Riley’s subtle shifts from fear to fascination to fanaticism—is damn near haunting. Halvorson knows how to use shadows not just for atmosphere but for narrative weight. There’s blood, sure, but it’s where the silence lives in his panels that really makes you squirm.

Now if the art is the killer, then Rebecca Nalty’s colors are the weapon. She bathes these pages in sickly greens, bruised purples, and that unmistakable neon red that screams “DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR.” Every page feels like a crime scene filtered through a fever dream. The palette is moody but electric, pulsing like a dying flashlight in a basement. It elevates the entire book and sinks the horror deeper into your subconscious. Buddy Beaudoin on letters brings it home—his font work is sharp, chilling, and perfectly placed. He doesn’t shout with his letters—he lingers, giving each whisper, scream, and squelch the power to echo in your skull.

Let’s not front—The Slasher’s Apprentice #1 is more than just a killer debut. It’s a love letter to the genre that slices through meta-commentary, satire, and genuine horror with ease. It’s smart. It’s nasty. It’s got something to say and a bloody clever way of saying it. Fans of Scream, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, and even modern cult favorites like Terrifier are gonna eat this up with a rusty spoon. But it also works as a dark mirror for our obsession with notoriety and fame, especially in an age where everyone wants their fifteen minutes—even if it’s splattered in blood.

Bottom line? This book doesn’t pull punches. It buries the blade and twists. Richards, Halvorson, Nalty, and Beaudoin are the new murder squad on the block, and they ain’t playin’. This ain’t your average horror comic—it’s a legacy killer. A five-issue series like this has the potential to become legendary, and if the rest of the run hits like issue one, we might be witnessing the birth of horror’s next cult classic.

So do yourself a favor, slashers and scream queens—The Slasher’s Apprentice #1 ain’t just a comic, it’s an initiation. You in… or are you next?

SCORE:
4/5

Writer: Justin Richards
Artist: Val Halvorson
Colorist: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios

Author Profile

Al Mega: I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!