The Hatchet prequel comic redefined unhinged hermit Jack Cracker's death with a tragic origin. The one-eyed hermit portrayed by John Carl Buechler lived in Honey Island Swamp and often tried in vain to warn future victims of Victor Crowley to stay out or else. Dismissed for his eccentric lifestyle, American Mythology's Hatchet #0 explains Jack's personal connection to the relentless Victor Crowley that makes his death in Hatchet II that much more tragic.
As Hatchet's doomed haunted swamp tour boat prepares to head to Honey Island, Jack Cracker tries to get their attention and warn them that the island is closed for a reason. Although he gets the attention of others, the tour guide Shawn dismisses him as a local alligator hunter who's always yelling things and drinks his own urine. Jack's attempt to whistle or warn them about Victor Crowley go unheard over the sound of the boat's engine turning, the people unknowingly waving goodbye as Jack declares" Y'all gonna die," which turned out to be true for all of them except the series constant survivor, Marybeth Dunston.
In Hatchet #0 by writer James Kuhoric and artist Andrew Mangum, Jack goes home after trying to warn the tour group, telling what happened to his partner, a redheaded blow-up doll named Lucy. Although the entire conversation acts as proof of Jack's mental issues, he talks about an unspoken agreement between him and Victor Crowley that they don't bother each other as long as they stay where they belong. Jack knows the deformed repeater isn't the bogeyman or a local legend made up to sell souvenirs in New Orleans, he knows because he met Victor Crowley once when he was alive, on the same day he took Jack's eye.
The comic takes readers back to 1961 when Jack's playtime in Honey Island Swamp was interrupted by discovering local boys terrorizing the misshapen Victor Crowley, wandering alone without the protection of his father Thomas. The comic portrays Jack as a hero, using his slingshot and rocks to scare Victor's tormentors away and attempting to show Victor kindness by returning the remains of his doll to him. Unfortunately, Victor's anger and hate rejected Jack's kindness, attacking him and costing him an eye. While Jack considers himself lucky considering the fate of Victor's other victims, these details make Jack the unspoken watchman of Honey Island Swamp, attempting to save others from suffering at Victor Crowley's ferocity like he did. When his failed date night has him go back out for repairs, his actions are dictated by Victor Crowley's haunting moans, fearing to upset the balance they've maintained but wanting to help people in danger.
It's this struggle that seals Jack's fate as he intercepts Marybeth during the beginning of Hatchet II, escaping Victor Crowley by poking one of his eyes out and taking her chances in the gator-infested waters. Although Jack may never know Marybeth avenged the loss of his eye, helping Marybeth was simply because, like that fateful day decades ago, he couldn't stand by and watch someone suffer. Although his interference would inevitably end up costing him his life, Hatchet's Jack Cracker remains unique among Victor Crowley's victims for his crimes were only being a good Samaritan.
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