Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comics Discussion Thread!

[MCT28]

Also, I'd be really surprised if Jenny's line about wanting to "play house" isn't a nod to the Evil Dead II commentary, and considering Fleecs did his homework by throwing in that line from the AOD Television Cut in the first issue, I'm going to make a safe bet that it is.

 

[DyD]

Yeah, this issue moved this comic from mildly disappointing to actively terrible.

They seem to have realized they have to pick one of the timelines to be the focus of each issue, so most of this issue is set in the post-apoc timeline, but then they still make the offensively bad and creatively bankrupt choice

Spoiler

to have the entire quest for the missing pages and a whole trip to a different continent happen off-screen and being jokingly hand-waved just so they can GO BACK TO THE FUCKIN' CABIN AGAIN. And for what? Why, to get a completely irrelevant throwaway cameo from Ash's severed hand, of course!

The little we see of the 1993 timeline isn't any better. So

Spoiler

the empty reference mini-Ashes murder Jenny right behind Ash's back and he doesn't even turn away from the computer while it's happening? And apparently he still doesn't give the slightest shit about it even after the cops show up? That's either shitty characterization or rushed, confusing storytelling. Maybe both.

And I still have a feeling everything I found potentially interesting in the medieval timeline is gonna get brushed off instead of properly explored.

I'm still gonna skim #6, since that would be the original end to this run and the current halfway point, but I'm pretty positve I'll be dropping the whole thing after that.

 

[MCT28]

They seem to have realized they have to pick one of the timelines to be the focus of each issue, so most of this issue is set in the post-apoc timeline, but then they still make the offensively bad and creatively bankrupt choice

Spoiler

to have the entire quest for the missing pages and a whole trip to a different continent happening off-screen and being jokingly hand-waved just so they can GO BACK TO THE FUCKIN' CABIN AGAIN? And for what? Why, to get a completely irrelevant throwaway cameo from Ash's severed hand, of course!

I want to also point out that when Ash gets there,

Spoiler

the cabin and the woods are smoking.

Was there a wildfire a few hours before he got there, or has this place been smoking for an entire century?

As for 1993, I figured

Spoiler

Evil Ash would try to make Jenny his "queen" in this time period since Sheila got away, but no, he's still obsessing over her when we get to the 1300 AD segment.

Also the series was intended to be 12 issues from the get-go. Fleecs said that before the first issue released, and Dynamite just held back on that just to generate hype after the first issue came out.

 

[DyD]

Was there a wildfire a few hours before he got there, or has this place been smoking for an entire century?

I was also confused about that, but then I read it again and figured

Spoiler

the battle they were having while the narration was telling us about their journey across the ocean was actually at the cabin site. They were already there and the place was smoking from the deadite-tank-thing exploding. Just another example of the storytelling getting confusing for being so rushed I was talking about.

Also the series was intended to be 12 issues from the get-go. Fleecs said that before the first issue released, and Dynamite just held back on that just to generate hype after the first issue came out.

Well, that does make a lot more sense, cause based on what we got on these first 5 issues I really don't see how they could've reached a conclusion in only 6.

 

[Kain]

Army of Darkness Forever #8 covers are out!

 

[MCT28]

I was sick these past few weeks and totally forgot AOD Forever #6 came out this week. Just picked it up and noticed a few things:
* The cover (at least the "A" cover I got) seems to be a bit thicker than the previous issues, like on higher-quality paper.
* Price increase. Previous issues were $3.99, while this one was $4.99. Maybe the change in cover has something to do with it (because it certainly didn't feel like a bigger issue)

Anyway, onto the story itself:
* The 1300 AD section had it's moments. Like I said about the last one, Deadites taking over the castle isn't anything new, but I did like that call-back to the Ash and The Army of Darkness series

Spoiler

by having the Deadite horse talk

. It also satisfied my curiosity on

Spoiler

what would happen if someone tried to wake the sleeping Ash in the cave.

* 1993 and 2093 aren't anything to write home about, either.
Overall, pretty "meh" issue, but it wasn't terrible.

 

[DyD]

I checked #6 expecting to find it terrible, but I'm actually much more positive on this issue than I was on the previous few. The medieval storyline with Sheila is finally moving forward and I mostly enjoyed what they did with it. I like what seems to be Sheila's character arc, I loved the scene where

Spoiler

she tries to wake up Ash

and they're also finally dealing with the Duke Henry stuff I was so interested in, even if they're still not digging into it as much as I'd like and I fear it will end up just a rehash of AoD.

The gratuitous referencing of the movies is still distracting and mucking up the works (the boomstick stuff did not work at all and left me cringing), but the main problem remains the ridiculously rushed storytelling. Sometimes it feels like the comic is running on a rough outline rather than a properly developed script, just jumping from plot point to plot point in the most inconsequential manner. I continue thinking each of the three stories would work much better as their own separate narrative rather than this interconnected timelines nonsense. Speaking of which, we finally see how two of the timelines are actually connected in a narrative sense, and to my surprise, I didn't hate it. The alternating between the timelines seems more fluid and the twist with the completed Necronomicon in the post-apoc timeline actually worked for me and I loved the totally out-of-nowhere weirdness of

Spoiler

the book turning into the demon baby creature thing once completed.

Even the 1993 timeline had some interesting stuff happening this issue, as I really wasn't expecting

Spoiler

regular Ash himself to turn into Bad Ash, actually leaving that timeline without a "hero" Ash. Bad Ash is the only Ash in 1993 now, and that's very interesting to me. That even makes me reconsider some of my criticisms of Ash's characterization last issue, as that stuff makes a lot more sense if you take it as part of Ash's transformation into Bad Ash.

I was all ready to drop this series, but I think I might still check out #7. Even though I still have many problems with the execution, at least this issue made some interesting story movements and piqued my curiosity to see what happens next.

 

[Kain]

Army of Darkness Forever #9 covers are out!

 

[Swofty]

Sgt. Rock vs The Army of the Dead, written by Bruce Campbell

ABOUT DC HORROR PRESENTS: SGT. ROCK VS. THE ARMY OF THE DEAD​

Berlin, 1944. The Nazis are besieged on all fronts by the Allied forces. Defeat is inevitable. But Hitler and his team of evil scientists attempt a last-ditch effort that may turn the tide of the war and rewrite history itself: a serum that resurrects their dead soldiers, stronger than they were in life, and sends them back into the battlefield.

Now Sgt. Frank Rock and Easy Company have been dispatched into enemy territory to face off against the strangest, most horrific enemies they’ve ever encountered: Nazi zombies!

Sgt. Rock and Easy Company are behind enemy lines, armed to the teeth, and ready to go up against the strangest-and deadliest-enemies they’ve ever encountered: zombies, and a whole lot of ’em! Strap in, soldiers, it’s you against the world…of the dead!

Horror icon Bruce Campbell and comics legend Eduardo Risso bring you a terror-soaked Sgt. Rock tale like no other!

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock vs. The Army of the Dead by Bruce Campbell: 9781779520654 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Berlin, 1944. The Nazis are besieged on all fronts by the Allied forces. Defeat is inevitable. But Hitler and his team of evil scientists attempt a last-ditch effort that may turn the tide of the war and...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

 

[MCT28]

Sgt. Rock vs The Army of the Dead, written by Bruce Campbell

ABOUT DC HORROR PRESENTS: SGT. ROCK VS. THE ARMY OF THE DEAD​

Berlin, 1944. The Nazis are besieged on all fronts by the Allied forces. Defeat is inevitable. But Hitler and his team of evil scientists attempt a last-ditch effort that may turn the tide of the war and rewrite history itself: a serum that resurrects their dead soldiers, stronger than they were in life, and sends them back into the battlefield.

Now Sgt. Frank Rock and Easy Company have been dispatched into enemy territory to face off against the strangest, most horrific enemies they’ve ever encountered: Nazi zombies!

Sgt. Rock and Easy Company are behind enemy lines, armed to the teeth, and ready to go up against the strangest-and deadliest-enemies they’ve ever encountered: zombies, and a whole lot of ’em! Strap in, soldiers, it’s you against the world…of the dead!

Horror icon Bruce Campbell and comics legend Eduardo Risso bring you a terror-soaked Sgt. Rock tale like no other!

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock vs. The Army of the Dead by Bruce Campbell: 9781779520654 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Berlin, 1944. The Nazis are besieged on all fronts by the Allied forces. Defeat is inevitable. But Hitler and his team of evil scientists attempt a last-ditch effort that may turn the tide of the war and...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

I read it when it came out (and have the hardcover right behind me). It's a fun series, and exactly what you expect it to be when you thing "Bruce Campbell wrote a comic about Nazi zombies". Unlike other comics written by celebrities, it didn't feel like someone was holding Bruce's hand throughout the writing process, almost like the only stipulation editorial gave him was that each issue had to be X amount of pages (though I haven't read the Man With The Screaming Brain comic adaptation he also wrote to compare the style).

 

[MCT28]

My thoughts on AOD Forever #7
* 1993 section: was by far the weakest part. About three pages in total spent on it?
* 1300 AD section: remember when I said the bit with the Deadite horse from a few issues ago reminded me of Ash and The Army of Darkness? Apparently that wasn't the only thing Fleecs lifted from that series, since now were getting tweaked version of

Spoiler

The Wise Man being seduced by the Necronomicon's power

again. I'm not mad, but it's something we've already seen.
* 2093 section: I'm still not sure what the baby's deal is, and I'm not even going to speculate on it now. But, I honestly wasn't expecting

Spoiler

the three books

coming into play. I'm not sure if Fleecs is gonna go with

Spoiler

Lee Cronin's interpretation by having them be separate books with different contents

, or the

Spoiler

Army of Darkness: Convention Invasion approach by having them all have the same contents.

We also got a new artist this issue: Pop Mhan. Not to knock Justin Greenwood, it was an improvement, but it's still a struggle capturing Bruce Campbell's likeness.

Overall: it was OK, (and miles better than #5).

 

[DyD]

Oh no, not the stupid

Spoiler

three books bullshit in this too! I know I'm just repeating myself here but I don't care: the cemetery scene in AoD stops making any sense and the entire plot of the film falls apart if all three books on the altar are the real deal. That's missing the whole point of that scene to begin with! Also, it's just a plain bad idea all by itself, as it makes the Necronomicon feel less unique and overcomplicates mythology for no narrative benefit at all. I truly don't get why everyone working on the property right now seems so enamored with that idea. It's just dumb! Sure, we don't know yet how they're planning on using that plot point on the next few issues, so maybe Ash goes for the other two books (is he just gonna turn around and fuck off back to England now? Seriously?) and finds out they actually are just trap decoy books and not the same thing as the real Nec – but that also sounds terrible, since Ash should know that already and it'd feel like too much jerking around just to shoehorn the three books thing into the story.

Concerning the rest of #7, the storytelling continues to be hindered by the three timelines shtick and they're still wasting too much time recycling stuff from the movies (did we really need to start this issue with another "My name is Ash..." narration and recap of AoD?), but it was mostly solid. The new artist is alright. It's a slight improvement over the previous one but not such a drastic change in style as to render the series visually inconsistent. But I honestly think I'm done reading this comic. I don't see it reaching any satisfying conclusion anymore and I know I'm just gonna keep getting frustrated by the creative choices they're making. Yeah, I think I'm done. This is where I'm jumping off.

 

[MCT28]

Oh no, not the stupid

Spoiler

three books bullshit in this too! I know I'm just repeating myself here but I don't care: the cemetery scene in AoD stops making any sense and the entire plot of the film falls apart if all three books on the altar are the real deal. That's missing the whole point of that scene to begin with! Also, it's just a plain bad idea all by itself, as it makes the Necronomicon feel less unique and overcomplicates mythology for no narrative benefit at all. I truly don't get why everyone working on the property right now seems so enamored with that idea. It's just dumb! Sure, we don't know yet how they're planning on using that plot point on the next few issues, so maybe Ash goes for the other two books (is he just gonna turn around and fuck off back to England now? Seriously?) and finds out they actually are just trap decoy books and not the same thing as the real Nec, but that also sounds terrible, like too much jerking around just to shoehorn the three books thing into the story.

Concerning the rest of #7, the storytelling is still being hindered by the three timelines schtick and they're still wasting too much time just recycling stuff from the movies (did we really need to start this issue with another "My name is Ash and..." style narration and recap of AoD?), but it was mostly solid. The new artist is fine. It's a slightly improvement over the previous one but not such a drastic change in style as to render the series visually inconsistent. But I honestly think I'm done reading this comic. I don't see it reaching any satisfying conclusion anymore and I know I'm just gonna keep getting frustrated by the creative choices they're making. Yeah, I think I'm done. This is where I'm jumping off.

Spoiler

Totally agree on the three books thing. It was clearly just a marketing ploy for Rise because we live in an age where "everything has to be connected!", but it just diminishes the impact of the scene in AOD.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

I desperately need to catch up on my reading; I'm somewhere between dismayed and intrigued by what everyone's noticed so far.