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Army of Darkness #1-5
Army of Darkness: Digital Omnibus
Dynamite presents the first 18 issues of the acclaimed Army of Darkness series in one massive omnibus!
Featuring the movie adaptation based on the screenplay by Sam and Ivan Raimi, and illustrated by John Bolton, as well as the first four story arcs from the ongoing series -- Ashes to Ashes, Shop till You Drop (Dead), Ash vs. Reanimator, Old School, and the shorts stories presented in Tales of the Army of Darkness! Featuring the work of Andy (Danger Girl) Hartnell, James (Freddy vs. Ash vs. Jason) Kuhoric and so many more (including a short story by Robert (Walking Dead) Kirkman! Also includes a complete cover gallery!
483 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 13, 2010
89 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Robert Kirkman
2,745 books6,933 followersRobert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 4, 2025
3.5 stars rounded up. This was just ok, not as good as I hoped, but still fun.
January 7, 2024
Army of Darkness is one of my favourite films of all time. Bruce Campbell's Ashley J. Williams is one of my favourite characters of all time. And, tangentially, Bruce Campbell himself is one of my favourite film personalities of all time. Certainly, my reading the Army of Darkness comic series - adapting, and then spinning off-from, the film, starring Ash as based on Bruce Campbell's likeness - was all but a foregone eventuality. As for my actually liking it...
In typical Omnibus fashion, this complete collected works of most of the first series of the Army of Darkness comics suffers from a pretty severe case of inconsistent quality. Some stories here are fantastic. Some stories here are lousy. Some are in-between. And, you kind of have to read all of it to follow along. So the result is that the quality is muddied regardless, even with some pretty stellar moments that keep the whole thing afloat against a disappointing mediocrity streak that comes along somewhere in the middle.
It starts out perfectly. A beautifully painted adaptation of the Army of Darkness film recounts the almost too comic-ready plot of Sam Raimi's seminal horror/fantasy/comedy classic. Every moment worth remembering from the film is intact here, from Ash being sucked into the past and made a slave, to his basically saying every tiny little syllable, to one of the Evil Dead series' finest moments - an army of tiny little Ashes, causing fatal mischief and mayhem, before forcing themselves down Ash's throat and tearing themselves apart from his body to become the film's primary antagonist, a mirror-version doppleganger of our hero - Evil Ash.
The tie-in was made in 1992 by Dark Horse, so it's pretty clearly dated, but nontheless it's an entertaining read - made more fascinating by the original, unused ending of Army of Darkness (that of Ash being left stranded in an apocalyptic far-future) being presented here completely intact. I thought, perhaps idiotically, that this was the premise of the Dynamite series: Ash, stuck in the future, trying to get home. Perhaps it's a pretty huge strike, then, that the following story actually picks up from the film's cinematic ending - Ash coming home to the present, and presenting one of the greatest one-liners in movie history, "hail to the king, baby".
Even so, the story didn't have much it had to do. Deadites, Ash one-liners, shotgun and chainsaw gore... a simple, back-to-basics Evil Dead story was what the doctor ordered - and what the first of Dynamite's ongoing series, the four-issue Ashes 2 Ashes, fails spectacularly to consistently provide. The conceit of the plot starts out bad enough - Ash has been sent back to the future slightly too early, and, accompanied by the wizard from the film, travels back to Evil Dead's cabin in the woods to ensure that the "present" Ash actually falls back in time to the events of Army of Darkness, and then destroy the Necronomicon once and for all.
The hideously overcomplicated plot isn't helped at all by Nick Bradshaw's layouts. This is a careful distinction. His art is fantastic. A cartoonish approach to the character designs, accompanied by beautiful horror-movie violence, sees to it that Ashes 2 Ashes is, if nothing else, great fun to look at. It's just a bit of a pain to actually follow, with panels laid out with a disturbing lack of logic - sometimes reading left to right to right to left, often jutting weirdly downwards on the right side before expecting the reader to instinctively follow their eye back to a left-side panel... reading it smoothly likely requires more intuition than a standard comic reader actually possesses, and it certainly let the entire affair down. Not quite as much, however, as the writing.
It nails Ash's voice with aplomb, make no doubt. Thing is, it mostly achieves that by ripping large chunks of dialog wholesale from previous Evil Dead films. "Basically I said 'em, yeah," is spouted ad nauseam, and, combined with the severe lack of imagination in the actual Deadite curses (apparently turning into tiny versions of their victims and possessing their hands is actually a rote tactic, and not, as I'd assumed, just a random haunting brought on by the Deadite's twisted and sordid sense of black humour), it cheapens the entire experience. It feels like a "best of Army of Darkness," especially presented in this collection right next to the adaptation of the film. It's sad, too, because the designs, the art, and the action is honestly pretty decent. It's just it's very much a huge disappointment - I understand that the entire premise of the comic hooks onto it being Evil Dead fanservice, but it just makes Ash and the Deadites seem like catchphrase-spouting, two-dimensional sitcom characters, as apposed to, y'know... genre icons.
The next arc continues from Ashes 2 Ashes - Shop 'til You Drop Dead. With Nick Bradshaw's art assisted by far more logical panel layouts, and duties as scribe shifted from Andy Hartnell to James Kuhoric (who wrote the damn entertaining Freddy vs Jason vs Ash), it's a definite improvement on Ashes 2 Ashes... but not by much. The Army of Darkness ongoing is still plagued by being rooted very heavily in previous Evil Dead quips and set-pieces, but the more rapid-fire nature of the follow-up at least stops it from ever being too boring. It is inane, though, and somewhat dulling - as the action shifts from modern-times and to a third act set mostly in a Deadite-ruled future, it becomes increasingly evident that Ash will just do the same thing over and over again in every time period. This marks the third time he's failed to recount the same magic words - I know he's a bit slow, but he must have gotten the hang of it by now. Surely?
We're already halfway through this collection, and it's more misses than hits. The quality from here actually starts to climb up, though - slowly, but steadily. Leading the charge is the Lovecraft crossover fans have been waiting for (?), Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator. Herbert West, the Re-Animator, is conducting his foul experiments in Arkham Asylum (that's the fictional Arkham county asylum from Lovecraft lore, not Batman's Arkham Asylum; not sure we have room for a Lovecraft/Evil Dead/Batman crossover just yet), to which Ash is committed. Taking its basis, presumably, from the cult classic Re-Animator film, it's packed with a lot of Old Ones lore... confusingly crossing it over with Deadite lore (apparently there was a page in the Necronomicon for summoning Yog-Sothoth that everyone just skipped over to this point...?) It isn't a fantastic book - it gets a bit convoluted, even for a crossover this rooted in the Cthulhu mythos - but it is consistently entertaining, at least, with plenty of easter eggs for fans, stupidly well-detailed art, and plenty of cosmic horror and mad science that blends fairly seamlessly with undead curses, double-barrel shotguns and a big ol' chainsaw for a hand. Also - and I just realized this - one of the support characters annoyingly drops obvious classic movie quotes as apposed to actually conversing properly , which... could be a self-aware dig at the last two arcs? Hell, I wouldn't put it past 'em!
Closing out the ongoing series' showing in this Omnibus is Old School. It's... kind of what it says on the tin. Ash returns, with the one surviving supporting character from vs. Re-Animator, to the cabin in the woods from Evil Dead. What ensues is pretty much just more of Evil Dead 2, with Ash fighting a variety of creatively possessed household objects, the house and forest itself, and zombified loved ones. It's sad to say, but it's exactly what I would have liked to see in Ashes 2 Ashes' place - a back-to-basics, gory, creative, and fun old classic Evil Dead tale, that uses nostalgia as a springboard as apposed to a crutch. Unfortunately, save for a few short stories from Tales of the Army of Darkness and a cover gallery, that's the end of the book.
Overall? I'm disappointed, certainly. Perhaps I was going to be disappointed either way. I didn't hate it, though, not by a long shot. It's a thoroughly readable collection of Army of Darkness comic goodness, no doubt. It has pretty much everything that you'd want and expect from a huge slab of Army of Darkness, it just also has a bunch of stuff that didn't want, also. It has the unexpected, which is a huge boon in a horror series, but I think, in a way, the typical Evil Dead fare - that is to say, typical as in atypical... rote, predictable, in some cases word-for-word - is what most lets this collection down. Everything that forces our fearless protagonist into interesting, new territory works great. Everything that honours Evil Dead's legacy without taking from it wholesale works great. Sadly, it's in the minority of content represented in this Omnibus.
Still. I'm damn happy to have read it, and it's a fantastic thing to own, too. It may have let me down more often than it perked me up, but hell... it's still Ash and the Army of Darkness. It's Ash! And the Army of goddamn Darkness! It might not win any of the acclaim from me that I've poured endlessly onto the original Sam Raimi film, but it still easily earns a confident thumbs up. Or, let's put it this way: disappointment and satisfaction are far from mutually exclusive.
In typical Omnibus fashion, this complete collected works of most of the first series of the Army of Darkness comics suffers from a pretty severe case of inconsistent quality. Some stories here are fantastic. Some stories here are lousy. Some are in-between. And, you kind of have to read all of it to follow along. So the result is that the quality is muddied regardless, even with some pretty stellar moments that keep the whole thing afloat against a disappointing mediocrity streak that comes along somewhere in the middle.
It starts out perfectly. A beautifully painted adaptation of the Army of Darkness film recounts the almost too comic-ready plot of Sam Raimi's seminal horror/fantasy/comedy classic. Every moment worth remembering from the film is intact here, from Ash being sucked into the past and made a slave, to his basically saying every tiny little syllable, to one of the Evil Dead series' finest moments - an army of tiny little Ashes, causing fatal mischief and mayhem, before forcing themselves down Ash's throat and tearing themselves apart from his body to become the film's primary antagonist, a mirror-version doppleganger of our hero - Evil Ash.
The tie-in was made in 1992 by Dark Horse, so it's pretty clearly dated, but nontheless it's an entertaining read - made more fascinating by the original, unused ending of Army of Darkness (that of Ash being left stranded in an apocalyptic far-future) being presented here completely intact. I thought, perhaps idiotically, that this was the premise of the Dynamite series: Ash, stuck in the future, trying to get home. Perhaps it's a pretty huge strike, then, that the following story actually picks up from the film's cinematic ending - Ash coming home to the present, and presenting one of the greatest one-liners in movie history, "hail to the king, baby".
Even so, the story didn't have much it had to do. Deadites, Ash one-liners, shotgun and chainsaw gore... a simple, back-to-basics Evil Dead story was what the doctor ordered - and what the first of Dynamite's ongoing series, the four-issue Ashes 2 Ashes, fails spectacularly to consistently provide. The conceit of the plot starts out bad enough - Ash has been sent back to the future slightly too early, and, accompanied by the wizard from the film, travels back to Evil Dead's cabin in the woods to ensure that the "present" Ash actually falls back in time to the events of Army of Darkness, and then destroy the Necronomicon once and for all.
The hideously overcomplicated plot isn't helped at all by Nick Bradshaw's layouts. This is a careful distinction. His art is fantastic. A cartoonish approach to the character designs, accompanied by beautiful horror-movie violence, sees to it that Ashes 2 Ashes is, if nothing else, great fun to look at. It's just a bit of a pain to actually follow, with panels laid out with a disturbing lack of logic - sometimes reading left to right to right to left, often jutting weirdly downwards on the right side before expecting the reader to instinctively follow their eye back to a left-side panel... reading it smoothly likely requires more intuition than a standard comic reader actually possesses, and it certainly let the entire affair down. Not quite as much, however, as the writing.
It nails Ash's voice with aplomb, make no doubt. Thing is, it mostly achieves that by ripping large chunks of dialog wholesale from previous Evil Dead films. "Basically I said 'em, yeah," is spouted ad nauseam, and, combined with the severe lack of imagination in the actual Deadite curses (apparently turning into tiny versions of their victims and possessing their hands is actually a rote tactic, and not, as I'd assumed, just a random haunting brought on by the Deadite's twisted and sordid sense of black humour), it cheapens the entire experience. It feels like a "best of Army of Darkness," especially presented in this collection right next to the adaptation of the film. It's sad, too, because the designs, the art, and the action is honestly pretty decent. It's just it's very much a huge disappointment - I understand that the entire premise of the comic hooks onto it being Evil Dead fanservice, but it just makes Ash and the Deadites seem like catchphrase-spouting, two-dimensional sitcom characters, as apposed to, y'know... genre icons.
The next arc continues from Ashes 2 Ashes - Shop 'til You Drop Dead. With Nick Bradshaw's art assisted by far more logical panel layouts, and duties as scribe shifted from Andy Hartnell to James Kuhoric (who wrote the damn entertaining Freddy vs Jason vs Ash), it's a definite improvement on Ashes 2 Ashes... but not by much. The Army of Darkness ongoing is still plagued by being rooted very heavily in previous Evil Dead quips and set-pieces, but the more rapid-fire nature of the follow-up at least stops it from ever being too boring. It is inane, though, and somewhat dulling - as the action shifts from modern-times and to a third act set mostly in a Deadite-ruled future, it becomes increasingly evident that Ash will just do the same thing over and over again in every time period. This marks the third time he's failed to recount the same magic words - I know he's a bit slow, but he must have gotten the hang of it by now. Surely?
We're already halfway through this collection, and it's more misses than hits. The quality from here actually starts to climb up, though - slowly, but steadily. Leading the charge is the Lovecraft crossover fans have been waiting for (?), Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator. Herbert West, the Re-Animator, is conducting his foul experiments in Arkham Asylum (that's the fictional Arkham county asylum from Lovecraft lore, not Batman's Arkham Asylum; not sure we have room for a Lovecraft/Evil Dead/Batman crossover just yet), to which Ash is committed. Taking its basis, presumably, from the cult classic Re-Animator film, it's packed with a lot of Old Ones lore... confusingly crossing it over with Deadite lore (apparently there was a page in the Necronomicon for summoning Yog-Sothoth that everyone just skipped over to this point...?) It isn't a fantastic book - it gets a bit convoluted, even for a crossover this rooted in the Cthulhu mythos - but it is consistently entertaining, at least, with plenty of easter eggs for fans, stupidly well-detailed art, and plenty of cosmic horror and mad science that blends fairly seamlessly with undead curses, double-barrel shotguns and a big ol' chainsaw for a hand. Also - and I just realized this - one of the support characters annoyingly drops obvious classic movie quotes as apposed to actually conversing properly , which... could be a self-aware dig at the last two arcs? Hell, I wouldn't put it past 'em!
Closing out the ongoing series' showing in this Omnibus is Old School. It's... kind of what it says on the tin. Ash returns, with the one surviving supporting character from vs. Re-Animator, to the cabin in the woods from Evil Dead. What ensues is pretty much just more of Evil Dead 2, with Ash fighting a variety of creatively possessed household objects, the house and forest itself, and zombified loved ones. It's sad to say, but it's exactly what I would have liked to see in Ashes 2 Ashes' place - a back-to-basics, gory, creative, and fun old classic Evil Dead tale, that uses nostalgia as a springboard as apposed to a crutch. Unfortunately, save for a few short stories from Tales of the Army of Darkness and a cover gallery, that's the end of the book.
Overall? I'm disappointed, certainly. Perhaps I was going to be disappointed either way. I didn't hate it, though, not by a long shot. It's a thoroughly readable collection of Army of Darkness comic goodness, no doubt. It has pretty much everything that you'd want and expect from a huge slab of Army of Darkness, it just also has a bunch of stuff that didn't want, also. It has the unexpected, which is a huge boon in a horror series, but I think, in a way, the typical Evil Dead fare - that is to say, typical as in atypical... rote, predictable, in some cases word-for-word - is what most lets this collection down. Everything that forces our fearless protagonist into interesting, new territory works great. Everything that honours Evil Dead's legacy without taking from it wholesale works great. Sadly, it's in the minority of content represented in this Omnibus.
Still. I'm damn happy to have read it, and it's a fantastic thing to own, too. It may have let me down more often than it perked me up, but hell... it's still Ash and the Army of Darkness. It's Ash! And the Army of goddamn Darkness! It might not win any of the acclaim from me that I've poured endlessly onto the original Sam Raimi film, but it still easily earns a confident thumbs up. Or, let's put it this way: disappointment and satisfaction are far from mutually exclusive.
February 5, 2022
*3 and a half stars*
Some fun stories. But I didn't love a lot of the artwork.
Some fun stories. But I didn't love a lot of the artwork.
December 14, 2025
Who wants some? Who wants a little?
I laughed out loud at some of this and skimmed some of it. Good Ash and Bad Ash.
I laughed out loud at some of this and skimmed some of it. Good Ash and Bad Ash.
November 1, 2019
Evil Dead is a weird franchise. I feel like Ash has not been depicted well onscreen since Evil Dead II. Army of Darkness made him more of a selfish idiot. So that film is my least favorite in the trilogy. However, the comic adaptation was a new way to experience that film, complete with Ash's narration. It almost feels like a novelization. I really like the grittiness of the art for that adaptation. It even includes the original ending where Ash ends up in a dark future.
In this omnibus, that adaptation feels a bit disconnected, as the next arc is "Ashes 2 Ashes," which came out a decade later and has a different art style with caricature-like designs. I'm not a fan of this style, and it's present for much of the book. The premise of this arc is that the other ending for Army of Darkness where Ash ends up at S-Mart takes place hours before he and Linda go to the cabin. It's weird how he doesn't bump into himself at work. We even see his other self in the car outside. For contrived reasons, he and the wiseman follow himself and Linda to the cabin. We don't see Ash's sister and friends from the first film, and Annie and the others from Evil Dead II are completely absent. This story only really works if you assume that Army of Darkness is in a continuity separate from the first two films. And, really, each film feels like its own continuity. I'm not very happy with how the wiseman's fate is played for laughs, and Ash continues to be idiotic at times.
By the time of "Shop Till You Drop Dead," Sheila has returned. This is explained in the Tales of Army of Darkness story "A Dame, Deadites and a Dimwit," which appears toward the end of this collection but really should've been inserted earlier. In any case, it feels forced to have Sheila want to go to the future and be with Ash, fighting Deadites by his side. In "Shop Till You Drop Dead," he doesn't seem completely faithful to her, and he goes on this ridiculous adventure in the future. These comics really feel like a self-parody of the franchise, and the caricature art style doesn't help.
The aftermath of this is that Ash is sent to Arkham Asylum for six months in "Ash vs. Re-Animator." You don't need to watch Re-Animator to understand this, but either way, it again feels self-parody, especially when we get characters like Deuce Bellcamp and Sugar Baby, as well as a mention of a movie called Army of Darkness loosely based on Ash having been made.
In "Old School," we finally get to an art style that feels grounded and works for me. Going back to the cabin does feel like a retread, admittedly. It's something that various Evil Dead media are guilty of. But "Old School" was still somehow refreshing and felt less ridiculous. The only out-there part of it is the set-up for Dracula at the end.
The Tales of Army of Darkness are a mixed bag. "Weekend Off" actually has good art and is a brief, heartwarming personal tale about Ash visiting Linda's grave. I only wish that it could've been longer. "You Have No Honor" follows a knight during the events of the Army of Darkness film, and I do quite like how realistic the art looks. Almost like a painting. "Till Death Do Us Part" returns to the caricature style, and it feels out-of-continuity, as Ash is with this random woman named Emily. "Necromomicon" is about Ash visiting his parents for Thanksgiving, only to discover that his mom is a Deadite and he has to kill her. Really? His dad never noticed? And they're just casual about it? That felt like a bit much. Interestingly, though, Ash's sister Cheryl is actually mentioned in this. The art was a bit refreshing, but then "Runaway" returns to the caricature style. However, Ash's parting words with the runaway are very wise.
So, overall, these comics are a mixed bag and very goofy. There's not much growth for Ash, and the stories can feel very shallow at times.
In this omnibus, that adaptation feels a bit disconnected, as the next arc is "Ashes 2 Ashes," which came out a decade later and has a different art style with caricature-like designs. I'm not a fan of this style, and it's present for much of the book. The premise of this arc is that the other ending for Army of Darkness where Ash ends up at S-Mart takes place hours before he and Linda go to the cabin. It's weird how he doesn't bump into himself at work. We even see his other self in the car outside. For contrived reasons, he and the wiseman follow himself and Linda to the cabin. We don't see Ash's sister and friends from the first film, and Annie and the others from Evil Dead II are completely absent. This story only really works if you assume that Army of Darkness is in a continuity separate from the first two films. And, really, each film feels like its own continuity. I'm not very happy with how the wiseman's fate is played for laughs, and Ash continues to be idiotic at times.
By the time of "Shop Till You Drop Dead," Sheila has returned. This is explained in the Tales of Army of Darkness story "A Dame, Deadites and a Dimwit," which appears toward the end of this collection but really should've been inserted earlier. In any case, it feels forced to have Sheila want to go to the future and be with Ash, fighting Deadites by his side. In "Shop Till You Drop Dead," he doesn't seem completely faithful to her, and he goes on this ridiculous adventure in the future. These comics really feel like a self-parody of the franchise, and the caricature art style doesn't help.
The aftermath of this is that Ash is sent to Arkham Asylum for six months in "Ash vs. Re-Animator." You don't need to watch Re-Animator to understand this, but either way, it again feels self-parody, especially when we get characters like Deuce Bellcamp and Sugar Baby, as well as a mention of a movie called Army of Darkness loosely based on Ash having been made.
In "Old School," we finally get to an art style that feels grounded and works for me. Going back to the cabin does feel like a retread, admittedly. It's something that various Evil Dead media are guilty of. But "Old School" was still somehow refreshing and felt less ridiculous. The only out-there part of it is the set-up for Dracula at the end.
The Tales of Army of Darkness are a mixed bag. "Weekend Off" actually has good art and is a brief, heartwarming personal tale about Ash visiting Linda's grave. I only wish that it could've been longer. "You Have No Honor" follows a knight during the events of the Army of Darkness film, and I do quite like how realistic the art looks. Almost like a painting. "Till Death Do Us Part" returns to the caricature style, and it feels out-of-continuity, as Ash is with this random woman named Emily. "Necromomicon" is about Ash visiting his parents for Thanksgiving, only to discover that his mom is a Deadite and he has to kill her. Really? His dad never noticed? And they're just casual about it? That felt like a bit much. Interestingly, though, Ash's sister Cheryl is actually mentioned in this. The art was a bit refreshing, but then "Runaway" returns to the caricature style. However, Ash's parting words with the runaway are very wise.
So, overall, these comics are a mixed bag and very goofy. There's not much growth for Ash, and the stories can feel very shallow at times.
July 30, 2024
The first of three collections of the older Dynamite Comics Army Of Darkness comics.
We open with an adaptation of Army Of Darkness itself, actually published by Dark Horse. It's the movie, pretty much, but it's drawn by John Bolton, so it looks superb. You kinda know what you're getting with this one, and it's hella pretty.
Ashes 2 Ashes follows this up, picking up from the end of Army Of Darkness (sort of), and brings Ash into conflict and camaraderie with himself in another time travel story. The dialogue's suitably cheesy, but Nick Bradshaw's artwork is crammed with details. There's a lot going on in every panel, it's a real treat for the eyes.
Picking right up after the end of Ashes 2 Ashes, we have Shop Till You Drop Dead, which starts out looking like that episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine where they Die Hard in the supermarket, only to have Ash thrown forward to a hi-tech future instead. There's a lot going on in these four issues, and they don't really get time to breathe, but the art is still great at least, with Bradshaw and Sanford Greene sharing the job.
Then we head into the ongoing series with Army Of Darkness Vs. Re-Animator, which I was very much looking forward to, but was sadly a little disappointed by. The Re-Animator barely shows up, and it's another Ash Vs. Deadites story (which sounds like an odd complaint, but if you've got the option for something a little different, why not take it?). Bradshaw and Greene finish up their art run here as well, with some truly gruesome imagery.
Next up is Old School, where the Army Of Darkness book truly becomes an ongoing. The idea here is sound, with Ash heading back to the old Knowby Cabin to untether the Deadites from the place, but of course, it goes wrong. There's some nice callbacks here (which the series loves doing), but this is mostly just 3 issues of Ash getting beaten up in a cabin, so it's just Evil Dead all over again. The art takes a bit of a nosedive too - Kevin Sharpe's visuals aren't as crisp as before, and it all comes across really dark. The cliffhanger ending intrigues me though.
And finally there's the Tales Of The Army Of Darkness one-shot, which is a collection of shorter stories from a variety of writers and artists. One of these is essential since it explains how Sheila got back from the Dark Ages, the rest are a variety of silly and/or heartfelt stories that have Ash blowing people up. More of the same then!
Overall, there's a lot of style over substance in this first collection. The Army Of Darkness adaptation is beautiful to look at, and the art for the most part in the rest of the book is the main draw, with some of the stories attempting to be a little deeper but ultimately just resting back on their laurels and letting Ash's charisma drive things forward. There are glimmers of ongoing plotlines, but too often do we just come back to 'we need to get the Necronomicon' as the driving force.
We open with an adaptation of Army Of Darkness itself, actually published by Dark Horse. It's the movie, pretty much, but it's drawn by John Bolton, so it looks superb. You kinda know what you're getting with this one, and it's hella pretty.
Ashes 2 Ashes follows this up, picking up from the end of Army Of Darkness (sort of), and brings Ash into conflict and camaraderie with himself in another time travel story. The dialogue's suitably cheesy, but Nick Bradshaw's artwork is crammed with details. There's a lot going on in every panel, it's a real treat for the eyes.
Picking right up after the end of Ashes 2 Ashes, we have Shop Till You Drop Dead, which starts out looking like that episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine where they Die Hard in the supermarket, only to have Ash thrown forward to a hi-tech future instead. There's a lot going on in these four issues, and they don't really get time to breathe, but the art is still great at least, with Bradshaw and Sanford Greene sharing the job.
Then we head into the ongoing series with Army Of Darkness Vs. Re-Animator, which I was very much looking forward to, but was sadly a little disappointed by. The Re-Animator barely shows up, and it's another Ash Vs. Deadites story (which sounds like an odd complaint, but if you've got the option for something a little different, why not take it?). Bradshaw and Greene finish up their art run here as well, with some truly gruesome imagery.
Next up is Old School, where the Army Of Darkness book truly becomes an ongoing. The idea here is sound, with Ash heading back to the old Knowby Cabin to untether the Deadites from the place, but of course, it goes wrong. There's some nice callbacks here (which the series loves doing), but this is mostly just 3 issues of Ash getting beaten up in a cabin, so it's just Evil Dead all over again. The art takes a bit of a nosedive too - Kevin Sharpe's visuals aren't as crisp as before, and it all comes across really dark. The cliffhanger ending intrigues me though.
And finally there's the Tales Of The Army Of Darkness one-shot, which is a collection of shorter stories from a variety of writers and artists. One of these is essential since it explains how Sheila got back from the Dark Ages, the rest are a variety of silly and/or heartfelt stories that have Ash blowing people up. More of the same then!
Overall, there's a lot of style over substance in this first collection. The Army Of Darkness adaptation is beautiful to look at, and the art for the most part in the rest of the book is the main draw, with some of the stories attempting to be a little deeper but ultimately just resting back on their laurels and letting Ash's charisma drive things forward. There are glimmers of ongoing plotlines, but too often do we just come back to 'we need to get the Necronomicon' as the driving force.
March 14, 2020
A pretty decent collection of the miniseries and ongoing series for the Army of Darkness comics.Really didn't like how the second miniseries made Ash into a sexual assaulter/harasser though, the writing can be pretty zigzag in and out of quality.
The Army of Darkness miniseries had interesting painted work, but too much of it was just painted over screencaps of the movie and lacked the oomph of the source material, especially fumbling of the jokes.
Army of Darkness: Ashes to Ashes was an interesting sequel to the movie and I'm mixed on the artwork. Its fantastic to look at, but for a horror comic, it was probably the wrong choice to make it look like a cartoon. Likewise for the next book, Shop Till You Drop Dead, the one mentioned in the first paragraph. But that one is also hindered by a pointless time travel story for the penultimate issue.
In AoD Vs The Reanimator, it had a good premise but it just didn't really follow through on the promise of Ash fighting the cult classic character of the Reanimator. The artist didn't really capture the appearance of Jeffrey Combs' version of the character and most of the time, he's just taking orders from the secret bad guy and he and Ash never get a chance to play off each other.
The final three issues of the book is the second arc of the first ongoing series were Ash and his companion, Sugarbaby, go back to the cabin from the first two movies. The artwork is attempting a more appropriate horror vibe but its rather dreary to look at, not really appealing and too scratchy. The book is also pretty terrible at writing women, the women of the book exist either for Ash to leech out on, be his sidekick or be his possible love interest.
The Army of Darkness miniseries had interesting painted work, but too much of it was just painted over screencaps of the movie and lacked the oomph of the source material, especially fumbling of the jokes.
Army of Darkness: Ashes to Ashes was an interesting sequel to the movie and I'm mixed on the artwork. Its fantastic to look at, but for a horror comic, it was probably the wrong choice to make it look like a cartoon. Likewise for the next book, Shop Till You Drop Dead, the one mentioned in the first paragraph. But that one is also hindered by a pointless time travel story for the penultimate issue.
In AoD Vs The Reanimator, it had a good premise but it just didn't really follow through on the promise of Ash fighting the cult classic character of the Reanimator. The artist didn't really capture the appearance of Jeffrey Combs' version of the character and most of the time, he's just taking orders from the secret bad guy and he and Ash never get a chance to play off each other.
The final three issues of the book is the second arc of the first ongoing series were Ash and his companion, Sugarbaby, go back to the cabin from the first two movies. The artwork is attempting a more appropriate horror vibe but its rather dreary to look at, not really appealing and too scratchy. The book is also pretty terrible at writing women, the women of the book exist either for Ash to leech out on, be his sidekick or be his possible love interest.
January 3, 2022
Like most emotionally stunted nerds, I loved the movie Army of Darkness, especially in my teens/early 20s. This comic omnibus is also obviously made by people who love it, but, unfortunately, people who love it a bit too much and would rather wallow in nostalgia than make compelling stories.
The first story, a beautifully painted recap of the movie, is good though rather pointless, although I wish some of the lines inserted had been in the movie since some of them are hilarious.
The next few stories just rehash the plot and one liners of the movie in slightly different settings. Also Ash has to deal with Herbert West, the Re-Animator, along with some more Lovecraftian elements.
Things get better towards the end as we are clearly moving to newer story territory, although this omnibus' contents overall are not as strong as the second one.
Still a worthy read for AoD fans, with some great art, though I am not entirely on board with the very cartoony style several of these stories had. The Reanimator story in particular with its shambling monstrosities makes it difficult to see what exactly is going on with its exceedingly busy panels. However, to get a lot of the plot points of the superior second omnibus, you'll have to read this first.
The first story, a beautifully painted recap of the movie, is good though rather pointless, although I wish some of the lines inserted had been in the movie since some of them are hilarious.
The next few stories just rehash the plot and one liners of the movie in slightly different settings. Also Ash has to deal with Herbert West, the Re-Animator, along with some more Lovecraftian elements.
Things get better towards the end as we are clearly moving to newer story territory, although this omnibus' contents overall are not as strong as the second one.
Still a worthy read for AoD fans, with some great art, though I am not entirely on board with the very cartoony style several of these stories had. The Reanimator story in particular with its shambling monstrosities makes it difficult to see what exactly is going on with its exceedingly busy panels. However, to get a lot of the plot points of the superior second omnibus, you'll have to read this first.
January 31, 2023
Wow what a ride that was!
A great selection of Army of Darkness stories in this collection, including a graphic novel of the movie. Was great seeing the characters used throughout all of these different stories including the Necronomicon given a real role as more than just a book here, and the different artwork used in each too.
Admittedly after a while I did find it was very much same story arc repeated throughout a lot of these, but then they chucked in some great little minis at the end which freshened it up a bit. Plus of course the Army of Darkness vs Reanimator which was a bonkers idea (although I did find it harder to follow.)
Loved this collection!
A great selection of Army of Darkness stories in this collection, including a graphic novel of the movie. Was great seeing the characters used throughout all of these different stories including the Necronomicon given a real role as more than just a book here, and the different artwork used in each too.
Admittedly after a while I did find it was very much same story arc repeated throughout a lot of these, but then they chucked in some great little minis at the end which freshened it up a bit. Plus of course the Army of Darkness vs Reanimator which was a bonkers idea (although I did find it harder to follow.)
Loved this collection!
January 13, 2024
All over the place, in both writing and art. Some stories, like old school, are pretty fantastic. But others, like the actual adaptation of Army of Darkness, and AOD Vs Reanimator are pretty rough. Perfectly readable, but just pretty boring. Has its ups and downs, but has more downs unfortunately. Couple killer one shots in the back though. Even though I'm not usually a fan of Kirkmans writing, the like 6 page story he has is great. If you like the Raimi trilogy it's probably worth a read, but I overall ended up not liking most of the stories.
August 11, 2021
Convenient Awesomeness
It is so convenient to have an easy collection to get started reading #aod. No need to figure out the reading order. I like that starts with the movie adaptation. It seems like this is the original ending and story instead of the edited version that played in theaters.
Must read for evil dead & army of darkness fans.
It is so convenient to have an easy collection to get started reading #aod. No need to figure out the reading order. I like that starts with the movie adaptation. It seems like this is the original ending and story instead of the edited version that played in theaters.
Must read for evil dead & army of darkness fans.
March 7, 2022
This was a compilation of stories about Ash against the Deadites. The original Army of Darkness story was fantastic, although the other stories were only okay. This is a must read for fans of the movie.
September 5, 2021
Good
Was a good read, holds true ish to the character ash and the army of darkness, fun and funny, worth the read.
Was a good read, holds true ish to the character ash and the army of darkness, fun and funny, worth the read.
October 25, 2021
My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:
https://youtu.be/lImvHS_nneo
Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/lImvHS_nneo
Enjoy!
June 23, 2022
Just fun and gore. Like all films and the show. Love it!
November 12, 2024
Review by Story…
Army Of Darkness: Hot take, I like this version better than the movie. 4.5/5 stars
Ashes 2 Ashes: A sequel that attempts to marry the tone of Army of Darkness with a more Evil Dead style aesthetic. Decent story. But I got sick of all the repeated dialogue from other Evil Dead movies. Like I wish they had even one memorable original line of dialogue. 2/5 stars
Shop till you Drop Dead: Pretty awful. Takes the repetitive nature of Ashes to Ashes and doubles down hard. There is nothing original in the whole mess. 1/5 stars.
Army of Darkness Vs ReAnimator: my favorite story in the series so far. The art is still awful. But the dialogue is less overwritten than usual, the world building felt right for the Evil Dead universe, and the characters were spot on. I love that Herbert’s obsessions run so deep that even an evil deadite clone of him will not stop researching reanimation. That felt very true to the spirit of the movie. Also the fact that Herbert doesn’t like the gestalt creature his clone made when he comes back, helps to explain why he’s so out of character for me in Bride of ReAnimator. He’d already been replaced at that point! 4.5/5
Old School: Yet another rehashing of stuff from the Evil Dead movies. Very little to recommend this one. But in the end we do finally get a satisfying explanation for what the deadites are, and a quest to continue the series with. 2.5/5
A Dame, A Deadite, and a Dimwit: More rehashing but with a different protagonist. Makes me wish Sheila got her own series. 2/5
Weekend Off: A nice change of pace with a character focused story for once. Wish it was longer, but it was still good. 3.5/5
You Have No Honor: Fine story let down by its art. 2.5/5
Till Death Do Us Part: Possibly the worst drawn comic I’ve ever seen. 1/5
Necronomacon: Stupid. 1.5/5
Runaway: Jesus Hanson Christ they paid someone to draw this. 1/5
Army Of Darkness: Hot take, I like this version better than the movie. 4.5/5 stars
Ashes 2 Ashes: A sequel that attempts to marry the tone of Army of Darkness with a more Evil Dead style aesthetic. Decent story. But I got sick of all the repeated dialogue from other Evil Dead movies. Like I wish they had even one memorable original line of dialogue. 2/5 stars
Shop till you Drop Dead: Pretty awful. Takes the repetitive nature of Ashes to Ashes and doubles down hard. There is nothing original in the whole mess. 1/5 stars.
Army of Darkness Vs ReAnimator: my favorite story in the series so far. The art is still awful. But the dialogue is less overwritten than usual, the world building felt right for the Evil Dead universe, and the characters were spot on. I love that Herbert’s obsessions run so deep that even an evil deadite clone of him will not stop researching reanimation. That felt very true to the spirit of the movie. Also the fact that Herbert doesn’t like the gestalt creature his clone made when he comes back, helps to explain why he’s so out of character for me in Bride of ReAnimator. He’d already been replaced at that point! 4.5/5
Old School: Yet another rehashing of stuff from the Evil Dead movies. Very little to recommend this one. But in the end we do finally get a satisfying explanation for what the deadites are, and a quest to continue the series with. 2.5/5
A Dame, A Deadite, and a Dimwit: More rehashing but with a different protagonist. Makes me wish Sheila got her own series. 2/5
Weekend Off: A nice change of pace with a character focused story for once. Wish it was longer, but it was still good. 3.5/5
You Have No Honor: Fine story let down by its art. 2.5/5
Till Death Do Us Part: Possibly the worst drawn comic I’ve ever seen. 1/5
Necronomacon: Stupid. 1.5/5
Runaway: Jesus Hanson Christ they paid someone to draw this. 1/5
February 6, 2023
This was a beast! It's broken into five sections and each one tells the story of Ash's shenanigans with the Necronomicon, deadites, Evil Ash and time travel.
This has been a treat to read! It is full of time travel, Ash goobering up his one task to destroy the book over and over, fighting and endless deadite army, and multiple Evil Ashes. He saves the girl, loses the girl, ends up in the wrong time, travels backwards and forwards in time, gets sucked into a computer game and fights the evil digital version of himself and deadite soldiers. He travels back to the cabin where it all started, picks up [and loses] new allies, destroys the book on multiple occasions and still the Necronomicon finds a way back into his life every time.
The stories are amazing and the artwork is is phenomenal. Part of what took me so long to finish it was me staring at the art. Each section is done by different writers and illustrators, so that makes it that much more eye-grabbing noticing the differences in writing and art styles. It's a must read for anyone who is a fan of Ash Williams and the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness series.
This has been a treat to read! It is full of time travel, Ash goobering up his one task to destroy the book over and over, fighting and endless deadite army, and multiple Evil Ashes. He saves the girl, loses the girl, ends up in the wrong time, travels backwards and forwards in time, gets sucked into a computer game and fights the evil digital version of himself and deadite soldiers. He travels back to the cabin where it all started, picks up [and loses] new allies, destroys the book on multiple occasions and still the Necronomicon finds a way back into his life every time.
The stories are amazing and the artwork is is phenomenal. Part of what took me so long to finish it was me staring at the art. Each section is done by different writers and illustrators, so that makes it that much more eye-grabbing noticing the differences in writing and art styles. It's a must read for anyone who is a fan of Ash Williams and the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness series.
February 18, 2012
This collection is hit or miss. For a huge fan of the movies it is tons of fun to see ash in new and interesting situations. The movie adaptation illustrated by john bolton is boring and follows too close too the movie. The real jems of this collection are the stories that expand on the mythos. The series also seems to be getting stronger as it goes. Overall very enjoyable but not super high brow stuff here. Also includes a cover gallery. Will definitely pick up volume two in april of 2012.
October 16, 2013
Groovy.
I mean, what else is there to say about a book featuring Bruce Goddamned Campbell's most iconic role? The movie adaptation is pretty standard fare, but the original stories that follow are a fantastic read, and the writer captures Ash's personality perfectly, and in addition they expand on the history of the Necronomicon ex Mortis, and the nature of the Deadites.
I guess there is one more thing I could say: Hail to the King, baby.
I mean, what else is there to say about a book featuring Bruce Goddamned Campbell's most iconic role? The movie adaptation is pretty standard fare, but the original stories that follow are a fantastic read, and the writer captures Ash's personality perfectly, and in addition they expand on the history of the Necronomicon ex Mortis, and the nature of the Deadites.
I guess there is one more thing I could say: Hail to the King, baby.
February 6, 2013
Hail to the King, baby!!!
July 24, 2018
Pretty entertaining set of stories set in the world of the "Army of Darkness". Great illustration and plenty of what you would expect from Ash and company.
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