I don’t know if Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell really knew what they had with the Evil Dead series. Listening to movie commentaries and interviews it doesn’t seem like they did. It also doesn’t seem like they know that it continues to live on. I’m sure the Intellectual Property and likenesses had to be bought and approved but I wonder if they know that the story just keeps on going. There are still comics being made, video games being played and fan fiction being written. There’s just something about the vulnerable, goofy bad-ass everyman Ash and, really, his inconvenienced attitude in dealing with the horde of evil dead. Welp, that musing being mused, this is what it says on the tin. It is art. Art from the various covers that make up the Army of Darkness comic series. That’s it. Not original art, not art “inspired by” the franchise, just covers. There’s a brief summary of each story in front of each set of covers but that’s all it is. It’s a cover gallery. There’s an intro but it doesn’t really explore anything new about Army of Darkness so that isn’t really a selling point.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some great art in here. There is a huge variety of art styles and scenes portrayed. There are some really great variations on the classic Army of Darkness movie poster and there are some really good pieces involving a bunch of guest stars that have graced the pages of Army of Darkness. Including Obama. Did you know there was a mini-series co-starring Obama? I didn’t. Is that really what we needed in this modern age? Our President being saved by Ash and his chainsaw hand? Ash is certainly more of a divider than a uniter. Specifically he divides limbs from undead bodies.
Anyway, I think you’d be better off BUYING all the great stories attached to these covers. I’m sure the trade paperbacks have all the alternate covers that are presented here so you aren’t missing out on anything. This is really only for super fans, the people who absolutely NEED to own everything Army of Darkness. This only avoids a one combative plate rating (our rating is based on combative plates right?) based on the quality of the art presented. However if I were to judge this on necessity, does this thing need to exist, I would give this zero combative plates out of five. Out of a possible five combative plates, this would get a zero of them. Combative plates is the definitive rating system.
Score: 2/5
Artists: Various Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $39.99 Release Date: 2/11/15 Format: Hardcover; Print