Darkman Vs Army of Darkness Comic Shop News Article (2006)

The following is a transcription of an article originally written by Cliff Biggers appearing in Comic Shop News #991 from June, 2006. It is presented here for easier online access and historical preservation. Minor spelling mistakes from the original print article have been corrected here.

Darkman/Army of Darkness Brights Dynamite's Summer Schedule

    You gotta give the guys at Dynamite Entertainment credit--they are the champs when it comes to surprising crossover lineups. Ash and Re-Animator... Red Sonja and Claw... and now, the most surprising of all: Darkman Vs. The Army of Darkness, a crossover that involves two licensed properties--one of which is making its Dynamite premiere with this crossover limited series!

    And the stars of this crossover aren't the only newsworthy aspect of Darkman Vs. Army of Darkness; Dynamite has enlisted some top talent for the project, including acclaimed writer Kurt Busiek, co-writer Roger Stern, and artist James Fry.

    What inspired Dynamite to add Darkman to their growing stable of licensed properties? "We have many projects coming together with our friends at Universal," Dynamite's J. Allen said, "and Darkman may very well be among the most exciting. It's definitely different. The Darkman is one of the most tragic when it comes to tragic heroes. Having your assistant killed in front of you and your entire lab blown up with you in it. Woah! The first movie was intense."

Co-writer Kurt Busiek became involved with the project "from the other side, actually, through the Evil De--uh, Army of Darkness."

    "Dynamite gave me a call and asked me if I had any interest in writing an Army of Darkness mini-series, and I told him I had one idea I'd love to do, but it was probably impossible, since it was a crossover. He asked for details, so I told him the Darkman Vs. The Evil Dead idea that James Fry and I have been hoping to do for years. And he went out and got the rights to Darkman!

"Probably not just for me, but what the hell!"

    "Kurt had stated he wanted to do a cross-over with Darkman and The Army of Darkness for years," J. Allen added, "and it seemed like the perfect way to launch the title. That pushed us harder to go after the rights. Along the way, as stated, the whole notion of a cross-over with Darkman and the Army of Darkness came into play. Now, Kurt and Roger have put Darkman and Ash together in a way that serves as a great team-up/cross-over--as well as re-establishing Darkman back into comics and giving us a good starting point for his own series."

    The germ of this story idea dates back to Busiek's earlier involvement with the character. "The seeds of this particular project go back to when I was writing Darkman for Marvel, and James Fry and I, both big Sam Raimi fans, were joking about how Raimi's two great nutboy heroes, Ash and Darkman, were the perfect demented World's Finest--the heroic, muscled-up strong-jawed Ash and the skulking, shadowy Darkman," Busiek said. "The story just kind of fell into place from there, and ever since we've been looking for a place to do it, but nobody ever had the rights to both Darkman and Ash at the same time. Until now."

    For Dynamite, the crossover--and its high-profile creative team--was a perfect launching point for Darkman. "The most important part was that Kurt had a story that he wanted to tell, so we knew it had to be good," J. Allen said. "Once we discussed, we figured it's a natural fit, both movie franchises having the same 'father' in Sam Raimi and a great use of Ash outside his own series and a great launching point for Darkman."

    How did Roger Stern come to join the creative team? "Actually, this is about the sixth or seventh time that Kurt and I have worked together," Stern said. "We've been collaborating off and on for the better part of a decade, starting in 1997 with a crossover between the Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual and the Amazing Spider-Man Annual. Then I helped plot a couple of issues of Thunderbolts and what turned out to be the final issue of Untold Tales. And of course, we worked together on Avengers Forever and Iron Man."

    "Those projects were all great fun, and they were all a little different. We mostly plotted them together. Some Kurt scripted, some I scripted. And those were just the stories that saw print. Remind me to tell you sometime about the projects still gathering cobwebs on editors' desks.

    "Anyway, when Kurt suggested that I join in on Darkman Vs. The Army of Darkness and that James Fry would be drawing it, I just had to say yes. I mean, come on! Darkman and Ash fighting Deadites in the city? What's not to like? We really ought to call this book World's Weirdest! 'Your two favorite Sam Raimi heroes in one adventure--together!'"

    Who's doing what in this collaboration? "Kurt already had an overall plot in mind; he'd been thinking about this story for years. Once I was on-board, we hashed out the broad strokes of the story over the phone and via email. Then, once the studios approved the overview, I started fleshing out the plots. And now, as James finishes penciling each story, I script it," Stern explained.

    What's the premise of the crossover? "Well, Darkman's all about the city and about watching over Julie, and Ash is all about killing Deadites. So what brings them together is that the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis gets read in Darkman's city, and now there's Deadites all over the place and Julie's in deep trouble. So bam!, they're both on the case," Busiek said. "Trouble is, Ash just wants to kill all the bad guys, and Darkman just wants to save Julie, so there's a certain clash of interests that will lead to trouble."

    "Of course, Darkman is already pretty conflicted," Stern added. "He'd gotten used to being the weirdest guy in town. And now there are whacked-out demons wherever he turns."

    "Will they fight and then team up? What do you think?" Busiek joked.

    So what' the tone of the series--will it have the pulp-meets superheroes feel of Darkman, or will it have the horror-adventure feel of Army of Darkness? "Both, I hope," Busiek said. "To my mind, they're very similar in tone--the Army of Darkness movies are pulpy over-the-top horror, and Darkman is pulpy, over-the-top superhero action. They've both got that Sam Raimi Ram-o-Cam sensibility, wildly kinetic, with lots of humor and grossouts. So bring 'em together, and you get pulpy, over-the-top superhero horror, which sounds just swell to me. And it's perfect for James, who's doing a knockout job on the book."

    Will this crossover pave the way for a solo Darkman series? "That's the plan!" J. Allen said. "We've got our fingers crossed."

    And should such a series be added to the lineup, will the writers come back for a return engagement? "Not me, alas," Busiek said. "I always have a blast writing Darkman, but I'm exclusive to DC and busy with that Man of Steel, that undersea warrior, and with Astro City. But I'm thrilled to have had a chance to finally make this story a reality, and to work with Nick, James, Roger, and George (cover artist George Pérez) on it. It's one of those projects I figured would never happen, but hey, never say never, right?"

    As for Stern--"I never say never!" he replied.

    Darkman Vs. the Army of Darkness #1, the kickoff book in a four-part limited series featuring variant covers by George Pérez and Army of Darkness fave Nick Bradshaw, is scheduled for August release.

BONUS: Dynamite's Cancelled Darkman Series

As mentioned in the Comic Shop News article, there were plans for Darkman to go into a solo comic following the Army of Darkness crossover series. This solo title was far enough in development for a creative team and plot synopsis to be released (included below), as well as cover artwork for the first two issues (though a solicitation for a third issue was also released by Dynamic Forces). As of 2026, the reason for scrapping the series remains unknown.

Full dress artwork for the canceled Darkman #1 by Fabiano Neves.

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT presents an all-new Darkman comic book event, inspired by the original Sam Raimi film and featuring the classic cast of Darkman (yes, we've found a way to bring back Robert Durant!) Peyton Westlake had fled town in his attempts to distance himself from Julie, all while continuing his research; his obsession with his lost love was greater than his obsession with perfecting his synthetic skin, and he found himself unable to stay away. Now, he's returned to a find world quite different than the one he left behind.... Producer Ford Lytle Gilmore is joined by artist Tommy Smith and cover artist Tomm Coker and Fabiano (Army of Darkness) Neves for this all new comic book event! Taking place five years after the events of the first film, our series promises to remain faithful as well as standing on its own to entice and intrigue new readers!

Black and white artwork for the canceled Darkman #1 by Fabiano Neves.

Black and white artwork for the canceled Darkman #2 by Fabiano Neves.

ARMY OF DARKNESS: SHOP 'TILL YOU DROP DEAD: Comic Shop News Article (2005)

The following is a transcription of an article originally written by Cliff Biggers appearing in Comic Shop News #920 from January, 2005. It is presented here for easier online access and historical preservation. Minor spelling mistakes from the original print article have been corrected here.

ARMY OF DARKNESS: ASH YOU LIKE IT

    Sam Raimi and comics seem like a natural fit; after all, Raimi made two of the finest comic book films of all time in Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. So it seems only fair that comics should return the favor and bring one of Raimi's best film concepts to comic books, right?

    Army of Darkness (the general name given to Raimi's series that began in 1981 with Evil Dead and continued in 1987's Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn before culminating in 1993's Army of Darkness) has been absent from the big screen for more than a decade--but the concept found an eager audience last summer when Dynamite Entertainment and Devil's Due launched Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes, a four-issue limited series that continued the misadventures of the reluctant hero Ash. Now Ash is back in action with a new writer and a new series that reveals that shopping can be even more distressing than you might have imagined!

    Army of Darkness: Shop 'Till You Drop Dead writer James Kuhoric is no stranger to licensed projects. "I first broke into comics in 1988 with Realm Press' Battlestar Galactica (it was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and getting to know everyone involved with it was a blast!). Since then I've worked on several Sci-Fi Channel licensed projects including First Wave, Lexx, and Stargate SG-1. I also had a page in 9-11 Emergency Relief and a handful of other small creator-owned spots here and there. With any luck I'll be working on a few more horror books and maybe re-visiting an old sci-fi favorite of mine in the near future."

    For readers who aren't sure exactly what is the allure of Raimi's zombie-horror-adventure spoof, Kuhoric offered a summary. "The Evil Dead/Army of Darkness films follow the bumbling heroics of an average Joe--or an average Ash, in this case--as he unwittingly releases and battles demonic souls from an ancient dark dimension. Whoa!... that actually makes it sound semi-serious!

    "What separates the films and comics from a thousand other schlock flicks is the cinematic vision of Sam Raimi and the elastic charisma of Bruce Campbell. They made a small budget horror film into a cult classic that has endured twenty-plus years of fandom."

    "Army of Darkness definitely isn't your standard zombie film. Sure, you have some of the standard horror elements of the genre, but it combines a sharp wit and biting--quite literally in Ash's case, at some points--sarcasm with some of the most innovative camera angles and over-the-top character acting ever caught on film," Kuhoric explained. "It took the genius of Sam Raimi to match up Bruce Campbell with this project and the result is a trilogy that has transcended the mire of B-horror movies and become a cult classic."

    At a time when most film-makers took their horror quite seriously, it was the refreshingly light-hearted tone that made Raimi's Ash films stand out from the other zombie-horror-splatter films that they satirized. So it's only natural that the same qualities should distinguish the comic book. The comic shop racks are currently filled with zombie books, but most of them approach the concept seriously. Dynamite Entertainment's Army of Darkness follows in the footsteps of the film, and that gives the comics a distinctive feel.

    "The tone in the Army of Darkness comics is essential to making the book loyal to the film," Kuhoric said. "When I set out to write the story arc, my intent was to create something that you could look at and imagine rolling across the big screen. It's essentially an Army of Darkness movie on paper, and I tried really hard to capture the things that made the movie so special. There is plenty of horror mixed with moments of absolute absurdity; through it all, Ash takes a beating and keeps on wise-cracking.

    "The biggest asset that the comics have are the artists, though. Nick Bradshaw and Sanford Greene have taken the softball I lobbed and knocked it out of the park. These guys know Army of Darkness. They nailed the tone and look in this book."

    Kuhoric's series, Army of Darkness: Shop 'Till You Drop Dead, brings Ash face-to-face with a horror even more disturbing than the evil dead themselves: unemployment! It seems that there's a limit to even the most liberal employer's tolerance of the absenteeism and destruction that goes along with combating the zombie hoards. The situation gets even worse, though, when Ash discovers that the evil spirit from the woods now inhabits the aisles of S-Mart. As a full-blown Deadite invasion manifests, Ash must fight his way through possessed shoppers and find the Necronomicon before the Army of Darkness is reborn in downtown Detroit.

    How'd Kuhoric become involved with the Army of Darkness comic book project to begin with? "I've been one of the biggest Evil Dead/Army of Darkness fans you will find since the first films came out. I was in high school back in 1987 when I first saw Evil Dead at friend's house on VHS. Here was this little indie film tagged the 'Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror,' and I ended up loving every second of it. We went to see Evil Dead 2 just a few weeks later and the magic continued. Needless to say, when Army of Darkness hit theaters, I was first in line--and I ended up going back several times for encore showings. I'm eagerly awaiting Sam Raimi's decision on remaking the franchise, as has been rumored in the horror circuit these past few months." Kuhoric brings his enthusiasm for the concept to play in the comic book, capturing the feel of the films without simply recycling their storylines.

    Since Army of Darkness is a licensed property, there must be some constraints on what Kuhoric and Dynamite are allowed to do with the concept. Just how much leeway is there? "Any time you have a licensed property, there is a certain amount of restraint you have to use to get approval from the licensor," Kuhoric said. "Most of my work in the comics field has been with licensed properties, so I'm fairly familiar with the general restrictions that are in place. I don't think I'm letting the cat out of the bag when I say that it's generally against the rules to kill off the main character of a show or franchise unless you have a very clear way to bring him or her back."

    "With Army of Darkness, there is actually a lot more leeway for doing things that are usually against the rules. Let's face it, you wouldn't find characters from a police drama doing the insane things that happen to Ash from issue to issue!"

    Kuhoric offered a brief rundown of the process involved in producing an issue of Army of Darkness. "The scripts are submitted to MGM--who hold the license for the AOD film--for approval at virtually every stage of production. They approve the plot, story outline, script, art, and final lettered pages before the books see print. Usually their changes are minor and caught at the earliest stages of production. I've had a few bits/jokes re-written because of approval concerns, but other than that they've been very open with allowing us to tell the stories we wanted to tell."

    What's the most entertaining aspect of the project for Kuhoric? "Just getting a chance to play in the Army of Darkness playground has been the best part of the experience for me. The character of Ash is like an old friend; you can't wait to see him again, and after you visit you end up reminiscing on the best parts of your time together."

    When we first started working on the project I had the pleasure of a few email exchanges with Bruce Campbell. He is the genuine article and really does seem like the kind of guy you could hang around and shoot the breeze with at the local bar."

    Obviously, with the long-time cult success of Evil Dead/Army of Darkness, and the more recent success of Shaun of the Dead, it's clear that zombies and humor are "two great tastes that taste great together." What makes the combination work so well? "Zombies and humor-filled horror films have had a bit of a renaissance lately, haven't they? Shaun of the Dead is without a doubt one of the best recent flicks to really nail the mix (if you haven't seen it, don't waste any more time--get out and watch it now!)."

    "There is something about the entire genre that, while horrifying on the surface, is simply so basely funny that most of us who get films like Army of Darkness can laugh through just about any zombie flick. I have some other theories on the overall degradation of social morals and the lack of compassion that our current culture has developed, but that's quite frankly a little boring and highbrow for me. Let's just say, if you can't watch a film and laugh at the poor schmo being assaulted by a graveyard full of skeletal warriors doing their best Three Stooges routine, then you likely wouldn't get Army of Darkness."

    Are there other Army of Darkness series in the works to follow on the heels of Shop 'Till You Drop Dead? "There are plans for more Army of Darkness comics coming in the future--and from what I've seen fans are going to be blown away! The artists lined up for the covers and interiors are first rate and Dynamite has some really aggressive plans for Ash's future. It looks like I will be getting another chance to get into Ash's head and slap him around some more with some horrifically outrageous challenges at some point. I can't wait; it's the perfect excuse for me to break out my Evil Dead/Army of Darkness DVDs and my copy of the Necronomicon for an all-night gore fest!"

    Army of Darkness: Shop 'Till You Drop Dead #1, a $2.99 comic, should be in comic shops at about the same time as this issue of CSN.

Covering The Army of Darkness

    Finding cover artist eager to try their hands at Army of Darkness is no problem. In fact, the real problem is narrowing the field down to a single artist--which is why Dynamite Entertainment publisher Nick Barrucci refused to do so. Instead, he enlisted five talented illustrators to supply the covers for the first issue. Writer James Kuhoric explained what makes each cover artist's work so distinctive.

Nick Bradshaw - "Nick is a man who knows Army of Darkness. All of his covers to the Army of Darkness: Shop 'Till You Drop Dead series are not only fantastic but they also capture the core story of each issue in one brilliantly executed image!

Jae Lee - "When I was told there would be a Jae Lee cover to the first issue, I almost fell over. Jae is a class act and one of my personal all-time favorite artists! When you think of big names in the comics industry, Jae is on the short list of stars heading for the hall of fame."

Eric Ebas - "Eric lit up the comic world with Magdalena for Top Cow, and his cover image for Army of Darkenss is amazing! I love the little details in the shot as Ash fights the flying female Deadite you see the window cleaner and employee nametag on his shirt. Great stuff!"

Richard Isanove - "I knew Richard Isanove was a major talent from his coloring work on Marvel 1602 and Origin but the Army of Darkness cover he drew is incredible! It reminds me of a cel taken right out of one of the Evil Dead or Army of Darkness movies. He really nailed the lighting and mood of the show!"

Paolo Rivera - "Paolo's cover actually inspired a small scene re-write in issue #2. When I first saw the rough piece, I just knew it had to be worked in! Every time I look at the cover I crack up--from the S-Mart zombie greeter to the Deadite skeleton with the party hat, it's a great piece!"

EVIL DEAD 2: BEYOND DEAD BY DAWN: Frank Hannah Comics Bulletin Interview (2015)

The following interview was originally conducted by Jason Sacks and posted to Comics Bulletin on May 14th, 2015. It is presented here for archival purposes. All text is as it was on the original post.

ARCHIVE LINK TO THE ORIGINAL POST

Jason Sacks for Comics Bulletin: What made you decide to continue the story of “Evil Dead”?

Frank Hannah: Shon Bury at Space Goat asked me if I would be interested in pitching an idea for a series based solely on the characters and mythology from “Evil Dead 2”. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to work on such an iconic horror property. I came up with a few ideas and sent them off. Lucky for me, Shon responded strongly to one of my ideas and that idea became the basis for “Evil Dead 2: Beyond Dead By Dawn” which starts in June.

CB: How is this story different from what readers find in the ongoing “Army of Darkness” titles? 

Hannah: I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t really read the “Army of Darkness” books. When I got the “Beyond Dead By Dawn” gig I made a conscious choice not to read them so they wouldn’t have an undue influence over what I was trying to create with the book. I can only say that my story takes the existing mythology and stretches it to the limit without altering any of the existing canon. All of the tropes you find in “Evil Dead 2” are present in the series. The gore, the horror, the humor. And Ash. You’ve got to have Ash.

CB: How is this different from other zombie/supernatural comics on the market?

Hannah: I think we’ve reached a saturation point with zombies and vampires. At least, I have. I think there’re exceptions to every rule, but I didn’t want to write a typical supernatural book. I wanted to take all of the genre conventions and explore them on a more human level. For example, we know the evil forces that can be summoned by using the Ex-Mortis (Book of the Dead), but I want to see how they affect and change human behavior in the world they live in. Let’s assume for a moment that the passages of the book can do much more than just possess the living and create a portal from which these spirits can travel. What other problems do they cause? That’s the book I would want to read and it’s the book I’m trying to write.

CB: Tell us a bit about what to expect from this series.

Hannah: First and foremost — Quality. Space Goat is really committed to building something special by using top notch talent to produce these books. I can’t stress this enough and it’s a big reason I’m so excited about working with them.

Secondly, building on what I already said, I think readers will learn more about the Ex-Mortis and will see Annie Knowby go from being a scared and lost person to becoming a kick ass “deadite” slayer. When she realizes she needs help, she uses the book to create a new Ash from the severed hand in the cabin. Together they will travel the world as a team taking down “deadites” and learning about how far the book’s evil has reached.

CB: How do you take readers “Beyond Dead by Dawn”?

Hannah: Well, clearly, you can’t just keep Annie and Ash in the cabin in the woods. That would get really old, really quickly. However, if you’re armed with the Book of the Dead and the Kandarian Dagger, you can go to where the evil lives which is a complete 180 degree shift from the movie where evil forces act upon them and they are forced to respond and defend themselves.

CB: How have Barnaby Bagenda’s designs helped to drive your approach to the story?

Hannah: I was excited to get the writing job already, but when I saw Barnaby’s character sketches and layouts I knew the book would be fantastic. It really inspired me. Barnaby’s ability to capture expressions just one of the many skills he has.

CB: Tell me about Annie Knowby and how she works with Ash.

Hannah: Annie followed in her father’s footsteps as an archaeologist and shares the same curiosity for ancient civilizations and their occult practices. She wants to make a name for herself in her own right, but also knows that her father’s meddling has unleashed a great evil. She feels a responsibility to stamp it out wherever she finds it. It’s counter-intuitive to what she truly wants, but it’s exactly the thing she needs to be able to stand on her own.

As for Annie’s relationship with Ash — it’s much the same as it was in the movie, but the ritual she used to create him has bonded the two together by blood. They are a team, but as you might expect, Ash turns into a “deadite” from time to time, which throws a wrench in things. The question is whether or not she can use this to her advantage.

CB: So… is Ash a lovable meat-head, tactical genius or jerk — or is he a bit of both?

Hannah: I have to be honest, I think he’s a bit of all three. I don’t see him as just a meat-head. He’s the every-man, but he’s just crazy enough to try things we only wish we could do if given the chance. Rest assured, all of his typical one-liners will remain intact.

CB: What have you enjoyed the most about working on this series. 

Hannah: Playing with the characters is so much fun. If you’re a lover of the “Evil Dead” movies, as I’m, you can’t help but enjoy yourself. I’ve literally stopped what I was doing and emailed Shon (at Space Goat) to tell him how much fun I’m having with this series. Hopefully, it will show in the finished product.

CB: Tell us about the first three “Evil Dead 2” miniseries, as best you can.

Hannah: The first mini-series, “Evil Dead 2: Beyond Dead By Dawn” in June will really set up the book and the lead characters Ash and Annie. They will go from scrambling around to finding a sense of purpose despite their current circumstances. Beyond that, we will see self-contained stories that expand the story and raise the stakes for the characters. There’s going to be a human cost to the work they do and that will weigh heavily on Annie. In the third mini-series I would like to see how Annie handles the fact that more people than she’s probably aware of are being manipulated by this ancient evil and the subtlety of that will bring about huge moral dilemmas.

CB: How do you launch three miniseries simultaneously?

Hannah: Well, realizing you have a property that can be properly mined for hundreds of stories gives you the ability to attack the books from many angles. Aside from having “Evil Dead 2: Beyond Dead by Dawn”, we can do a book that deals entirely with the history of the Ex-Mortis. All of this can be done without changing or affecting the existing mythology of the three core “Evil Dead” movies.

CB: How did you collaborate with your editors to deliver these minis?

Hannah: I work very closely with Shon on everything I do. Mainly, because this is a licensed property and you need to make sure you do it justice, but also because Shon believes so strongly in what we’re doing. Knowing how hard he works and how committed he’s to putting out a quality product makes it easy to collaborate.

CB: What else should we look for by you?

Hannah: I have worked mainly in film and television over the last ten years. I have a few projects in development which I hope to be able to announce very soon, but right now I’m focused on “Evil Dead 2: Beyond Dead by Dawn”!

ARMY OF DARKNESS: ASHES 2 ASHES: Andy Hartnell Newsarama Interview (2004)

The following interview was conducted by Matt Brady and posted to Newsarama on June 15th, 2004. It is presented here for archival purposes. All text is as it was on the original post.

ARCHIVE LINK TO THE ORIGINAL POST

J. Scott Campbell's cover to Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes #1

ASH'S NEW MAN: ANDY HARTNELL TALKS ARMY OF DARKNESS

Ash is back, and so is the Army of Darkness that he thought he vanquished. July’s Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes #1 is on the horizon, and if you thought the end of Army of Darkness was the end of Ash – just wait.

Produced by Dynamite Entertainment and published by Devil’s Due, Army of Darkness is the most recent move to capitalize on Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise, as well as its slightly overconfident, slightly not too bright, but eminently likable hero, Ash. Written by Andy (Danger Girl) Hartnell, with art by Nick Bradshaw, the miniseries picks up where the film ended.

Newsarama spoke with Hartnell for an inside look.

“The guys at Dynamite are fans of Danger Girl, which has a similar action-adventure-humor combination,” Hartnell told Newsarama when asked how he landed the gig in the first place. “It’s a totally different book, but that’s the tone they were looking for. J. Scott Campbell was doing a cover for Army, and he and the publisher got to talking about getting me involved with the story. It really just took off from there, very quickly. I was so familiar with the movies that it didn't take much time to begin writing.”

Like many of his contemporaries, and fans of the original films, Hartnell first saw Evil Dead and Army of Darkness on home video in the ‘80s, when the movies were able to slowly break out of their cult standing and draw a larger audience. “We had our own bootleg copies back then and watched them almost every weekend - up until the point where the tapes wore out,” Hartnell said. “I think that may have made them even more fun to watch as a kid - you had this really poor quality horror movie on an even worse quality videotape. Don't get me wrong, when I say poor quality movie, I'm talking about the shoestring budget, not the direction, execution, and perfect performance by the almighty Bruce Campbell. They were unlike anything else at the time, and still are today. They're fun to watch, not like some of the other horror films that just try to shock you. I'd much rather laugh at a severed head stuck in a vise than be disgusted by it.”

The approach cited by Harntell – the over the top stories in the films, and performances by Campbell gave the films a comic book feel, something which has to be dealt with when moving the characters and situations from film to print.

“There has to be something at stake,” Hartnell said, when asked about approaching the translation of the material. “There has to be a serious threat that Ash has to squash. But other than that, I just try to beat him senseless. I think that's the way Sam Raimi would have wanted it. There really is a somewhat complex story in this series, but the main objective is to have fun. Laugh and cringe at the mess Ash gets himself mixed up in. That's what I always loved about the films.”

That said, the films did have an R rating.

“There were two times - so far - we were asked to turn it down a notch,” Hartnell said. “Nick Bradshaw and I went a little overboard with the gore. Although when you see the book, people will probably be wondering how it could have been any more gory. It was – trust me – there were just a few extra bits and pieces of deadite flesh flying across the page.

“It's all done with a sense of humor, though. It's cartoon violence, very much like in the Evil Dead movies. I would never want people to get Ash confused with Jason or Freddy. Ash would never kill, unless what attacks is already dead!”

So – yeah, Army of Darkness did have an ending – with Ash returning to his work at S-Mart, and fighting off the last remnants of the deadites that came back with him, How do you continue from there? As anyone who’s seen the film knows, Ash has always had a problem when it comes to repeating words correctly…

“Ash did come back to S-Mart, but he did go on to admit that he may have misspoken the ‘magic words' that brought him back to the present,” Hartnell said. “That little boo-boo brought the evil back with him, and also brought him back to the present too early, not too late as in the alternate ending of the film. He's arrived in the present before he ever went on to the cabin and encountered the Necronomicon in the first place.

So now he's got to go back to that blasted cabin, force his younger self back to the past to redo the events of Army of Darkness, and then go on to destroy the book of the dead once and for all, here in the present, in order to prevent the horrible future some of us saw in the alternate ending of the film. Along the way, the ‘Promised One' is going to suffer like never before. I promise thee!”

And if you’ve never checked out that alternate ending…”post apocalyptic” barely starts to describe the world in which, Rip Van Winkle-style, awoke.

And after the first miniseries. Unless Dynamite beats Hartnell away with a stick, or throws rocks at him, he’s in. “People can always expect Ash to pull through at the end of these stories, but how much trouble is that going to get him into? As fans of the films know, Ash's ‘victories' always turn out to be more elaborate failures. The mess he's made just gets bigger and bigger. He's a knucklehead who I hope can become my own personal punching bag for many more misadventures.”

ARMY OF DARKNESS Comic Artist Nick Bradshaw Interview (2014)/Artwork Gallery

The following interview was original conducted by and posted on The Deadite Slayer tumblr on May 21st, 2014. It is reposted here for archival purposes. All text following this introduction (with the exception of an Editor's Note in Bradshaw's response for Question 3, the image captions, and the bibliography at the bottom) is copied directly from the original post, and new images have been added throughout and after. 

ORIGINAL SOURCE LINK and ARCHIVE LINK.

Below is an interview conducted with Army of Darkness artist Nick Bradshaw at Ottawa Comiccon. Nick is a comic book artist ever since the first Dynamite Entertainment issue of Army of Darkness in 2004. Nick has worked for several publishers such as Marvel and DC and his impressive resume includes Wolverine and the X-Men, Danger Girl, Re-Animator, and Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Early proposed cover art for "Evil Dead #1" by Nick Bradshaw, which ultimately became the Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes series. This image was later printed in Dynamite's Army of Darkness Sketchbook (2004) and Army of Darkness Omnibus Volume 1 (2010).

Q1: Can you start by telling us when you first saw the Evil Dead trilogy and the impression it left on you?

A: Actually I was a kid it was one of my brothers’ birthday parties and they rented it. I was young. I was probably about nine years old and they wouldn’t let me hang out and watch it with them. So the next morning I woke up early because I have seen parts of Evil Dead 2 that I like. I just started watching it on my own. I loved it. I wasn’t scared at all. I thought it was hilarious. But then I heard there was an Evil Dead one when we returned Evil Dead 2 to the rental place. So I took Evil Dead 2 back out with Evil Dead one. The video place, it was so funny. They shut down three days later so I kept the tapes. So I still had the original tapes for a long time until they came out on DVD. They were the first horror movies that I had that they just sort of hit to me and then I was finding all kinds of campy movies from the 60s and the 70s. Evil Dead just sort of opened that up to me. My dad had made me watch Alien when I was five and told me that it was like Star Trek so you know, I had already been exposed to a different type of horror movie but Evil Dead was just so much fun. I sort of look for those movies still.

Q2: When did you start honing your drawing skills which got you where you are today?

A: I was a kid and I used to start drawing Archie comics. I loved Archie comics! After that I started getting into superheros but then I started reading a whole lot of classic EC, Tales from the Crypt stuff, like Alex Toff, a whole lot of the artists at the time, House of Mystery from DC Comics, I loved all of that. So I was drawing all off of that stuff, ghost stories, monster stories, Marvel monsters I used to love drawing the big monster you know that kind of stuff I was really into. It just came from childhood and I just kept drawing my entire life. I never stopped after that.

Early "Army of Darkness" concept piece by Nick Bradshaw with colors by Etienne St. Laurent (image courtesy of Etienne St. Laurent on DeviantArt)

Q3: Could you tell us how you got involved with Dynamite Entertainment and Army of Darkness?

A: I was in college here in Ottawa actually in Algonquin where I was studying into animation and I was always drawing Army of Darkness stuff. I did like a cartoon version of Army of Darkness that I was playing around for one of my projects. Then I just started putting some of my fan art for Army of Darkness online. I was doing all kinds of drawings of Ash, different types of monsters, stuff like that. Then Dynamic* had the license from the Army of Darkness movie, Dynamite Entertainment. They had seen some of my fan art online so they contacted me and asked if I would be interested in illustrating a book. So I said yes and being a long term fan what were the odds of that to have this fan art out there and have them contact me to illustrate the book! And you know what? I was so green at the time chances are I probably shouldn’t have been illustrating a book but it got my foot in the door and it was just too much fun. Like I mean how could you say no?

*EDITORS NOTE: Dynamic Forces is Dynamite Entertainment's parent company. Dynamite was founded with the intention of being Dynamic Forces' in-house comic production/publishing division.

Original "Army of Darkness" personal piece created by Nick Bradshaw in 2010. It was later colored and used as a variant cover for Dynamite's Army of Darkness: Ash Gets Hitched #1 in 2014. 

Q4: Your artwork with Army of Darkness has now spanned for a whole decade with one of the covers for the new arc “Ash Gets Hitched” being done by yourself. Did you see your relationship with this franchise lasting this long?

A: Nope. Not really. When I had moved on, I had kind of done my bit and I was leaving for other artists to sort of tackle the projects. Steve Niles has a great creative team on the book that he’s doing right now which is awesome. And it just shows you that fans just want more of this story when you hear the rumors coming around constantly coming around that Bruce was getting asked tons of times over the course of time of the weekend. One of the rumors is it really going to happen. Are going to see it? It just shows that like the fans are there. They want to support this. They want more Army of Darkness.

Inked original artwork for Darkman vs Army of Darkness #2 by Nick Bradshaw.

Q5: You’ve done a lot more work for other comic publishing companies ever since like DC/Wildstorm and Marvel. How were you able to transition from Army of Darkness to work such as Wolverine and the X-Men?

A: I always was a big superhero fan too. I love drawing superheros, action sequences, stuff like that. It was something that I was always constantly into so transitioning…….I love action adventure. You know I’m not so much into the more serious story lines so being able to transfer into something that was again that was very epic and adventurous was a natural fit for me. I like cartoony superheroes with big explosions, monsters, sci-fi stuff. Wolverine and the X-Men had that in spades. Such a great title to jump into.

Textless artwork for Danger Girl and The Army of Darkness #1 by Nick Bradshaw.

Q6: Is there any particular piece that you did for Army of Darkness that you admire the most?

A: They were all learning experiences. One of the things that I liked about that book. It was my first gig so every page that I was working on was like I could see the experimentation which is what I enjoy the most about that series. Probably the last piece that I did for the Army of Darkness/Danger Girl, the number one cover was probably one of the most fun because they were two titles that I worked on. It was kind of fun to bring those two things together at one point so I enjoyed that a lot. I like the editor Scott Dunbier and the creative team between both of those books. They’re good friends of mine so I really enjoyed working on that too.

"Army of Darkness" character study sketches by Nick Bradshaw (from Army of Darkness Sketchbook)

Q7: As a character, what is it that you like the most about Ash and why he stands out versus penciling other characters?

A: He’s just so much fun. You know the guy will screw up and then shrug his shoulders and keep on moving. He’s such a great character. He’s a good action adventure character. He’s got every quality that as a fan you just enjoy and when you’re watching the Evil Dead movies, yeah there’s a lot of scary stuff going on but you know at the end like as soon as it starts with this guy he’s going to turn out ok. I like that about the character. As a kid every time I watch it I always thought about that. I wasn’t scared for him because the guy was such a cartoon that you know he was going to be alright by the end of it. So for me, it just sent a tone for me the type of horror movies I’ve really enjoyed. That’s what I like about him the most and Bruce pulls it off in spades.

Ash Williams head study sketches by Nick Bradshaw circa 2008.

Q8: Have you been able to meet any cast and crew members from the trilogy ever since 2004? If so, could you share your experience?

A: No I haven’t gotten to meet any. I ran into uhh….Bruce was walking through the hallway one time in Chicago and I was just too nervous to actually say anything so I haven’t had a chance to meet any of them.

Nick Bradshaw's original pencil cover artwork for Army of Darkness vs Re-Animator #1 (2005). Herbert West's glasses were removed on the final cover.

Q9: Army of Darkness has been in quite a few crossovers ever since being adapted to the comic book format. Films are generally expensive and risk takers for big studios. Do you feel that there is a lot more creativity in comics because of this or that anything just goes in comic books?

A: I just find comics as a medium for any project just great because you’re able to expand on the universe in different ways but like where you said like film is limited because it comes down to budget, availability, you know like Bruce has been involved with so many other projects. I’m sure they would have had another Army of Darkness movie sometime before but he’s been involved in so many great things. You have Bubba Ho-Tep, Burn Notice, you know everything that he’s had going on so I’m sure that when the stars align for them for film they’re able to go on in and do that project whereas a comic book you can take a piece of paper and take the character and just continue the adventures which is awesome. That’s what is just fun about comics. You can just pick it up and go.

Nick Bradshaw's inked cover for Army of Darkness (Volume 1) #10 featuring Dracula, Ash Williams, and an early concept of Eva St. George.

Q10: Do you have a dream project or an arc idea for Army of Darkness that you’d like to work on or get made?

A: Honestly being the artist that I am today now that the fact that it’s been ten years since the beginning I would probably like to take that first story arc that we did and completely redraw it and do it all again. That’s just me as a perfectionist wanting to sit there and take my art skills that I have today and be able to put it towards that project now. Because it was my first project. I was so green at that time and I’ve learned so much since then. Every time I look back at it I keep seeing ways I could tear into it and expand on it and make it better and it would be interesting. I’d love to put them side by side and have them done if I had the time. You know that would be like a bucket list just to say ok now I can make this a hundred times better.

More "Army of Darkness" character study sketches by Nick Bradshaw (from Army of Darkness Sketchbook)

Q11: Is there anything you’d like to tell the visitors of the website or Evil Dead fans in general?

A: Just keep being a fan I mean that’s what keeps it going. If we ever want to see an Army of Darkness movie or Evil Dead movie or a continuation of the series, you got to be a fan of this stuff. Just keep bugging them at the conventions for it!

Huge thanks to Nick Bradshaw, Joesph Smith and Ottawa Comiccon for making this interview happen!

Additional Artwork

Interior artwork from Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead #4 by Nick Bradshaw.

Interior artwork from Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead #4 by Nick Bradshaw.

Inked original artwork for Darkman vs Army of Darkness #4 by Nick Bradshaw.

Inked original artwork for Tales of Army of Darkness (2006) one-shot by Nick Bradshaw.

Inked original artwork for Army of Darkness (Volume 1) #6 by Nick Bradshaw.

Early "Evil Dead" comic artwork by Nick Bradshaw. This image was later printed in Dynamite's Army of Darkness Sketchbook (2004) and Army of Darkness Omnibus Volume 1 (2010).

Inked original artwork for Army of Darkness: Ash's Christmas Horror (one-shot) by Nick Bradshaw.

Inked original artwork for Darkman vs Army of Darkness #1 by Nick Bradshaw.

Nick Bradshaw's Officially Licensed ARMY OF DARKNESS Bibliography (as of 2026)

• Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes (2004) - Interior artwork and covers for Issues 1-4
• Army of Darkness Sketchbook (2004) (One-Shot) - Interior artwork and cover art
• Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes Director's Cut (2004) (One-Shot) - Interior artwork
• Army of Darkness: Shop 'Till You Drop Dead (2004) - Interior artwork for Issues 1, 2, & 4, and covers for Issues 1-4
• Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator (2005) - Interior artwork for Issues 2 & 3, covers for Issues 1-4
• Dynamic Forces Army of Darkness Trading Cards (2005) - Reuses previously published artwork from Ashes 2 Ashes and Shop 'Till You Drop Dead, as well as 1 of 1 sketch cards
• Darkman vs. Army of Darkness (2006) - Cover artwork for Issues 1-4
• Army of Darkness (Ongoing; Volume 1) (2006-2007) - Covers for Issues 5-12
• Dynamite Army of Darkness Limited Edition Lithographs (2007) - Three lithographs reusing previously published artwork
• Tales of Army of Darkness (2006) (One-Shot) - Cover art
• Army of Darkness: Ash's Christmas Horror (2008) (One-Shot) - Cover art
• Danger Girl and The Army of Darkness (2011-2012) - Cover art for Issues 1-6
• Army of Darkness: Ash Gets Hitched (2014) - Cover art for Issue 1
• Ash vs. The Army of Darkness (2017) - Cover art for Issue 0

Behind The Scenes of Palisades Toys ARMY OF DARKNESS Figures (PART 1)

The following images and information comes from Kenneth Lilly, former product designer and director at Palisades Toys. Between 2004 and 2005, Palisades Toys created two series of four inch officially licensed Army of Darkness figures, with Series 1 consisting of eight figures and Series 2 consisting of 12 figures. Through his Instagram (creatusmaximus), Lilly has been sharing behind the scenes information and images regarding the production of the Army of Darkness figure line. Also included here are notable remarks made by Lilly in the comments of these posts.

"Pit Battle Ash" (Series 2) (1:12)

An army of pics of the “Chainsaw” Ash figure, from the second series of highly detailed (and downright fun) 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. This photo shoot (by me in 2016) uses a few varieties of pre-production and production samples. - August 14, 2025

Comment: Are those t joint hips or more of the DC direct style with the hinge?

Lilly: I’m not familiar with the DC Direct joint. This is a T-crotch with discs in the hips to allow them to go outward.

Comment 1: Was Army of Darkness ever considered for a PALz line?

Lilly 1: Yeah I think so. I think we asked about every licensor we had in an effort to expand the brand.

Comment 2: That's a shame. It seems like AOD likes to thrive in the miniature figurine front: Palisades, Super7, Mezco, so PALz would have been a good fit.

Lilly 2: Unless the Mezco stuff kinda filled that need. Coulda been why the license wasn’t able to be acquired.

"Evil Ash" (Series 2) (1:16)

An army of pics of the Evil Ash figure, from the second series of highly detailed (and downright fun) 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. - June 7, 2025

Comment 1: What kind of reference material did MGM provide (if any) for AOD?

Lilly 1: Somehow, and I can’t remember exactly how but it wasn’t the licensor, I acquired an unbelievably good CD of a ton of reference images of the practical effects. Also took crappy screen grabs on my own.

Comment 2: So MGM didn't give you guys anything at all (save for stuff like logo elements)?

Lilly 2: Not much. It was 2003…there wasn’t a lot to be had.

"Winged Deadite" (Series 2) (1:16)

A slew of final product photos of the Winged Deadite figure, from the second series of 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. - June 14, 2025

"Deadite Infantry" (Series 2) (1:8)

An army of pics of the Deadite Infantry figure from the second series of highly detailed (and downright fun) 3.75-inch scale action figures based on the cult classic film Army of Darkness. Sculpted by SOTA Toys. - July 25, 2025

Deadite Centurion (Series 1) (released in 2-pack with Pit Witch)

Images of the original paint master/tooling pattern of the Army of Darkness Deadite Centurion (the last few photos, sculpted at 8 inches) compared to the revised and reduced (height is just under 4 inches) new paint master/factory model. SOTA, who were sculpting these figures, gave us a reduced rate (since there were so many characters) in exchange for minimal articulation and static poses. It worked out really well as they provided a good 3D template we were able to use to re-make them as functional models overseas using some specs I created. Lots of detail in those little figures. This is a paint master so it’s meticulously hand-painted and not a production piece, but I’ve always been proud of what we did in the 3.75 inch scale. Would have loved to keep working in it. - April 15, 2025

Comment 1: Recently found a YouTube video of a collector who had the entire lineup of 8 inch AOD figs. Was really surprised to see there wasn't an Ash in that scale (although there were three versions of Evil Ash).

"Evil Dead Army of Darkness Prototype Action Figures - CIOPCC Must Sees" by Michael Crawford (posted September 6, 2022)

Lilly 1: There were Ash figures sculpted in the 2-up size. All of them actually. Maybe he wasn’t able to find those prototypes but they were created.

Comment 2: Of all the variations of Ash from the small figures? Classic, knight, S-Mart, ect.?

Lilly 2: Yeah they all started at the 2-up size.

Lilly 3: Watched it. Those were (mostly) unreleased figures or variations of figures that did come out but just looked a lot different. Some awesome stuff there.