''Army of Darkness'' comics are based on the film of the same name published originally by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

, and later by

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

who initially published them through

Devil's Due Publishing Devil's Due Publishing (often abbreviated as DDP) is an independent comic book publisher in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned proper ...

. The stories follow the adventures of the ''Evil Dead'' series,

Ash Williams Ashley Joanna "Ash" Williams is a fictional character and the protagonist of the '' Evil Dead'' franchise. Created by Sam Raimi, he is portrayed by Bruce Campbell and is the only character to appear in each entry of the series, including a po ...

, and has included a number of crossovers with a wide variety of characters such as

Marvel Zombies ''Marvel Zombies'' is a five-issue limited series published from December 2005 to April 2006 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Robert Kirkman with art by Sean Phillips and covers by Arthur Suydam. It was the first series in the ''Ma ...

Darkman ''Darkman'' is a 1990 American superhero horror film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. The film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is brutally attacked, disfigured, and left for dead by ruthless mobster Robert Durant ( La ...

Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' horror film franchise. Created by Wes Craven, he made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a ...

Jason Voorhees Jason Voorhees () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the Friday the 13th (franchise), ''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in ''Friday the 13th (1980 film), Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-kil ...

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

Xena Xena is a fictional character from the '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' franchise, portrayed by New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless and co-created by Robert Tapert and John Schulian. She first appeared as a villain in the 1995–1999 television serie ...

Danger Girl ''Danger Girl'' is an American comic book series created by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell that started in March 1998 and is still published as a new series. The comic stars an eponymous group of female secret agents—Abbey Chase, Sydney S ...

, and

Re-Animator ''Re-Animator'' (also known as ''H. P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator'') is a 1985 American comedy horror film loosely based on the 1922 H. P. Lovecraft serial novelette " Herbert West–Reanimator". Directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Y ...

Dark Horse Comics (1992-1993)

The first comic based on the ''Army of Darkness'' film (and ''Evil Dead'' franchise as a whole) was the three-issue adaptation of ''Army of Darkness'' published by

written by

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

and Ivan Raimi, featuring artwork by

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...

. The series began releasing in 1992, however, due to the delayed release of the ''Army of Darkness'' film (a result of a lawsuit between

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and

Dino De Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian film producer and businessman who held both Italian and American citizenship. Following a brief acting career in the late 1930s and early 1940s, he moved into f ...

regarding the rights to the character

Hannibal Lecter Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer and former forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling ...

), the third and final issue was not released until October 1993. Dark Horse International reprinted the series in issues #1-8 in the short-lived

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

-exclusive anthology magazine ''Total Carnage'' in 1993. This series has since been reprinted several times since Dynamite Entertainment's acquisition of the ''Army of Darkness'' comic rights, including a paperback in 2006 and a "30th anniversary" hardcover in 2023. It was also included in Dynamite's first ''Army of Darkness Omnibus'' trade paperback collection in 2010.

Dynamite Entertainment (2004-present)

In 2004, Dynamite Entertainment launched their own series of officially licensed comics based on the ''Army of Darkness'' film, starting with a four-issue miniseries entitled ''Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes'' (which was co-published with

for its initial release). Since 2004, Dynamite has steadily published ''Army of Darkness'' comics through miniseries, one-shots, crossovers, and three ongoing volumes.

Limited Series

Ongoing Series

First Ongoing (2006-2007)

Second Ongoing (2007-2010)

Third Ongoing (2012-2013)

Fourth Ongoing (2014-2015)

One-Shots

Crossovers

Collected editions

The various stories and limited series have been collected into

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

. Dynamite are also collecting all the comics into larger omnibus editions: *''Omnibus Volume 1'' (collects the first 18 issues: the 1992 3-issue film adaptation, Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes #1-4, Army of Darkness: Shop till You Drop Dead #1-4, Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator #1-4, Army of Darkness (2006 series) #5-7, plus all 6 stories from Tales of Army of Darkness, 488 pages, released in 2010, ) *''Omnibus Volume 2'' (collects the next 18 issues: Army of Darkness (2006 series) #8-13 and Army of Darkness (2007 series) #1-12, 432 pages, released in April 2012, ) *''Omnibus Volume 3'' (collects the next 15 issues: Army of Darkness (2007 series) #13-27, 360 pages, released in April 2013, ) Additionally, there is ''Army of Darkness/Xena Omnibus'' (collects Army of Darkness/Xena: Why Not (2008) #1-4, Xena vs. Army of Darkness: What...Again? (2008) #1-4, and Army of Darkness/Xena: Forever and a Day (2016) #1-6, 208 pages, released in June 2021, )

Awards

*2006: Won the " Best Screen-To-Comic Adaptation" Spike TV Scream Award *2008: Nominated for the " Best Scream-To-Comic-Adaptation" Spike TV Scream Award

Maquette

On May 11, 2005, it was announced that Dynamite Entertainment would be releasing a

maquette A ''maquette'' is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture or work of architecture. The term is a loanword from French. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', a diminutive of the Italian word for a sketch. Sculpture A maquette ...

based on J. Scott Campbell's cover of ''Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes'' #1. The maquette was sculpted by Anthony Colella and stands at 13” tall. It has a limited release of 150 pieces with 50 Artist Proofs being released at a later date. When released both the Maquette and AP held an

MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

of $149.99.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Evil Dead Comics at Deadites OnlineDark Horse comics details for issue #1#2
an
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{{Dynamite Entertainment The Evil Dead (franchise) comics Fantasy comics Cthulhu Mythos comics Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in comic books