Finally giving us a payoff to both the original ending of Army of Darkness and the series finale of “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” Ash is headed into the future in Army of Darkness: Forever.
Announced by AIPT Comics this afternoon, Army of Darkness: Forever is an upcoming comic series from Dynamite Entertainment, and it takes place across three timelines.
“Dynamite is proud to present a new series from Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs) and Justin Greenwood (Stumptown) that is a direct sequel to how many fans believe the film should’ve ended. This October, Army of Darkness Forever #1 begins to explore what could’ve been.”
Dynamite previews via an official press release today, “The story picks up immediately after the events of the beloved film, jumping between three fun timelines. The Techno Army of Darkness of 2093, the S-Mart aisles of 1993, and the middle ages chaos of Castle Kandar, all three get the spotlight in this series. Superstar creator Tony Fleecs, from the best-selling series Stray Dogs and contributions to other franchises like My Little Pony and Gargoyles, returns to the franchise following covers for Army of Darkness vs. Reanimator: Necronomicon Rising. He’s setting out to give fans of Ash Williams the ultimate story they’ve always wanted!”
Writer Tony Fleecs explains the film’s original ending, “It’s one of the great, all-time alternate takes. Instead of Ash ending up back in 1990s Michigan, fighting Deadites at S-Mart, he wakes up 100 years after the end of the world in 2093. I remember the first time I saw it on DVD, my mind just exploding at the possibilities. Ash vs. the post-apocalypse?! But then the theatrical ending has that iconic action scene and last line: “Hail to the King, baby.” So, you don’t want to lose that either.”
Fleecs also talked about collaborating with artist Justin Greenwood, “Justin’s one of my best friends in comics. We always wanted to find a thing to work on together and this came along at the perfect time. He’s a great storyteller, that’s obvious to anyone who’s read Stumptown or Crone or any of his books. But the thing that he does that really works for this book in particular is, he’s great at attitude. He’s one of the funniest guys in person. A real raconteur. And that comes through in the way he draws Ash. They both feel like blue-collar guys with interesting jobs to do.”
Besides writing the series Fleecs will also be providing covers along with some incredibly talented artists including Francesco Mattina, Arthur Suydam and Nick Dragotta. Plus, there will be a Blank Authentix cover to allow fans to have their favorite artists draw Ash Williams and some Deadites.
Dynamite is going to do it up big as we’ve just passed the 30th anniversary of the movie; Army of Darkness #1 was the first comic ever published by the company back in 2004. To go along with the new series, they are releasing an Army of Darkness Movie Adaptation 30th Anniversary Edition and Army of Darkness 30th Anniversary Trading Cards.
The movie adaptation was originally released in 1992, written by brothers Sam and Ivan Raimi, with jaw-dropping painted interiors from John Bolton (X-Men). The award-winning story is over 80 glorious pages of Ash-ction and the book also features a special interview with Bruce Campbell conducted by comics legend Kurt Busiek.
The trading cards set showcases the best Army of Darkness comic book art and photos, across an 18-card base set, chase cards including 6 signed cards, 9 movie photo cards, 9 line art cards, a 9-card puzzle set, and a special box-topper pack of 3 special cards. Hundreds of exclusive, hand-drawn, one-of-a-kind sketch cards are also included across packs, with a stacked roster of top artists.
Army of Darkness: Forever #1, the Hardcover Film adaptation and the trading cards are solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ September 2023 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market and slated for release in October 2023.
