Ash and the Army of Darkness #4 Review

Will Ash find the Book of the Dead? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

The Army of Darkness grows as Wiseman’s legion of Deadites ransack town after town, burning building and stealing souls. Ash and the Mask Fighter are on the run and find themselves trapped in the Dark Wood where an old enemy waits for Ash.

I’ve really been enjoying Ash and the Army of Darkness so far, as despite not being on par with the Evil Dead film series it has been an enjoyable ride. I can’t however say that about this issue, as it was a major disappointment.

Steve Niles gives us very little in this issue, with the first half feeling like a total waste of time. In fact there is very little positive criticism I can give about this issues writing, as despite some of the limited dialogue being interesting, and the cliffhanger ending giving excitement this was overall a very poor issue. Added to this the fact that there’re some previews that take longer to read and I question why the story from this issue wasn’t just shortened down and added alongside the material from the next.

The artwork from Dennis Calero is however amazing, and easily the best thing about this issue. Calero continues to give a lot of depth and tone through his layouts, with his overall style being simply perfect for the Evil Dead world. There is also a lot of drama and emotion added through the facial expressions, and along with the magnificently creepy look to the undead it adds a lot of punch to this mediocre story. On top of this Calero gives fantastic inks and astonishing colours which give the perfect final look to his phenomenal art.

Ash and the Army of Darkness has let itself down big time with this issue, and I can only hope that the next issue is better. Keep your $3.99 and skip this issue.

1.5/5