Army of Darkness: Halloween Special

Army of Darkness is about the limit of horror involving demons that I can tolerate. Ironically, I've never seen Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2. But I think Army of Darkness is one of the best horror comedies ever made. It's all because of living legend Bruce Campbell who stars as ego maniac Ash, our planet's last line of defense against the Deadite legions that seek to usher literal Hell on Earth.

Actually, Campbell stars in all incarnations of the Evil Dead films. So what is it that makes Army of Darkness okay for me to watch but not the first two films on the series. I think it is the level of seriousness of the movies. The first two movies were so shocking, let alone terrifying, with the first film being rated X. Army of Darkness with it's main character with his 1973 Oldsmobile and gas powered chain saw time, being stranded in medieval times is so tongue in cheek, that it turned the franchise into a bit of a farce instead of a soul stealing tale of terror. 

Plus, Bruce Campbell is such a definitive comedic actor. He's too restrained in the first movies.

The main story of this 2018 Halloween special from Dynamite has 2 stories. The opener sees Ash in Charleston seeking the his online match from a dating app. Instead of romance, Ash finds himself face-to-face with perhaps the most famous Deadite ever: the notorious Blackbeard the Pirate! Then on an eerie Halloween night, a group of meddling kids break into a graveyard. Armed with beer and a spell book, these horny teens seek to unleash some harmless fun but end up awakening a gaggle of Deadites instead!

Written by Chad Bowers, Chris Sims and Benito Cerano, my copy is autographed by Sims. That being said, I loved both stories, regardless of one of the creators being nice enough to put their John Hancock on the cover. Both captures the swagger and bravado of Ash, which is in very large part due to Bruce Campbell. 

As for the art, both stories were good. But I am going to give the title of best in show to Eion Marron who penciled and inked the opener. It's more dynamic. Ash looks amazingly like actor Campbell, whereas Sam Lofti's Ash appears more like a caricature. Plus Marron's Deadites, including Blackbeard, looked so freaking awesome.

Not sure why it took me so long to read this. Also not sure why I had it sitting in my 'to review ' pile despite actually having not read this. I must have misplaced it. But it was worth the wait!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #6

After a series of missteps, Sgt. Rock Versus the Army of the Undead ends on such a high note. There's mention of a department that specializes in the military investigating paranormal and extraterrestrial activity. It's almost like SHIELD but with weird phenomenon. I'd order this series new and monthly if it ever came to pass. However, it's been over a year since issue #1 of this series debuted and I feel like if we've not heard about such a series coming forth by now, it's not going to happen.

The individual issues must not have sold as well as DC had hoped. No surprise there. DC has been tanking in sales for some time now. However, a hardcover collected edition is coming out sometime this month; just in time for All Hallow's Eve. Maybe if the hardcover sells very well, it might re-start the gears for that foretold future series. But if that happens, I expect the paranormal Sgt. Rock story to be repackaged as a graphic novel instead of floppies. 

This final issue was wild. If you are familiar with how Inglourious Basterds ended, then you'll probably love this finale. Add in the penultimate scene of the under-rated Tom Hanks vehicle, The 'Burbs and you'll almost forget some of the errors made in the storytelling in issues #2 and 5. 

The covers by Gary Frank have been awesome. I've also liked the interior art crafted by Eduardo Russo. Some might not like his minimalist technique. But I appreciated the use of shadows and dark voids to heighten the intensity of the drama. Russo's style reminded me a lot of Mike Mignola. So if you are a fan of Hellboy, you'll really dig the artwork of this book.

This was Bruce Campbell's first comic book. For a first effort, it was pretty darn good. I just felt that things kept going back to the starting line instead of going for the finish line. That might not even be the author's fault, but poor story advice from the editor. If not for that, this offbeat World War II horror-fantasy would have been perfect. Still, this was a good read to start off my October, 2023 reads.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #5

When the last issue ended, Sgt. Rock was positioned outside the secret compound of Adolf Hitler. So you'd expect this issue to have Easy Co. arrive and under Rock's leadership, they'd all unleash Hell on the Fuhrer. Instead, the penultimate issue of Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead starts back at HQ with the regiment aboard a transport vehicle about to parachute onto the compound. 

I had to double-check and make sure I hadn't missed something. Did I skip an issue? Why would Sgt. Rock go back to England and then get on a plane back to Nazi Germany? Let's be honest, if this was Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos, they would have stormed the compound immediately. There wouldn't have been any backtracking.\

I'm no four-star general but it seems to me that going back to home base increases the possibility of everyone getting wiped out and Hitler survives to live another day. Sure, if you are the writer, you'll do everything to keep the main character from dying. But if this was real life, it just seems an unnecessary risk to venture back through enemy territory just to regroup and pick up more fire power. I understand why you'd want reinforcements. It just seems too big of a risk. Plus, don't you run the risk of Hitler moving on to another secure location. Did Easy Co. leave a spotter???

As you can tell from the cover, the story is no longer historically accurate. Like having zombie storm troopers was historically accurate. But, with Hitler turning himself into a member of the walking dead, we're no longer trying to match the events of the last days of World War II. Actually, with this mission being Hitler's last hurrah, we're venturing into Inglourious Basterds territory as this European campaign is about to come to a close in 1944- almost a full year before things came to a close in real life! 

How we would have fought the war if Germany was defeated before the bomb was complete is an interesting prospect. I wonder if that concept has ever been explored. I'd definitely be interested in reading that alternate history. 

An action packed next-to-last issue. The logistics of things don't make a lot of sense to me and the complete 180-swing in the story was confusing to the point, I thought I had accidentally starred reading issue #4 or #6 out of order. But it's always nice to see Adolf Hitler getting his ass handed to him!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #4

In this issue Rock and Easy Co. locate Hitler's personal physician after having destroyed the facility being used to make the Nazi army of the undead. Up next, track the doctor to Hitler's hidden lair.

Finally, an issue that really moves things forward. Well, actually, last issue saw the destruction of the zombie making facility. It's complete destruction wasn't made totally clear until this issue. I kept wondering why Sgt. Rock was so intent on tracking Doctor Morell when his primary mission was to eliminate the Nazi's ability to make resurrected troops. Turns out that Hitler only had the one place to create his own army of darkness. Thus objective #1 is complete.

Other than the gore, I've been wondering why this series has been rated for readers aged 17 and up. In this issue, the swears start being added to Easy Co.'s vocabulary. I haven't seen the big one yet. But this is a Bruce Campbell venture and I expect it's singular appearance to be a doozy.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #3

Issue #3 sees Sgt. Rock and his troops back at headquarters. They've located Dr. Morrell, the personal physician of Hitler's. That means the Further can't be too far away. Armed with a new set of hi-tech (well, hi-tech for 1944) weapons and a plan, Easy Company must re-locate the Nazi doctor, follow him to the site where the undead are being produced and destroy it. Then, possibly kill Hitler if the chance arises. 

Basically, we're back where we were at the end of the first issue. The only thing that has progressed is that the US Army knows what city/region the factory making the zombies is. The only thing that has changed is the tech now being welded by Rock's regiment of soldiers. Plus, by issue's end, Easy Co. will have split into 2 groups; one led by Sgt. Rock and one by his second-in-command, Bulldozer. After another run-in with some Nazi ghouls, Rock's group have uniforms to disguise themselves. So if we're lucky, issue #4 will actually start going somewhere. 

This really isn't a bad story. It just keeps going around in circles. It reminds me of the classic Doctor Who TV series where episode one would set everything up, episode 2-5 would see the Doctor and his companions doing the same thing, over and over and over, and then the final episode of the story arc wraps everything up. If that's the way Bruce Campbell is doing things with this story, no wonder publishers like DC Comics are in trouble. Stop stretching things out in order to make a buck. Clean and concise is much more appreciated than a story with too many chapters that do nothing except repeat what happened up until that point. 

More than anything, I just feel a little cheated having bought each issue new. But at least I supported my favorite LCS in the process. Supporting small businesses. That's something to cheer about even though it doesn't exactly help my wallet.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #2

Issue #2 sees Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. on reconnaissance. Yes- there's several encounters with undead Nazis. Lots of gore. Lots of combat. There's even a scene at a bier haus in which we see a bunch of zombie soldiers drinking beer and having antics. 

It all feels very unnecessary. 

The undead Nazis at a bar seemed very out of place. I'm sure it was part of Bruce Campbell's quirky sense of humor. I was reminded of that scene in Gremlins where those little green boogers took over a local watering hole and went wild. 

The combat scenes used almost all of the tech introduced in the last issue up already. Generally, when this would happen to an action character like James Bond, the hero wouldn't go through his entire arsenal until the final act. What a waste!

There was 1 thing that did advance the plot: Rock and his troops do locate Hitler's personal physician. That means that the fuehrer can't be very far away. However, instead of capturing the doctor, the boys end this issue by heading back to base. 

Nothing in this issue pushed the plot line any forward. Any progress made by locating Dr. Theodor Morell was walked back with Sgt. Rock not doing anything. I'm a little bit miffed. I paid $3.99 new, for this issue. I feel a little bit cheated. No, not cheated. I did enjoy a lot of segments in this book. I just wish I had gotten this issue for less than cover at a bargain bin. Very glad I didn't pay the extra dollar for the variant cover. That's okay. The Gary Frank covers have been awesome!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #1

Bruce Campbell has made a career out of over the top macho characters that have a smarmy sense of humor. Not afraid to step on anybody's toes, his works are terrifying, insensitive and kinda gross and I love it! When I found out last year that the Chin was writing a 6-issue horror themed Sgt. Rock miniseries, I immediately contacted my LCS and pre-ordered it. 

The first couple of issues were released in time for Halloween 2022. I was hoping that I would have the complete run in order to read it for last season's spooky reads. Unfortunately it wasn't until the Spring of this year that the 6th and final issue debuted in stores. That's okay. I get to enjoy the spooky offbeat fun this season!

It's 1944 and things are going really bad for the Nazis. Running out of resources, fuel and especially conscripts, Hitler has a plan to build up an army of the undead! To stop the zombie goose-steppers, the Army recruits their top non-com, Sgt. Rock and his boys of Easy Co.! The mission won't be easy though as Rock and his men will have to dive deep into Nazi territory to find where the ghouls are being manufactured. Added to the complexity of the assignment, these low-budget Deadites cannot be killed by normal means. You've got to take them out with a head shot and not just any head wound will do as there is a special device in each corpses' head that keeps them going. 

At least if they bite you, you won't turn into one of them. Right???

Issue #1 was a good start up. You get Hitler. You get Sgt. Rock. You know what the mission is and you're introduced to an assortment of tech that Easy Co. will use to go up against this army of the undead. It almost felt like the first 20 minutes of a James Bond film. Not exactly oozing with Bruce Campbell's humor and charm, but it's a very good first chapter.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness

NOT WORTH CONSUMING

I love Marvel Comics. I love Bruce Campbell and the whole Sam Raimi Zombie thing. However, this book is not Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

I hated this book. It’s too bleak and sad. At least with other zombie flicks there is a glimmer of hope. Here, there is none. Plus, many of the things done, especially acts by Reed Richards is sooooooo not in character it’s frightening.

This volume makes me not want to read the original Marvel Zombies or any other Zombie book by Marvel in the future.