Sam Raimi's ARMY OF DARKNESS is Getting a Sequel Comic with ARMY OF DARKNESS: FOREVER
Holy crap! Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness is actually getting a sequel! It’s titled Army of Darkness: Forever, and yeah, it’s in comic book form, but I’m just happy that this awesome story is going to continue!
The story will pick up with both the original ending of Army of Darkness and the series finale of Ash vs. Evil Dead. The story takes place across three timelines.
The comic was announced by AIPT Comics and it’s being produced by Dynamite Entertainment, who says: “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.”
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!”
Ten years ago, Raimi and Bruce Campbell were actually looking at making an Army of Darkness movie sequel. Campbell said at the time: “I would think the post-Apocalyptic because it gives great possibilities for an Omega Man movie, and who he might be fighting against. It would be a very interesting world. But I’m fine either way. I’m sure Sam will concoct some ridiculous story and an outrageous journey, so I don’t really care where it starts and ends. The fun thing is working again with Sam Raimi. That’s the only reason to do these incredibly difficult movies than work for a guy who you really like working with and who you respect.” Unfortunately the movie never happened.
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 talked about collaborating with artist Justin Greenwood, saying: “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 talented artists including Francesco Mattina, Arthur Suydam and Nick Dragotta. There will also be a Blank Authentix cover to allow fans to have their favorite artists draw Ash Williams and some Deadites.
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 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.
