Customer Reviews

Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well, you just know that the Marvel Zombies -- undead variations on Marvel's standard superhero theme, all conveniently set in a parallel universe that is exactly like the usual Marvel Universe in nearly every way ... except for the fact that all the major heroes have turned into zombies and are eating everyone -- are too cool to leave on the shelves.

Enter Ash Williams, the cult-classic zombie fighter from the "Evil Dead/Army of Darkness" series of films. In this stand-alone book, Ash arrives in New York right at the outbreak of undeadedness and puts his trusty chainsaw and shotgun to work. Of course, Ash isn't used to battling zombies who dress in bright costumes and have superpowers to boot.

The Marvel Zombies had their birth from the fertile mind of writer Mark Millar and artist Greg Land, who were teammates then on the "Ultimate Fantastic Four" series. Robert Kirkman and Sean Phillips picked up the ball and ran with it in the followup story, "Marvel Zombies." Now, John Layman and Fabiano Neves have it well in hand, as the ruggedly handsome Ash (based on the square jaw of actor Bruce Campbell) faces down the rotting Avengers and other key players from Marvel's roster of heroes.

It's fun, it's a little kooky and it's a whole lot grotesque. And even characters who don't rank high on my Marvel radar -- such as Punisher and Howard the Duck -- make memorable apperances here.

I'm not sure how long Marvel can prolong its Zombie line, but as long as they keep churning out with this kind of quality, I'll keep reading. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon, please do. But eat first.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

Okay. Enough is enough...take a cool, interesting concept where Spiderman, Colonel America, The Hulk, The X-men and all the rest of the Marvel Super-heroes turn into zombies (Marvel Zombies), then add in Evil Dead II's Ash Williams and you've got a campy cash-in on two cult classics, right?

WRONG!

Evil Dead II + Marvel Zombies = a prequel to the latter that turns out to be an enjoyable hour of time that surpasses a heck of a lot of the silly movies in the genre that I've sat through in recent times.

Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness is an exceptionally well-done tale of what would happen in parallel universe where some of our favorite super-heroes co-exist with Ash from The Evil Dead movies. What happens? Well, our super-heroes turned zombies encounter a whole lotta boomstick, that's what happens.

This story is extremely well-written, but the creator of Marvel Zombies is reduced to a consulting role and it shows a bit. But it certainly doesn't come between a super-hero sized good time. Although, I'd definitely recommend checking out Kirkman's Marvel Zombies release before delving into this prequel. (Kirkman is also the creator of the awesome Walking Dead series.)

Do you like zombie flicks? Do you enjoy the Marvel super-hero stories? Did you like Evil Dead II? Yes? Then Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness is an excellent, quick read, prequel that you'd be remiss to deprive yourself of.

Check it out.

After falling through yet another portal in the space-time continuum, Ashley J. Williams, the pugnacious hero of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" Films, finds himself lying in a dumpster in a parallel NYC where Marvel's Superhero community fights crime on the streets. Receiving forewarning about an impending "deadite" manifestation by a possessed bag-lady, Ash sets out with his trusty chainsaw and double-barreled boomstick to head the deadites off at the pass and show the costumed heroes just how you go about "carving a witch". However, unbeknownst to S-Mart's favourite son, NYC is about to succumb to a far deadlier onslaught of the undead...

Acting concurrently with Marvel Zombies: Dead Days TPB, "Marvel Zombies Vs Army Of Darkness" acts as an expanded prequel to the events of both Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 5: Crossover (v. 5) (in which M.Z. first appeared) and Marvel Zombies TPB Spider-Man Cover. Its a highly enjoyable romp which manages to infuse humour, horror and a cracking comic book rendition of Bruce Campbell's "Ash" (He really does come across as as much of horses-ass as I remember from the "Evil Dead" movies and his hard-boiled exchanges with the caped crusaders and villains are highly amusing). A speculative fate-worse-than-death of a talking copy of the "Necronomicon Ex Mortis" at the hands of a zombified Hulk is also highly amusing, as is a brief (but violent) cameo from "Howard The Duck". Indeed, my only gripe with the series overall is that I'd liked to have seen more interplay with "The Punisher" (but being a big "Punisher" fan, I would say that, wouldn't I?).

That said, I imagine that fans of "The Evil Dead", "Marvel Comics" and Zombie films in general will get a chuckle out of this undemanding but highly enjoyable ride through the dead side. I know I did.

I'm quite leary of inter-company crossovers, so I approached this with some caution. Robert Kirkman's Marvel Zombies ended up being a surprise smash hit, hence this crossover with Dynamite Entertainment's Army of Darkness license. For anyone who hasn't seen the Evil Dead movies, Army of Darkness was the third film in the trilogy, in which are favorite chainsaw and shotgun wielding, one-liner spewing hero Ash took on evil deadites. Marvel Zombies VS Army of Darkness finds Ash transported to the Marvel universe at the beginning of the zombie outbreak, and soon enough he's up to his head with the hungry, super-powered undead. Before you can say boomstick, Ash teams up with buxom heroines Dazzler and the Scarlet Witch to track down the Necronomicon and solve the whole mess, the only problem is that the book resides in the library of Doctor Doom; and there's a horde of undead superheroes in the middle. With careful supervision from Kirkman, writer John Layman manages to have an absolute blast weaving this oftenly funny tale. The artwork from Fabiano Neves and regular Army of Darkness artist Fernando Blanco is more than solid, and the gore scenes are well done as well. If you dug the original Marvel Zombies and love the Evil Dead movies, you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of Marvel Zombies VS Army of Darkness. There's blood, babes, zombies, and more excellent Arthur Suydam covers, so it's a win-win situation for everyone involved.

***Warning, A little bit of spoiler info in the review

I liked Marvel Zombies, I thought it was a really cool idea that deserved my attention. And I love Army of Darkness (Evil Dead 2) a lot. I thought the cross would be double fun. However, I found myself being a little disappointed in the end. The art was fantastic, but the whole story felt a little cheesy (which I do understand is what makes AoD good) and unfinished with very little explanation as to how the virus even found its way to earth. There were even parts of the story where you can really tell the authors ran out of ideas and just started taking short cuts and making crap up. For instance: the part where Ash needed a diversion to get to the ship to make it to Doom's castle and the zombie children were in the way. The authors just made up a team of somebodies as a diversion then said they were brutal taken out off page. I laughed pretty hard, but realized this was just part of the easy way out mentality of the authors. If I had started reading this story with no expectations I probably would have liked it a lot more. But I read Marvel Zombies first, then this one, so I expected a better back story and a little more serious storyline with Ash's off humor as an added bonus. If I could do it over again I would have read this one first then Marvel Zombies, I think I would have found the 2 graphic novels much better in that order.

What else can be said about the number one zero colliding with the marvel Zombie universe! Ash is entertaining even til this day! A good one for the Zombie fanatics, A little bit of a brain twister if you're not familiar with Marvel alternate reality storylines. But good nonetheless! I wish they made a Marvel Zombie Omnibus when the series finally concludes.

As with many of the Marvel Zombies titles, this book has no real point or impact to the Marvel Universe. It is a fun little romp but nothing more. There is no depth or development but if you are a fan of Ash and stupid violence, this is a easy read. You will not walk away with any sort of strong feelings. The book is simply there but it knows that. All in all, it was okay. Nothing great and nothing terrible. Pick it up if you are at a Con or you see it on sale.

This ha-ha, nudge-nudge, wink-wink crossover between the newly minted "Marvel Zombies" franchise and the older, darker "Evil Dead" series has its moments, but overall I found it only so-so. I loved "Evil Dead 2" and even, to a lesser extent, the other movies in the series. Seeing it adapted for the comicbook medium is less satisfying -- if you're not actually looking at Bruce Campbell the actor playing the character of Ash, it just ain't the same. The real payoff comes on the Marvel side of the fence -- this book shows us (from Ash's perspective) what happened when the zombie virus hit Earth, and how Earth's Mightiest all got infected. There is much splattering and chomping and Dr. Doom makes a last stand for humanity. Overall, this book is okay, and it compliments the other books in the series, but the series-crossover comedic schtick does get in the way most of the time. I'd rather have seen a straight-up story about Marvel Zombies: Ground Zero, or whatever.

Ash meets the Marvel Zombie Universe and pretty much lets them destroy themselves, he's just along for the ride, as he passes through their dimension.

This is a fun read, but really has no memorable moments. The art, however, is great! I'm always disappointed by comics that have great cover art but lame interiors, but this was a pleasant surprise.

I haven't been interested in any other Marvel Zombie books, but the AOD factor was enough to make me pick this one up.

Buy it if you like pointless crossovers.

A very enjoyable diversion into the (undead) Marvel Universe, Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness serves as a wild ride for the readers. Taking the characters we know and love, Layman, Neves, and Chung delivers them on a blood-soaked platter where the courage and strength of the heroes (and villains) fall to their undying hunger for living flesh.

How can B-Movie hero Ash stand against the hordes of super-powered undead? What (if any) potential allies remain on the dead planet? Read on only if you dare!!!

For a fun trip chock full of zombie gore and mayhem, this GN is a must have for fans.