Marvel Zombies Vs. Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness comics have been around for a while, so that's nothing new. Good Army of Darkness comics, however, are a relatively new invention, so this crossover between Dynamite's AOD franchise and Marvel's newly minted Zombieverse is a pleasant surprise. Introduced in Ultimate Fantastic Four by Mark Millar, the Marvel Zombieverse has become extremely popular in an extremely short time, like Yop, whereas Army of Darkness was cut up by studios and censors and took about 10 years before people noticed it was good. So, essentially, it's like mixing a fine, well-aged wine with yoghurt. Except better.

 
Writer John Layton manages to get a good handle on Ashley J. Williams, with his delicate balance of street-smarts, mild buffoonery, and exasperated attitude. Layton plays him off as funny without being too stupid about it, which has been a flaw in past interpretations of the character. And while his versions of the Marvel pantheon of heroes lean towards the overly familiar, if you accept them as mild parody, they’re a bit easier to swallow. Still, Spiderman is intended to be a bit more than a collection of quips dressed as a strawberry, so his role here can be a little grating at times. Marvel Zombie Vs. Army of Darkness takes place after Dynamite Force’s Army Of Darkness series ended, with the death of Ash. However, Ash’s journey through the afterlife is interrupted by a zombie Sentry, raised from the dead just as surely as Brian Michael Bendis resurrected the character from the $0.50 back issue bin. Ash gets knocked back to life, and awakens in the alternate universe from Marvel Zombies just before the zombie plague arrives to infect all the superheroes. The story doesn’t quite strike that balance of humor and horror that Kirkman’s original series did, but while the addition of Ash does skew the feel more towards comedy than chills, the added laughs are not unwelcome, especially considering how painfully unfunny the Army of Darkness comics could be.

 
Artist Fabiano Neves, a relative newcomer to comics, illustrates in a style that seems equal parts Sean Phillips and Richard Corben. It’s nice to look at, but the lack of a distinctive, original vision doesn’t help it stand out at all. Neves does draw a good likeness of Bruce Campbell, and he conveys expression simply but effectively. But in a book like this, that’s not enough. The concept is over the top, and the art needs to match. The writing hits a chord that contains both comedy and horror, or at least intends to, but the art goes to neither extreme, instead running down the middle, a B flat in a symphony of harmonies. It feels limited and inadequate, like it’s been cut down for running time and a more favorable MPAA rating. Which, I suppose, makes it even more like Army of Darkness than intended.

Rating: 7 on 10