ARMY OF DARKNESS FOREVER #8, by Dynamite Comics on 5/22/24, makes three into one when Future Ash sets out to join three Necronomicons together as the last step to getting home… maybe.
Credits:
- Writer: Tony Fleecs
- Artist: Pop Mhan
- Colorist: Brad Simpson
- Letterer: Troy Peteri
- Cover Artist: Bjorn Barends
- Publisher: Dynamite Comics
- Release Date: May 22, 2022
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Page Count: 22
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of ARMY OF DARKNESS FOREVER #8:
Plot Analysis:
Here we go again. Nothing is ever easy for Ash, regardless of the century, but this time, Tony Fleecs may have given the one-handed hero a break in ARMY OF DARKNESS FOREVER #8, or maybe not.
In issue #7, Future Ash completed his quest to assemble the Necronomicon pages and read the spell to send him back to his own time. Of course, it was all a dupe by the Wiseman, who we now know was serving Evil Ash. Instead of a ride home, Future Ash got a demon baby.
In ARMY OF DARKNESS FOREVER #8, Future Ash learns about the existence of three Necronomicons. One he has – the demon baby, one creates portals, and another flies around and bites. With the holographic Wiseman gone, Future Ash’s robot companions can only tease out files that confirm the last thing Future Ash wants to hear. If he joins the three Necronomicons, all will be returned.
In the 1993 present, Present Ash, possessed by Evil Ash, leads a deadite hoard to storm the White House. Despite the President’s anemic efforts at defense, the White House is left burning.
Back to the future (*heh*), Future Ash finds Bitey Necronomicon chained in a cemetery and guarded by a small army of deadite witches. After plenty of slicing and dicing, Future Ash claims the book.
Later, the data files point Ash to an underground chamber in London to get the Portal Necronomicon. Pushing past the sewer stink and Bitey Necronomicon’s continuous biting, Future Ash runs into a small army of robot deadites. After a bunch of slicing and dicing, and with the help of Baby Necronomicon’s recently-sprouted wings, Future Ash gets Portal Necronomicon. When the three come together, a portal opens to suck everyone away to parts unknown.
In the past, Lady Sheila confronts the Wiseman with a sword. The Wiseman laughs off her attack and offers a gift if she agrees to join Evil Ash’s army – her resurrected brother (in deadite form). Horrified at the abomination before her, Lady Sheila begins a sword fight that leaves her “damaged.”
Character Development:
Oddly enough, the character who shows the greatest potential for character growth and change is Lady Sheila. Without spoiling the specifics, something happens on the last page that could result in a status quo for her with a new tie to Ash that nobody would have seen coming.
If you’re wondering about Ash, he’s just Ash, and that’s typically enough.
Artwork and Presentation:
Pop Mhan steps up the action and visual interest with unique panel layouts, dramatic line-of-sight angles, and visual pop by way of Brad Anderson’s outstanding coloring.
Art Samples:
Pacing and Structure:
Tony Fleecs nails the pacing by keeping Future Ash on an urgent journey to his destination, collect the books, and “do the thing.” Every scene supports Future Ash’s quest without lingering too long or delivering extraneous plot points. On the whole, this is one of the tighter issues in the series.
Regarding the structure of the plot, the consistent soar thumb of this series, Present Ash, gets very little time, which makes the reading experience more enjoyable. Now that the Wiseman bridges the Past and Future, the story makes more sense. That said, Present Ash’s rampage over the Earth still makes no sense and doesn’t appear to connect to the other timelines. It’s starting to feel like Fleecs had an idea that wasn’t fully baked, and now that idea has nowhere to go.
Thematic Exploration:
The overarching theme of this issue is “returning home.” Future Ash gathers the Necronomicons to return home. Lady Sheila is motivated to stop the Wiseman, who tempts her with her dead brother, a symbol of the home she used to have.
The Bigger Picture:
Series Continuity:
New readers who wonder where this story fits into the film, it’s a direct-but-loose continuation of the Army of Darkness (1993). There’s no connection to the recent remakes or television series.
Final Thoughts:
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ARMY OF DARKNESS FOREVER #8 sends Future Ash on a globe-trotting quest to assemble the Necronomicons in a fast-paced, action-packed issue. This issue is Tony Fleecs’s tightest script yet, and Pop Mhan’s art is solid.
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