Army Of Darkness Forever #8 Review

 

Writer: Tony Fleecs

Artist: Pop Mhan

Colorist: Brad Simpson

Letterer: Troy Peteri

Cover Artists: Bjorn Barends, Arthur Suydam, Tony Fleecs & Chris Burnham

Publisher: Dynamite Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 22, 2024

 

Ash traveled from England to America. He found the scattered pages of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. (Also, he may have gotten VD from an amorous Morlock). Ash even said the magic words correctly. Then, a demon baby appeared. Lord Arthur's wizard vanished. The robots detected two more copies of the evil book in other places. Can Ash ever return home? Let's grab our shotguns and chainsaws, leap into Army Of Darkness Forever #8, and see what happens!

 

Story

Ash no longer has Lord Arthur’s Wiseman to guide him. But he remembers the three copies of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis he found in the forest. He remembers the magic words, "Klaatu Barada Nikto." Now he's got a demon baby that eats rats for breakfast and chants the word Nikto. Could the other words be the names of the other two books?

 

Ash isn’t like his evil twin in 1993. He never learned computers. He doesn’t understand what the robots tell him about the hologram of the Wiseman. One robot summons a facsimile of the Wiseman. But the spirit in the machine has vanished.

 

Or has it? At the very least, the Wiseman has changed his tune in Army Of Darkness Forever #8. The reconstituted wiseman evokes Siri or Alexa. But he makes one suggestion that offers Ash hope.  

 

 

 

So, Ash retraces his steps. His journey will take him back across the pond. As he returns to where he awakened from his Rumpelstiltskin rest, Ash realizes that a copy of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis resides in London. Why did the Wiseman tell him to travel across the globe, gathering scattered pages of one copy, when another was here all along?

 

In Army Of Darkness Forever #8, Tony Fleecs returns us to the series’ beginning. Is Ash any wiser? Ash left a woman who loved him back in the Dark Ages. He cut off his infected hand but made an articulated metal replacement. Ash could have lived in a castle and bathed in the awe of the locals. Yet, even as he flies in a shuttle with robot companions, Ash bemoans losing his hand, car, home, and every woman he ever loved. Was his life in 1993 and his job at S-Mart better than the one Ash has now? And will Ash ever learn to appreciate what he has?

 

The reconstituted wizard suggests that reuniting the three copies will cure all this madness. Might the triad of evil books transport him to 1993 or Lady Shiela's time? Neither seems an appealing option right now. But Lord Arthur's Wiseman gave into the Necronomicon's influence, which suggests the books are running the show. Whatever they intend for his future, let’s hope Ash enjoys the ride.  

 

 

 

Art

In Army Of Darkness Forever #8, Pop Mhan portrays Ash’s increasing frustration with Future Shock. He gestures at the robot holding the demon baby. As the baby crawls over the robot’s head, leaps to the ground, and plays with an insect droid, the robot projects a headshot of the wizard. The hologram resembles a computer image from the early days of computing, likely earlier than 1993. Ash hides his face in his flesh and metal hands.

 

Brad Simpson paints Ash's meltdown against a red and purple sky. Red dirt and a few green trees surround Ash as he rages at the robot. A dark blue sky hangs over a blue-tinged White House. Deadites surround the barbed wire and wrought-iron fencing. In Salem, Massachusetts, magic sparkles bright green under a lavender sky. Orange and browns dominate the former capital of England. Ash gazes at Big Ben, leaning toward him like a famous Italian landmark under a tomato-red sky.

 

Troy Peteri projects large black uppercase letters into white and colored dialogue balloons and narrative boxes in Army Of Darkness Forever #8. Words grow bold for inflection and enlarge or shrink to convey volume. Stylish banners introduce eras. Sound effects help us hear an insurrection, a Massachusetts Chain Saw Massacre, and the mayhem of a medieval melee. But the giant words that overlay the opening page, when Ash realizes what the incantation stands for, remain Peteri’s deadliest achievement.

 

Thanks to Dynamite Comics & MGM for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Ash begins a grand new adventure. The evil wizard makes Lady Shiela an offer she can't refuse. But can Betty Currie save Bill Clinton's presidency in Army Of Darkness Forever #8?

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.