By Sonia Aurora
I love Bruce Campbell. That’s not even the heavy statement it once was for me, seeing as I also love my dog Chewy (yes, short for Chewbacca) and my amazing boyfriend who lives in Iowa (not Ottawa, silly friend Melinda).
But my love for Bruce precedes both of those, probably my first understanding of what it was to love someone and not just lust for them (the way I did for Han Solo…sigh…)
And, of course, my introduction to Bruce was through his signature (and defining) role of Ash in the Evil Dead series.
So with much giggly delight I learned about the comic book reinterpretation of that Sam Raimi created series, the world that introduced us to that Chin that could kill – The Evil Dead.
The TFAW.com site says this about the comic series:
Writer Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica, My Name Is Bruce) and illustrator John Bolton (God Save the Queen, Harlequin Valentine) present an exciting EXPANSION on the classic horror film that introduced us to the powerful Book of the Dead, the relentlessly violent deadites, and Ash-one resilient, blood-stained survivor. Now an iconic horror hero, relive Ash’s first visit to the cabin that brought him face to face with the delectably deranged deadites who possessed his girlfriend and friends . . . and turned “the perfect place to get laid” into a house of fear and fury. Return to the original nonstop gore-fest and experience the thrills, gags, and gagging anew, with unexpected new directions, additional scenes, and Bolton’s jaw-dropping new paintings.
So with trembling anticipation I ordered the first two and devoured them.
The whole thing is very familiar, like a prickly but warm blanket (after all, it IS horror). Overall, from Book 1 there is the general setup and nothing story-wise is really expanded on. The most glaring change is that only Ash remains looking like the original (Bruce Campbell); Scotty, Cheryl, Shelley, Linda, even the professor have been updated in their look and attire, lessening that almost comical 70′s vibe of the film.
Much of the dialogue is also lifted from the original movie, which lends a nice nostalgia. Basically, what is most different is this book sets up a more ominous aura. Readers of these comics are most likely going to be fans of the films, so they are going to know what is going to happen from just looking at its cover. I did, however, feel it was almost a disservice to “tell” everyone through Ash’s comic voiceover that “Looking back, I realize they were all around us…in the tress…the forest…aching to devour our souls.” It’s melodramatic lines like this that make me hear William Shatner in my head, not dear old Bruce (or, perhaps, Bruce as Autolycus).
One of the reasons that I loved the original first film is that level of creepy innocence, those stupid jumps (like Scotty in the basement, like Cheryl begging the boys to “turn it off!”) that build the suspense. By Ash telling us in a woe is me, if only we had known throughout, it loses some of that original naïve flavor, even if I know what ultimately is going to happen.
What the comic does succeed in doing is re-chilling us by some amazing artwork, by still-lifeing the effects (that in 1982 can now be looked on with fond hokiness) into something that re-scares us all over again. The fact that I can see the blood splatter frame by frame, captured in a picture, well, it gave me the chills the way the film did the first time I saw it. While I wished that one of the scariest parts for me was redrawn (Cheryl’s “rape” by the woods), it was virtually ignored in the comic (she’s attacked, but that singular branch’s thrust, long argued to be misogynistic, always makes me squirm). That is the greatest problem Mark Verheiden faces – choosing how he intends on telling us this story that so many of us can recite by heart, can anticipate every knock and creak and jolt. The fans – as all maniacal fans will do – are bound to rip something apart of it.
[nms:bruce campbell,1,0]
But I did appreciate John Bolton’s revival of the characters in the now – modern dress, very realistic human forms, and realistic evil deads. Although my comic tastes are limited, and my preferred artist is the refined Alex Ross, I can appreciate Bolton’s meticulous attention to making sure the atmosphere of truism and terror remains.
By Book 2, I knew what was coming, and while I approached it with enjoyment I was more even tempered about it. “Ok,” I thought, “lets see what else happens to these crazy kids in this cabin.”
But here is where that promised “expansion” rears its head, in my personal favorite part of the comic. While Scotty fights with his girlfriend Shelly, who is now demonized, Ash wonders if the demon has truly taken her over, or if there are still elements of Shelly left. But the elements of a sweet Shelly isn’t what he’s thinking about. He wonders aloud to us as we get a flashback to a time when, on a double date, they come across a wounded bird. Shelly feels it needs to be put out of its misery…and she stomps it to death. This minuet segue spoke volumes to me and gave new meaning that what I always considered not even a secondary but almost tertiary character. Shelly only resonated to me when she gnawed her hand off in the film. Now, seeing the same happen in the comic, after being told of this potential vicious streak that lay dormant in her, it made me wonder what kind of demons she already had, if it made her more susceptible to being possessed. I wondered if I underlooked at ALL the characters, whose backgrounds aren’t really known in the film. What were Scott’s hopes and dreams? Did Linda truly love Ash? Did Cheryl leave a boyfriend behind or was she nursing a broken heart? Was Shelly a popular girl in school? Was she a bitch? That we only got a microcosm in the film leaves us to potentially know more about them now in this re-telling. And for the first time, I don’t necessarily need to know so much about Ash, who survives to fight an army of darkness. What about his friends….I now wonder.
So with bated breath I wait for Book #3, hoping that we get to know more about these poor souls who lose their souls.
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Aspiring screenwriter and seamstress, Sonia's dream is to write life-tweaking films while product-placing her own line of handbags. In 1999, she wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the short film Dr. Lovestrange, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bug, a satirical homage to Stanley Kubrick set amidst the panic of Y2K. She is working on her next short about the Mayan Calender that she hopes to finish before the end of the world. Ever the late bloomer, she finally started a blog chronicling her misadventures as one half of a long distance relationship (http://llddr.wordpress.com). She still struggles with which picture to kiss before bedtime: her boyfriend's or Bruce Campbell's. And, in the interest of time, she'd like to start thanking the Academy now. 
I’ve seen these in my local comic book store, but neglected to pick them up because I didn’t know what they were about.
But your wonderful wonderful review has shed a compeling light on these comics. Will have to pick them up today after work