 |
The Evil Dead #2 |
|
Writer: Mark Verheiden
Artist: John Bolton
Letterer: Steve Dutro
Editors: Philip Ray Simon, Michael Carriglitto
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
|
|
Reviewed by:
Bruce
Logan |
EXCLAMATION: “That’s some
great artwork. Scary but great!!”
EXPLANATION: Taking up from where it last left
this issue has its first half devoted to the (now) demonic
Cheryl as she rampages against them. The group finally does
get her contained but not before she stabs a pencil through
Linda’s ankle. After a bit of a downtime its back to/with
the demons as yet another amongst Ash & pals falls to the
demonic side. This time around it is Shelly, yet another of
Linda’s friends and the girlfriend of Ash’s friend Scotty.
Freezing up again (as he did the first time around) Ash
watches mutely as Scotty single handedly dispenses of the
demonic threat (as he did the first time around), only this
time it isn’t just limited to tossing the demon into the
cellar but axing it/her up into little (almost a dozen)
pieces.
EXAMINATION (Story): Officially Evil Dead
the comic is billed as the comic book EXPANSION of the
movie. What and how it is expanding upon and to is a mystery
to me, someone who hasn’t seen any of the Evil Dead
movies, including the one on which this comic is based upon.
This also means that my views/take to this mini-series are
solely based on its own strength and weaknesses and aren’t
affected in any way of from memories of the movie.
Nevertheless, taken on itself Evil Dead (the mini) is
an enjoyable read, both in the writing and in the art (more
on that later). The only problem is that the concept
somewhat shows its age. However, this is not due to its
being set in the late 70s – early 80s but because given its
cult success many a concept from this movie have been
‘adopted’ by many a movie to come after it, be they horror
or parody or even ones from other genres. Had I watched the
movie maybe my reaction would have been different but as it
stands now it’s a case of “Didn’t I see this in XYZ movie?”
That said, thanks to a fairly fast paced if a bit shallow
plot and the rather funny (esp. given the circumstances)
inner monologue of Ashe’s Evil Dead both reaches up
and goes above my wall of jaded cynicism.
EXAMINATION (Art): Ash continues to be blurred
(albeit a bit less than last issue); the rest of the artwork
continues to be great (a bit more if that’s possible) and
John Bolton’s artwork continues to make a fan out of me.
Granted it’s only in the horror genre (‘m not sure about
seeing the same style in, say, the superhero genre) but for
a horror story such as this, especially one based on/around
a movie, Bolton’s photorealism is a definite plus.
PROCLAMATION: As thoughts as last time around
– both writing and art are solid, yet the struggle is to
breathe life into a more than quarter century old storyline.
RATING: 4/5
|