Dynamite Entertainment 2021
Written by Rodney Barnes
Illustrated by Tom Garcia
Coloured by Dinei Ribero
Lettered by Troy Peteri
The streets of New York City are in a panic! Awash with Deadites and rival gangs seeking to control the power of the Necronomicon! The big apple has only one hope… Ash Williams. Good knowing you, NYC!
Did you know: Deadites are a species of parasitic demons that seek to possess the bodies of mortals and feast on the souls of living creatures.
First of all I have to hand it to Rodney here for the best gang in creation! When they made their debut, this all female gang, I was floored by not only the sheer audacity of using but how amazingly well it works within the context of the story. Actually the whole story works incredibly well with Ash being taken back in time to find and retrieve the Necronomicon which has fallen into the hands of a gang and it’s being used to terrorise the city. Rodney really understands the nature of the franchise and Ash in ways that make this such an absolute joy to read. It takes that right combination of bravery, fear, absurdity and sheer luck to pull off what Ash is able to do and it’s really nice to see that translate so well here in this series.
I’m a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development, which is truly sensational for just an FYI, that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which does a magnificent job in continuing to flesh out the personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we’re constantly reminded just how much fun Ash is.
I’m a fan of the way that we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I also like the way these layers open up new avenues to be explored. Each gang we meet raises more questions and expands the city in ways I wasn’t prepared for. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably rendered.
I’m loving the interior artwork here. Sure it’s some classic comic book style work but it is so expressive and so in your face at times that it works on so many levels. The linework is clean, crisp and sharp while with the varying weights and techniques being utilised we see the detail within the work have its moments to shine. We see some really nice backgrounds being utilised and this makes me wish we’d see more of them as they do wonders to expand and enhance the moments. They also work really well within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow works shows a really nice understanding of how colour works.
One of the strongest things this has going for it is that it not only fits in the television and film part of the franchise but it’s a completely stand alone entity as well. You don’t have to have watched all the films and seasons of the show to enjoy this. It is new reader friendly and works to thrill those of us who adore everything the franchise has to offer. There’s some smart, witty writing with this amazing characterisation and these fantastic interiors and there’s not much more you could possibly ask for.