When Army of Darkness Meets Re-Animator - Part 1

[JCVaughn]

JCV's interview with Jim Kuhoric from Scoop:
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=8584&si=122

Maybe it's the 11 years between the last issue of Dark Horse Comics' Army of Darkness mini-series and the first AoD series from Dynamite Entertainment, but regular Scoop readers have figured out by now that we're on top of the comic book version of writer-director Sam Raimi's most famous pre-Spider-Man work. So, when Dynamite announced Army of Darkness: Ash Vs Re-Animator, we went straight to the source.

Dynamite spokesman J. Allen told us that James A. Kuhoric, the writer behind their current AoD story, Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead, would be writing the crossover of the two worlds. While Herbert West, the Re-Animator himself, first appeared in a H.P. Lovecraft story three quarters of a century ago, he's surprisingly in tune with the regular AoD craziness.

"Actually, both characters share some common inspirations and touch on similar themes and mythologies. So while James re-worked his scripts a bit to fit the tone and mood of the characters interaction, he nailed the overall meeting from the get-go," Allen said.

In addition to this AoD story arc, Dynamite has more lined up for the Re-Animator, too. First up is Re-Animator #0, which will be available as part of the retailer incentives for Army of Darkness: Ash Vs Re-Animator. In other words, if you're a fan and you want this one, make sure your local comic shop retailer is ordering the series. What about beyond the one-shot and the mini-series?

"We have big plans for Mr. West and you can expect to hear more details about our plans for the Dynamite Re-Animator as we wrap up his fight with Ash in the new AOD series," he said. "Right now, stay tuned for more news and info coming later this year."

To take things a step further, Scoop talked with AOD writer Kuhoric about the new Re-Animator story arc. It went like this:

Scoop: Army of Darkness is crossing over with Re-Animator. What's the story?
James Kuhoric: Well, I had a blast on my initial run on Army of Darkness: Shop Til You Drop Dead and I had been pitching the folks at Dynamite on some other ideas I had in mind to plague Ash's future. They were kind enough to give me another shot at playing in the AoD playground and we were kicking around ideas for where to go next. During the meeting, one of the D.E. guys dropped the bomb: "What about Ash vs. Re-Animator?" There was a stunned silence for a few minutes then everyone just said, "Oh, yeah!" From there it was simple, I was already a big fan (let's face it, you can't miss all the Lovecraftian lore in AoD) and we set about fine-tuning the D.E. vision of this classic character. Pitting Ash vs. Herbert West and his re-animated zombies was a natural fit!

Scoop: What all are you writing for this project?
JK: There are five issues directly tied to the Re-Animator arc. Army of Darkness: Ash Vs Re-Animator #1-4 are the first four issues of the new ongoing AoD comic series. Re-Animator #0 is a special stand-alone introduction to Dynamite's Re-Animator that tells the background story of the character. You meet Herbert West, a somewhat unbalanced and overly ambitious medical student that crosses the line to have his theories recognized by the medical establishment. When he runs up against the strange owner of Arkham Asylum and Miskatonic University he discovers that science is second fiddle to the power of supernatural mysticism and the dread Necronomicon. This book sets the stage for the first issue of AoD: Ash vs Re-Animator and acts as the starting point for the ongoing adventures of Herbert West coming soon from D.E.!

-- continued in next post --

[JCVaughn]

-- continued from previous post --

Scoop: How are things different in this story arc for Ash?
JK: The story picks up at the end of AoD: Shop Til You Drop Dead and things are still going downhill for our boy, Ash. His hide's on the line for millions of dollars in damage to the store and he's suspect numero uno in the dismembering slayings of an entire store full of people! Sure they were possessed by Deadites at the time of their demise, but come on, who would believe that, right? Ash gets locked up in the nut-house and his attending physician is none other than Dr. Herbert West. What ensues is an insane romp through a re-animated "special ward" of monstrous patients and a toe-to-toe show down with the Deadites, re-animated zombies, and a certain squid faced creature... Oh, baby, this is the heavy weight fight horror fans have been waiting for!

Scoop: As a writer, what was different in your approach compared your previous AOD work?
JK: This is the first AoD work I've done that doesn't focus solely on Ash as the sole driving force in the book. There are a lot of elements in this story that will set the stage for future AoD adventures and associated spin off series. The goal in this arc was to pick up where Ash left off at the end of AoD: STYDD and take him head long into the expanded world of the Necronomicon's creatures. Inside the pages of that foul book there are things even more horrifying than the Deadites and we get a front row seat for the freaky reading from the Book of the Dead.

We will meet and watch the Re-Animator and his creations as their plans unfold. It seems that someone is trying to open the rift to the banished dimension of the Deadites and to unleash the banished old gods into our world. But they need a certain "Chosen One" as a sacrifice to complete the ritual. We'll see sights that would drive lesser men past the edge of babbling insanity and still Ash will fight on. He's joined by a colorful surrounding cast of unlikely heroes including a janitorial Ash-wannabe, a smoking hot sorceress, and the psychotic Deadite split personality twins. One of the biggest revelations in the story revolves around Ash being sucked into the Deadite mirror dimension and will get a look at the inhabitance of the spirit world first hand.

One of the most exciting things about this new series is that I get to team up with two incredibly talented artists again with Sanford Greene and Nick Bradshaw. These two guys know AoD and have a flare for making the crazy things that come out of my brain even more twisted on paper! I can't wait to see more of the pages as they craft a new chapter in the AoD mythos! And then we've got a ton of talented cover artist... J.G. Jones (Wanted), Gabrielle Dell'Otto (Secret War), Esad Ribic (Loki), Adam Hughes, Billy Tan (X-23), John Romita Jr., John Romita Sr., and more!

Scoop: What's next?
JK: D.E. has some really ambitious plans for Army of Darkness coming up! We are going to see Ash fight against and with some of the most unexpected creatures and cohorts imaginable. I'm not at liberty to give details yet, but we've got plans to give Ash a work out he won't soon forget. I'm most excited about the opportunity to work with Nick Bradshaw again on a number of tales as well including Shelia's tale of how she crossed time and space to be with Ash at the beginning of AoD: Shop Til You Drop Dead. This story is so much fun - the fans demanded it and the payoff is a blast. Let's just say that a little of the king's moxie may have rubbed off on our fair medieval heroine. Beyond that, we are developing a new story arc for Ash that will let him take the fight directly to the Deadites, big-time!