Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness
Encyclopedia
Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness is a five-issue 2007 comic book
limited series
published by Marvel Comics
in association with Dynamite Entertainment
, an intercompany crossover
in which Ash Williams
, hero of the popular Evil Dead film and comic book
, finds himself in the Marvel Zombies
setting, a world of flesh-eating zombified Marvel Comics heroes.
The crossover is continuous with the Marvel Zombies prequel Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
and explains events happening in the prequel (such as information regarding the zombified Sentry, which initially spread the plague).
Prior to the release of the first issue, Newsarama
published a preview, revealing the birth of the zombified Avengers
, Ash's descent into the Marvel Zombie universe, and the infection of Spider-Man
.
In this alternative version of the Marvel Universe, Ash encounters a fight between Daredevil and Thunderball. He mistakes Daredevil for the villain, and after letting Thunderball escape, tries to warn the Avengers of a Deadite invasion. They do not believe him, mostly due to his buffoonery while hitting on the female members of the team. Scarlet Witch teleports Ash away, as Jarvis tells the team of a disturbance.
When Ash spots the Avengers, he says he tried to warn them, and Spider-Man arrives and takes Ash off with a request from Colonel America. While Ash tells his side of the story to Spider-Man, Colonel America attacks and bites Spider-Man, who drops Ash on the ground in front of some zombified Avengers. Realizing Ash is right and that his body is fighting the infection, Spider-Man bluffs and says he wants to eat Ash and carries him off, only to abandon him when he goes to check on his Aunt May and wife Mary Jane. On his way, however, Spider-Man is eventually consumed by the disease and kills and devours his loved ones (Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
).
Ash then encounters the Punisher, who gives Ash a bag of spare weapons and shoots and presumably kills the Kingpin, Hammerhead and the Owl. On the ground, Punisher kills Thunderball, who is fending off his zombified Wrecking Crew allies, who then turn on Punisher. Ash bumps into Dazzler, who takes him to Doctor Strange's headquarters. Simultaneously, this reality's version of Ash, who had decided to fight the zombies, joins Dazzler. This reality's Ash is killed by a zombie Howard the Duck, who is in turn killed by the main version of Ash and the Scarlet Witch.
In Strange's mansion, Ash, Dazzler and the Scarlet Witch search for the Necronomicon, as Ash suspects that this is a Deadite invasion. Since there is no Necronomicon in the mansion, the trio travel to Latveria, the castle of Doctor Doom, which is under attack by an invasion force (from Dead Days, where Reed Richards turned his Fantastic Four into zombies upon realizing this infection is the most efficient form of life). Doom has Ash imprisoned with the other survivors for acting like an idiot. Ash then steals a Doombot's armor, disguises himself as Doom, and roams around the Doomstadt.
While wandering, Ash meets the Enchantress, held prisoner by Doom, and frees her. When he takes her to Scarlet Witch and Dazzler, Enchantress drops her illusion, revealing that she is a zombie, and bites off Dazzler's finger, whereupon Doom kills both with an energy blast. The zombies break into the castle; Scarlet Witch is attacked and infected by the zombified Punisher, and Doom is bitten and infected by Reed Richards, but manages to escape and fight back the disease to aid his people's escape.
Ash locates this world's Necronomicon, who says that it cannot stop the zombie plague because the zombies are not Deadites. The book reveals that yes, an "army of the dead will rise" and yes, the world will fall, but that those two things don't necessarily have anything to do with each other, apart from happening around the same time. Ash threatens the Neconomicon, saying that when the human food supply is exhausted, the zombies will eat the book because it is bound in human flesh, and the Necronomicon decides to cooperate. On Ash's orders, it raises the zombie victims up as Deadites, distracting the zombies long enough for Doom to teleport Ash to a world of his choosing and the survivors to a safe haven.
The invading zombies attack Doom just as Ash escapes. The zombies, upon finding the Necronomicon, do not eat it but rather hand it over to the Hulk for use as toilet paper. Ash accidentally chooses a world full of Marvel superhero werewolves and is pursued yet again, forcing him to run for his life once more.
and/or homage
of a famous cover from Marvel history, featuring zombie versions of the characters. All cover art is by Arthur Suydam
. In each, Ash is spliced in alongside zombified characters or replacing a character on the original cover (i.e. Bucky)
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
in association with Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book company that primarily publishes licensed franchises of adaptations of other media. These include adaptations of film properties such as Army of Darkness, Terminator and RoboCop, literary properties such as Zorro, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in...
, an intercompany crossover
Intercompany crossover
In comic books, an intercompany crossover is a comic or series of comics where characters published by one company meet those published by another...
in which Ash Williams
Ash Williams
Ashley J. "Ash" Williams is the protagonist in the Evil Dead horror film franchise, played by Bruce Campbell, and created by director Sam Raimi. Throughout the series, Ash has to face off against his loved ones inside an abandoned cabin as they are possessed by "deadites", the evil souls of the dead...
, hero of the popular Evil Dead film and comic book
Army of Darkness (comics)
Army of Darkness comics are based on the film of the same name published originally by Dark Horse Comics, and later by Dynamite Entertainment who initially published them through Devil's Due Publishing....
, finds himself in the Marvel Zombies
Marvel Zombies (series)
Marvel Zombies is a comic book metaseries published by Marvel Comics. The series features zombie versions of Marvel Universe superheroes who have been portrayed as both protagonists and antagonists through the different limited series within the metaseries....
setting, a world of flesh-eating zombified Marvel Comics heroes.
The crossover is continuous with the Marvel Zombies prequel Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days is a comic book one-shot first published in May 2007 by Marvel Comics. It was written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Sean Phillips, with cover art by Arthur Suydam. It is part of the Marvel Zombies series. The issue is a prequel to Marvel's first Marvel Zombies limited...
and explains events happening in the prequel (such as information regarding the zombified Sentry, which initially spread the plague).
Prior to the release of the first issue, Newsarama
Newsarama
Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
published a preview, revealing the birth of the zombified Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
, Ash's descent into the Marvel Zombie universe, and the infection of Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
.
Plot
Ash has died in the previous 'Army of Darkness' storyline and is now in (what appears to be) Heaven. The superpowered entity known as 'The Sentry' shows up in the afterlife and begins consuming everyone in sight. Ash and the Sentry end up shunted into another reality. Along the way, Ash receives a prophecy warning him that "an army of the dead will rise" and that this world will fall.In this alternative version of the Marvel Universe, Ash encounters a fight between Daredevil and Thunderball. He mistakes Daredevil for the villain, and after letting Thunderball escape, tries to warn the Avengers of a Deadite invasion. They do not believe him, mostly due to his buffoonery while hitting on the female members of the team. Scarlet Witch teleports Ash away, as Jarvis tells the team of a disturbance.
When Ash spots the Avengers, he says he tried to warn them, and Spider-Man arrives and takes Ash off with a request from Colonel America. While Ash tells his side of the story to Spider-Man, Colonel America attacks and bites Spider-Man, who drops Ash on the ground in front of some zombified Avengers. Realizing Ash is right and that his body is fighting the infection, Spider-Man bluffs and says he wants to eat Ash and carries him off, only to abandon him when he goes to check on his Aunt May and wife Mary Jane. On his way, however, Spider-Man is eventually consumed by the disease and kills and devours his loved ones (Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days is a comic book one-shot first published in May 2007 by Marvel Comics. It was written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Sean Phillips, with cover art by Arthur Suydam. It is part of the Marvel Zombies series. The issue is a prequel to Marvel's first Marvel Zombies limited...
).
Ash then encounters the Punisher, who gives Ash a bag of spare weapons and shoots and presumably kills the Kingpin, Hammerhead and the Owl. On the ground, Punisher kills Thunderball, who is fending off his zombified Wrecking Crew allies, who then turn on Punisher. Ash bumps into Dazzler, who takes him to Doctor Strange's headquarters. Simultaneously, this reality's version of Ash, who had decided to fight the zombies, joins Dazzler. This reality's Ash is killed by a zombie Howard the Duck, who is in turn killed by the main version of Ash and the Scarlet Witch.
In Strange's mansion, Ash, Dazzler and the Scarlet Witch search for the Necronomicon, as Ash suspects that this is a Deadite invasion. Since there is no Necronomicon in the mansion, the trio travel to Latveria, the castle of Doctor Doom, which is under attack by an invasion force (from Dead Days, where Reed Richards turned his Fantastic Four into zombies upon realizing this infection is the most efficient form of life). Doom has Ash imprisoned with the other survivors for acting like an idiot. Ash then steals a Doombot's armor, disguises himself as Doom, and roams around the Doomstadt.
While wandering, Ash meets the Enchantress, held prisoner by Doom, and frees her. When he takes her to Scarlet Witch and Dazzler, Enchantress drops her illusion, revealing that she is a zombie, and bites off Dazzler's finger, whereupon Doom kills both with an energy blast. The zombies break into the castle; Scarlet Witch is attacked and infected by the zombified Punisher, and Doom is bitten and infected by Reed Richards, but manages to escape and fight back the disease to aid his people's escape.
Ash locates this world's Necronomicon, who says that it cannot stop the zombie plague because the zombies are not Deadites. The book reveals that yes, an "army of the dead will rise" and yes, the world will fall, but that those two things don't necessarily have anything to do with each other, apart from happening around the same time. Ash threatens the Neconomicon, saying that when the human food supply is exhausted, the zombies will eat the book because it is bound in human flesh, and the Necronomicon decides to cooperate. On Ash's orders, it raises the zombie victims up as Deadites, distracting the zombies long enough for Doom to teleport Ash to a world of his choosing and the survivors to a safe haven.
The invading zombies attack Doom just as Ash escapes. The zombies, upon finding the Necronomicon, do not eat it but rather hand it over to the Hulk for use as toilet paper. Ash accidentally chooses a world full of Marvel superhero werewolves and is pursued yet again, forcing him to run for his life once more.
Covers
The cover of each issue of the Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness mini-series is a parodyParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
and/or homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
of a famous cover from Marvel history, featuring zombie versions of the characters. All cover art is by Arthur Suydam
Arthur Suydam
Arthur Suydam is an American comic book artist and musician. He has done artwork for magazines including Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated and National Lampoon, while his comic book work includes Batman, Conan, Tarzan, Predator, Aliens, Death Dealer, and Marvel Zombies.-Illustration:Suydam has...
. In each, Ash is spliced in alongside zombified characters or replacing a character on the original cover (i.e. Bucky)
- #1, 1st printing is an homage to X-Men #141 by John Byrne.
- #1, variant printing is an homage to Uncanny X-MenUncanny X-MenUncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
#137 by John Byrne. - #1, 2nd printing is an homage to Captain America #1 by Jack KirbyJack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
. - #2, is an homage to Uncanny X-Men #268 by Jim LeeJim LeeJim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...
. - #3, is an homage to Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man by Ross AndruRoss AndruRoss Andru was an American comic book artist and editor. He is best known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Flash and Metal Men....
. - #3, variant printing is an homage to The Death of Captain Marvel GN by Jim StarlinJim StarlinJames P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters...
. - #4, is an homage to Captain America #100 by Jack KirbyJack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
. - #5, is an homage to Wolverine #1 by Frank MillerFrank Miller (comics)Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
.
Collected editions
The series has been collected into one volume:- Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness (128 pages, hardcover, September 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2743-7)