NOTICE: It turns out that our review copy we received was defective in that it didn’t contain any actual word balloons in it and our review was written without that knowledge. We’ll work to getting a new one up once we get the final version. In the meantime, take a look at our take on it in this form.
Wordless sometimes means voiceless in this first issue.
Creative Staff:
Story: Nancy A. Collins
Art: Kewber Baal
Colors: Schimerys Baal
What They Say:
Twenty years from “now”: The Deadites and their Army of Darkness have succeeded in bringing down Western civilization. An unexpected upshot of the demons taking over was supernatural species such as vampires, witches, and werewolves forming an uneasy alliance with humanity in order to survive. The only hope for both mankind and monsters alike is a ritual that will send the Deadites back to the hell that birthed them. But first, a rag-tag crew that includes the Frankenstein Monster and Eva, the Daughter of Dracula, have to track down the fabled spell book known as the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and deal with its guardian, a certain Ashley “Ash” Williams.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of the most integral aspects of comics is its ability to tell a story within its medium. Certain comics tend to experiment with the style of storytelling wanting to maximize the medium and push it to its limits. One such experiment is wordless comics, where the images drive the ideas and the concepts the writer wants to talk about to the reader. Army of Darkness: Furious Road takes on this method with full gusto. While it has much of the makeup to execute, some of the ideas get lost in the format which dampens its full potential.
Army of Darkness: Furious Road takes a different approach to storytelling. The comic has no words throughout the read. Yet, the artwork says a lot. Each panel seems to communicate an urgency to go to the next panel. The transition to each panel communicates a sense of the presence, emphasizing on trying to understand what is happening at the moment. This method of storytelling helps to keep readers on their toes, turning each page to see how the sequence goes. What also pushes this page turning is the detail. Each panel looks master crafted in telling the audience about the brutality of the world. Gory deaths, monsters that assault the heroes, the details explicitly show the horror, the blood, the survival of these heroes. The details alone make for an enthralling read as you reach the next panel. This method of storytelling is great for panel to panel reading, yet it fails to push the main story to its readers.
What Army of Darkness seems to miss is overarching communication of the story. While each panel connects to each other, the story seems to warrant more inferring. The setting is understandable but the what and why that is driving them is not as obvious. We don’t get a sense what is the major threat, only that there is a threat. We get that Detroit is in ruins, but what caused it or rather, what is causing the escape at the moment is not shown. It ultimately contributes towards the bigger issue of longevity.
This method of a story then leads itself towards a major problem: it is burnable. Army of Darkness’ style of storytelling may seem great to communicate threads from each panel, but at the cost of the inability to retain longevity. In this context, it makes the comic burnable, or quickly to read and dump. Going through the pages for many readers will take a matter of minutes to complete. This style presentation will leave them cold as the expectation for dialogue will mount as they go through. For some, they may even outright dismiss the comic because of it. However, for those who are more into the art style and are willing to see it akin to silent movies, this style will not harm them.
In Summary:
Army of Darkness: Furious Road has some interesting build up for a first issue. The action sequences throughout the panel scream the brutality of the world we land it. With lush and detailed sequences of art, it can deliver a great visual experience. The story, however, could use more fleshing out with panels as while it seems a story is plausible, where it’s trying to take us is a bit muddled. Readers can expect to see a bit more progression through the story, but some caution should be held until the second issue comes through.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: March 2nd, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
