Comic Book Review: Army of Darkness/Xena: Forever…And A Day #3
The adventures of Xena Warrior Princess might have been a spin off of Hercules the Legendary Journeys, but since it’s debut it became a classic in it’s own right. So tieing it in with another fan favorite character such as Ash Williams is a pretty interesting concept. Which if you’re a fan of Xena, you realize that Bruce Campbell had his own recurring character in Autoclycus, the self proclaimed “King of Thieves”. The combination ends up with a funky, twisted, yet satisfying team up that can only be brought up by the best chin on the planet.
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Written by Scott Lobdell, [easyazon_link identifier=”B01M1BMZUZ” locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]Army of Darkness/Xena: Forever…And A Day #3[/easyazon_link] does a pretty fine job at over lapping the very different themes that have made these two franchises a success. The way Ash is written stays true to the character while also working hard to maintain Bruce Campbell’s charm. Though it wasn’t a complete picture of the cult classic character, the writing was successful in keeping to the character’s nature. On the other hand, Xena didn’t seem like the character from the television show. There were hints of her character as portrayed by Lucy Lawless in the 90s, but Lobdell just wasn’t able capture her full character. This left the issue unbalanced between the two title characters.
The art by Diego Galindo is fun to see. However, it felt a bit too close to an animated Disney film. In that respect it missed its mark, where it could have really excelled since the source material had plenty to draw from. He does a good job of keeping the facial features of the main cast true, even the legendary chin that lives on Bruce Campbells face was a happy guest. The general environment changes throughout the course of this issue a lot and Diego kept up with the pace without sacrificing quality.
The colors that brought the art to life are provided by Pete Pantezis. Everything was pretty bright, which is a bit of a contrast to both the television series and films. I would have liked to have seen a bit more shading especially when dealing with monsters and a harder look at the use of dull colors that each film and show used.
The Verdict
[easyazon_link identifier=”B01M1BMZUZ” locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]Army of Darkness/Xena: Forever…And A Day #3[/easyazon_link] combines some of the best of cult classic entertainment. In one corner you have the Warrior Princess, one of the greatest warriors who walks the Earth and in the other corner you have Ash Williams, one of the greatest smart ass demon slayers to travel time. Together they create an entertaining story that blends well. With that said the character development with Xena does need a little more work, but it shines with Ash. The art by Diego Galindo is rich and detailed, but fails to match the themes that both of these classics share. And the color by Pete Pantezis are a bit too bright and felt out of place. Both artists are good at their craft, but seemed a bit lost in their direction with this issue. If you’re a fan of one or both series, it is still worth a look because it provides good entertainment value.
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