There’s a certain man — name’s Ash, you may have heard of him — who is doomed to battle against the forces of evil, over and over again, whether he likes it or not. No matter where he goes, the cycle of violence always repeats itself — until the day that he arrives in the picturesque town of Riverdale.

This supernaturally wholesome community seems to break the curse that has plagued Ash ever since he first encountered its otherworldly evil all those years ago. Or rather, the curse was broken — until an over-curious teenager named Archie finds a copy of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and reads a portion of it aloud, summoning the horrifying Deadites once again!

Now Ash and the good townsfolk of Riverdale must hold back the undead hordes long enough for Archie to undo what he’s unwittingly done. Otherwise, an Army of Darkness will roll over Riverdale and destroy everything and everyone in its path — and that’s just not going to happen on Ashley J. Williams’s watch!

Archie x Army of Darkness #1 has the potential to be up there with some of the crazy crossovers the Riverdale gang has had. And, with such comics like Afterlife with Archie, it could also go a bit harder in its tone. What we get in Archie x Army of Darkness #1 is a debut that shows off what could be but also delivers a rather disconnected and choppy debut.

Written by Erik Burnham, Archie x Army of Darkness #1 has a bit of fun with tropes taking the kids to a lakeside cabin where they discover a book that unleashes the Deadites who go on a killing spree. You’d expect for the end of the comic to be Ash Williams using his boom stick to put a hole through a Deadite to save the kids, but instead, it flashes back to Archie getting a job!?

It’s all a rather confusing choice which really sums up Archie x Army of Darkness #1. There’s so much that could be done with this series but it instead overall plays things rather safe and then even when it breaks expectations it pivots to something that feels disconnected to the here and now.

The art by Bill Galvan is good. With ink by Ben Galvan, color by Ellie Wright, and lettering by Carlos M. Mangual, it sticks to the classic Archie style, but a bit more of the blood and guts. It works in some ways but it delivers a feel that’s rather cartoonish in a way that’s not conveyed by the story. It feels a bit more Scooby-Doo with some blood than Archie in its tone. With what we’ve seen Archie has done in the past, the choice is interesting to stick to the rather standard style and it could work but it overall feels like it’s missing something to really put it over the top.

Archie x Army of Darkness #1 isn’t bad but it also doesn’t feel like it really hits the insanity one would expect from the crossover. The fact it strangely jumps to the past to show Archie getting a job at S-Mart kills the momentum the series could have had by sticking to the expected formula. There’s some aspects that could work well going forward but as a debut, there’s better Archie crossovers out there.

Story: Erik Burnham Art: Bill Galvan
Ink: Ben Galvan Color: Ellie Wright Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Dynamite Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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