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Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comics Reading Order

Hail to the King! Not content with being built around a series of cult classic films, The Evil Dead franchise grew over the years and now consists of movies, comics, games, and a TV Series.

It all began in 1982 when Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell)’s life changed forever after he discovered the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and accidentally unleashed a Kandarian Demon. Ash’s friends are transformed into zombie-like creatures called Deadites, and he will after that never be the same.

As the king of alternate timelines, our unique hero lived multiple adventures, and we are today in his comic book ones. We have stories in different continuities, published by Dark Horse, Dynamite, and Scape Goat.

What to read/watch before the Army of Darkness Comics?

Let’s state the obvious by pointing out that the movies are must-sees. The movies and the TV series take place in what is considered the prime Evil Dead continuity, even though there are some elements in the films that have been removed from canon with the TV shows.

You can also read The Army of Darkness adaptation in comic, published the first time by Dark Horse in 1992 (and released by Dynamite in paperback in 2006).

What follows are stories that expand the universe in one direction or another, with different continuities.

Army of Darkness Comics Reading Order

First Dynamite Army of Darkness Comic Series Timeline

This alternate Evil Dead timeline takes place directly after the events of the Army of Darkness. One of the most developed yet, it includes several crossovers with various characters like Darkman, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Dracula, Xena, Danger Girl, and Re-Animator. And it’s also part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse!

It’s time for our first crossover with Herbert West from H. P. Lovecraft’s short story, well known for the film Re-Animator and its sequels. The two characters would goes on to live several adventures together. This also is the start of the first Army of Darkness ongoing series.

The Death of Ash is the last story arc for the first ongoing volume of Army of Darkness. Those two last issues lead up to Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness. This is how Earth-818793 became the home of the Dynamite Entertainment version of Ash Williams. Check out the Zombieverse reading order for more zombies.

The second ongoing Army of Darkness series starts here! Ash is now back in his reality (previous events are referenced) and discovers that the world has become an apocalyptic wasteland.

Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash (of Army of Darkness)! It’s crossover time in the company of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. The story picks up five years after the events of Freddy vs. Jason, based on an unused script from Jeff Katz.

Army of Darkness/Xena Warrior Princess! Advertised as the crossover that nobody asked for, Ash Williams meets the one and only Xena in Why not? and What again? He will encounter the Warrior Princess later for a third crossover

Army of Darkness third volume starts now to tell one big storyline. Ash Williams has become a Deadite Hunter For Hire and soon meet… Ashley K. Williams, a woman version of Ash from an alternate Earth!

Dynamite Crossover, Baby! Ash reconnects with Herbert West from Re-Animator, encounters once again Dracula and his daughter Eva and meets other Dynamite Characters such as Red Sonja, Vampirella, Pantha, and Athena for a battle against madman Kulan Gath and his “Army of Darkness” in a mission to destroy the world in the year in 2012.

Army of Darkness Vs. Hack/Slash! He uses a chainsaw, she uses a baseball bat, and some blood spits on the page when those two meet each other. This crossover story continues to tell Ash’s story in this Dynamite timeline while connecting with Cassie Hack following the events of her second volume. The title was written by Tim Seeley, creator of Hack/Slack.

Ash meets some old friends for more crossovers from a few more adventures of the Ash from this particular timeline.

Dynamite Entertainment has also reprinted the Army of Darkness series in Omnibus:

  • Army of Darkness Omnibus Volume 1
    Collects Army of Darkness (1992) #1-3, Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes (2004) #1-4 and Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead (2005) #1-4, Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator (2004) #1-4, Army of Darkness (2005) #5-7 and stories from Tales of Army of Darkness (2006).
  • Army of Darkness Omnibus Volume 2
    Collects Ash vs. the Classic Monsters (volume 1, issues 8-11), The Death of Ash (issues 12-13), From The Ashes (volume 2, issues 1-4), The Long Road Home (issues 5-8) and Home Sweet Hell (issues 9-12).
  • Army of Darkness Omnibus Volume 3
    Collects Army of Darkness #13-27.
  • Army of Darkness / Xena Omnibus
    Collects Army of Darkness/Xena: Why Not (2008) #1-4, Xena vs. Army of Darkness: What…Again? (2008) #1-4, and Army of Darkness/Xena: Forever and a Day (2016) #1-6.

Army of Darkness / Evil Dead Chainsaw Icon Reading Order

Ash and the Army of Darkness, Dynamite Rebooted Timeline

In 2013 (around Army of Darkness/Reanimator in the previous continuity), Dynamite decided to try to reboot their Army of Darkness line, creating for the occasion a new Timeline, once again picking up the story after the events of the Army of Darkness film. This would not last long but still gave us a few miniseries and one-shot.

Army of Darkness / Evil Dead Chainsaw Icon Reading Order

Space Goat Evil Dead 2 Series

After acquiring the comic book rights to Evil Dead 2 in 2015, Space Goat Productions quickly started releasing new stories based on events from the second film. The company achieved a bit of success for a while, but this quickly fell apart with several cancellations. Following are the comic titles published by Space Goat:

Army of Darkness / Evil Dead Chainsaw Icon Reading Order

Other Independent Stories/Timeline

Not all of the stories take place within the timelines mentioned above. The stories listed below are independent and exist separately from the previous continuities. Each of these stories stands alone, offering new adventures within the Evil Dead universe.

Dark Horse Limited Series

Dark Horse first released an Army of Darkness comic based on the movie in 1992. This is a faithful adaptation with some minor differences and includes scenes cut from the final film. Likewise, the 2008 comic The Evil follows the first movie with some additionals scenes and few changes.

Dynamite Limited (non-crossover) series and One-shots

Dynamite Limited crossover series

More team-ups for Ash Williams!

Others

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