June 24, Mt. Laurel, NJ: Ash is back, baby... in the groovy 1970s?! Army of Darkness: 1979 debuts this September from critically acclaimed writer Rodney Barnes.
The superstar creator of the hit Image Comics series Killadelphia brings his supernatural horror chops to one of the genre's most (in)famous characters. Ashley Joanna Williams finds himself this time in late 70s New York City. In a less cleaned up era, that means gangs tussle for every block in the South Bronx. And these particular gangs model themselves after zombies and vampires. Things only get even more out of control when they find the one and only Necronomicon!
“I relished the opportunity to take on Army of Darkness," said writer Rodney Barnes. "The tone is different from everything I’ve done to date, so there’s that challenge. I loved the film and the graphic novels based on the film, so it’s an honor to add my name to the great folks that have done the books prior to this one.”
Barnes is joined in this horror flashback romp by artist Tom Garcia (Pathfinder, Hellraiser), colorist Dinei Ribero, and letterer Troy Peteri. This crew assembles together to guide Ash through his latest comedy horror adventure. But will he or even the creative team survive the journey..?
With his background as a screenwriter and producer in Hollywood, Barnes has contributed to The Boondocks, My Wife and Kids, Everbody Hates Chris, Marvel's Runaways, American Gods, and is currently an executive producer/writer on HBO's untitled drama following the 1980s "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers. With his love of film and 1970s culture, Barnes is pulling from cult classics like The Warriors on this Army of Darkness tale. Within comics, Barnes is the creator of the Eisner Award-nominated Killadelphia, and has written Falcon and Lando (Star Wars) for Marvel.
Rodney's co-creator and collaborator on Killadelphia, Jason Shawn Alexander, joins on for the lead cover. Zombie maestro Arthur Suydam contributes one of course, with an homage to Escape from New York. And they're joined by Junggeun Yoon and Stuart Sayger, with their own memorable styles of Ash.
ARMY OF DARKNESS: 1979 #1 is solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ July 2021 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in September 2021. Comic book fans are encouraged to preorder copies of the issue with their local comic book retailers. It will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, Dynamite Digital, ComicsPlus, and more! ###
About Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Red Sonja, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more. Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt. In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high-profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Gail Simone, Christopher Priest, Leah Moore, Kevin Smith, David Walker, Vita Ayala, Danny Lore, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Mark Russell, Brandon Thomas, Amy Chu, Reginald Hudlin, Nancy Collins, David Walker, Steve Orlando, Greg Pak, Jenny Frison, Matt Wagner, and a host of up-and-coming new talent. Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles - including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's Project Superpowers - have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011. The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards. |