Dynamite; $4.99 

A party at Reggie’s family cabin in the woods has gone from innocent fun and typical teen drama to violence and terror. Archie Andrews made the colossal mistake of reading from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, unintentionally inviting Deadites to the shindig. Luckily for Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and Reggie, Ash Williams is in the area and he brought his boomstick.  

Ash has dispatched a pair of demon dogs, but something about the situation is bothering him. Namely, that the Deadites aren’t trying harder to get into the cabin to kill the teenagers, specifically Archie since he’s the one who read from the book. Now, Ash must figure out why they aren’t attacking, find more weapons to arm a bunch of teenagers, and stop the Deadites once again.  

Rotten demons have infiltrated the outskirts of Riverdale in Archie x the Army of Darkness, meshing violence and biting humor with the usual silly quibbles in Archie’s friend group. The story Erik Burnham is writing gives equal time to both sides of the title and is doing so rather smoothly. Ash is taking charge to save the kids while also giving them silly nicknames that annoys them. Meanwhile, Jughead can’t stop talking about food, Reggie is being his usual rude self, and Archie is flummoxed by the task Ash has given him. 

Penciler Bill Galvan, inker Ben Galvan, and colorist Ellie Wright have matched Burnham’s approach. The Archie characters are rendered in the house style while Ash and the Deadites are closer to earlier versions of Evil Dead comics. Their work has the vivid colors of an Archie comic, but with black borders and over-the-top ugly monsters.  

It’s another fun comic crossover starring Ash Williams and the Riverdale gang. 

–Amanda Sheriff