Posted in: Comics | Tagged: army of darkness, Comics, dynamite, entertainment, Jethro Morals, mark rahner, vampirella

Vampirella Buys Her Outfits At S Mart – Rahner Talks Vampirella / Army Of Darkness

Published Wed, 13 May 2015 21:30:39 -0500

In July Dynamite is taking two of their horror icons – Vampirella and Ash Williams – and combining them into a new miniseries. Mark Rahner will be writing Vampirella / Army of Darkness with artist Jethro Morales. Rahner spoke with Byron Brewer about the series. Cover art by Tim Seeley and Jae Lee.

BYRON BREWER: Mark, how did this bizarre mash-up come about? Is it something you pitched?

MARK RAHNER: Dynamite editor Joe Rybandt suggested the team up, then I let it percolate – or fester – for a while. I'd done both characters before in other books and had a lot of fun with them. Ash's buffoonery seems like a natural fit for me – for some reason. And I'd put Vampi in a bunch of grotesque satires of other pop-culture horror – most of which are collected in Vampirella Bites.

With everything Ash has been through, meeting Vampi would still throw him off balance. But why not throw her off, too? Let's send her to Medieval England, smack in the middle of Ash's Army of Darkness ordeal!

BB: This takes place, I believe, during Ash's time trapped in England, around 1300 AD. At this point, since she has known many changes in her character, exactly who/what is Vampirella at this time?

MR: I can tell you that she doesn't want to be in 1300 AD, and she's not very tickled with Ash. She doesn't get the whole "Promised One" thing – in that she sees no promise in Ash whatsoever and thinks everyone else would be better off if he were dead.

Vampi's such an iconic character that she can be different depending on who's writing her or the type of story. She doesn't suffer from the same kind of rigid character rules that you'd have with, say, Batman – just to pick another bat-related one. I've never been interested in depicting Vampi as a superheroine, so she's more menacing and mysterious in this story. She doesn't make wisecracks. She is not amused. Particularly not with Ash.

That said, I can tell you that she appears here in ways no one has seen her before.

BB: Should we be looking for deep horror or deep humor from this book? I know each character, Ash and Vampi, are well capable of both.

MR: There's a good balance. Some tense, chilling moments and some that I hope make people laugh out loud. I cackled while I was writing certain scenes – which may have alarmed people sitting near me in the café where I work sometimes. And some gruesome, hair-raising action, too. When your influences range from Warner Bros. to the old "Mark of the Devil" movie, how could you not have fun? By the way, I have some original movie theater vomit bags from the latter, and I can feel your jealousy.

BB: Will we see any characters from the Army of Darkness circa 1300 in this tale?

MR: Yes! Since this story takes place somewhere in the middle of the events of the Army of Darkness movie, Sheila and the others are there. Consider this a lost tale that fits right in. But there's a new "heavy" that you'll love and want to get grooming tips from: Black Friar Thomas.

BB: So tell us about our storyline for this get-together. Is it Ash AND Vampi or Ash VS Vampi?

MR: Well … yes. It's some of both. Ash is acting like a drunken bigshot when he meets a giant, winged Deadite that's unimpressed with his boom stick. He's unimpressed with the snack food of 1300 A.D. Black Friar Thomas is unimpressed with Vampirella. And yet it all comes together in a very impressive way. They're all girding for the massive Deadite siege that comes at the climax of the movie, but Ash and Vampi have to deal with some unspeakably awful things before that battle – forces that could affect its outcome and countless mortal souls. And since no one likes a dirty spoiler, all I'll add is there are a few curves – which is not a sexist Vampi remark.

BB: What was it like working with artist Jethro Morales?

MR: A nightmare! I've worked with him before on Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars and Dejah of Mars, and his work on this one's even better. With zero hyperbole, I think that Jethro's art is shaping Vampirella/Army of Darkness up to be most fun story I've inflicted on comic readers, Ash aficionados and Vampirella voyeurs yet. I'm especially happy that it'll be fresh in fans' minds when the new Ash vs. Evil Dead series gets going. So even though I said I was avoiding familiar catchphrases in the book, I have to say it here: Come get some!

For more information on Vampirella / Army Of Darkness #1, click here.

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