By Stephen Pytak 

     Blood. Lots of blood.
     A scene in a temple where giant stone pillars 
come crashing down and smash  a zombie into 
paste.
     And a bit of nudity.
     This is what horror film fans were hoping to see 
when they bought tickets to see the third chapter of 
Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" trilogy.
     But unfortunately, the only place you're going to 
find this version of "Army of Darkness" is in the 
incredible three-part comic book series by John 
Bolton.
     If you're a fan and you missed these when they 
were released in late 1992, you can still find the 
books on Ebay. 
     I don't know much about John Bolton, but I 
know he did a lot of work for Dark Horse, in 
particular the covers for the incredible 12-part 
comic series "Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the 
Species (1993)." But its obvious he has an 
appreciation for "The Evil Dead" series.
     There's something genuinely scary about the first 
two "Evil Dead" films. It starts with the Book of the 
Dead itself and the drawings in it, the ones of the 
zombies with the white eyes. Then, we start to see 
these things come to life as characters become 
possessed one after another.
     That something is brought to life in the books, 
thanks to Bolton. There's a darkness here. The 
comic books actually look like they're parts of the 
Book of the Dead.
     Raimi really created something special with the 
ending of "Evil Dead II," it seemed like he wanted 
to take his series to another level.
     Good idea.
     Unfortunately, the studio didn't give him enough 
bucks or support to make the ultimate "Evil Dead" 
movie.
     His vision, however, was preserved by Bolton 
and Dark Horse.
     Here are a few reasons why "Army of Darkness" 
fans should start looking for these books on-line 
now.
     Every page is in full color. And the comics 
contain the complete story, including the things 
Raimi wanted to put on film but couldn't afford to.
     Let's start with the pit scene. In the movie, Ash 
fights two deadites down in the drink. In the comic, 
he tackles a bunch. Heads fly off. Blood sprays 
everywhere. Universal would have never let Raimi 
film this.
     Then there's the temple scene. Ash fights a 
deadite in the ruins of a church. The deadite 
pushes a bunch of stone pillars down and they 
fall like dominoes. Everything's here, even the part 
where Ash kicks the deadite's head like a soccer 
ball.
     The flying she-bitches look better than the one 
KNB Effects Group whipped up. 
     There's a bit of nudity. In issue #3, when Sheila 
is brought before Evil Ash he tears her dress down. 
Gotta love it.
     There's also more dialog. And it's pretty funny 
stuff.
     When the flying she-bitches attack, Ash 
experiences a moment of indecision.
     "The Wiseman had agreed to send me back to 
my own time. I was already thinkin' 'bout my job 
back at S-Mart. How I'd be pullin' some double 
shifts to pay for that bar/CD player with the built-in 
simulated fireplace. The kind where the logs look 
like they're burnin'. But it's just a light bulb. It had 
been on layaway and that sweet baby would be 
mine real soon. Yeah. I was so close to getting home. 
Even found my parking stub. Lot 3-G. But that 
was before the deadites came. Home would have 
to wait…"