Evil Dead 2: Revenge of Krampus #1 (of 2) Review

Evil Dead 2: Revenge of Krampus #1 (of 2)

Writer: Ian Edginton
Artist: Dave Youkovich
Colourist: Carrie Strachan
Letterer: Jacob Bascle
Editor: Dave Land
Publisher: Space Goat Publishing

A review by Amelia Wellman

The comic publisher Space Goat Publishing has had their hands (or should I say hooves?) on the Evil Dead brand and has churned out a few series starring Ash and his best frenemies the Deadites. Aside from an ongoing series Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, a few one-shot comics have been produced. The Evil Dead 2: Revenge of series has seen Ash battling with Jack the Ripper, Dracula, and others, and this holiday season, Krampus has been added to the line-up!

It’s Christmas Eve and as usual Ash is alone with a TV dinner, plenty of beer, and the Skinimax Channel on cable. Something evil is up though and this silent night gets unholy when Krampus shows up to take away a neighbour kid! It’s up to Ash to ring his silver bells and maybe end up under the mistletoe with a grateful mom.

Probably the first thing that people will call attention to concerning Evil Dead 2: Revenge of Krampus is that Krampus, a Germanic Pagan deity, isn’t a Deadite. I’m all for the Ash versus Deadites angle: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But it’s nice to see a non-canonical side-series (though I may be incorrect about the non-canonical nature of how SGP is approaching Evil Dead) appear to send Ash on some different sorts of adventures. The Revenge of series is doing specifically that by pitting Ash against Dracula or Martians. Just a little change to shake things up.

This Christmas specific tale is only going to be two issues, but it’s moving at just the right pace and won’t suffer for it. With limited series runs or one-shot specials, the story, characters, or both sometimes come off shallow, but Edginton has made a simple story that can be told nicely in the format he has. Ash is going to fight Krampus. It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s a perfect way to give the Evil Dead franchise some holiday related cheer!

Youkovich and Strachan are behind the art and colours of Evil Dead 2: Revenge of Krampus and the two make a great team. Everything is crisp, clean, and detailed with very well choreographed action sequences that don’t feel too over or under saturated. The character design isn’t going for a photorealistic match to Bruce Campbell which is probably for the best. Photorealism sometimes gets away from the artist. The lettering has a nice flare to it as well. Bascle made the lettering for Krampus denote the thick German accent he’s speaking in. It looks like the embellishment you’d see to the opening word of a classic fairy tale and it fits perfectly.  

The Verdict
Check it out! If you’re looking for a little more Evil Dead in your life (especially now that Ash vs Evil Dead has finished up its second season and there’s another year’s wait for more), Evil Dead 2: Revenge of Krampus is a festive one-shot that definitely wouldn’t go amiss in an Evil Dead fan’s stocking this holiday season!