Tim Seeley unleashes chaos in ‘Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness’

Tim Seeley is no stranger to blending genres, but with Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness, he’s diving headfirst into an all-new kind of mayhem.

The upcoming miniseries, which launches April 9 from Dynamite Comics, sees Ashley J. Williams — the wisecracking, Deadite-slaying antihero of Army of Darkness — once more flung back in time. This time, though, he finds himself face-to-face with Red Sonja, the She-Devil with a Sword. As if that weren’t chaotic enough, lurking in the shadows is the sinister Kulan Gath, the Hyborian Age’s most dreaded sorcerer, now with his sights set on the Necronomicon. The stakes? Nothing less than total domination.

“What I’d like to do here is use the Army of Darkness dark magic stuff and infuse it into Sonja’s Hyborian Age, so we can do a modernized take on those earliest [Roy] Thomas, [Frank] Thorne, [John] Buscema comics,” Seeley said.

He added, “Gritty, dark sword and sorcery, full of weird monsters and grim morality tales. The difference is that Sonja is now weighed down by Ash — who is, as always, kind of a moron who ruins everything. And he is totally enamored with Sonja.”

Courtesy of Dynamite.

A Clash of Personalities

Merging two over-the-top action heroes like Red Sonja and Ash meant finding a way to balance their personalities. Ash, despite his past run-ins with medieval warriors, is completely out of his element in Sonja’s world.

“I wanted to take something I’ve never seen him interact with,” Seeley said. “The old Marvel Red Sonja series had this lush, crazy world with all this weird stuff, and it felt truly foreign. I wanted to bring that back.”

As for Sonja, she’s in the middle of a rough patch when we first meet her.

“She’s a super competent survivor, a mercenary doing all this stuff just to get by,” Seeley said. “Getting stuck with Ash is the last thing she wants. All she can think is, ‘This guy’s gonna drag me down.’ But they have to work together because, well, they’re stuck.”

The result? A buddy comedy, with Sonja as the exasperated professional and Ash as the lovable idiot who somehow keeps surviving.

A Villain with Knowledge of the Future

The return of Kulan Gath adds a new layer of menace.

“He’s a guy that has seen Ash’s world, seen the future,” Seeley said. “He knows what’s coming, and he sees that the Necronomicon would boost his power. His goal is immortality, serving his dark lords — but there’s something darker out there that even he didn’t know about.”

Seeley took full advantage of Kulan Gath’s extensive history, weaving together elements from various incarnations of the character.

“I just decided I was gonna go fun and nerdy with it,” Seeley said. “I tied in all kinds of historical lore for the character and mixed it into the Army of Darkness world.”

Variant cover by Tim Seeley. Courtesy of Dynamite.

A Stranger in a Strange Land

While Ash has dealt with time travel before, this trip is unlike any other.

“He has no reference point for it,” Seeley said. “When he’s in medieval times, he at least has a rough idea of where he is. But here? This is completely foreign.”

To hammer that point home, Seeley set the story in Castle Kandar — just thousands of years before Ash ever set foot there.

“It’s in Hyboria, before the cataclysm that split it up,” Seeley said. “Ash is utterly lost, and he has no survival skills for this place. He needs Sonja, or he’s dead.”

And, of course, there’s the Deadites.

“We get to really define how they work,” Seeley said. “Since we have an actual evil wizard in the mix, we can explain the different types of Deadite infections and how they spread like a plague across the land. And, yes, that means we’ll see Sonja herself dealing with the Deadite threat.”

The Right Artist for the Job

Bringing Seeley’s vision to life is Jim Terry, an artist who, beyond his considerable talent, also happens to be one of Seeley’s best friends.

“That works great,” Seeley said with a distinct laugh. “He and I can hang out and talk about this stuff. And I know Jim loves Robert E. Howard-style fantasy. Conan is his go-to character. So I wrote Red Sonja specifically with him in mind.”

Terry’s style is a throwback to classic sword and sorcery, evoking the work of John Buscema and Frank Thorne.

“Jim’s got that lush but gritty feel that makes for the perfect Red Sonja book,” Seeley said. “He’s killing it.”

Variant cover by Nikkol Jelenic. Courtesy of Dynamite.

Deadite Unicorns and Swashbuckling Action

When asked what surprises fans can expect, Seeley didn’t hesitate: “Ash has to fight a Deadite unicorn.”

That’s not all, either.

“We’re throwing in some classic Red Sonja villains who have been transformed into something way worse,” Seeley said.

Plus, the story shifts through different genres, mixing horror, fantasy, and high-octane action.

“Issue #3 is a straight horror story — Sonja and Ash trapped in a tomb, people getting possessed left and right,” Seeley said. “Then the next issue is a huge swashbuckling adventure with giant eagles and massive battles. We wanted to cover everything that makes both properties great.”

A Perfect Match for Crossover Mayhem

With Sonja having faced everything from Mars Attacks to Tarzan, Seeley is aware of her versatility. When asked if he had a dream match-up for her, he laughed.

“Well, while working on this, I definitely thought of a Hack/Slash crossover with Sonja,” Seeley said. “I think Cassie and Red Sonja would be pretty delightful together.”

As for Ash, Seeley notes his cyclical nature.

“Ash is Ash,” Seeley said. “He makes the same mistakes over and over. And that’s what makes it fun. Fans want to see him screw up the spell, get in over his head, and somehow, miraculously survive. That’s the Army of Darkness way.”

With Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness, Seeley and Terry are delivering a book that perfectly blends the grit of classic Red Sonja with the manic energy of Army of Darkness. From Deadite plagues to time-traveling disasters, it promises to be one hell of a ride.