Tim Seeley Puts Ash & Cassie In Shockfest Tribute

All that’s missing is the soda and the popcorn. A reservoir of one-liners. Buckets of blood for Sam Raimi. And, of course, the uncomfortable silence when boy meets girl, and both are armed and dangerous. That’s what’s on the menu for Tim Seeley’s Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash #1 (MAY131000) from Dynamite Entertainment.

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PREVIEWSworld: Let's get it out of the way: the question is will Cassie fall for Ash's mojo? Most would say the answer is "absolutely not." But tell us how much fun you've had in dancing around that question? It seems like Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash #1 already has a lot going for it in people wondering what this battle of the sexes will look like.

Tim Seeley: The way we're playing Ash here is that he's a few years beyond the AoD film, so, at least to a girl like Cassie, he seems like an "old guy." And that really bothers him, I think. So, the dynamic going in has him being paired with a really hot girl in her late teens/early 20s, and he's trying to deal with it. And Ash is not a 100% noble guy by any stretch...he tries to be a good guy, but he's got poor impulse control. Makes for lots of fun interactions between he and Cassie.

PREVIEWSworld: In a previous interview with Horror News Network, you claim that Cassie knows of Ash prior to meeting him in this book. Could you elaborate on that? How do these two know of each others' reputations? Do they follow each other on Twitter?

Tim Seeley: Since Cassie and Ash have both been around for awhile when we begin the crossover, the implication is that they've run across similar cases and bad guys, and have kept up with what the other was doing, even if they haven't actually crossed paths. Kinda like how you know about other poeple in your field, especially the important ones. I figured that if Cassie had met Chucky, and Ash had met Freddy and Jason, there was probably some urban legends researched, etc that alerted each to the others existence.

PREVIEWSworld: The gore factor is supposed to go up in this book, and be more intense than what we'd see in the Hack/Slash series. Is this due to someone taking off the handcuffs for artist Daniel Leister, or because you chose to tell a story that was a tribute to the blood-and-guts in previous Evil Dead movies?

Tim Seeley: Yeah, the violence and gore in this is definitely an homage to the way Sam Raimi does gore. Over the top, and occasionally so over the top as to be humorous.

PREVIEWSworld: Put Ash and Cassie in a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid moment. The two of them are being rushed by Deadites, and it's time to jump off the mountain to land in the river below. Which one has to be talked into jumping off the mountain first? How would that conversation go? How would they trade insults if one of them had to save face?

Tim Seeley: Ash is more of an action hero than Cassie, and he has an almost "Loony Tunes/Three Stooges" immunity to damage. Cassie on the other hand, is much more likely to get hurt or killed, but she's not scared. She's fatalistic that way. I think they both go over, but for different reasons. The insults come after. Cassie's got a pretty mean wit, but Ash is no slouch. This mini-series could probably have been subtitled "Zinger One-liner Factory."

PREVIEWSworld: Cassie can be tagged as "the Last Girl." An apocalypse angel. Ash, of course, the "Everyman" splatter movie hero. Archetypal characters both. So in the spirit of the Evil Dead remake, let's give you another fantasy film moment, and have you envision the Army of Darkness vs. Hack/Slash movie. Who would be the new faces that you would cast for the roles (and  why?), and what would be the location for the filming?

Tim Seeley: Well, I'm never, ever recasting Ash. It's Campbell, or no one. And, sure, he's a little older now, but he's still got the chops. For Cassie, I long ago gave up trying to answer this one. I don't know anymore. Someone sexy and badass, and a damn good actress. And, since the story is kind of a "road movie" I'm film scouting all across the US...the creepy, dying, off-the-main-highway towns and cities. Add Ash's beat up Oldsmobile, and you've got movie magic.