Cover Story - Top 13 Jason Voorhees Covers

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Happy Friday the 13^th everyone, this weird day we’ve all decided is cursed for reasons we can no longer remember.  Seriously, I have no idea why the fearful and unlucky reputation of the number 13 has persisted so long or even where it started but it has stuck around so we might as well indulge it.  This Friday the 13^th I’m celebrating with a dive into the single best argument for why this random day of the year has persisted as a national holiday: Jason Voorhees, star of the Friday the 13^th film series.  

Released in 1980, Friday the 13^th may not have started the ‘80s slasher craze but it did cement it, helping to full launch the horror blockbuster and launching the franchise that would turn “Jason” into psycho-killer shorthand.  Nearly 40 years later Jason has managed to invade every medium- film, television, video games, novels, music, and, naturally, comic books.  There has been a cavalcade of Friday the 13^th comic books over the years both tied to the films and independent of them and today we honor those comics by looking at their best cover artwork, let’s dive in. 

Ash vs Evil Dead S2 Trailer

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Horror movies getting made into TV shows is a bit of a thing now.  It’s hard to say when exactly this trend started though I’d probably point mostly to 2013, that was when Bates Motel and Hannibal both premiered to shocking levels of success.  Prior to that you’d had some literary-to-TV examples like NBC’s Dracula, AMC’s Walking Dead, or the horror hodgepodge Penny Dreadful but since 2013 we’ve also enjoyed an Omen show, a Scream show, an Exorcist show in the work, and today’s subject: Ash vs. the Evil Dead.

I am a huge fan of the Evil Dead mythos; I love the original trilogy, the comics are a blast, and I’ve even enjoyed some of the video games they’ve made so when I heard “Evil Dead TV show” I was there.  And season 1 turned out to be pretty good, maybe not excellent and with a little too much padding but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now the time has come for season 2 and along with some interesting news we’ve got a trailer and it promises to double down on all the stuff that worked about season 1 and then some. 

1st Dr. Strange Images

So, I guess it’s about time to talk about Dr. Strange.  Honestly I’ve been kind of mixed on this whole project since the beginning, and I say that as one of the few genuine Dr. Strange fans.  I know a lot of folks are getting into the sorcerer supreme now thanks to the publicity of the film production but I’ve actually been a big fan of his since before the MCU got started and even I was pretty skeptical about a Dr. Strange movie.  The main reason for this is just that not every character or comic can work across several mediums. 

There are some comics that just only work as comics, the same way there are TV shows or books that could only work and be as resonant as they are in one particular medium.  It also didn’t help that I’m not really a Benedict Cumberbatch fan.  Now we’ve got our first look at him in costume along with some interesting concept art sketches and…while, I’m still not convinced this is going to work it certainly looks more interesting than it did before.

 

Static Thoughts - Jack of All Trades

This has been a very strange but good year for nerdy comebacks, but none stranger than Ash vs. Evil Dead.  Ash vs. Evil Dead is a TV show sequel to the cult classic film series by movie geek turned blockbuster hit maker Sam Raimi.  The fact that Ash vs. Evil Dead exists at all is a miracle given that it’s a big budget premium show made out of a no-budget 1981 horror flick but the fact that’s it’s actually really good seems like some kind of masterful alchemy or magic.  A big part of its charm definitely lies with Bruce Campbell, lord of sleaze and cheese whose career also started with the original Evil Dead.  What’s impressive and still kind of shows through is that Campbell wasn’t really an actor pre-Evil Dead, just a friend that director Sam Raimi got to star in the movie. 

That friendship has always proved strong and lucrative for both men, so in the ‘90s when Raimi hit it big as a TV producer with shows like Xena and Hercules he decided to give his old friend Bruce another shot with the starring role in a historical comedy called Jack of All Trades.  Now that Bruce Campbell is back in a leading role on our televisions and his place in our collective hearts has been reaffirmed I figure it’s a good time to look back on Jack of All Trades.