Evil Dead Reveals The Ultimate Secret of the Necronomicon

Summary

• The Necronomicon’s true nature is revealed in Army of Darkness Forever #7 – it’s evil and a liar.
• Wiseman falls victim to the corrupted book’s influence, showing that even the pure-hearted can’t resist.
• Evil cannot be tamed, as seen in the failed attempts to control the Necronomicon in the Evil Dead franchise.

Warning: Spoilers for Army of Darkness Forever #7!The biggest secret behind The Evil Dead regarding the Necronomicon has finally been revealed. For all of the evil that the Book of the Dead contains, the franchise has suggested that the book itself isn’t inherently good or evil. Abusing the book’s power or incorrectly pronouncing an incantation can lead to horrible things, but ideally, the book can help as much as it can hurt.

Army of Darkness Forever #7 by Tony Fleecs, Pop Mhan, Brad Simpson, Troy Peteri, Joe Rybandt, and Marshall Hoyt tells a different story, as the Necronomicon’s ill-intentions throughout the Evil Dead franchise are unveiled. Not only does this new narrative suggest that the book is, in fact, evil, but in Ash’s words, “The book is a liar.”

This issue showcases how, even in a book filled with knowledge that theoretically could be helpful if used correctly, it is not without its biases towards evil. The evil is far too great for any reader or mortal to not be corrupted by it.

The Evil Dead‘s Corrupted Book Corrupts All

Including the Pure-Hearted Wiseman

In the year 2093, Ash wakes up in unfamiliar territory, at least not the territory that he expected at the conclusion of Evil Dead’s second sequel. Picking up where the original deleted Army of Darkness ending (which is still more canon than fans realize) left off, Ash searches for the Wiseman from the film (now in hologram form) to find a way to his original timeline. The Wiseman leads him to believe that collecting all the pages of a tarnished Necronomicon will solve Ash’s problems, but it actually worsens them by rebirthing the Necronomicon into a child.

As it turns out, this was all a ruse by the Wiseman, who is working with the Bad Ash. Army of Darkness Forever #3 reveals that shortly after sending Ash on his way to time-travel home, Wiseman explores the Necronomicon in hopes of learning its knowledge and using it for the greater good. Instead, he’s corrupted by its evil as the book’s influence warps his mind. The Wiseman then embarks on a quest to raise the Dark King and an army of the undead to unleash upon the world as the new Keeper of the Necronomicon.

The Necronomicon is Too Evil to Not Be Corrupted

Its Influence Is Too Great

The Wiseman is shown to be nothing less than pure in the Army of Darkness movie, but not even he can resist the evils of the dreaded Book of the Dead. His heart is in the right place in wanting its knowledge, and the Necronomicon does offer such knowledge, but the book itself is too corrupted by the evil it houses to offer anything positive. The fact of the matter is that evil cannot be tamed, and everyone who has tried in the Evil Dead franchise has failed to do so horrendously, only spreading evil in the attempt.

Army of Darkness Forever
#7
is on sale now from Dynamite Comics.