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by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey 
synopsis Dragon's Claws are brought back to go into conflict with their old nemesis 'The Evil Dead.' (D) Dave Issue 2’s cover pretty much is straight to the point in terms of what this issue is about; a battle of old enemies. Kev The word balloon is a sticking point for me though. I'm not a huge fan of word balloons on covers. It kind of ages the comic a little. It feels very eighties. The issue itself wastes absolutely no time in re-establishing and fully revealing The Evil Dead. Dave Sort of does the old traditional showing you who each character is and what their specialty way of killing is. Kev Totally. It's a fantastic introduction. Furman once again being efficient and economic with his storytelling. Dave Yes. In fact, like the cover, the whole battle scene between Claws and Evil Dead is told with too much dialogue giving us this type of "we're old enemies," "we know each other so well.” Too much exposition throughout the battle.
Kev Yeh, and considering how Digit is so conniving, that probably should be worrying. I like Stenson's line to Dragon too, "You threw up a shield of normality around yourself so transparent, a blind man could see through it." Dragon's face is a picture as well. Good work by Senior. Dave I notice they have went for pure colour, or white in many of the frames. It must have been done to not draw attention from the focal point of the frame. Kev The backdrops in this scene are pretty much flat colours, aren't they? Often white, yep. I wonder if that was a deliberate choice to show the bright lights and clinical nature of a corporate office setting. It's certainly a more pastel colour pallet when contrasted with the scene preceding and succeeding it. Dave The Evil Dead are certainly a colourful looking bunch. Again, a good showcase for the talents of Geoff Senior. Kev Like you said about the Claws in issue one, the character design in this series really is excellent. I mean, even Feral works. And he's a werewolf. Dave Interesting that Hex and Feral are killed off as well. So quickly too. Kev I think that's a bit of a waste myself, to be honest. I love Hex. He looks creepy as all hell and I love his hypnosis schtick. Like Kaa in ‘The Jungle Book.’ Do you reckon he was supposed to have been a magician before he joined the Evil Dead in the Game? Dave Quite possibly. The opening of the story and the third act dominate this story. The middle is very much a short interlude to a lengthy battle. And of course it shows that Dragon has other problems, in the form of a rivalry with a jealous, bitter Deller. Kev Deller does get a nice bit of character development here. I love that he runs Dragon down for being old, yet shows himself to be reckless and impulsive and ultimately tactically unsound.  In at the deep end of 'The Pool.' Dave I like the line Steel says about Slaughterhouse. It’s quite sinister. "There used to be a rumour....that he wasn’t even human." Kev I love that line. Combined with the panel of him just scaling that structure like a panther climbing a tree. Fantastic stuff. The design of The Pool is great in general, but that establishing panel of the structure Dragon and Slaughterhouse do battle on is deliciously grungy. Dave I like The Pool design too. Very apocalyptic. A big playground for killers to hunt their prey in. Kev Like one, big Venus flytrap. Dave The tower Slaughterhouse and Dragon is very much the main spot in there, I think. Kev Totally. It's like their ring to do battle in. I like that there are very strong indications of a previous, even intimate relationship between Nell and Steel. She even refers to him as "lover" at one point. That’s a very nice little hint at their backstory. Dave Stenson looks like the typical manipulator from behind the scenes. Playing everyone into his game and a real driving force behind the plot and the underlying scheming that is going on. He also looks like a typical 80s' character from a sci-fi film. Like the corporate figures in 'Blade Runner.' Kev He certainly does. The 'Blade Runner' influence is definitely apparent in characters like Stenson. I like the little corporate weasel. Dave He’s necessary to this story. Such a smug looking character. Taking pleasure in all that’s going on. Kev He is a great antagonist. And I love how Furman plays upon that typical conspiracy theorist fear that there's always another level to a conspiracy. Something that Chris Carter made a lot of use of in The X-Files a few years later and David Icke does in his work as well. Dave True. The X-Files was totally conspiracy and behind the scenes agendas. Kev I love how Slaughterhouse has the utmost respect for the Claws (and Dragon in particular) as players of The Game and is therefore disgusted with them that they've "sold out" and become "government lackeys." It's also telling that even as he says this, Mercy is bowing her head in apparent shame.  Deller, a moment before sustaining shoulder injury No.1. Dave I still like that scene in the first act when “Mister Examiner” swipes the heads off two soldiers, with those well written lines, very cooly delivered by Slaughterhouse, "Off with their heads...as Alice once said...or was it the Queen of Hearts? Whatever." Kev It's really funny, isn't it? For all his psychopathic, serial killing tendencies, Slaughterhouse is one charming gentleman. It's not difficult to see why people would follow Slaughterhouse into his little, cultish band of mass murderers. Dave Essentially though, having a battle this quickly and killing off two members of The Evil Dead allows us to get a real taste of them and gives the writer a chance to bring them back in later on in the story. Kev Yeh. It's performing a lot of storytelling. It provides a showcase for Nell and Slaughterhouse as the main members of The Evil Dead, it demonstrates exactly how the Claws were and apparently still are "ever their superiors" and it allows Furman to set up that ‘Evil Dead 2’ pun. Dave I quite liked the whole Fastfax frame just 5 photos and a simple statement. Kev I think the Fastfax is good too. It's simple and straight to the point. I find it funny how this issue establishes what almost becomes a running joke with Deller constantly having his shoulder injured. Dave Deller is very much portrayed as an incompetent wetbag in this issue. Just furthermore fueling his rage and jealousy. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, totally. I love the juxtaposition between the almost begrudging admiration Slaughterhouse has for Dragon and the sheer disdain he has for Deller. "And where's Dragon? Surely you haven't replaced him with this imbecile." That line totally cracks me up. Dave The battle in this issue shows how well Claws and Evil Dead are matched in certain areas though. Steel even punches-out Nell, but it doesn’t put her out for long. Kev Nell is definitely shown to be a formidable adversary alright and the fact that her body and Slaughterhouse’s body are nowhere to be found at the end of the issue sets up their return later in the series very nicely.  Geoff Senior, ladies and gentlemen, at his dynamic, kinetic best. Dave And they will make a grand entrance again, like the opening frame of this issue. Kev Indeed they will. Upon rereading this I have to say that I found Scavenger to be a far more fascinating character. Not only does he escape the Evil Dead's trap and The Pool itself, but he turns Hex into a human pin cushion then eats Feral. Whole. No wonder Mercy is more scared of him than she is of the Evil Dead themselves. Dave Scavenger’s definitely a no-holds-barred character. Sort of the one that does all the dirty work that needs done and enjoys it too. Kev Yes. And that's what makes him so scary and intriguing, is the fact that he actually seems to enjoy it. Dave Probably would have made a worthy addition to The Evil Dead. ‘Cause he can match their level of brutality and has a wicked dark sense of humour too. Kev That's a great point, man. I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're absolutely right. There're spaces on the team now. I'm surprised Slaughterhouse didn't try to recruit him. Dave He’s also intensely loyal to Dragon, which is why he stayed behind to back him up. Kev Yeh. I'm pretty sure it says in his character profile that Dragon saved him. Maybe that's the reason for the loyalty. Do you have any specific memories of reading this issue at the time? Dave Yeah, the whole issue i remember pretty well as it was the showdown between these two formidable teams and again i see a big WWF influence in those designs and characters. They’re larger than life people. I can’t remember what month it came out though. Do you? And what're your memories of this issue?  The free mini-poster in question. Kev I do get quite a strong sense of time from it. That summer of '88. I can't remember what month it was that it came out exactly though, but if it's dated August, it probably came out in July, I reckon. I remember reading it over and over again. The fact that my copy is held together by Sellotape testifies to that. Plus, it's got the remains of my tea or something ingrained into the pages. I couldn't agree more about the larger than life characters being very reminiscent of the WWF at the time. Do you remember the fee mini-poster you got with it? Dave No, I can’t remember what the poster was. Kev It was a lovely painted image, by Geoff Senior, of Dragon in his Claws uniform circa the Game. My original has long since vanished, but I managed to get a new copy of this issue off ebay with the poster intact. Do you have any other points you want to discuss? Any casting suggestions or the like? Dave No actually, I think we have covered it well. Casting, now that’s actually a tricky one. I can’t think of any actors off hand to play these parts. Any ideas? Kev The only one I have really, and this totally ties back into your WWF point is Dwayne Johnson as Steel. Dave Slaughterhouse is hard to pin an age on. He looks old, but with all that make-up, it's hard to tell really. Kev I know. I think he might be a bit older, he refers to the guard at the start as "son,” so I reckon he's at least Dragon's age. So late thirties. That’s younger than us at this point. Which in itself, is thoroughly depressing. Dave Yeah, I know. I think they would have to go for an unusual looking actor, with a powerful presence to portray that part. And he’s tall. Also adding more to the menace of him. Kev For his angular face, maybe somebody like Adrian Brody would work. Dave I’m still thinking either Ben McKenzie from ‘Gotham,’ or even Jon Bernthal as Deller. Good point. Adrien Brody is a good call. Plus he’s a cracking actor. Kev Bernthal's a good call too. In a lot of ways, he's actually quite facially similar to how Senior draws Deller. Dave Yeah, he does too. Plus, Bernthal is good at playing angry characters. Kev That, he certainly is. Dave Dwayne Johnson for Steel I think. Tom Hardy as Dragon. Casting Slaughterhouse is key. Casting an actor that can be quite scary, menacing and sinister just in appearance and presence. Kev Definitely. They would certainly have to project a certain aura. Dave I’m thinking maybe Joel Kinnaman as Slaughterhouse. Kev Kinneman is a cracking idea. You got any final thoughts on the issue as a whole? Dave Issue 2 is a good follow up issue and was definitely a memorable one. What’s your thoughts? Kev I agree. It moves the story along a nudge, it gives us three great action sequences and provides a nice set-up for what’s to come. I loved the fight scenes in it when I read it originally. I think in a lot of ways this was probably my favourite issue back then. The artwork is top notch, although I don't think it's until next issue that Senior really gets into his groove with the series. But as we said with last issue, it's the energy of it all. It just crackles with it. And I still get that from it, even now. Dave Yeah, issue 2 is slam, bang full of action and doesn’t disappoint. It also makes way for the rest of the story, in future issues, to unfold. Kev If issue one was the prologue, or pilot, issue two is the one that probably really hooked me and made me buy-in for the rest of the run. (D) & (K) Next: 'Heroes' Welcome.'  Deller desires to walk in a dead man's shoes.
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