Dragon's Claws Retrospective: #8 '…The Evil Dead Too.'

by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey

Save the NHS if you don't want your descendants operated on by this guy in 6,000 years.

​Cover date- February 1989
Price- 55p

Writer- Simon Furman
Artist- Geoff Senior
Letterer- Gordon Robson
Colourist- Steve White
Editor- Richard Starkings
Managing Editor- Jenny O’Connor
Published by- Marvel Comics LTD

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synopsis

Slaughterhouse leads his newly replenished Evil Dead in an all-out assault on the headquarters of N.U.R.S.E. and its matriarch, Matron, who in turn, drafts in Dragon's Claws to eliminate the threat.  Meanwhile, Dragon, Deller and Raymond Golding uncover the true extent of the N.U.R.S.E. conspiracy, forcing Matron's hand, prompting her to finally reveal herself and personally step into the fray.  (K)

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Kev
You got any overall thoughts or memories of #8, '…..The Evil Dead Too?'


Dave
I always remember this issue sticking out for me in the series.  The cover is quite striking.  What about you?


Kev
Yeh, the cover is certainly striking.  More of that gallows, macabre sense of humour Slaughterhouse has.  In what ways did this issue in particular stand out to you?


Dave
For me, I just remember really liking this issue and it's where the story really jumps from 2nd gear to 5th gear, so to speak.  It's all pointing towards a collective showdown.  It's also starting to tie off those loose ends, whilst again, being actioned packed.


Kev
Totally, man.  This is the beginning of the end, unfortunately.  The pedal gets put to the floor and we're all-in with the main story arc now and yes, there's also some top notch action in this issue as well.


Dave
Plus the return of the arch nemesis The Evil Dead.  They alone, could have easily had a spin-off series.


Kev
That hadn't occurred to me, but yeh, an Evil Dead spin-off would've been good.  Maybe if Claws had been more financially successful, we might've gotten one.


Dave
The Evil Dead and Dragon's Claws are a match.  Just opposite sides of a coin.  It’s also the build-up to the revelation of Matron and we finally see the head honcho of N.U.R.S.E.


Kev
Definitely.  They seem closer than ever, now that they've been somewhat united against a common enemy in N.U.R.S.E.  What're your thoughts on Matron?
​

Matron struggling to get out of a chair.

​Dave
Bit of a reverse power play but it works, especially with the organisation N.U.R.S.E.  She’s a bit of a tongue-in-cheek character.  As I said, she’s kinda like a female Kingpin.  Another ode to American Marvel comics.  What’s your thoughts?


Kev
The character design is crazy.  We've praised Geoff Senior throughout this series for his memorable character design and you’re certainly not going to forget what Matron looks like in a hurry.  She wouldn't look out of place in Royston Vasey in ‘The League Of Gentlemen.’  


Dave
She’s some physical size.


Kev
Her size certainly helps her get the drop on Slaughterhouse in this issue.  It's kind-of Norman Bates dressed as his mother in 'Psycho'-esque as well.


Dave
Good point, sir.  That never occurred to me.  Matron could easily be a man.


Kev
I've always wondered about Matron's sex. 


Dave
Yeah, it works either way, whether she is male or female really, but it's her nature that terrifies them all.  Matron is a pure sociopath, which is probably why everyone around her is terrified by her.  Even when Stenson is confronted by a sword in his face by Dragon, he isn't concerned until Golding mentions him taking them to see Matron.

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"On

those

trays."

​Kev
Exactly.  Golding shows relatively little fear in his precarious position with Dragon, Deller and Golding, but as soon as Matron is mentioned, he attempts to beat a hasty retreat.


Dave
Dragon has a sly grin when he's putting the sword back in the sheath.


Kev
Yeh, he's really pleased with himself and Golding at the way they've manipulated Stenson here.


Dave
The old good cop, bad cop routine.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Definitely.  I noticed, in FastFax, it's stated that it's a N.U.R.S.E. private ambulance crew that the Evil Dead attack at the end of issue 7, which would suggest that Slaughterhouse was not only using their bodies to get into the N.U.R.S.E. building, but he was also sending a message to N.U.R.S.E. and Matron.  It’s through things like the healthcare element we’re shown that N.U.R.S.E. aren't just a sporting body, like I first assumed, but more like a mega-corporation with lots of interests and their fingers in many, many pies.  Matron even alludes to it when she says to her recently fired board, "I'd love to be able to offer you positions in my next company......but to be honest, I’ve been less than impressed by your performance of late!"


Dave
But even Matron is concerned about the World Development Council, showing that N.U.R.S.E. is a mixed bag when it comes to business and political ventures.  I could easily imagine that N.U.R.S.E. has been under fire so often in the past with them.  There may be no such thing as a lengthy career at N.U.R.S.E.


Kev
There certainly wouldn't appear to be.  Yeh, it looks like N.U.R.S.E. has been some sort of independent contractor that have taken government grants to spearhead programs and then just used that as a cover to perform all their illegal shenanigans.  The "Player Relocation Agency" being just the most visible example to us, as readers of this series.


Dave
When we're shown Matron executing the board, it made me wonder how often she has done that with previous members.  Leave no-one left to tell what she has been up to.  It’s a good panel, that one where she is walking away from a table of fried bodies.  Puts me sort-of mind of the ‘89 'Batman' film when the Joker electrocutes Rotelli.
​

To say those N.U.R.S.E. execs were in the hot-seats would appear to be an understatement.

​Kev
YES!  So it does.  Excellent pull, sir.  That would certainly appear to be her M.O.  Tying up any and every loose end.  I think you're right.  I suspect this is not the first time she has burned entire organisations to the ground just cover her tracks.  Speaking of nice panels, I love those three panels of the black and white CCTV footage of The Evil Dead just ploughing their way through N.U.R.S.E.'s security guards.  Typical Geoff Senior.  Very dynamic.


Dave
Yeah, they are indeed.  This a real action packed issue and it’s good to see The Claws and The Dead getting stuck into each other.  An age old battle.  It also reveals a bit more bout the newly founded Dead members Rend, Hack and Slash.


Kev
It is an action packed issue, alright, but it's also guilty of committing one of my pet hate, comic book sins.  Superhero comics are particularly bad for it, in that they make the new antagonists more powerful and dangerous than their predecessors.  Now I know that they do it to ramp up the drama and increase the stakes, but when the deceased, original Evil Dead members are relegated to the level of being described as "spiteful children,' as they are by Steel, it just doesn't sit well with me.  I've always felt it's a kind-of cheap and lazy device.  The Evil Dead 2 are presented as being far more deadly than 1.  This despite Slash seeming a bit useless, actually and even being described as an "oaf" by his teammate, Rend.


Dave
Yeah, good point.  Slash just seems like some drunk hobo they found at the end of a bar to make up the numbers.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yeh and he only got the gig because he was cheap and handy with a blade.


Dave
Also, we only get 2 pages of battle with them.  Clearly again there’s too much story packed into one issue and too much to cover.  Something Dragon’s Claws does a lot.  It really can be guilty of this.


Kev
Yep.  I think by this point they may very well have known that things weren't looking great for the series and were up against it in terms of how many issues and pages they had left to tell their story.  You're right though, they can be guilty of trying to cram too much in to each issue.  Which is the polar opposite of the criticism of a lot of modern comics, with their decompressed storytelling.


Dave
It is almost like they were told they had only two issues to wrap it all up and are trying to get through this as quickly as they can.  Not to be too critical of Furman and Senior, but there is a rushed quality here.


Kev
No, no, I agree.  It's maybe nit-picking, but the pace is so breakneck by this point, that it could certainly be argued that it is beginning to feel just a little bit rushed.


Dave
I think this issue is selling itself short with how many stories could have been explored in more depth at a later date.


Kev
I think it's just a case of the comic itself running out of time.  On the subject of The Evil Dead 2, do you think Hack might be based on Buzzsaw from 'The Running Man' at all?

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​Dave
Yeah, he’s a bit like Buzzsaw, but a more grungy version and he still has that element of a Mad Max villain too.  Very 80s' either way though.


Kev
Ah, good shout with the Mad Max vibe.  Yep.  I can totally see that.  I think you're right, those are certainly two major influences on the series, as we've said before.


​Dave
Interestingly, if you watch 'Avenging Force' you'll notice that there's a team of assassins which are very colourful in appearance, all very distinctive and not too dissimilar to a team that would have played the Game.


Kev
I'll need to watch it.


Dave
It has an element of The Game to it.  Killers hunting people for sport.  Dudikoff would have been a good choice for Dragon, if we were casting this in the 80s.
​

​Kev
He certainly would have.  I was thinking that John Cena might've been good for Dragon, actually, but that's just the wrestling fan in me coming through again.  And me hair-casting again.  Ha, ha!  Dudikoff would've made a good Dragon, yeh.


Dave
Good call on Cena.  He has the physique.


Kev
Getting back to the Evil Dead 2, I like how Rend is literally a pain junkie.  That's a lovely, terrifying touch.  He's definitely my favourite out of the new Dead.  Then Hack.  Slash is my least favourite of the new trio.


Dave
I love the character Rend.  He's such a cool cat.  I like Hack as well though, he's a real powerhouse of a character.  Yeah, Slash just looks like a dunderhead, but he does look completely and utterly bonkers.

Hakk!

Rend!

Oaf! Sorry, Slash!

​Kev
Ha, ha!  That he does.  One of my favourite lines in this issue is when Slaughterhouse refers to Dragon as a "committed idealist."  That's pretty spot-on.  He’s very insightful, is old Slaughterhouse.  He’s certainly got Dragon pegged.  Mercy too, actually, as he's able to break her down, psychologically, to Hack.  Slaughterhouse is a smart cookie.


Dave
I like that panel where Dragon and Deller head off to N.U.R.S.E. with Goulding saying "Let's Go See The Wicked Witch!"  Again, a small picture, but each character is so distinctively different in appearance that they’re instantly recognisable.  That shows a real talent of Senior to create this quality of work.  Stenson finally meets his maker in true style too.


Kev
I know.  It's exit stage left for Stenson this issue.  He will be missed.  Excellent, slimy antagonist that he is.  Or rather, was.  Slaughterhouse is the one who gets to punch his ticket as well.  His revenge on N.U.R.S.E. is beginning to bear fruit.

John Hurt in the famous chest-burster scene from 'Alien.'

​Dave
Yeah, true.  Slaughterhouse is the flip side of the Dragon coin, as is evident whenever he and Dragon have those lengthy talks in battle.  That’s an old favourite in comic books, for characters to talk while in battle, sharing differing viewpoints of each other, their ideals and their beliefs.


Kev
Yeh, there's always a verbal, as well as a physical, sparring match going on in Furman's fight scenes.  He always used this technique in 'Transformers' too.  He uses it to reveal character quite often.


Dave
There’s obviously a bit of history between Steel and Death Nell too, which we can see by her kissing him and him not reacting.  And we don’t really see what happens after that.  Steel seems a bit lost without Dragon, as seen in the earlier panel where he is reflecting upon recent events in Montreal as well as the clash with Death’s Head in issue 2 of the ‘Death’s Head’ comic.


Kev
This is one of my favourite unresolved sub-plots.  Again, she refers to him as "lover" and challenges him to work with her"…..like in the old days."  Intriguing stuff.  Pity we never got the chance to find out any more really.  Whilst we’re on the subject of Nell, she's definitely had a makeover.  She looks a lot sexier all of a sudden.

Nell's milkshake brings all the boys and/or girls to the yard.

​Dave
If there’s one thing Simon Furman excels at, it’s putting multiple layers into his stories, which opens up avenues for other backstories to be explored.


Kev
He is really, really good at that.  He's great at spinning multiple plates and having them dovetail in and out of each other and overlap in a very engaging way.  In fact, the first six pages of this issue are basically just a recap of the series thus far.  Maybe they were hoping they could pick up some new readers at this point.  It's that old Stan Lee adage that, "Every issue is someone's first."  That's the Marvel mantra.  It’s obviously a company brief that made its way across the Atlantic to Marvel UK.


Dave
This series could have easily been ongoing with the amount of stories and backstories created in such a short timespan and relatively few issues.  


Kev
I think it was always intended to be ongoing and it pains me that it wasn't.  It also seems like Furman was setting up some sort of conflict between Digit and Dragon too.  When Digit says, "Dragon.  Hmm.  Yes, I shall have to work on that angle," it’s quite foreboding.


Dave
Yeah, like you said, there could have been some sort-of secret sleeper plan for Digit, in which he was sent to keep an eye on Dragon by N.U.R.S.E. and possibly eliminate him if he did not fall into place as planned.


Kev
Or perhaps take over as leader of the Claws, if Dragon proved to be difficult or even unwilling to continue for whatever reason, returning to Tanya, Michael and the farm, for example.  I wonder how Deller would’ve taken to that scenario?


Dave
Digit knows that in order to control the team, he would just have to manipulate Dragon and the rest will fall-in behind him.  It’s almost as if Digit wants to lead the team through controlling Dragon, as he knows they will follow him loyally.


Kev
Good point.  A puppet regime with Digit wielding power from behind the scenes as he pulls Dragon's strings.
​

"Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey." Or a Nell on the Steel.

​Dave
Each of the Claws have their own personal crisis to deal with, Steel is concerned about Dragon, Scavenger has trust issues with N.U.R.S.E, Mercy is actually feeling rejuvenated after her encounter with Scourge and Digit is becoming the new Stenson (not quite), but he certainly has an agenda.


Kev
Nice one.  I hadn't though of Furman positioning Digit to fill Stenson's shoes now that Slaughterhouse had turned him into a human shish kebab.  That's a great point.


Dave
There's always someone willing to fill those shoes.


Kev
True.  As Furman always wrote in Transformers, "It never ends."


Dave
What do you make of the last panel with Matron being revealed?

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Carry on, Matron.

​Kev
It's a big reveal.  Incredibly dramatic.  I'm not convinced that Senior had the final design of Matron locked down until this issue though.  What do you make of it?


Dave
I think he was going for sheer physical size mixed with an Evil Dead-like face.  Yeah, he was probably testing the ground to see what worked up until this point.


Kev
I love the old fashioned nurse's outfit.  Matron is like one of the former Game teams, in that she’s living the gimmick.


Dave
She managed to sneak up on Slaughterhouse, who is literally a master of working in the dark.


Kev
Yeh.  Do you reckon it was the element of surprise that allowed her to get the drop on him, or do you think she is just that good?


Dave
Yeah, she knows how to move in the shadows.  It makes me wonder if Matron was a former Game player in her past, as she has those deadly skills.


Kev
Ah, that's an interesting point.  She does say that she craves "more physical endeavours."  That could certainly be interpreted as a longing for former glories on a field of combat.  It's interesting that she chose not to just push that button and "atomise" Slaughterhouse, as it's that tendency to play "games" with Dragon and Slaughterhouse, like a cat toying with a couple of mice, that ultimately proves to be her undoing.


Dave
I kind-of see Matron as a really disturbed character, much like the Buffalo Bill character in ‘Silence of the Lambs.‘  I wonder what her voice would have sounded like.


Kev
Probably something like Buffalo Bill's, I reckon.


Dave
Yeah, kinda that slightly disturbing quality to it.  A bit unnerving.


Kev
Definitely.  You got any other points you want to cover?


Dave
I think John Cena would be good for Hack, casting wise.


Kev
Ha, ha!  I was just thinking that myself.  Kind of casting him against his Mr. Nice Guy type, but I reckon that'd work.  You got any other casting suggestions?  I have to admit, I've got nothing this issue.  Timothy Olyphant for Rend maybe.  I love Olyphant in anything really though.


Dave
Tricky one this.  Yeah, Olyphant would be good for Rend.  He has that really cool quality.


Kev
Yeh, totally.  He's could do a kind-of evil Raylan Givens thing.

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Slaughterhouse with the reverse chinlock.

Dave
Jonah Hill for Chandler.


Kev
Yeh.  I could see that.  You got anything for Matron?


Dave
Tricky.  And Slash as well.


Kev
Yeh.  I'll need more time to come up with something for them.  Maybe by the time we review issue 9 I’ll have something though.  Helena Bonham Carter would've made a great Death Nell.  She could channel some of that Belatrix Lestrange stuff.  She's maybe slightly too old for Nell now though.


Dave
Kathy Bates might be one option for Matron.


Kev
I love Kathy Bates.  Gooooood call.  Great in comedy and in drama.


Dave
Plus she was bat shit in ‘Misery’ and quite scary.


Kev
Definitely.


Dave
And with the wonders of modern technology, her size can be suitably adjusted to appear more terrifying.  No need for dodgy padding like they did with the 90s Cap film.


Kev
Oh yeh.  The fat suit thing just never really works, does it?

Death by the Nell one-woman firing squad.

​Dave
That was funny though.


Kev
Ha, ha!  It was, yeh.


Dave
Paul Giamatti could also work for Slash.


Kev
I like that.  I like that a lot.  Good call, sir.  You said this issue always stood-out to you?  Is it your favourite of the series?


Dave
It did, as it was aways a memeorable one to me.  Maybe not my favourite but I remember reading this one over and over again.  Maybe it's just the fast pace of it.  Also, it feels more like a follow up to issue 2, as the rest of the issues went off in different directions.


Kev
That's true.  It's certainly a call-back/follow-up to issue 2, so there's been a ton of anticipation building up in the six months since then.


Dave
I think for all the flaws we found, it is definitely a stand-out issue in this series.


Kev
Yeh, the flaws are pretty minor.  Like I said, I think I'm nit picking.


Dave
Nit picking's okay.  That’s what we are here to do.  Not just see one side of it, but to find errors also.  A general, all round review.


Kev
I agree.  You do tend to see flaws with adult eyes that you didn't see as a child though.  I still love this series though, flaws and all.

(D) & (K)

​Next: 'Treatment.'

Shadow puppet theatre. 8162 stylee.