Archer & Armstrong Volume 2

Fred Van Lente does such a fantastic job of keeping this book comedic, at times it's certainly laugh out loud funny, and he manages to do so without making the book silly. There's still some serious action here especially once The Eternal Warrior debuts in the new Valiant Universe in this book. We also get our first look at the new Geomancer Kay McHenry.Emanuela Lupacchino takes over the art duties on this story arc from Clayton Henry and although her style is a bit different the transition is seamless. Lupacchino does a fantastic job, she's now one of my fav artists working for Valiant. If you enjoyed volume 1 do yourself a favour and pick up volume 2, you will not be disappointed.

Ce tome fait suite à ' Archer & Armstrong Volume 1: The Michelangelo Code TP ', publié en mars dernier dans le cadre d'une relance en librairie des personnages de la firme américaine Valiant, active dans les 1990 et ressuscitée il y a peu.Les personnages d'Archer (Obadiah de son prénom) et Armstrong (aka Aram Anni-Padda aka Aram the Strong) ont été créés par des auteurs légendaires du genre "comic book de super-héros", plus ou moins fâchés avec la Maison des Idées : Jim SHOOTER, Barry WINDSOR-SMITH et Bob LAYTON.C'est au scénariste Fred VAN LENTE, récemment vu chez Marvel Comics, qu'il a été confié de relancer ces personnages, avec aux dessins Clayton HENRY (qui reviendra pour le tome suivant, ' Archer & Armstrong Volume 3: Far, Faraway ') et ici, Emanuela LUPPACHINO, une dessinatrice italienne qui s'est fait une niche dans le monde du comic book US, notamment en dessinant plusieurs numéros de la série X-Factor (cf. ' X-Factor 11: Happenings in Vegas ' et quelques-uns des TPB suivants). Selon Comcvine, Emanuela cite comme inspiration ses confrères Dave STEVENS, Steve RUDE, Kevin NOWLAN, Adam HUGHES et Ryan SOOK. Une liste plutôt cool si vous me demandez mon avis ! Pour faire plaisir à Emanuela, j'ajouterai également comme compagnons d'armes les DODSONS et Amanda CONNER, bien que l'Italienne ait encore à progresser pour se placer à ces niveaux.Bien qu'un cran en dessous de C. HENRY, Emanuela rend une très bonne copie, bien raccord avec ce que nous avions vu dans le  précédent volume . Elle n'avait pas été pour rien dans la relance de l'intérêt pour 'X-Factor', hélas livré à des dessinateurs sans talent.Quant au scénario, il est encore plus ébouriffant que pour le  tome précédent . L'action ne faiblit jamais, même si la dynamique "buddy movie" entre Archer et Armstrong cède le pas à une dynamique plus particulière et ancienne entre Aram et son frère "Gilly". Car, suite aux événements qui précèdent, A&A sont poursuivis par "l'Eternel Guerrier", protecteur perpétuel du "Géomancien", même si, conféré à des humains, ce dernier honneur est conféré successivement à diverses personnes selon les âges. Or, le Guerrier Eternel, c'est Le "Poing-et-l'Acier", alias Gilad, aka "Gilly", le frère d'Aram.Bien qu'ayant le redoutable Gilad sur leurs talons, A&A tentent de s'opposer à un complot séculaire qui consiste à rien moins qu'annuler le monde que nous connaissons.Bagarres, explosions, coups de théâtre, Jean-Paul Sartre (un expert en néant), trahisons, meurtres, cavalcades à travers le temps et l'espace, magie, mathématiques, assassinats, réchauffement climatique, Archimède, métaux rares... Tout y passe, et plus encore, comme dans un mixer et en cinq chapitres. Et, bien entendu, bien que ce tome contienne l'ensemble d'un deuxième arc, un cliffhanger bien costaud vous attend à la fin...VAN LENTE réussit un accord sans temps mort entre action et humour qui fait de la lecture de cette série un excellent passe-temps. Archer & Armstrong Volume 1: The Michelangelo Code TPArcher & Armstrong Volume 3: Far, FarawayX-Factor 11: Happenings in Vegasprécédent volumetome précédent

Where we left off: Archer & Armstrong have succeeded (with a little help from beyond) in destroying the reassembled Boon and preventing Obadiah’s parents from using it to its fullest extent. The Archer clan is apparently destroyed, Mary-Mariah has been changed by her exposure to the Boon, and unfortunately, the kidnapped Geomancer is accidentally killed. And that’s when things go from bad to worse…As you can tell from the title of this volume, a major Valiant hero makes his first official “new Valiant” appearance in this arc. Gilad Anni-pada, aka The Eternal Warrior, aka Armstrong’s brother, aka One Bad Mofo, explodes onto the Valiant scene on a quest for vengeance, and he has his sights squarely set on Obadiah Archer!I loved this entire arc. Fred Van Lente does a brilliant job in reintroducing the world to the Eternal Warrior, and subsequently, the concept of the Geomancer. This in turn, helps flesh out more of the mythology of the new Valiant Universe and further cements A&A as the unofficial Valiant world building title. I also loved the new take on Gilad. No longer the stoic, elder-statesmen, Captain America-esque character for the original Valaint run… this Gilad appears brash, over confident (even with thousands of year’s experience), and prone to bouts of rage… much more a force of nature than good soldier.Like all the Valiant titles, Van Lente is playing a long game here… much is set up before the story resolves, and many mysteries are introduced that will find further exploration in later arcs. Personally, if I were you, dear reader, I would just save yourself the shipping costs and order the next arc “Far, Faraway” now. You will want to dive into that one, and I will guarantee you will be most satisfied at it’s conclusion… but that is a review for another time!

Volume 2 picks up right where volume 1 left off, both from a story standpoint and in terms of design. That's perfect for me. This book is so much fun because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Watch out though. There is plenty of good content here that creates a backdrop for the series. Some new characters are introduced and more is revealed about our heroes. The Geomancer is a particular favorite of mine among the new characters. She is unexpected in many ways, which makes her progression through the book satisfying.Van Lente does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. Despite all the silliness, or perhaps because of it, they feel like fleshed out people. Since I've started reading the Valiant titles, I've been a huge fan of the art. Not every piece works for me, but it doesn't have to either. I felt like the art in this book was a step up over the previous volume. This is a great series to jump into the Valiant universe with.

Enter the Eternal Warrior. This story provides an expanding view of the Valiant Universe. Readers are introduced to Armstrong's brother Gilad, the Eternal Warrior, and the Geomancer. Like Archer and Armstrong, Gilad and Armstrong are not the very best of friends. The antagonistic relationships between the 3 create comedy and build the characters. In fact, that element seems to drive all of the relationships in the book (Geomancer, Archer's parents, sister, etc.).The Geomancer story is interesting. We see the old Geomancer pass the torch to a young woman, with no background on what her new job title requires. How this character came to be the Geomancer is deeply woven into the plot. She's completely surprised and bewildered at every turn.Those looking for single issue stories need not look here. This is an epic that befits the character Armstrong. It's as old as history, over the top with personality and hitting high comic strides.I liked the 2nd volume provided a much richer experience for me. We see a lot more background into the Valiant Universe and the characters truly come alive. As it stands, I view this book as my favorite in the new Valiant Universe.