Review: Archer & Armstrong vol. 1
Archer & Armstrong vol. 1: The Michelangelo Code by Fred Van Lente (writer), Clayton Henry (artist), and Matt Milla (colorist)
I think that the highest praise that I can offer Archer & Armstrong is that it was a book that I didn't know that I needed until I had read it. If you read a lot of contemporary comics, especially DC comics, then you can observe quite quickly that the majority of them often tend to be grim, gritty, and super-serious. While there's nothing wrong with this approach--generally speaking, the comics like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns that are almost universally considered to be among the best follow this tone--it is refreshing to read something that is light and funny. With Incredible Hercules, Van Lente established himself as quite possibly the funniest writer currently working in comics. Yet, he's not just a funny writer, but a sneaky-great one as well. Under the all the gags and jokes in his comics, there's always fantastic characterization and an enjoyable plot. It was surely considered to be huge coup that Valiant Comics was able to land him as a part of their company relaunch. More importantly, with its light tone Archer & Armstrong provides a nice contrast alongside the other three initial Valiant titles.
Essentially, Archer & Armstrong is a mismatched buddy comedy pairing Armstong, a fun-loving, drunken immortal with highly-trained teenage assassin Obadiah Archer. That set-up alone would offer plenty of promise for a writer as capable as Van Lente, but then, as the title implies, he also adds a parody of The Da Vinci Code (which I absolutely loath simply because of all the stupid conspiracy theories movies and documentaries that it spawned). The evil society of one-percenters, The Sect, is probably one of the most brilliant additions. The ways in which they pursue their motto of "Greed is godly" in order to manipulate the stock market are used to great effect. My personal favorite of these moments was when they attempted to sacrifice Archer to the Dark Lord Mammon. During the ritual the high priest proclaims, "Bagabi laca bachabe...lamac Chi achababe exchanged-traded derivative contracts...Amac lamec bachalyas cabahgy sabalyos Call Option." Although the Sect is wonderfully utilized here, my hope is that, for future volumes, Van Lente elects to create a "face" for the organization who can act as a true antagonist.
For The Michelangelo Code, Van Lente is reunited with his former Incredible Hercules collaborator Clayton Henry. Henry's simplistic, cartoon-y style is an excellent fit for this title, and he does a wonderful job of maximizing the comedic potential in Van Lente's scripts, particularly the Green Dragon Lamas. Matt Milla acts the colorist and uses a light color palette in keeping with the tone of the material. Again, considering how many contemporary series have a darker and murky look, it's a bit refreshing to see such bright colors on display.
I would hard-pressed to say which Valiant title I enjoyed more, X-O Manowar or Archer & Armstrong. I think it speaks to the publisher's quality that they have two series which are very different, but both are also excellent. At the risk of becoming a cheerleader for Valiant, I would highly urge you to check out at least one of their titles. As for me, I'm currently reading Star Wars Legacy and China Mieville's fantasy novel The Scar, so be sure to keep an eye out for reviews for those in the near future.
