REVIEW: Archer and Armstrong, #6

[CBR News]

In "Archer and Armstrong" #6, Fred Van Lente and Emanuela Lupacchino reveal both a new champion and a new villainous organization as "Wrath of the Eternal Warrior" really gets going after the backstory and setup in the last issue.


Full review here.

[BugsySig]

Great review that echoes many of the same points I made in my earlier post on the issue. Looks like the VALIANT books are finally working their way up the CBR reviewer ranks.

[Jennifer_Cheng]

Great review that echoes many of the same points I made in my earlier post on the issue. Looks like the VALIANT books are finally working their way up the CBR reviewer ranks.

Thanks for the compliment about the review, BugsySig. I agree with you about the last issue being disappointing (although the art was fine) but as you said, this issue really redeems it all.

I read the Valiant books regularly, and so far I have reviewed various issues of Harbinger, Bloodshot, X-O, and Archer & Armstrong. Harbinger has been my favorite, but this issue of A & A struck me as being especially well-done (the panel with Armstrong talking about his brother's, er, charms is SO good) and I hope it continues to be this strong.

[BugsySig]

Thanks for the compliment about the review, BugsySig. I agree with you about the last issue not disappointing (although the art was fine) but as you said, this issue really redeems it all.

I read the Valiant books regularly, and so far I have reviewed various issues of Harbinger, Bloodshot, X-O, and Archer & Armstrong. Harbinger has been my favorite, but this issue of A & A struck me as being especially well-done (the panel with Armstrong talking about his brother's, er, charms is SO good) and I hope it continues to be this strong.

Couldn't agree more. Harby is also my favorite book, but this may have been one of my single favorite issues thus far (Harby #5&6, A&A #4 and XO #5 would round out my top 5).

[Destro777]

This issue was amazing. The 1% villains are freaking hilarious.

[Captain Craig]

In "Archer and Armstrong" #6, Fred Van Lente and Emanuela Lupacchino reveal both a new champion and a new villainous organization as "Wrath of the Eternal Warrior" really gets going after the backstory and setup in the last issue.


Full review here.

This is a great review if for no other reason than it deserved it. I've often thought that prior VALIANT books, when reviewed, weren't graded on a level playing field even when they were really good.

What I like best in the review is the following quote:

"Archer and Armstrong" #6 feels especially tightly written, tied together by themes of eternity and purpose, as Van Lente sets up the goals and philosophy of The Null as opposite to those of the Eternal Warrior in a deliberately mathematical way -- zero vs. infinity.

This almost nailed how I read it in my mind. Jennifer(if I may) wrote it a bit more logical I suppose. In my mind it was Nothingness(Null) vs Eternity(Gilad) for supremacy of fate.

I admit I did not know Lupacchino was a woman or that VEI had sought out a female artist to design Kay. I too felt relieved that Kay felt and looked like a real woman(as real as comic women get). Emmanuelle deserves much praise and I know in our other thread and other boards she has gotten it even if she is unaware of it. Kudos to VEI for attaching her.

[Jennifer_Cheng]

This is a great review if for no other reason than it deserved it. I've often thought that prior VALIANT books, when reviewed, weren't graded on a level playing field even when they were really good.

What I like best in the review is the following quote:

This almost nailed how I read it in my mind. Jennifer(if I may) wrote it a bit more logical I suppose. In my mind it was Nothingness(Null) vs Eternity(Gilad) for supremacy of fate.

Thanks for the feedback, Captain Craig.

(1) Lovely phrase, "for supremacy of fate."

(2) Thanks for criticizing CBR reviews and reviewers without being abusive, and I definitely understand where you're coming from. There are six CBR reviewers currently, and our tastes differ. We have a mostly shared idea of what the star ratings mean, and we don't deliberately try to review or rate Valiant books more harshly or leniently than books from DC or Marvel, but obviously some of us may follow certain creators or characters more than others, without being unprofessional about it. I find the Valiant relaunch exciting and entertaining myself, and I can totally see that a Valiant fan would want to see even more enthusiasm in the air.

In any given week, each individual reviewer would probably rank all the comics reviewed differently, although there is some collective consensus overall. I like that there are several reviewers (and not just because I'm one of them). We have one guy from the UK, one guy from Australia, two women etc. and it's nice that it's not just one person speaking for CBR. We do try for a level playing field, but consistency is always going to be a goal that we always strive for but never quite achieve, because you've got six humans doing imperfect human things. I do try to keep my own star ratings consistent with my previous ratings, but even that can be tough and I'll sometimes think I went too easy or too harsh in retrospect. But we do take rating comics seriously and put some thought into it, all of us.

Have a great long weekend, everyone!

[Jennifer_Cheng]

Also, BugsySig, I saw your comment on my last Bloodshot review about the review coming out the week after the book was out. While it's true that my job is not to promote Valiant (and BTW, thanks, Sentinel Supreme), I see your larger point.

I do like how you Valiant fans are a small group that are strong advocates for the books. Also, you all generally have interesting discussions and don't have much trolling or aggressive bashing of reviewers.

Just to clarify, it's not that CBR is prioritizing DC or Marvel over Valiant; it's that I happened to pick Bloodshot #6 to review, and unfortunately, currently I'm sometimes slow. (We all have day jobs, too.) So, it was my fault that the review came out on a Monday, and not any bias on CBR's side. However, I am working on being faster and getting out reviews quicker so that potential readers can see them sooner, since that benefits just about everyone, whether it's a negative review or a positive one. I just wanted to say, it wasn't a case of CBR making any executive decisions about Valiant's importance in the pecking order.

[BugsySig]

Also, BugsySig, I saw your comment on my last Bloodshot review about the review coming out the week after the book was out. While it's true that my job is not to promote Valiant (and BTW, thanks, Sentinel Supreme), I see your larger point.

I do like how you Valiant fans are a small group that are strong advocates for the books. Also, you all generally have interesting discussions and don't have much trolling or aggressive bashing of reviewers.

Just to clarify, it's not that CBR is prioritizing DC or Marvel over Valiant; it's that I happened to pick Bloodshot #6 to review, and unfortunately, currently I'm sometimes slow. (We all have day jobs, too.) So, it was my fault that the review came out on a Monday, and not any bias on CBR's side. However, I am working on being faster and getting out reviews quicker so that potential readers can see them sooner, since that benefits just about everyone, whether it's a negative review or a positive one. I just wanted to say, it wasn't a case of CBR making any executive decisions about Valiant's importance in the pecking order.

I hope my comment didn't come off as personal. It was based on several reviews I have read of Independent books, not only by you (though I admit I don't really pay attention to the reviewers name) and not only for VALIANT. It was really meant as more of a general statement that, espescially for small publishers, reviews prior to or on the day of release are more beneficial than they would be to the Big 2. If a late review was to spark an interest in someone to pick up a book, it is much easier to find a Marvel or DC book in the weeks following release than a small publisher.

Believe me, I understand that you guys and gals must have a ton of books to sift through, and despite common misconceptions you probably have a life outside of CBR CBR is one of my favorite sites and forums, so I do not want to begrudge any of the people who make it run. You obviously have an affinity for VALIANT and I think those reviews I have read from you thus far are very fair and insightful.

[Jennifer_Cheng]

No worries, BugsySig, it did not come off as personal, just a polite concern about timeliness. I see what you're saying, too, that DC and Marvel have a market advantage, and therefore early vs. late reviews probably affect smaller publishers more.

I think Valiant fans are a great bunch from what I've seen in CBR forums. Even though Image is a bigger indie publisher than Valiant, its fans aren't as active in the forums, so it's really nice to see this kind of engagement for books that aren't Batman, Avengers, or X-books.

Thanks for the constructive feedback!

[BugsySig]

No worries, BugsySig, it did not come off as personal, just a polite concern about timeliness. I see what you're saying, too, that DC and Marvel have a market advantage, and therefore early vs. late reviews probably affect smaller publishers more.

I think Valiant fans are a great bunch from what I've seen in CBR forums. Even though Image is a bigger indie publisher than Valiant, its fans aren't as active in the forums, so it's really nice to see this kind of engagement for books that aren't Batman, Avengers, or X-books.

Thanks for the constructive feedback!

Cool. Also keep in mind where the "timeliness" comments are coming from...This is the guy hat buys his digital books at 10:00, reads them on his lunch break and has his comments posted by the time he gets home...so please take anything I say with a grain of salt...

And we are a good bunch...very intelligent, creme de la creme of the comic reading world, y'know? Lol

[Captain Craig]

Thanks for the feedback, Captain Craig.
...

(2) Thanks for criticizing CBR reviews and reviewers without being abusive, and I definitely understand where you're coming from. There are six CBR reviewers currently, and our tastes differ. We have a mostly shared idea of what the star ratings mean, and we don't deliberately try to review or rate Valiant books more harshly or leniently than books from DC or Marvel, but obviously some of us may follow certain creators or characters more than others, without being unprofessional about it. I find the Valiant relaunch exciting and entertaining myself, and I can totally see that a Valiant fan would want to see even more enthusiasm in the air.

Thanks for the response and understanding. Not to speak for us all(cause I can't) but us Valiant forum fans just seem to have noticed that when a VALIANT book was a good read(maybe not great) it would still score lower than a Marvel or DC book which wasn't as good got scored better. We'd base that off the discussion in the books forum vs the review. The best recent example I can think of is the Marvel NOW Thunderbolts #1. It got a 3 out of 5 star review, which is middling, but if you read through that thread even the most excited person(s) for the book admits how weak it was. Three stars seems overly generous and the opinions up through issue 3 haven't improved for the title.

We acknowledge that we are likely to have a slight bias due to the enthusiasm of the relaunch being so strong that even the weakest VEI book any given month was better than 'x' from _____ that got reviewed well. In fairness, I have a friend who isn't a "Mr.Online" but loves Valiant and monthlies are not in his budget now, so I let him borrow mine. As excited as most of us have been about say Shadowman or A&A he didn't feel that right away. So, while we know it's art, which is subjective we just think to date the VEI books have gotten a shorter shrift on average. Which is why when your review of A&A #6 hit it was like a planetary alignment! LOL.

Thanks for taking the time to engage us and realizing that we did not intend any disrespect, we enjoy the site and reviews.

[1derer]

I'm glad to see that everyone who read this is recommending it. I was a huge fan of Lupacchino's work on X-Factor, and was contemplating picking this up just for her art. The presence of Van Lente has made me even more interested.

Can the book be bought digitally?

I was surprised that Luppachino is cited in the review for giving her female characters restrained proportions (unless I'm misinterpreting the review).

She definitely drew curvy women in X-Factor...



...Although she's one of the few who can draw this way without making her female characters look overly disproportional or objectified, and her characters still all look gorgeous and distinct, so its never affected my high opinion of her art at all.

[BugsySig]

I'm glad to see that everyone who read this is recommending it. I was a huge fan of Lupacchino's work on X-Factor, and was contemplating picking this up just for her art. The presence of Van Lente has made me even more interested.

Can the book be bought digitally?

I was surprised that Luppachino is cited in the review for giving her female characters restrained proportions (unless I'm misinterpreting the review).

She definitely drew curvy women in X-Factor...



...Although she's one of the few who can draw this way without making her female characters look overly disproportional or objectified, and her characters still all look gorgeous and distinct, so its never affected my high opinion of her art at all.

All VALIANT titles are available day-and-date on Comixology.

Fair warning, though: if you read this issue you will want to buy the whole series to date. This could then lead you to try out the other VALIANT titles and become an obnoxious V-Fan like the rest of us.

The female lead was definitely drawn curvy, but proportional and non-objectified as you said. The last splash page was gorgeous and Luppachino made Kay look powerful, confident and sexy without putting her in a cat-woman-esque pose (or outfit for that matter).

[randomlee26]

I couldn't stop laughing when Armstrong got all annoyed with Eternal Warrior. HILARIOUS. And Kay's ridiculous responses to the 1% "Um. 'Yay'?" and the global warming bit killed me. I love this book.

I am all-digital with Valiant, and I like that they add some extra features in for the buyer (sketch drafts).