TAG TEAM REVIEW
ARCHER
& ARMSTRONG # 8
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Emanuela Lupacchino, Guillermo Ortega & Matt Milla
By
Jeremias de Leon & Frankie Rodriguez
Welcome to the very first tag team review. Every month, there will be at least one review where more than 1 review it tackles the same book. Why? To get different perspective on things. For our first edition, Jeremias de Leon & Frankie Rodriguez (me) decide to examine another buddy book. Buddies reviewing a buddy book. Yep. Sit back and enjoy as we review Valiant's Archer & Armstrong # 8.
FLIPPING THROUGH:
J:
In this issue, Stan Lee jumped into the Valiant Universe & said, “I am STAN
LEE. I am nobody’s bitch. YOU … ARE . . . MINE.”
F:
Um … no he didn’t. But we did get a guest appearance from Bob Barker aka
Oroochimaru.
J: In the issue, Armstrong
reminisce about . . . “happier” days, before
rudely interrupted by gunfire and a high speed chase.
F:
“Happier” days is right. Armstrong was doing his best James Franco impression
from Pineapple Express! “Happier” days equals “HIGHER” days.
J: As a kite, man. We also get
to see the fruits of the Null's labor and why they're a credible threat. Also,
one of the characters who doesn't even smoke weed has probably the best trip of
all.
F: Too true. The Null comes up with a new element
called Zornium which can destroy the universe … or resurrect Lindsay Lohan’s
career.
J: Like casting a Phoenix Down
on a zombie? We also see that mother nature seems rather... two faced. The Null
doesn't seem to be ill equipped to fight Archer and Armstrong and their amazing
friends either. They put in motion a plan most foul. I have to say this issue
does great with suspense.
F: 2 faced is putting it
lightly. This Gaia looks like if Batista decided to to be a contestant in
Rupaul's drag race why "reading" our new Geomancer. Meanwhile, we get
an interesting Coup de grace from a certain female who is dressed saying "Hit
Me Baby One More Time" ... and she does!
J:
Yeah, it seems she's either losing her mind, or isn't as benevolent as we all
thought. It's a good thing we see that certain female. On account of the Null's
plan, Her appearance might be a good thing. Yet again, I have to say it seems
the writing is on the ball here because it's doing suspense right.
F:
Gilad is still a badass ... a stick in the mud but a badass. And our comic ends
with ... dun dun dun ...
J: Seems
that plan of the Null will put a big strain on Archer and Armstrong's
friendship. That's putting it lightly of course.
ART:
F:
You know, I have been following Emauela Lupacchino since X-Factor, and the art
just keeps getting better and better. Teamed with Ortego, there is a lot of
clean, thick links with good detail, with lots to look at in terms of
characters and backgrounds.
J:
The colors are alright, everything that stands out should and the colors that
are there for obvious story reasons like the "two faces" of Gaia are
done properly and get the message across. What really sticks out to me is the
way motion is drawn. Nothing is subtle but because of that you can believe they
are really moving, fighting, jumping and shooting.
F:
From the kinetic action of being shot at while driving golf carts to an
explosion ... blowing up near your arm, the book provides great amounts of
stunning visuals.
STORY:
J:
On to the writing. Fred Van Lente still keeps Armstrong's mouth and Archer is
still as stoic as ever. The addition of the Geomancer and Eternal Warrior in
these past few issues have been something. It seems as expected the Eternal
Warrior has mellowed since his first appearance though he's still acting like
he's got a severe case of Christian Bale-Batman-itis. Or maybe that's just how
he sounded in my head. The Geomancer developed nicely as a character as well in
this issue. She seems to have a backbone even calling out the two faced Gaia.
The thing that happens at the ending is actually very interesting because of
this character development, now that we know the characters. It'll be good to
see their relationships be tested.
F: Van Lente is masterful with
the way how he works his characters
around the plot while still providing entertaining scenes. You think these
scenes are nothing but character development but actually working it into the
plot. There are a lot of endearing traits to Armstrong while being able to
seeing why Gilad can get annoyed with him. The Null have turned into some
creepy villains with the Last Enemy being even creepier than I could have
imaged. I appauld the great character work. Like Jerry said, I LOVED the new
Geomancer standing up to the spirit of the planet. And I like the subplots that
are growing, which feel very organic. Fred Van Lente masterful pacing made this
book so much better. Excellent work on a
book that is one of the best in the market.
OVERALL RATING:
J: Well, now that we have all
that said on the book only one thing is left, or two if you count our combined
one, and that's our ratings. Verdict time!
I
give this a 9 out of 10.
F:
As for me, Van Lente provides one of the strongest narratives here with great
art. I am getting emotionally invested in this book and look forward to its
conclusion.
I give this book a 8.5 out
of 10.
___
FINAL VERDICT:
We really enjoyed the book. And
while I (Frankie) gave it an 8.5, it is more due to the fact that I haven't
been reading this book like Jerry has. So, with that in mind, we give it an
average score of 9 arrows to the throat
out of 10.
BLOODSHOT & H.A.R.D. CORPS # 17
