In the 1st volume we were introduced to not only Archer & Armstrong, but we were also given a peek at Armstrong's brothers. Ivar was popping in and out of Archer's vision as a wannabe Jesus, and Gilad was futzing around doing something with the Nazis. Anyway, in this volume, we get a better look at Gil aka The Eternal Warrior. He's immortal like his brothers and has been (somehow) tasked to protect (basically) the human embodiment of the Earth. <--or something like thatAt any rate, whenever the

The AA train kept a rollin in this fun fun fun GN that collects issues #5-9 of Valiant ENTERTAINMENT’s relaunch of their popular series.Valiant COMICS was bought out in 1994 and when the buyer went belly up in 2004, new ownership resurrected the company and they relaunched many of their successful titles in 2012, including this TASTY concoction that’s well written and easy on the eyes.This time we follow Obie and Aram and also get re-introduced to Aram’s also immortal brother Gilad, the Eternal

In which we get a new geomancer and two brothers reunite.

This is pretty much what I imagined comics would become based on what I was reading in senior year of high school. Good writing, good art. Doesn't take itself seriously. Takes enough time to build a world around its characters, but it doesn't skimp on action sequences. And there's lots of female eye candy and nuns that are ninjas, if that's what you look for in a comic. (I don't; but maybe Valiant will follow Marvel's lead with diversity.)Kinda feels like a normal-human-friendly Warren Ellis boo...

At the end of the last arc, Archer & Armstrong accidentally got the Geomancer killed. Enter Armstrong's brother, the Eternal Warrior who's out for vengeance. Now they need to find the next Geomancer before Gilad kills them both. A new sect, The Null, also enter the picture and they are pretty cool. We get to see flashbacks each issue to times when Gilad and Armstrong were fighting the cult throughout history. Van Lente does a bang up job of mixing up cool stories and just plain out fun action /

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 th...

Considering it's basically an overly long crossover, this is actually a pretty strong book. Archer & Armstrong end up on the run from the Eternal Warrior for 'killing' the previous Geomancer, while also trying to find the next one. And when they do, events ratchet up another level, to a fairly thrilling conclusion underneath a golf course in Greenland. A new enemy, the Null, makes for a disturbing opponent, and interspersed are historical moments of the Eternal Warrior (and Archer) battling the

Read and reviewed as part of Archer and Armstrong: Deluxe Edition 1

It was really good to see Armstrong and his brother together, fighting with or alongside each other. The plot was a little confusing, only because I didn't remember much from the last volume, but it was still really enjoyable. I hope to see more of Kay, the Geomancer...though, the Eternal Warrior series now confuses me more. Ugh. I wish this Humble Bundle came with a reading order.

Not sure why I found this more interesting than the first book, but I did. I guess the Eternal Warrior gimmick is intriguing. The whole Mother Earth thing is kind of trite, but the new Geomancer could be a relatable person. I liked that we got some connections to other parts of the Valiant Universe popping up. That's the kind of thing that will keep me reading even when I don't care much for a certain storyline. I actually do care about Archer's story; certainly more than Armstrong's. I mean, I

Another enjoyable volume with the odd pairing of the immortal drunk Aram the Strong ("Armstrong") and his Eagle Scout-like partner Obidiah Archer. The benefit of Armstrong's ancient immortality is that it allows him to be present at many interesting points in history (even if amusingly drunk most of the time).The downside to this volume is that the friendship between the pair VERY quickly moves from "odd couple" to "I'll DIE to save him!" and it feels rushed. But whatever, it's still fun.

Archer & Armstrong, fresh off their defeat of the Sect, find themselves on the run as the Eternal Warrior pursues them for accidentally murdering the Earth's Geomancer protector. Oh, and did we mention that the Eternal Warrior is Armstrong's brother? Something the Valiant books do better than a lot of books at the moment is giving the feeling of an ongoing narrative rather than just returning to a status quo at the end of a story. This volume springs right out of the end of the first, and the th...

Fun simple fun.World: The art is okay, nothing special of note that sets this book apart, it does it's job well but yeah, nothing special. The world building here are in bits and pieces and only needed when the story requires it, no info dumping so it's also solid.Story: The story moves fast and once again covers another Sect. It's formulaic but it's simple and fun and what exactly it needs to be. The humour is hit and miss and the banter is solid, adding the Eternal Warrior for this arc was a g...

It's Almost Impossible to Overstate How Good These Books AreNow, I read the occasional graphic novel and TP collection, (love the Rat Queens, the Grimm Universe, Red Sonja). I know of Marvel and DC. But I'd never heard of Valiant Comics until I found the first Archer and the new "X-O Manowar". Who knew that Valiant was a huge name in the 90's until it got rolled under by a bunch of bad publishing and video game mergers. And who knew they are now fighting back by reenergizing their oldest and str...

I don't know. Somehow, Archer & Armstrong are not on the same, really solid level of storytelling as the rest of Valiant's titles. Fred Van Lente has a lot of good ideas, but he's so hard trying to be Jack Kirby and funny at the same time that most of the stuff in the comic has no real weight at all. It's not that humor and big concepts or screwing around with conspiracy theories can't be funny and serious at the same time, it's more that Van Lente doesn't do a good job of blending all of that t...

Even more ridiculous and weirdly paced than the previous volume, this twisting adventure with Archer, Armstrong, Armstrong's also immortal brother Gilad, and a new geomancer, has more holes and deus ex machinas than a Stephen King novel. It's eye-rollingly ridiculous. But it's also still fun, and not appearing to take itself any more seriously than the reader should.If you loved The Da Vinci Code but wished it was funnier, and more involved with American capitalism and cults, this is Your Book.

Van Lente does a solid job mixing the high action tone of the Eternal Warrior and Archer's backstory with Armstrong's satire. Fast-paced, coherent, light in touch, Van Lente isn't trying to reinvent the genre, but tell an effective story within the context Valiant universe. The satire isn't entirely coherent in its targets, and the geomancer plotlines in Valiant can be confusing, but it's highly enjoyable. The art by Emanuela Lupacchino and Guillermo Ortego, while not particularly innovative, is...

"A series that is at the pinnacle of perfection"this is one of the review blurbs on the back of this trade. I can't say I disagree. This book has two things that every perfect comic book has:Gigantic Concepts that touch your inner child's sense of wonderandActually funny inside jokes that reward readers for issue after issue.In a way, those two things are really only achieved in the comic book medium. So far, Archer and Armstrong is a book that is proving just how wonderful comics can be.Oh, I a...

Just off the walls goofy and I love it. A cult dedicated to money furthers global warming because they're rich assholes. This helps another cult called "The Null" which is dedicated to unmaking reality and they're all fanatically obsessed with the idea of "zero" or "nothing" or "null". Turns out the entirety of reality runs on some sort of source code and they're cooking up a virus to untangle it. The only ones who can save it are an naive assassin, an immortal drunk, the drunk's immortal warrio...

This was actually a crossover; I had no idea the Eternal Warrior had his own book in the Valiant-verse. It still worked.Turns out that Gilad, the EW, is Armstrong's brother. In the aftermath of the first volume, with Archer and Armstrong accidentally getting one of the mystic geomancers killed, Gilad out to kill them. And he's Armstrong's brother so he's PO'd at him anyway for various reasons. And Gilad's the best at what he does and what he does is not pretty — wait, that's someone else, isn't