Archer & Armstrong #6

Archer and Armstrong continue their search for the Geomancer and the Eternal Warrior continues his pursuit of the two to exact revenge.

Throughout all of human history, the sacred lineage of the Geomancers has protected Earth from all who would seek to do it harm. But, now, a new Geomancer has been chosen – and she’s stuck keeping Archer & Armstrong out of harm’s way! But why has Kay McHenry been selected to wield this exceptional power? And just what is her connection to the Eternal Warrior’s blood vendetta? Only Gilad knows for sure…but he won’t be answering until he’s left Archer and Armstrong bloodied, broken and brutalized by his own fist and steel.

And, meanwhile, the One Percent are about to seal a deal that could end everyone involved!

Out of all of the Valiant’s relaunched series, Archer & Armstrong stands on top for me. The humor, the characters, basically all of Fred Van Lente’s writing is fantastic and entertaining. And, the deft humor making fun of the current political environment is brilliant in it’s subtlety. The One Percent talk about how their actions will save them money and how it does so, while wearing masks of golden caffs.

Then there’s the interaction between Archer and Armstrong themselves. They’re basically the goofball and straight man act, and it works really well to make us like the characters.

Through all of this action, we get to know exactly what the role of the Geomancer is. This one in particular is a brilliant character choice and again ties in our modern society and political reality.

If you’re looking to check out any of the Valiant rebooted titles, this is the one to check out.

Story: Fred Van Lente Art: Emanuela Lupacchino Cover: Patrick Zircher

Story: 8.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

 

Bloodshot #7

Recently, the unstoppable, nanite-infused weapon known as Bloodshot was set free by the mysterious Dr. Kureitch, who implied that the two of them shared a past. Now, we will finally see how far back their twisted, symbiotic relationship goes. Bloodshot and Dr. K used to be extremely skilled at tracking and capturing [REDACTED], and the result of one botched mission in particular now threatens to make their futures very, very painful…

Bloodshot has been almost Terminator-esque in it’s straightforward mission of having Bloodshot find out about his past. But, that mission gets a distraction with this issue that interrupts that. Instead, Valiant has interrupted or normal programming for this flashback issue instead.

Now, the switch in focus is a bit jarring, but the issue is really solid. Focusing on Bloodshot’s mission and more importantly how he’s manipulated gives us an empathy for the character that I think has been missing a bit in the comic. He’s a brainwashed character, how am I to relate? Instead, this comic fills in that missing key bit in the character development/personality area.

On top of that, we now have a good idea as to why Bloodshot and Harbinger are going to clash, or at least parts of them. This comic is completely foreshadowing that. So, if you’re interested in that upcoming story-arc, this comic is a must read. If you want an entertaining comic, then that’s another solid reason to pick this one up.

Story: Duane Swierczynski Art: Matthew Clark Cover: Kalman Andrasofszky or Trevor Hairsine

Story: 8.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Shadowman #3

Trapped in the Deadside with no hope of rescue, Jack Boniface is on the run from the otherworldly horrors that dwell there. Meanwhile, his new friends and allies are at the mercy of Mr. Twist, whose plan to restore Master Darque is very nearly complete. But Jack is about to find help from some very strange and very unexpected sources… Could a light from Jack’s past could still be shining in the depths of the Deadside’s darkness?

We’ve been waiting for Jack Boniface to finally start to become Shadowman. Three issues in and we get our wish. The series has been interesting and in three issues, the industry habit of decompressing origin stories is speed up a bit here. So, in three issues we get an origin.

The overall feel, I’m still trying to figure that out myself. The characters are interesting. The story is entertaining. But there’s something missing to me. I’m not sure what that is.

There’s nothing bad about this comic at all, but there’s nothing that makes me say “holy crap” and make me champion the comic. I have a feeling it’s a bit more fun for fans of the previous Shadowman comics, but for me, I shrugged my shoulders and say it’s ok so far.

Story: Justin Jordan & Patrick Zircher Art & Cover: Patrick Zircher Variant Cover: Dave Johnson

Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25 Recommendation: Read

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review