A&A’s whirlwind ongoing series is hitting the town with the one and only FAITH! With Armstrong on the road, Archer is taking some much-needed personal time…and bringing his long-distance Romance with Los Angeles’s number-one superhero off of FaceTime and into the real world! As these friends take their relationship to the next level, will romance conquer all?

There aren’t many comics coming out that are as fun as A&A: The Adventures of Archer And Armstrong these days, although Valiant did just debut another comic this week, coincidentally starring this month’s guest star: Faith #1.

This issue of A&A  has Armstrong  leaving Archer to his own devices for a few days for a legitimate story reason, although the slightly more jaded among us may see it as Rafer Roberts just setting up Archer as having the time to go to LA to meet his long distance girlfriend. But when the resultant story is this entertaining, who cares where Armstrong went?

This is the second comic featuring Faith  to hit the shelves this week, and although it’s certainly going to be receiving a lower profile than the debut of Faith #1 (that we reviewed here), A&A The Adventures Of Archer And Armstrong #5 centers around the first actual date between Obadiah Archer, the sheltered young ninja that could give Nightwing a run for his money, andFaith Herbert, the relentlessly upbeat hero known to the world at large as Zephyr. In a ridiculously charming series of events, we see the influence of Faith on the sheltered Archer as the evening progresses, and their talk of pop culture is interspersed with brief snippets of recent (and perhaps not so recent) adventures that took place in various different  series – but don’t think you’ll be lost if you’re oblivious of those adventures; the dialogue is so effortlessly done that the details we are given are more than enough to enjoy the scenes.

Actually, the story probably works better if you don’t know exactly what has happened in previous issues (although since that’s the boat I’m in, I may be biased), and just allow the comic to bring you along for the ride. This wouldn’t be an Archer and Armstrong comic if something wasn’t punched, and the build up to the inevitable confrontation is incredibly well done, and the resultant fight is genuinely funny; the art is fluid, smooth,  and very easy to follow throughout the issue, but it’s the text-planations of Archer‘s fighting abilities (among other things) that are the cherry on top. In an already fun comic, it was often these that had me laughing out loud.

A&A: The Adventures Of Archer And Armstrong #5 may not move the overall story along too much, but it’s an absolutely fantastic read. This is a comic that can easily be read as a one shot comic, so whether you’re just getting into Faith and want a double dose this week, or you’ve always wanted to jump into the series proper this is an ideal place to begin.

Pick this up before you leave your local comic shop next time you’re in. you’ll not regret it.

Writer: Rafer Roberts Penciller: Mike Norton Colourist: Allen Passalaqua
Story: 8.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.7 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy a FREE copy for review.