“They went looking for Woody’s birth father…and they’re about to wish they didn’t! Woody’s pop has left a long trail of broken promises and broken bottles behind him across the decades. Now, Quantum and Woody – the world’s worst superhero team, currently estranged – are thousands of miles from home, riding shotgun across Australia with the human dive bar that forever changed the course of both their lives. Will the senior Van Chelton convert his long-lost son to his hard-traveling ways? And can Quantum take on an older, smarter, and slightly more inebriated version of his unpredictable partner?”

After an emotional detour story about Quantum and Woody’s relationship with their father and by extension each other, we’re back to follow up with where the second issue left us. In a plane on the way to find Woody’s biological father.

Quantum & Woody #5 is a visually stimulating comic that you can’t help but get drawn into. Kano’s layout on the opening page is simplistic in a basic grid layout, but within half a second you’ll immediately recognize the shape of the panels given the context of the setting. It’s simple yet very effective stuff that draws your attention in just as much and the visual representation of the sound effects from Dave Sharpe‘s lettering.

Written by Daniel Kibblesmith, Quantum & Woody #4 is a comic that uses humour to add to the story without actually relying on it to be the main draw, but rather as a pleasant addition (which is a good thing, for me at least, as I didn’t find anything side splittingly hilarious). Kibblesmith keeps the fine balance between the silly and the serious throughout the issue with neither over shadowing the other. Comics with comedy are often more miss than hit for me, but with Quantum & Woody, Kibblesmith has a sure fire hit.

It doesn’t matter if you’re unfamiliar with the characters when starting this series (I was), as by the time you get to the fourth issue you’ll have fallen in love with the self aware story telling that’s going to leave you aching for more. A brilliant read all around.

Story: Daniel Kibblesmith Art: Kano Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Story: 8.8 Art: 8.9 Overall: 9.2 (because rounding) Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review