Review: Archer & Armstrong #6

Everything old is new again! Last month we saw the return of Valiant’s most brutal character, The Eternal Warrior, this week we see the rise of another old favorite — The Geomancer!

As our regular band of misfit heroes take a backseat this week in order to focus on another new arrival, Fred Van Lente manages to create a tale that instantly grabs readers attention and makes you yearn to know more about Kay McHenry.

She is a character that is bold and confrontational, a loaded gun of accusation easily pointed by Elliot Zorn at his competitors. But when the tough questions arise, ones that are directed at who she is and what she stands for, this strong woman is revealed to be just a facade. She is a hardened shell of a woman with no direction of her own. And finally, when she chooses a path — it’s the wrong one!

Van Lente does another fantastic job of taking Valiant characters from the past and breaking them in order to become better, more relevant today. He infuses them with such strong characteristics that they are instantly accepted by the modern reader as fan favorites, at least in my eyes, and we cannot wait for the next installment to see where they go next. He uses such a thin veil between the action, drama and comedic elements — did I mention there is a talking monkey in a dress having a tea party? — that it gently melds into a single amazing tale the captivates you. Nowhere else have I seen this done with such great poise and respect for both the characters and the readers.

No other company this week will have as many elements in a single book that Archer & Armstrong #6 does! From pirates to news correspondents, naval ships to tea drinking monkeys, immortal warriors to talking plants — you want it, they’ve got it!

So get out there and grab something different, grab something — Valiant!