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“Archer & Armstrong Forever” #1

By | May 6th, 2022
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

In the lean, mean, well put together machine of Valiant’s superhero universe there are the serious superheroes and the funny superheroes. Serious heroes such as Bloodshot or the Eternal Warrior are written and drawn in a pretty straight forward fashion, using their skills and abilities to protect the universe and the people they love while going through all the traditional trials and tribulations that are associated with the heroic lifestyle.

And then there’s Archer & Armstrong. Armstrong is a functionally immortal hedonist who has been alive since ancient Babylon and has spent the centuries living it up as a party boy who can drink anyone under the table. Archer is a super powered teenage assassin who was trained by a fundamentalist religious sect to kill Archer (he didn’t and they’ve been together ever since) all while being raised with the mannerisms of a good Christian boy with too much homeschooling and no social skills.

Guess what kind of superheroes they are?

Cover by: Bernard Chang
Written by Steve Foxe
Illustrated by Marco Fiorito
Colored by Alex Guimaraes
Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

The triumphant return of Valiant’s best BFF!

When Armstrong seemingly loses his immortality, Archer refuses to let his best buddy go gentle into that good night. But when you live for millennia, you rack up plenty of enemies who’ll be thrilled to find out you’re no longer indestructible. Archer & Armstrong’s globetrotting quest for (more) immortality begins here!

“Archer & Armstrong Forever” #1 opens with things being relatively quiet for the not so dynamic duo. They’ve moved into a decent New York apartment where Archer can pursue his relationship with another superheroine named Faith (it’s been established in previous volumes and is absolutely adorable) while Armstrong can pursue his relationship with booze and parties in the conveniently located downstairs bar. Unfortunately for them, things start going south when Armstrong loses an ear, learns that his immortality may not be permanent, and that a gang of villains called the “Gardeners of Earthly Delights” have teamed up with an old rich collector of superhero items known as “The Eccentric” have taken a keen interest in Armstrong and his abilities.

A book like “Archer & Armstrong Forever” #1 lives or dies by the rapport between the two main characters and the good news is that writer Steve Foxe delivers in spades. Foxe has a very keen grasp on both of these characters and understands their personalities and how they play off each other. Archer is a sweet, well intentioned teen who would do anything to anyone for his best friend while Armstrong has adopted a very Lebowski-esque attitude towards life and doesn’t seem to care what happens to him, including getting an ear chopped off. The dialogue is snappy and incredibly well written, the plot is well paced with clear stakes and great setup for future stories, and the book even accomplishes a fantastic balancing act between re-introducing these characters and the world they live in after a very long hiatus to old and new readers alike without pandering to the former and confusing the latter.

While the characters and dialogue are great, “Archer & Armstrong Forever” #1 does suffer a tiny bit in the big picture department. The duo has always been on the eclectic side of the Valiant Universe and have fought some pretty weird villains and been in some pretty weird situations. Case in point, the main antagonist of their previous books was a group of eclectic gangs known as “The Sect”, which included the cult that Archer grew up in, ninja nuns, and Wall Street demon bankers wearing bull masks. The point is, this is the kind of book that allows writers to go absolutely nuts with fun and crazy ideas and while the Gardeners of Earthly Delights are an interesting idea for a gang of villains, they aren’t written in any way that makes them memorable. On the other hand, the Eccentric is very well written as a doddering old man, but we’ll have to wait for future issues to really get an idea of what he’s like.

The artwork for “Archer & Armstrong Forever” #1 is provided by Marco Fiorito with colors by Alex Guimaraes. The artwork is easy to understand, the anatomy is well proportioned and very realistic, and Fiorito is amazing at facial expressions, which do a great job of enhancing the story and characters. The art is especially effective at the part of the story where we see Archer yelling at his best friend for not taking the loss of his immortality seriously as Armstrong toasts to his coming demise by downing an entire bottle of wine. It’s artwork that does its job by really enhancing the strengths of the story.

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The thing is, while the artwork of “Archer & Armstrong Forever” #1 enhances the strengths of the story, it also kind of enhances the weaknesses as well. It feels like the artwork is falling back on Valiant’s traditional belief that while art is important, it exists to serve the story before anything else. This means that, while the art makes everything clear and easy to understand, it can look a little bit bland and stiff at times. To be clear, it’s still very good, but there are some moments where the action feels a bit stiff and the backgrounds are bland and uninteresting. It’s not that the artwork is bad, it’s that if we’re being honest here, it could enhance the story a bit more.

“Archer & Armstrong Forever” #1 is a fantastic comic that strikes a great balance between introducing one of Valiant’s greatest comedic duos to new readers, while giving seasoned veterans a new and interesting story to drink to. It’s got some amazing character work, interesting ideas, and the potential for some truly mental storytelling.

Final Verdict: 8.6- It’s a fantastic revival of some amazing characters created for comic book fans who enjoy great storytelling and amazing dialogue.


Matthew Blair

Matthew Blair hails from Portland, Oregon by way of Attleboro, Massachusetts. He loves everything comic related, and will talk about it for hours if asked. He also writes a web comic about a family of super villains which can be found here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Secret-Lives-of-Villains

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