The Good
Valiant is putting out a lot of great books these days. A couple of them, ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG and QUANTUM AND WOODY, then to have large doses of humor mixed in with the action. Giving us a crossover with the duos from both titles makes perfect sense.
The story starts out "back in the day" with Armstrong living a hobo lifestyle. Through a series of events, he comes into possession of an...ass map. This is the Treasure of the Hobos. Of course he doesn't quite retain possession of it and years later, Quantum and Woody get involved with a search for it that will put them up against Archer and Armstrong. In other words, we're going to get a hilarious battle/team-up in this series.
As if putting these characters in the same book wasn't brilliant enough, getting James Asmus and Fred Van Lente, writers of the the duos in their own titles, to write this made a great idea even better. The characters feel true to who they're supposed to be and you can read this knowing there won't be any weird discrepancies with what we're used to in the individual series.
Kano's art captures the essence of the story just right. It's not all fun and games. There is a bit of a gruesome moment that is handled very tastefully. You'll find yourself admiring the art and color as you go through the issue.
The Bad
Of course this is a set up issue. You can't have all these characters suddenly come into contact with each other without layout out the groundwork. But that does take away from the main characters actually coming to blows with each other.
The humor is good. A couple moments it started feeling like there might be a little too much. It's a fine line that is handled. I may want a tiny bit more seriousness but then again, there's an ass map as a main plot device in the comic so it's not a major surprise.
The Verdict
Archer and Armstrong in the same book as Quantum and Woody? It's the comic book comedy team-up Valiant readers have wanted. Sometimes crossovers can feel a little forced but that isn't the case here. What makes this meeting even better is that it will all be because of an ass map for a hobo treasure. That should be reason enough to get this book. James Asmus and Fred Van Lente know the characters since they are writing the individual titles and Kano's art is the perfect choice for the story. You won't find a comic like this everyday. Don't miss out on it. And again, it has an ass map in it!
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