Adv. of Archer & Armstrong #8 Discussion

[grendeljd]

If anyone would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue (& Bloodshot Reborn #18), please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr85/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in

[mateo107]

is it just me or are there a lot of Soviet/Russian characters running around now. might not mind seeing this touched on again in Stalinverse, especially since A&A seem to get left out of every event.

[slack]

Gub Gub. Ugh. Please shove it in the bag, and forget it for a long time.

Didn't Archer used to have mad fighting skills, plus psiot powers to boot? Didn't he go on a soul searching jaunt through time, and lose some naivety?

Now, he's got seemingly no powers, and less skill than he had in the first issue of the original vei run.

Mary Maria and a bunch of teenage new recruits taking on tons of seasoned ninja nuns? Ugh. I don't see it.

Davey. Smh.

The preview pages of Harbinger Renegades have already surpassed A&A in both story and art.

FVL's run was able to be lighthearted AND important at the same time. This run feels like a cartoon.

I love ya Rafer, but I'm sad about this run. 5 was touching, the rest is kinda lost on me.

[grendeljd]

Gub Gub. Ugh. Please shove it in the bag, and forget it for a long time.

Didn't Archer used to have mad fighting skills, plus psiot powers to boot? Didn't he go on a soul searching jaunt through time, and lose some naivety?

Now, he's got seemingly no powers, and less skill than he had in the first issue of the original vei run.

Mary Maria and a bunch of teenage new recruits taking on tons of seasoned ninja nuns? Ugh. I don't see it.

Davey. Smh.

The preview pages of Harbinger Renegades have already surpassed A&A in both story and art.

FVL's run was able to be lighthearted AND important at the same time. This run feels like a cartoon.

I love ya Rafer, but I'm sad about this run. 5 was touching, the rest is kinda lost on me.

Largely in agreement with your points, unfortunately. I want to like this book so much, I love the main characters!!! This series does not compare to FVL's run at all (which was, in my opinion, a worthy modern successor to the BWS original series).

There are some really good moments sprinkled in - while there was much that I didn't like about the first story arc, I thought it was a great character portrayal of Aram. And I personally really liked the Clowntown part of the story in #6 & #7, as well as #5. This issue mostly fell flat for me.

The Davey back-up stories are highly irritating to me, not humorous.

[slack]

I want to like it too!
I love the characters, and Rafer is such a nice guy. I almost hate that I met him, because now I feel like I'm being a jerk to a friend.

[nonplayer]

I didn't like fvl A&A or the art. Raffer is not funny. I don't like the art where people are on acid. I can understand some variants.
I don't like the current direction of valiant of late. Faith has its place for sure but I only buy what I think I'll like. And theirs not much I like now that everything I bought religiously has been dropped like a discarded bag of cats.
Bloodshot Usa, savage and Divinity is it. I'll try renegades but I doubt I'll like it. After the con valiants getting an honest letter.
This isn't really a discussion is it.

[slack]

I'm hopeful for the Harbinger book. The preview this week looked good, and seemed heavy, in a good way.

[jmatt]

FVL's run was able to be lighthearted AND important at the same time. This run feels like a cartoon.

Well put. I read it last night and while it's amusing, there's no gravitas. It feels disconnected from the rest of the VEI universe.

[KXXX]

FVL's run was able to be lighthearted AND important at the same time. This run feels like a cartoon.

Well put. I read it last night and while it's amusing, there's no gravitas. It feels disconnected from the rest of the VEI universe.

That's pretty much we're I'm at, although this last issue didn't even tickle my funny. Once that's gone, the lack of universe-building becomes even more apparent and problematic.

[Psiot X]

It's almost an aside. However, after reading this issue I started to wonder if they needed a separate Valiant Universe for A&A, Faith, and any other lighter titles they desire to do as what some of you refer to as universe building in the titles runs counter in some ways to the other more hard core supers books? Would this make for better comics from VEI?

[hawkeyeps]

It's almost an aside. However, after reading this issue I started to wonder if they needed a separate Valiant Universe for A&A, Faith, and any other lighter titles they desire to do as what some of you refer to as universe building in the titles runs counter in some ways to the other more hard core supers books? Would this make for better comics from VEI?

Valiant-Lite! Half the story and intelligence of regular Valiant!

[grendeljd]

It's almost an aside. However, after reading this issue I started to wonder if they needed a separate Valiant Universe for A&A, Faith, and any other lighter titles they desire to do as what some of you refer to as universe building in the titles runs counter in some ways to the other more hard core supers books? Would this make for better comics from VEI?

Valiant-Lite! Half the story and intelligence of regular Valiant!

I'm still sitting here looking to buy, read & enjoy around 8-10 solid Valiant books per month. Some of these 'lighter-fare' comics coming out lately (and this version of A+A falls under that) are just not appealing to me. I'm okay with the fact that not every Valiant book is going to be for me & my tastes, but I do wish they weren't sacrificing around half their line for this kind of material. Publish 8 or so books per with some mature & intelligent entertainment in them, and then do your handful of other stuff that's targeting a younger crowd with lighter fare. I'll still buy the 8-10 other books, I'm sure the people they're hoping to target will buy the other stuff.

[Psiot X]

It's almost an aside. However, after reading this issue I started to wonder if they needed a separate Valiant Universe for A&A, Faith, and any other lighter titles they desire to do as what some of you refer to as universe building in the titles runs counter in some ways to the other more hard core supers books? Would this make for better comics from VEI?

Valiant-Lite! Half the story and intelligence of regular Valiant!

I'm still sitting here looking to buy, read & enjoy around 8-10 solid Valiant books per month. Some of these 'lighter-fare' comics coming out lately (and this version of A+A falls under that) are just not appealing to me. I'm okay with the fact that not every Valiant book is going to be for me & my tastes, but I do wish they weren't sacrificing around half their line for this kind of material. Publish 8 or so books per with some mature & intelligent entertainment in them, and then do your handful of other stuff that's targeting a younger crowd with lighter fare. I'll still buy the 8-10 other books, I'm sure the people they're hoping to target will buy the other stuff.

I am kind of like you grendeljd, and it's why I guess I am trying to suggest what amounts to a second Valiant imprint for those titles. I am looking for books like Imperium and A&A runs totally counter to that. I can't help but think that splitting them off to do their own thing in a differing continuity might make things more palatable for everyone.

I am not sure how that might affect the number of titles in print. More Valiant is a good thing.

[jmatt]

Just to be clear: It's enjoyable, and a humorous comic is probably ten times harder to write than standard superhero fare.

[jeremycoe]

Well, I liked it. And now I'm looking forward to Ivan, The Soviet Science Bear in 2023. I also enjoyed how the main and backup stories intersected in this issue.