Q2: The Return of Quantum & Woody #1

[CaptnAmerca]

What the heck did I just read?!?!

Could anyone follow that?

[erwinrafael]

Yes. It's told in Priest's trademark Pulp Fictionesque non-linear style, so there is a lot of flashbacks that are not in sequence.

Glad to see some intelligent humor on Q&W once again.

[mateo107]

I think I've already found my favorite book of the month. I didn't even follow Q&W back in the 90's but this book created that feeling of nostalgia that hasn't really been experienced that good comic books deliver. I absolutely have to get the omnibus now.

[erwinrafael]

I love the parody of The Dark Knight Returns, that other tale about a retired hero. :LOL

[kevinbastos]

GO back and read the ORIGINAL Q/W.

In its 'unfinished form,' the last few issues don't feel whole or complete. The 18-21 and bonus/extra/complete issue at the end are a great concept, but incomplete don't work.

1-17 I could read over and over.

This set of Q/W brought back that old feeling. Why I bought everything that Priest wrote as soon as I finished the Q/W set.

[CaptnAmerca]

Reading these replies and some reviews makes me think I'm missing something.

I never read the original Q&W, so maybe that's why I'm totally lost.

Not that it was a bad comic, I was just so confused throughout the entire issue.

[David_Cody]

I -loved- the original Q&W. Haven't read my copy yet, but I'm glad to read it's much of the same style of humor.

[ValiantChris1994]

I have read some of the original Quantum and Woody series (which is great, by the way), and this issue was partially nostalgic, and pretty decent, but I didn't really know what was going on either. As this is just the first part in a miniseries, I'm willing to give Q2 the benefit of the doubt that it'll get more clearer and entertaining as things go on.

http://nonamesuitcaseman.blogspot.com.au/

[Captain Craig]

I only read a few issues of Q&W to know I didn't take to them back in the Acclaim years.
I really only read the new stuff out of company support and felt that the first arc was fairly good, but weak therafter.

So, coming into this I expected to be perhaps a bit lost....expectations achieved.

When I finished it I wasn't sure what to think about the two parallel stories being told. I'm guessing the teen story and the 20yrs later story are going to somehow loop in together from a narrative standpoint but as a single read it's clearly meant for the die hard Q&W fan. It's not an entry level read.

[dornwolf]

The only problem I had was at the start it felt like the thief fighting Quantum2 was Eric what with the dialogue and everything.

[ValiantChris1994]

The only problem I had was at the start it felt like the thief fighting Quantum2 was Eric what with the dialogue and everything.

That scene was a bit confusing for me too, as it sounded like this thief was a shapeshifter making himself look like Eric. I carefully looked between him and Eric at the end though, and they look sliiiiigtly different, and there's that later dialogue referring to the guy as a 'black Azeri'.

http://nonamesuitcaseman.blogspot.com.au/

[jmatt]

What the heck did I just read?!?!

Could anyone follow that?

Same here. After the initial sequence in the woods, I had no idea what was going on. But I never read the original so perhaps it makes sense in that context.

I don't like being confused by comics. But I'll stick with it to see if starts to sort itself out.

[erwinrafael]

What the heck did I just read?!?!

Could anyone follow that?

Same here. After the initial sequence in the woods, I had no idea what was going on. But I never read the original so perhaps it makes sense in that context.

I don't like being confused by comics. But I'll stick with it to see if starts to sort itself out.

Unfortunately, Priest really writes with this jumping scenes that would all sort itself out in the end style. It's sort of his trademark in Q&W and in Black Panther. Once the story is over, the jumps would make narrative sense.

[jmatt]

What the heck did I just read?!?!

Could anyone follow that?

Same here. After the initial sequence in the woods, I had no idea what was going on. But I never read the original so perhaps it makes sense in that context.

I don't like being confused by comics. But I'll stick with it to see if starts to sort itself out.

Unfortunately, Priest really writes with this jumping scenes that would all sort itself out in the end style. It's sort of his trademark in Q&W and in Black Panther. Once the story is over, the jumps would make narrative sense.

Yeah, and I'll give it a second read to see if that doesn't clear some things up. Maybe best wait until the arc is done and do it in one sitting.

[dmezynski]

I really loved this issue. Quantum and Woody are back!

[erwinrafael]

OK, after reading this issue ten times, I am ready to give my extended discussion of this issue.

Quantum and Woody is supposed to be both a celebration and a meta-critique of the American comic book superhero. Quantum is the superhero archetype, and Priest based him on the most archetypal human superhero of all: BATMAN. Woody, on the other hand, is supposed to be the everyman, the non-superhero comic book reading person thrust into this superhero business who points out the absurdities of the archetypal superhero as he witnesses them.

That is the only advantage that we old Q&W readers have over the new readers: our familiarity with what Priest and Bright is trying to do with this comic book. What we do not have, is an advantage over knowing more details about the plot. So when jmatt said "After the initial sequence in the woods, I had no idea what was going on. But I never read the original so perhaps it makes sense in that context." I would say that we old readers are pretty much on our own as well because the plot in this book does not pick up from any old plot threads in the original. However, Priest pretty much demands from his readers that we have to be confident enough to piece together the story on our own based on what is presented to us. So here is my take:

Basically, there are two running plots. The first plot is young Q&W.

"What Have You Done?"

The first plot is about Woody's seemingly first "murder". Knowing Priest's use of flashbacks to Q&W's youth, this is supposed to give us the theme about Q&W's friendship that would carry over to the present storyline. And what is this theme? Priest gives us two clues.

1. Of Mice and Men - I am pretty sure some of you are familiar with this story about two friends: the intelligent George and the kind but a bit slow-witted Lennie Small. George takes on some sort of "protector" role over Lennie Small because of the latter’s mental condition. I think Priest is trying to make some parallels: that Quantum is the George to Woody's Lennie. The climax of Of Mice and Men is when Lennie accidentally killed someone. To "protect" Lennie from possible horrifying death from a lynch mob because of the accidental killing, George took it upon himself to kill Lennie, supposedly as a loving act to spare his friend from a more horrible fate. So in this issue, Woody accidentally "killed" somebody, just like Lennie Small. What will Quantum, as George, do?

2. Which leads us to what I think is the theme that would eventually shape the story of this series. Quantum interpreted Of Mice and Men as a story about "How far would you go to protect a friend?" I believe that future issues would show us the answer to that question, in both the young Q&W and the present Q&W storyline.

The young Q&W story also shows us very good insights on the characters. Priest shows us that Woody is the seemingly immature juvenile, and Quantum is the serious seemingly intelligent kid. That does not mean, however, that Woody is the absurd half of the duo. Woody shows in the flashback that he has the "meta-perspective" of pointing out the absurdities when fiction blends into reality. I love the meta-commentary he made when he said "Amy - he could be the one who shot the guy. It's in, like, every movie. They run through the woods and the white girl falls down. The white girl always falls down." I was laughing out loud while reading that because I have seen my share of movies that run exactly like that. Woody's role in Q&W is exactly that, to point out the absurdities of the cliches of American superhero fiction when it actually happens.

The power of this part of the story is that, for all of Woody's jokes and immature actions, he is basically the one who had to confront the reality of the situation. As the sequence ends, you realize that Priest is actually asking us, what would you have done in that situation? Isn't Woody's reaction actually the realistic way of how these things would pan out? The idealistic and heroic Quantum said “Woody - put the gun down!” and Woody retorted “What – so he can get it? Don’t you ever watch the movies?” It’s delivered humorously, but if you think about it, would you put the gun down in that situation?

In the next issue, I guess we would see how far Quantum would go to protect his friend. Will he do a George to Lennie Small? I also feel that most likely, Woody did not actually murder the guy. I think this is an in-joke referencing the first ever flashback sequence in Q&W:





Now to the second plot, the present Q&W. If the reference for the young Q&W plot is Of Mice and Men, the reference in the present day plot is the most famous superhero-comes-back-from-retirement story of all time: The Dark Knight Returns. I should have seen this parody coming. :LOL

“The Wish of the Land”

This section introduced us to a new character, Koro. (so new readers, don't be worried about not knowing the backstory. there is no backstory.) Priest has left us enough clues to indicate that he is the Joker to Quantum’s Batman. Koro’s internal monologue seems to tell us that he and Quantum, though adversaries, are very much similar to each other, like how Joker and Batman are as emphasized in The Killing Joke. “I know you can hear me. I am there beside you. I could be anyone. I could be everyone.” Quantum set up a trap for Koro, just like how Batman set up a trap for Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. Another Joker reference is that it is implied that Koro must have killed Quantum’s “Robin,” like how Joker killed Jason Todd. “You’ve made this personal. Avenge the boy…I’ve learned through bitter tears, never put a soldier in the field you’re not prepared to lose.”

My favorite part in this section, though, is the absurdity of Koro holding a spray bottle as his deadly weapon. :LOL

“Am”

Can you see how Priest uses the blackout panels purposively and meaningfully. “Am” is a very appropriate title for this section because it introduced the twist that there are now two Woody’s. Gah, James Asmus should take notes.

But anyway, the DKR reference here is another LOL moment for me when Woody 2 showed up with the DKR Batmobile. I love how Woody pointed out the absurdity of the hyperbolic situation in this exchange: “Woody 2: Release him! Woody: Or what? You blow us both to smithereens?” Again, Woody with a meta-critique of another situation that we see a lot in superhero comics.

“Obligatory Flashback Sequence”

Now Priest is just toying with us here. Remember when we raised in this board Dr. Silk’s unrealistic monologue in narrating his backstory? And how silly a similar monologue also read in Bloodshot #24? I love how Priest used this superhero comic book cliche of the characters unrealistically reciting a back story recap and then winked at us.

Loved how the Batmobile changed form as they were traveling and ended up as a garbage truck going under the river. LOL

This section also showed us that Q&W 2.0 are also very much like the old ones. I love how Woody 2.0 is just like meta-commenting Woody when he spelled out the absurdity of the origins of Q&W 1.0. And it also appears that Quantum 2.0 is also very much like Quantum, who is so into this superhero B.S. “Woody 2.0: Jonathan, you hurt? Quantum 2.0: Only my pride.” Gah, that superheroic line. :LOL

But my favorite part is the ending, which suggests that Quantum indeed played Batman to the t, and that he actually did this when he retired:



Damn, I love that the Q&W I was waiting for came back. My apologies for always taking a shot at James Asmus, but I believe he really missed the point. The greatness of FVL is that he slightly altered the form of A&A, but captured the substance of BWS’ vision for the characters. In the case of Q&W, Asmus got the form, but he never got the substance of Priest’s vision. Q&W is a funny book, but the laughs is not the essence of the concept. Ultimately, it is a story about friendship and a meta-commentary on the American superhero.

[jmatt]

I certainly appreciated your analysis. Thanks!

[Manaf82]

OK, after reading this issue ten times, I am ready to give my extended discussion of this issue.

Quantum and Woody is supposed to be both a celebration and a meta-critique of the American comic book superhero. Quantum is the superhero archetype, and Priest based him on the most archetypal human superhero of all: BATMAN. Woody, on the other hand, is supposed to be the everyman, the non-superhero comic book reading person thrust into this superhero business who points out the absurdities of the archetypal superhero as he witnesses them.

That is the only advantage that we old Q&W readers have over the new readers: our familiarity with what Priest and Bright is trying to do with this comic book. What we do not have, is an advantage over knowing more details about the plot. So when jmatt said "After the initial sequence in the woods, I had no idea what was going on. But I never read the original so perhaps it makes sense in that context." I would say that we old readers are pretty much on our own as well because the plot in this book does not pick up from any old plot threads in the original. However, Priest pretty much demands from his readers that we have to be confident enough to piece together the story on our own based on what is presented to us. So here is my take:

Basically, there are two running plots. The first plot is young Q&W.

"What Have You Done?"

The first plot is about Woody's seemingly first "murder". Knowing Priest's use of flashbacks to Q&W's youth, this is supposed to give us the theme about Q&W's friendship that would carry over to the present storyline. And what is this theme? Priest gives us two clues.

1. Of Mice and Men - I am pretty sure some of you are familiar with this story about two friends: the intelligent George and the kind but a bit slow-witted Lennie Small. George takes on some sort of "protector" role over Lennie Small because of the latter’s mental condition. I think Priest is trying to make some parallels: that Quantum is the George to Woody's Lennie. The climax of Of Mice and Men is when Lennie accidentally killed someone. To "protect" Lennie from possible horrifying death from a lynch mob because of the accidental killing, George took it upon himself to kill Lennie, supposedly as a loving act to spare his friend from a more horrible fate. So in this issue, Woody accidentally "killed" somebody, just like Lennie Small. What will Quantum, as George, do?

2. Which leads us to what I think is the theme that would eventually shape the story of this series. Quantum interpreted Of Mice and Men as a story about "How far would you go to protect a friend?" I believe that future issues would show us the answer to that question, in both the young Q&W and the present Q&W storyline.

The young Q&W story also shows us very good insights on the characters. Priest shows us that Woody is the seemingly immature juvenile, and Quantum is the serious seemingly intelligent kid. That does not mean, however, that Woody is the absurd half of the duo. Woody shows in the flashback that he has the "meta-perspective" of pointing out the absurdities when fiction blends into reality. I love the meta-commentary he made when he said "Amy - he could be the one who shot the guy. It's in, like, every movie. They run through the woods and the white girl falls down. The white girl always falls down." I was laughing out loud while reading that because I have seen my share of movies that run exactly like that. Woody's role in Q&W is exactly that, to point out the absurdities of the cliches of American superhero fiction when it actually happens.

The power of this part of the story is that, for all of Woody's jokes and immature actions, he is basically the one who had to confront the reality of the situation. As the sequence ends, you realize that Priest is actually asking us, what would you have done in that situation? Isn't Woody's reaction actually the realistic way of how these things would pan out? The idealistic and heroic Quantum said “Woody - put the gun down!” and Woody retorted “What – so he can get it? Don’t you ever watch the movies?” It’s delivered humorously, but if you think about it, would you put the gun down in that situation?

In the next issue, I guess we would see how far Quantum would go to protect his friend. Will he do a George to Lennie Small? I also feel that most likely, Woody did not actually murder the guy. I think this is an in-joke referencing the first ever flashback sequence in Q&W:





Now to the second plot, the present Q&W. If the reference for the young Q&W plot is Of Mice and Men, the reference in the present day plot is the most famous superhero-comes-back-from-retirement story of all time: The Dark Knight Returns. I should have seen this parody coming. :LOL

“The Wish of the Land”

This section introduced us to a new character, Koro. (so new readers, don't be worried about not knowing the backstory. there is no backstory.) Priest has left us enough clues to indicate that he is the Joker to Quantum’s Batman. Koro’s internal monologue seems to tell us that he and Quantum, though adversaries, are very much similar to each other, like how Joker and Batman are as emphasized in The Killing Joke. “I know you can hear me. I am there beside you. I could be anyone. I could be everyone.” Quantum set up a trap for Koro, just like how Batman set up a trap for Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. Another Joker reference is that it is implied that Koro must have killed Quantum’s “Robin,” like how Joker killed Jason Todd. “You’ve made this personal. Avenge the boy…I’ve learned through bitter tears, never put a soldier in the field you’re not prepared to lose.”

My favorite part in this section, though, is the absurdity of Koro holding a spray bottle as his deadly weapon. :LOL

“Am”

Can you see how Priest uses the blackout panels purposively and meaningfully. “Am” is a very appropriate title for this section because it introduced the twist that there are now two Woody’s. Gah, James Asmus should take notes.

But anyway, the DKR reference here is another LOL moment for me when Woody 2 showed up with the DKR Batmobile. I love how Woody pointed out the absurdity of the hyperbolic situation in this exchange: “Woody 2: Release him! Woody: Or what? You blow us both to smithereens?” Again, Woody with a meta-critique of another situation that we see a lot in superhero comics.

“Obligatory Flashback Sequence”

Now Priest is just toying with us here. Remember when we raised in this board Dr. Silk’s unrealistic monologue in narrating his backstory? And how silly a similar monologue also read in Bloodshot #24? I love how Priest used this superhero comic book cliche of the characters unrealistically reciting a back story recap and then winked at us.

Loved how the Batmobile changed form as they were traveling and ended up as a garbage truck going under the river. LOL

This section also showed us that Q&W 2.0 are also very much like the old ones. I love how Woody 2.0 is just like meta-commenting Woody when he spelled out the absurdity of the origins of Q&W 1.0. And it also appears that Quantum 2.0 is also very much like Quantum, who is so into this superhero B.S. “Woody 2.0: Jonathan, you hurt? Quantum 2.0: Only my pride.” Gah, that superheroic line. :LOL

But my favorite part is the ending, which suggests that Quantum indeed played Batman to the t, and that he actually did this when he retired:



Damn, I love that the Q&W I was waiting for came back. My apologies for always taking a shot at James Asmus, but I believe he really missed the point. The greatness of FVL is that he slightly altered the form of A&A, but captured the substance of BWS’ vision for the characters. In the case of Q&W, Asmus got the form, but he never got the substance of Priest’s vision. Q&W is a funny book, but the laughs is not the essence of the concept. Ultimately, it is a story about friendship and a meta-commentary on the American superhero.

That was the most spot on commentary ever.

[Tony_H]

ErwinR: It's not every day you see insightful posts like that one concerning any kind of art, let alone a satiric superhero comic!

[erwinrafael]

Thanks. It's still a bit scattershot, so I would be more organized next time. I've been meaning to flex my comic book reviewer muscles for some time now. It's something I used to do in a more organized manner more than a decade ago. Q&W was not on my assigned reviews then, but Priest's Black Panther and The Crew was. I am planning to do a more organized analysis in this board of A&A once FVL ends his run.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

Was kinda like, huh? And then I really didn't have the patience to read your analysis, although it is appreciated, and impressive!
so, I'm still kinda left with "huh?"

[erwinrafael]

Just want to share another DKR reference.





Doc Bright doing Miller-style pencils on Woody's face, especially.

[leonmallett]

...Glad to see some intelligent humor on Q&W once again.

So very well said.

[leonmallett]

Intelligent with some humour, action and pathos. I enjoyed this a lot. It wholly underscores the issues I have with the approach that VEI allowed Asmus to establish.