Armstrong and the Vault of Spirits #1 –
Valiant Entertainment
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Cafu & Darick Robertson
Colors by Andrews Dalhouse with Diego Rodriguez
Letters by Dave Sharpe
Cover by Kalman Andrasofszky
Eternal life is probably something we have all thought about at some point. Would you want to live forever? Now imagine you’re not the only one, and your family follows you into immortality. Nobody has had more fun with his many lives than Armstrong, and a celebration looks to be in order. Let’s head into the Vault of Spirits from Valiant Entertainment.
The first thing I would do if I were you is take a really good look at the cover for this issue. Armstrong is absolutely not alone in this book, and that turns out to be a very good thing. To say the title is a play on words is an understatement, and should have been completely obvious in any book involving Armstrong. There is, however, and underlying story here that has a bit more meaning as the book goes on. It’s a name you will definitely recognize, and leads to some consequences in the present day. As if it weren’t enough, Armstrong also has to deal with someone else that is very close to him that very much clashes with his personality. That person has an internal conflict of their own going on, and that causes a bit of tension in the issue. In any Archer & Armstrong book though, there can only be so much tension without hilarity. We actually get to see a rare side of Armstrong in this issue, which leads to a very nice moment at the end of the book.
This was one review that was a bit tough to write spoiler free, because there are two key things that I could not mention without giving away a couple of big moments. We don’t see Archer a ton in this book, but he has a couple of lines that definitely reminded me why I love the back and forth between he and Armstrong. The familiar person from the distant past is definitely portrayed in a way that may make a few heads spin, but here are two things I will say to that. One, consider the book you are reading and the character involved. Two, the book actually acknowledges it through one of the characters in a quick but clever way. At the end of the day, if you love these characters already, you will not be disappointed. If anything it adds a depth to the Armstrong character that I think was kind of needed. Great artwork is almost a given in any Valiant book these days, but when you combine Cafu with Darick Robertson, you’re really talking all star status. As someone who was never very crazy about the Archer & Armstrong books, these characters have really started to grow on me. Only time will tell if this is the start of a trend.
RATING: PICK UP