One could say they are going to an AA meeting and truly mean they have taken upon themselves to work through a terrible addiction and better themselves. Or it could now also mean gathering at the comic book store with fellow readers of the adventures of an immortal man with a drinking habit and his friend who was originally trained to kill him. The issue begins in New York, 1953 as Armstrong and one of his many friends raiding a restaurant that serves as a mafia front. As per usual with the immortal drunk, everything goes wrong and they have to bust their way out and enjoy some of the great booze Armstrong was able to put in his bag. Jump into present day with the big man holding an obituary cut-out of his friend who’s died at the age of 89. Something seems to have happened between them, but still deserves a toast of that very expensive alcohol, there is one problem. The booze is nowhere to be found. Archer comes later that day to find a empty room, and an open infinity bag on the floor. Armstrong has gone in and all manner of creatures are coming out.

The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong (that’s a lot of A’s) assumes you know the characters already, other than preview page. This is a continuation on the many stories already told, except the reason behind Armstrong’s Felix the Cat-like bag. It’s a fun, straightforward story that sets out to answer one question, “how does Armstrong’s bag actually work?” and it answers it the most fun way possible. While Archer and Armstrong are stuck inside the bag, the outside of it seems to be getting a bit more and more ugly. The art takes its time to get used t. While I was more accustomed to the 90s style with these characters, or even a less cartoony outlook for this story, it works. Particularly with it’s paneling and the layouts, by fracturing an image into several panels, there flow of the comic has more sequence and flows well with the wit of the dialogue.

Archer and Armstrong is a solid title that reinvigorates the characters, while keeping up with the level of quality it has since its relaunch.

Score: 4/5

The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong #1 Writer: Rafer Roberts Artist: David Lafuente Publisher: Valiant Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/16/16 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital