RECOMMENDED: "Quantum and Woody" (Valiant Comics)

- by Ninja Ross, 15 January 2014

Based on the original Quantum and Woody series released in the 1990s, James Asmus and Tom Fowler present a re-imagined origin story. The series began last year, from Valiant comics, and I’m gonna tell you EXACTLY why you should be reading it right now. Well, not now... I mean after reading this recommendation. I mean, you can go read it right after this or after you comment, perhaps. Just... Not right NOW.

Issue 1 cover (click to enlarge)

Erik (Quantum) and Woody (...Woody... Obviously) Henderson are two brothers (Woody being adopted) who have just lost their father, who was murdered in his government lab by an angry Russian psycho.

Their loss reunites them for the first time in years, at the funeral. The pair had a falling out at some point in their past, with both of them going their separate ways to lead very different lives. Erik spent time in the army and tries to live life by the book, while Woody spends his time sleeping around, stealing and avoiding staying in one place for too long.

So, when they meet again during their father’s funeral, things don’t go so well. Follow a fist fight at a funeral with a trip to the police station to be accused of their father’s murder and you’ve got yourself an opening act!

The pair decide to investigate their father’s murder, without telling each other. They run into each other in the lab, stumble across their father’s very super secret confidential Mega hush hush highly dangerous experiment and... Break it.

The duo arrested for fighting. All images here are © Valiant Comics.

BOOM! Explosions, followed by two naked guys in the middle of a crater surrounded by police! Experimental wrist bands! Superpowers! Thus concludes issue one. And the following issues are just as fun and crazy, with the brother’s constantly bickering and the expected clashes of personalities providing constant amusement.

Nudity!

And there’s also spider clowns with needle mouths. Spider clowns with needle mouth. It’s a thing. Also, a goat. A GOAT. And a weird woman without a face, in charge of a secret organisation. Yeah, things get a bit weird for our heroes.

Erik and Woody become superheroes in order to hide their identities (one managing it better than the other...) while trying to find out exactly what’s going on. Their powers aren’t really anything special, when you get right down to it; they seem to be just basic zapping explosion powers and shields, with Woody being the offensive zapper of the team and Quantum being the defensive shield guy. But they’re pretty! PRETTY! And they’re not the most important part of the book, compared to the characters themselves and the plot.

I’ve never read the original series. Heck, I wasn’t even aware of its existence! So I have no opinion on how faithful this is, or if it’s better or worse. I just know that this series is very, VERY good.

Asmus’ writing is incredibly witty. The jokes fly thick and fast, without sacrificing story and they’re both very likeable. The fact that Erik is a straight-laced boy scout while Woody is a lazy joker seems a little cliché, but it never feels like that.

Spider clowns with needle mouths.

Asmus also inserts some genuinely tragic moments in the story, especially revolving around their father and their relationship with each other but it never takes away from the comedic elements of the story.

The art is also pretty fantastic; Fowler manages to capture expressions better than most artists in the comic book industry, which helps bring the characters to life in a way I don’t think many artists could manage. During comedic moments, his art perfectly complements the jokes. Asmus and Fowler are a pretty darn good creative team and this book shows exactly what they’re capable of. Unfortunately, there’s a change of artist in issue five, but Ming Doyle does a pretty good job of keeping the book looking superb.

I’d also like to give special mention to Ryan Sook’s covers! His art style isn’t normally to my taste, but his covers capture the hilarity of the book with ease. At least, that’s until issue five when the covers change. They’re not bad, but Sook definitely did it better.

Quantum and Woody is a fantastic read. It’s fun, interesting and well drawn. Ok... NOW you can go read it.


Are you reading "Quantum and Woody"? How great is it?! Sound off in the comments!

Tagged: comics, Reviews, RECOMMENDED.

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