Archer & Armstrong face a possessed nun, freemasons + more in this exclusive preview of ‘Assassin Nation’ #2

The miniseries by Fred Van Lente, Emiliano Urdinola and Exequiel F. Roel wraps up this Wednesday, just in time for ‘Road to Resurgence.’

The Road to Resurgence of the Valiant Universe continues next week in the wrap-up to the two-issue Archer & Armstrong miniseries by Fred Van Lente, Emiliano Urdinola and Exequiel F. Roel. And courtesy of Alien Books, the new home of the Valiant line, we have an exclusive look at issue #2.

Van Lente is of course no stranger to Archer & Armstrong, having written numerous issues of the series prior to its move to Alien Books. The “Assassin Nation” story is a sequel to his previous run, bringing in several familiar characters and also spotlighting a change in the dynamic between the pair — Archer has acquired Armstrong’s immortality, which throws them both off. It’s not great timing, as they’re also dealing with possessed nun out to murder them, the usual conspiracy theories and, according to the solicit text, “even a porn-sized penis.” (Which I should note does not appear in the preview, as it is SFW).

The comic arrives in stores next Wednesday, and you can check out the exclusive preview, along with the cover by Nico Di Mattia and its variant by Andres Ponce, below. It’s one of the final stops before Resurgence of the Valiant Universe kicks off later in September.

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Exclusive Preview | ‘Ninjak vs. Roku’ #3

The Road to Resurgence of the Valiant Universe continues this week in a new issue by AJ Ampadu, Emiliano Correa and Marina Leon.

Since acquiring the rights to publish comics set in the Valiant Universe last year, Alien Books has been not only rejuvenating the line, but also building toward something big that’s coming in September — Resurgence Of The Valiant Universe. And along the way, there have been plenty of stops on the Road to Resurgence, including the Ninjak vs. Roku miniseries by AJ Ampadu, Emiliano Correa and Marina Leon.

Courtesy of Alien, we’re pleased to present an exclusive preview of Ninjak vs. Roku #3, which will arrive in stores this Wednesday.

The series pits the two former-lovers-turned-rivals Ninjak and Roku against each other, as they search for the same objective in competing missions. As you’ll see in the preview, things aren’t going well for Ninjak, as issue #2 was not kind to him. Ampadu’s taking a smart approach to the comic, pulling enough from Ninjak and Roku’s shared history to keep previous fans interested but providing enough of a “jump on” point for anyone new to the title. Correa returns to art duties for this issue, alternating with Diego Giribaldi, who drew the previous issue.

You can check the preview out below, along with the main cover and a variant, both by Richard Ortiz.

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Valiant, Alien Books announce a publishing partnership

Alien Books will take over publishing comics for Valiant, with plans to increase the overall number of titles featuring Valiant characters.

Valiant Entertainment has announced a publishing partnership with Alien Books, where Valiant is essentially outsourcing their publishing to the fledgling publisher. According to Popverse, the deal will see Alien Books “take over all publishing of Valiant properties.”

This is not completely unexpected; the surprising part — and good news for fans of the characters — is that Valiant’s comic line isn’t just fading away. For the past couple years Valiant’s output has declined considerably, with the publishing line seemingly on life support as they published somewhere between 0-2 titles per month. The press release said Alien would “expand Valiant’s publishing capabilities,” with clarifications from Popverse and the Beat both saying this is pretty much the end of Valiant publishing their own comics (and graphic novels and the like). The Beat adds that “some remaining Valiant staffers will stay on to work on the transition.”

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