Quantum And Woody #5

Writer James Asmus Artist Ming Doyle

Introduction

Quantum And Woody has had a great first arc that showed off many strengths of the series. The only real drawback of the book that will hopefully be cleaned up in the upcoming arc, were the underdeveloped villains that were causing some problems in the story. The pacing and crude humor brought a different side out of Valiant by going to some daring places. James Asmus comes from a theater background, yet his comics are grounded with some crazier overtones. The story would get dull if the comedy had no restraint, the state of laughter from the printed page is incredibly hard to nail in the context of comics. Humor is about timing and lots of trust needs to be given to the artist in order to sell the ideas. Thankfully, Asmus knows when to hand the bigger touches of humor over to penciller Tom Fowler, who has been delivering some amazing pencils. The art gives the book a grounded tone, that makes it easier to properly digest. With a new arc and a solid foundation, this series is brimming with limitless potential.

Writing

The black bars from before come back to add a high quotient of laughs right from the opening pages of the issue. The first sequence is stellar, and one of the most ambitious from the scribe in the series thus far. Hopefully, this comic will continue to flirt with some of the more bizarre happenstances such as that one. Even though the first storyline did not have major consequences, it is nice to see Asmus not resetting the status quota exactly the same every five issues. The rules of the comic are also being established in interesting throw away lines. This comic is very new reader friendly, but in an amusing manner. Towards the middle of the book, the scribe delivers some biting satire in a direct way not seen often in modern comics. It proves how bold Quantum And Woody can be while still being incredibly funny and slightly self deprecating. Several scenes are turned on their head, and end up being more exciting thanks to the carefully written script.

Art


Ming Doyle captures tone established by Tom Fowler incredibly well. She innovates adding her own style to the work, while still keeping the look of the leads and world intact. This is helped by the other member of the art team staying intact with colors by the prolific Jordie Bellaire. By sheer coincidence the art side of the tale has two female creators. The script seems to be written with this in mind, featuring more woman than the usual quota featured in the book. A certain individual is in a position that would be compromising unless it was illustrated with the utmost taste. Thankfully, Doyle makes all of the depictions featuring the opposite sex from our male leads very tasteful. A pinup by series regular Tom Fowler towards the back of the book, hits all the right beats introduced in Quantum And Woody in general and ends the chapter on an incredibly humorous note.

Conclusion


The last two pages sum up everything that is so much fun about this titled. Expectations are clearly illustrated from the beginning of the title, and then something strange happens and causing many scene too becomes hysterically funny. Doyle and Asmus make combine to create a incredibly powerful creative force.