EDITOR'S NOTE: Nothing beats a good complete-in-one-issue story. Not only are they hard to find, but finding one that is worth multiple readings is difficult. When I find them (regardless of release date) I'm going to highlight them here under the banner of One-Shot Ovations. Here's my first entry. There will be more.
This one has it all: a good story containing both drama and humor, with excellent art and great use of color. You don't need to be familiar with the ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG series to understand what's going on here. The spotlight is on Armstrong, and it becomes very clear from the first three pages that he is both immortal, having seen and experienced much of life and history, and a lover of wine.
His adventure companion Archer and a group of Valiant heroes gather by invitation to a location in the New York City meat packing district for a special event that only occurs once per year: the opening of Armstrong's sealed wine vault. Within that vault is the most exclusive wine collection in the world - - one bottle for every year of Armstrong's immortal life. That is an incredible amount of bottles as Armstrong's history traces back to Mount Ararat and the landing of Noah's Ark, where we learn just how annoying Noah was (a bit of an imbiber as well) and the origins of his descendants' enduring grudge against Armstrong. Those descendents intend to interrupt the party and have their vengeance.
Mayhem and merriment occur, with Armstrong conveniently occupied elsewhere. He does manage to bring a halt to the fighting, with a resolution that doesn't involve any more violence. Appropriately enough, all gather for a respectful toast to The Eternal Warrior before the vault closes once again.
FIVE STARS out of a possible FIVE STARS.
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