Fred Van Lente

Fred Van Lente s brilliant debut is both an homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and a thoroughly contemporary show-business satire. As the story opens, nine comedians of various acclaim are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker. The group includes a former late-night TV host, a washed-up improv instructor, a ridiculously wealthy blue collar comic, and a past-her-prime Vegas icon. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without mobile phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why?

Collects the incredible second arc of the riveting Black Cross saga! In the dungeons of Tripoli, a man will have his fortunes changed forever as he becomes an agent of honor for the legendary Templar Order!

READY… SET… RIOT! Years ago, the children of the experimental strike team known as Generation Zero were taken from their families by Project Rising Spirit, a private weapons contractor, and raised to be psychic soldiers. After years of taking orders, they have fought for and won their freedom. Now, the world’s most wanted teenagers have pledged to protect each other tooth and claw, while using their extraordinary abilities to right wrongs for a generation without a future… To fight for kids, just like them. One of those kids is Keisha Sherman, whose boyfriend just turned up dead after a suspicious car crash in Rook, Michigan – a newly booming tech town that sprang from rags to super-riches seemingly overnight. When Keisha makes a desperate plea into her webcam, the local high school suddenly finds itself with several unusual new students… But as word of Generation Zero’s presence spreads rapidly through the halls, this volatile band of teenage upstarts is about to discover that they’re far from the most extraordinary thing lurking behind Rook’s stainless-steel facade… New York Times best-selling writer Fred Van Lente (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, Amazing Spider-Man) and blockbuster artist Francis Portela (FAITH) launch four highly specialized superhuman soldiers into their most dangerous mission yet: high school! Collecting GENERATION ZERO #1–4.

Collecting the first arc of the brand new explosive Templars series, from the world of Assassin's Creed, Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero offer a new perspective on the century-spanning feud between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order.

ROCKETING OUT OF THE PAGES OF 4001 A.D...the present and future of Valiant's greatest heroes come together in four essential standalone chapters at the heart of the blockbuster comics event of the year! Blast two thousand years into the future as the never-before-told history of New Japan's dominion over Earth and the future fates of X-O Manowar, Bloodshot and Shadowman stand revealed. Then, witness the battle-scarred debut of the boldest new hero of this century or the next when War Mother makes her history-shattering debut! The future starts now as all-star writers Robert Venditti, Jeff Lemire, Jody Houser, Rafer Roberts, and Fred Van Lente join visionary artists Clayton Henry, Doug Braithwaite, Robert Gill, and Tomas Giorello to bring the Valiant Universe barreling into the 41st century!Collecting 4001 A.D.: X-O MANOWAR #1, 4001 A.D.: BLOODSHOT #1, 4001 A.D.: SHADOWMAN #1, 4001 A.D.: WAR MOTHER #1.

Magnus, the martial arts expert and ultimate robot fighter, has reunited with his father, the artificial intelligence known as 1A. Satisfied to have a new purpose in life, Magnus is sent on a mission to free a monstrous creature known as the Basilisk. But once released, it can't be stopped or contained... and it believes itself to be God! Can Magnus and his former pursuer Leeja hit reboot on this devastating new threat, and is this the end or just a frightful new beginning?

IT ALL ENDS HERE...SERIOUSLY...THIS TIME IT LITERALLY ALL ENDS HERE. (MAYBE?!) A madcap jamboree featuring stories and shenanigans from Fred Van Lente (Ivar, Timewalker), Ray Fawkes (Batman: Eternal), Karl Bollers (Watson and Holmes), John Layman (Chew), Clayton Henry (Harbinger), Joe Eisma (Morning Glories) and an all-star cast of comic's finest!The never-before-told story of Armstrong’s first drink! A very special Timewalker adventure! The origins of Mary-Maria Archer! The rise of a vicious new brand of the One Percent! And more!Collecting Archer & Armstrong #24, Archer & Armstrong: The One Percent #1, and stories from the Archer & Armstrong #25 anniversary hullabaloo, along with an exclusive Director's Cut of Archer & Armstrong #0, featuring a never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes look inside the script, art, and character design of the history-smashing origin issue of the immortal adventurer now known as Armstrong!

Retreating from the mad, mad world of mechanical overlords, Magnus descends into the SubStructure, where a bizarre collection of feral humans called Gophs live free from robot society. Winding up in the Uncanny Valley, a forbidden sex and death club, the timelost rebel discovers a gladiatorial pit where humans fight to the death, and the slain are dismembered for spare parts. Can Magnus hold his own against the merciless Goph hordes?Collects issues #5-8 of the ongoing Magnus: Robot Fighter series.

At last — the essential origins and early adventures of Valiant’s most powerful heroes and allies, collected between two covers for the first time anywhere! Celebrate 25 years of the largest independent superhero universe in comics with these all-star explorations of Valiant’s indelible comics book icons, including X-O Manowar, Harbinger, Bloodshot, Archer & Armstrong, Shadowman, and many more! Who they are, how they came to be, and what they fear the most! This is your essential one-stop guide to the biggest heroes, villains, and super-teams that the Valiant Universe has to offer, just in time for Valiant’s 25th Anniversary Celebration!Collecting Archer & Armstrong #0, Bloodshot #0, Harbinger #0, Punk Mambo #0, Quantum and Woody: The Goat #0, Shadowman #0, Unity #0, X-O Manowar #0, and material from Archer & Armstrong #25, Bloodshot #25, Harbinger #25, X-O Manowar #25, and FCBD 2014: Valiant Universe Handbook #1.

The critically acclaimed, best-selling YA series returns with an all-new, sci-fi DIY adventure! Celine and Tuck's parents put them to sleep for centuries to ride out the energy crisis — but when they awake in the far future and Mom and Dad are missing, it's the kids who have to save the day! Celine and Tuck must explore a strange, new Earth using their gadgeteering skills to create projects and experiments to survive hostile tribes and bizarre mechanized threats — projects and experiments kids and parents can make themselves at home, and learn basic energy literacy at the same time! Collects HowToons: [Re]Ignition #1-5, along with backup strips/projects by series originators Nick Dragotta and MacArthur 'Genius' Grant winner Saul Griffith.

Quantum and Woody are the world’s worst superhero team. Archer & Armstrong are a mismatched pair of conspiracy-busting adventurers. When a mysterious force collides these ill-suited and irresponsible “heroes” for a cross-country race through the darkest corners of American mythology, all hell is bound to break loose. Can two busted pairs become four of a kind in time to defeat the Hobo King, save the day, and make it back home in time for happy hour? Let’s hope so...’cause these guys make a really, really bad team. (And you don’t even want to know about the goat.)It's an all-new superhero joyride from fan-favorite writers James Asmus (Quantum and Woody) and Fred Van Lente (Archer & Armstrong) and heat-seeking artist Kano (Quantum and Woody, Immortal Iron Fist), colliding Quantum and Woody and Archer & Armstrong for the world's most disastrous team-up adventure! Collecting The Delinquents #1–4.

Agent Price's new mission pits him against a doomsday cult leader with a political agenda that poses a direct threat to the president. But a mysterious hive mind has more menacing plans for Brain Boy. He'll have no choice but to go head to head--brain to brain--with the mysterious Men from G.E.S.T.A.L.T. The Men from G.E.S.T.A.L.T. collects New York Times best-selling author Fred Van Lente's electrifying second arc of psychic spy Brain Boy's continuing adventures

LIVING IT UP AT THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA!His whole life, Obadiah Archer has been lied to about his true heritage - but when he and his pal Armstrong arrive in L.A. to meet his real parents, they find them in the clutches of the Church of Retrology! What insidious plans does The Lizard King, the head of the favored religion of the Left Coast's rich and famous, have for the Valiant Universe's premier conspiracy busters? And what lurks in the Hollywood Hotel? (Hint: You can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave!)Collecting ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #20-25, start reading here to discover the truth behind dead celebrities and the sacred mysteries at the heart of rock 'n' roll as New York Times best-selling writer Fred Van Lente and red-hot artist Pere Pérez unleash an all-new history mystery on Valiant's foremost conspiracy-smashers!

In the blink of an eye, young martial artist Magnus has everything taken from him: his father, his wife, his entire life. He's suddenly thrust into a futuristic world he doesn't understand, populated by humans and robots living together in oppression! Can Magnus fight to get his life back... and once he learns the truth about himself, will he want to?Collects issues #1-4 of the ongoing Magnus: Robot Fighter series.

"Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente, the husband-and-wife playwrights behind 'King Kirby, ' know the score. She wrote the smart Off Off Broadway shows "Cut" and the fangirl-friendly 'Geek'; he was a co-author of the graphic novel 'Cowboys & Aliens, ' later adapted for a Hollywood sci-fi western. With this supple, informative and poignant portrait, they offer penetrating insight into the tirelessly prolific Kirby (1917-94), whose brawny and dynamic yet nuanced style dominated comics for more than 40 years. Their play (Kirby was known as the king) documents a creator who attained immortality even as his life ended amid a morass of corporate exploitation." - Andy Webster, The New York Times KING KIRBY is a play by the husband-and-wife team of New York Times bestselling comics writer Fred Van Lente and NYIT award-winning playwright Crystal Skillman about the life and times of Jack Kirby, the great comic book artist who created or co-created some of your favorite heroes on the page and screen, Captain America, the Avengers, Thor, Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, Young Romance, the New Gods, Darkseid, The Demon... the list goes on and on. From the Jewish ghetto of New York's Lower East Side to the battlefields of France to the Senate hearings of 1950s, this is a hysterical and heartbreaking story about a man who pours his quintessentially Twentieth Century life into his comics, only to make the fateful mistake that sends him into obscurity while his creations become known to every person on Earth. A real-life "Adventures of Kavalier & Klay", King Kirby asks what happens when an artist doesn't own his own legacy? Can he ever get it back?

Archer & Armstrong are going to war with Bloodshot and H.A.R.D Corps! (GULP!) That’s right, Valiant’s globe-trotting adventure duo have been targeted for elimination by Project Rising Spirit’s most elite kill crew. Their mission? Assassinate the the newly appointed leader of a homegrown fundamentalist terror sect named...Obadiah Archer?! And if they could take out his mentally ill, alcoholic bodyguard who just happens to think he’s a 10,000-year-old immortal, that’d be swell, too!It’s an improbable mission with impossible odds. Do Bloodshot and the steely killers of the H.A.R.D. Corps stand a chance against two conspiracy-smashing heroes that never go down without a fight? Find out right here with the complete collection of the mayhem-soaked "Mission: Improbable" crossover, collecting Archer & Armstrong: Archer #0, Archer & Armstrong #18-19, and Bloodshot and H.A.R.D Corps #20-21 by acclaimed writers Fred Van Lente, Joshua Dysart, and Christos Gage, and all-star artists Pere Pérez and Tom Raney.

It's history in the breaking! After years of meditation and training, 18-year-old Obadiah Archer has been dispatched to New York City to carry out the sacred mission of his family’s sect — locate and kill the fun-loving, hard-drinking immortal known as Armstrong! But as this naive teenage assassin stalks his prey, he’ll soon find that both hunter and hunted are just pawns in a centuries-old conspiracy that stretches from the catacombs beneath Wall Street to the heights of the Himalayas. And Archer & Armstrong will have to work together if the future is to stand any chance of surviving the past’s greatest threat!From the New York Times best-selling creative team of writer Fred Van Lente (Marvel Zombies) and artists Clayton Henry (Incredible Herc), Emanuela Lupacchino (X-Factor), and Pere Perez (Action Comics), this volume collects Archer & Armstrong #1-13 and the critically acclaimed #0!

Every enemy. Against each other. For centuries, the cloak-and-dagger coalition of conspiracies collectively known as The Sect has worked together to bring silent oppression and undercover tyranny to a world that thought it was free. But, now after centuries of profit sharing and uneasy alliances, the factions of The Sect are about to erupt into open conflict...and the only men that can end the insanity are Archer & Armstrong! Too bad they're fighting for different sides! Why? How? And will either survive? The knockdown, drag-out Archer & Armstrong event of the year starts now — and no conspirator is safe!Collecting Archer & Armstrong #14-17 by New York Times best-selling writer Fred Van Lente (Incredible Hercules) and acclaimed artists Khari Evans (Harbinger) and ChrisCross (Superman/Batman), jump into the series that IGN calls "a must read" with an all-new adventure pitching Archer & Armstrong into their biggest battle yet!

A small outbreak can turn into a worldwide apocalypse... but only through a long string of screw-ups! Once actual zombies begin popping up in our world, a lone intelligence analyst realizes real-life events are beginning to mimic the events of a long-lost, Grade-Z, drive-in horror flick. As he races to save humanity with this knowledge, he quickly learns the only thing more dangerous than ravenous walking corpses is the ineptitude of the living! The gut-splitting (and then eating) comedy that pokes fun at the zombie horror phenomenon!

Archer & Armstrong venture into the mystery of the Far, Faraway, the birthplace of The Boon!