Eternal Warrior Was on the Grassy Knoll: Van Lente on Archer & Armstrong #9

Not only has Valiant's Archer & Armstrong been one of the most consistently entertaining comics of the last year or so, but also one of the most consistently thought-provoking and, occasionally, educational. Of course, not everything you learn in Archer & Armstrong will be totally acceptable in the classroom. For instance, there's no physical evidence linking Gilad Anni-Padda to the fabled grassy knoll that overlooked the assassination of President John F. Kennedy--but in this month's issue of the comic, that's just where we start...as the Null's plans start to resolve themselves and the nature of the strange equation that's taken hold of Archer begins to become clear. As usual, Fred Van Lente joined us to talk about the issue, some of the history and mythology behind the story, and how it fits into the overall story of these characters and the Valiant Universe. ComicBook.com: Something seems odd about the Eternal Warrior as a hippie. Was he undercover, or just a bit more mellow back then? Fred Van Lente: It makes me laugh every time I see it, which is good enough for me! ComicBook.com: Any historical reason we should believe that Ruby was part of the Null? Van Lente: That depends on your definition of "historical." One of many, many JFK conspiracies has him deeply involved with the local Mafia although the truth is it appears he was never more than a wannabe. Many people believe mobsters engineered the Kennedy assassination for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that Kennedy was banging a boss' girlfriend. After he was captured upon murdering Oswald (in the Valiant Universe, to erase any evidence he was used as a host by the Last Enemy) -- who maintained his innocence until his death (or lack of memory of his possession?) -- Ruby repeatedly told anyone who would listen he was an innocent man caught up in some kind of conspiracy. He asked to speak in private with the Warren Commission, which refused. He died in prison in 1966 of pneumonia after telling a guard his enemies had injected him with some kind of disease, possibly cancer, to shut him up. Marilyn Moon Walle was a Ruby stripper who was found shot to death in 1966 after saying she was going to write a tell-all book on him and the assassination. Conspiracy theorists place a lot of significance on this. Lee Bowers, Jr. was a railroad control operator in a tower overlooking the grassy knoll and claimed he saw two men and a flash at the moment of the Kennedy assassination. He never mentioned a monkey or killer strippers. But he never could after 1966, when he crashed his car into a bridge abutment and died. All-in-all, 1966 was a bad year for JFK assassination figures. Draw your own conclusions!

Here's a great photo of the real Ruby with some of the actual dancers from his Dallas burlesque joint, the Carousel Club. ComicBook.com:  Other than Buck, are any of the Geomancers depicted there characters fans are familiar with? Van Lente: Sure. We first saw Anqi Sheng in the flashback in #5, we saw Dominique get captured by Blackbeard in #6, and Scheherazade was mentioned in #8. And Buck, of course, was the Geomancer accidentally killed by Archer in #4. ComicBook.com: Any idea whether Buck McHenry was named after Buck Henry? It was the first thing that occurred to me the first time I saw his name written down. Van Lente: That certainly would make sense, though it didn't occur to me before. I'm not sure in which comic the Geomancers first appear in the original Valiant -- I think it might be Eternal Warrior. You'd have to ask someone with more Old-School Valiant knowledge than me. ComicBook.com: The idea of "an ancient artificial intelligence" is an interesting one. We've talked about the idea of the Null's equation being a spin on classic literary ideas; is this kind of personification of it play into that? Van Lente: I was intrigued by the idea that an AI is basically a complex computer program, i.e. an equation, so as long as you had the math down right you could come up with it before the invention of computer -- if it just ran on the human brain. It's a "technology" that doesn't require machinery to do, and as The Null perfected mathematics long before anyone else, it seemed to be within their capabilities. ComicBook.com: Are you directly involved in the decision as to which pages get used as preview pages? Generally it's very early ones but not this issue. Van Lente: I am not. I think Valiant tries to choose the most action-packed stuff to put asses in seats. ComicBook.com: The inks were a lot heavier this issue, giving it a bit of a darker, more dangerous and spooky vibe, than in previous issues. Was that intentional or just a matter of a new inker? Van Lente: Due to schedule restraints, Ema inked a lot of her pages herself this time around, that might be what you're noticing.