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| Archer & Armstrong #1: Cover by Frank Miller |
Continuing with my Unity event read-through...
After nearly getting killed by his faith-healing parents, and being raised by Eastern mystics, Archer learns in Archer & Armstrong #1 that he is destined to become a great spiritual leader. He even discovers a cult devoted to his teachings in the Lost Land.
Are you ready for it? Okay. The cult's name is...
No. Let the robots tell it.
Unfortunately, the cult leader has orders to kill him: the man whose teachings will eventually prove so influential. The only way the man can resolve this inner conflict is by imprisoning Archer, and challenging him every day to somehow inspire him with his teachings.
As Archer devoted far more time honing his fighting skills in the eastern monastery than he did concentrating on his spirituality, that's a tall order.
Later, Armstrong really puts Archer's morals to the test by asking him to assassinate Albert's mother: Erica Pierce, the mother god of the Lost Land. Albert seems like a coddled boy who never quite grew up, and bears a real hatred for her. Nonetheless, killing Erica Pierce could prove integral to dismantling the Lost Land, and ending the threat it opposes to the rest of the universe.
So, should Archer kill Erica Pierce?
If you could travel back in time, and kill Judas Iscariot before he killed Christ, would you? If you could travel back in time and kill Adolf Hitler before he began torturing and massacring Jews, would you?
Some intriguing thoughts on the link between belief and killing, from the writers and artists Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, and Barry Windsor-Smith.
Dragon Dave
