365 Comics...314: Quantum and Woody: The World's Worst Superhero Team tpb

I've only recently read the first 4 issues of the original Quantum & Woody (See 365 Comics #22, 147, 174 and 175), and have collected another random dozen issues of the series, but for some reason I feel very protective of it.  As I expressed in 365 #79 I'm an after-the-fact Christopher Priest fan and I do genuinely miss him from comics, especially after reading so much of his work this year.  After the new Q&W was announced I was quite disappointed to learn that Priest and Doc Bright weren't returning, then to read about their failed attempt to claim the characters they created when Valiant went under last time kind of soured me on supporting the new book.  But Priest has been through his share of cruddy deals on the industry,  and he's been exceptionally graceful in his concession to the new series.  The good news is that Priest and Bright will be back on a new mini series in the old continuity early in the new year.  This has actually warmed me back toward the new Q&W, as did some great work from Fowler on the Thrilling Adventure Hour anthology.  And, as with all the Valiant trades, the first volume is only $10 for four issues, or six bucks cheaper than buying them in floppies... so bargain.

It's an enjoyable book, but with reading the original around the same time, it feels like its sitting in the shadow of Priest and Bright and can't crawl out from it.  James Asmus' scripts feel too much like copycat Q&W at this point, stealing the same storytelling structure that made the original unique (but it felt uniquely Priest, and not necessarily tied to the series).  It may just be a requirement from the publisher to connect back to the original, but I'd much prefer it if Asmus found his own voice.  In the third chapter Amus attempts to update the "Noogie" conversation from Q&W #4 (365 #175) but it feels exactly that, an emulation of a previous and famous story moment rather than an organic conversation between siblings.  And the goat... sigh.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it but it's not doing anything that feels fresh or really worth my time.  I think if I hadn't read any of the original series I'd be far more impressed.