Fred Van Lente

Fred Van Lente is an American writer, primarily known for his work in the comic book industry. He has written for various popular series and is recognized for his contributions to both superhero and independent comics. His notable works include 'The Amazing Spider-Man,' 'Marvel Zombies,' and 'Archer & Armstrong.'

This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.

  1. 1. Never Sleep

    Set in 1861 on the eve of Abraham Lincoln's inauguration, Never Sleep follows Kate Warn, the first female private detective in American history, and her mentee Hattie MacLaughlin. As the first female agents in the Pinkerton National Police Agency they work to foil a conspiracy to assassinate the president. Their mission moves from rural Maryland to secessionist high society and forces Hattie to choose between saving her mentor and saving the country when Kate's cover is blown. Based on a true story.

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  2. 2. X Men Noir

    Mark of Cain

    Set in a gritty, alternate 1930s universe, this tale reimagines the iconic mutants as hard-boiled detectives and criminals navigating the seedy underbelly of New York City. The story unfolds with a murder mystery at its core, where the lines between hero and villain blur, and the characters grapple with their own dark pasts and moral ambiguities. As the investigation deepens, alliances shift, and secrets unravel, revealing a world where power and corruption reign supreme, and survival often comes at a steep price.

  3. 3. Archer & Armstrong, Vol. 7

    A witty, action-packed collection of self-contained adventures that lampoons a gilded cabal of Wall Street elites while exploring deeper cuts of the duo’s world, from Armstrong’s centuries of misadventures to Archer’s complicated ties to the Sect. Balancing satire with heartfelt character beats, it revisits key allies and enemies, ties off lingering threads, and serves as a playful capstone that spotlights the odd couple’s enduring bond amid conspiracies, cults, and chaotic capers.

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  4. 4. Archer & Armstrong, Vol. 6

    American Wasteland

    In Los Angeles, the mismatched duo chases a new Sect conspiracy and stumbles into a hidden underworld where America’s pop-culture myths are weaponized. Tangling with celebrity cults, ruthless moguls, and old frenemies, they trek through a secret wasteland beneath Hollywood to stop a reality-warping scheme that could rewrite national history—testing their trust, challenging Archer’s convictions, and forcing both to decide what the American Dream is worth.

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  5. 5. Archer & Armstrong, Vol. 5

    Mission: Improbable

    Targeted by Project Rising Spirit, a hard-drinking immortal and his idealistic young partner are hunted by Bloodshot and the H.A.R.D. Corps in a relentless, globe-trotting clash of black-ops agendas and secret sects. As betrayals mount and unlikely alliances emerge, they’re forced to outwit superhuman soldiers and ruthless handlers while confronting the darker implications of the younger hero’s deadly training. The fallout tests their bond and sets a new course for their chaotic crusade.

  6. 6. Archer & Armstrong, Vol. 4

    Sect Civil War

    Secret societies explode into all-out war as a sheltered martial-arts prodigy and his immortal, hard-drinking partner scramble to stop rival sects from weaponizing a dire prophecy tied to his destiny. With his assassin sister seizing for power and old truths about his origins surfacing, shifting alliances, betrayals, and a riotous, globe-spanning melee push the duo’s odd-couple bond to the brink while exposing the absurdity and danger of the conspiracies steering the world.

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  7. 7. Archer & Armstrong, Vol. 3

    Far, Faraway

    Catapulted from a skirmish at a top-secret desert facility into the Faraway—a chaotic pocket dimension where time’s misfits collide—a hard-living immortal and his idealistic young partner navigate dinosaurs, aliens, and a ruthless sect while uncovering the ancient catastrophe that created immortality and toppled a civilization. Framed by a revelatory flashback to their origins, the journey forces them to confront the lies of an austere upbringing, buried family ties, and a nihilist plot that could erase reality, testing their trust and the limits of their convictions.

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  8. 8. Archer & Armstrong, Vol. 2

    Wrath of the Eternal Warrior

    A sheltered martial arts prodigy and his hard-living immortal partner are hunted by a relentless ancient warrior with a centuries-old grudge as rival secret societies race to control a catastrophic Sumerian relic. From covert monasteries to gilded conspiracies, they face assassins, duplicitous family ties, and the fallout of long-buried sins to stop a nihilist plot that could erase everything. In the chaos, two immortal brothers are forced toward a reckoning that tests loyalty, guilt, and the possibility of redemption.

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  9. 9. Archer & Armstrong, Vol. 1

    The Michelangelo Code

    A sheltered martial-arts prodigy raised by a fanatical cult is dispatched to assassinate a hard-drinking immortal, but after discovering he’s been lied to, he joins forces with his target to unravel a centuries-spanning conspiracy. Their globe-trotting chase pits them against warring secret societies—ranging from militant nuns to occultist financiers—as they race to prevent the reassembly of an ancient device capable of mass devastation, all while uncovering the immortal’s tragic origins and the catastrophe that created him.

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  10. 10. Ivar, Timewalker, Vol. 1

    An ageless, time-traveling operative who has witnessed millennia spends his existence fixing fractures in history, but when a routine mission unravels into a high-stakes conspiracy he must race across eras to stop ruthless chronal hunters and looming paradoxes. The volume blends kinetic action and dark humor with emotional stakes as the protagonist scrambles to assemble uneasy allies, confront the mystery of his own origins and losses, and weigh the moral cost of policing time before reality itself comes apart.

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  11. 11. Comic Book History Of Comics

    A lively, illustrated chronicle that traces the medium from its newspaper-strip and pulpy origins through the birth of superheroes in the Golden Age, wartime and postwar shifts, the constraining Comics Code and the Silver Age revival, to underground, indie, manga, and modern graphic-novel eras. It explains key creators, industry economics, censorship battles, legal and rights issues, and cultural impact, using comics-style panels and accessible narration to mix scholarship with wit and make the history both informative and entertaining.

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  13. 15. Power Pack

    Four young siblings unexpectedly receive extraordinary powers and are thrust into a life of adventure, forced to balance homework, family tensions, and the secrets of superheroics as they confront alien threats and learn to rely on one another while growing up.

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  15. 18. Action Presidents #2

    A raucous, pulpy comic that reimagines U.S. presidents as over-the-top action heroes, spinning historical details into bombastic short adventures that mix satire, exaggerated heroics, and tongue-in-cheek commentary on leadership and American mythmaking.

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  16. 21. Power Man & Iron Fist

    Two very different heroes—one whose unbreakable strength and streetwise grit contrasts with the other’s mystical martial arts and disciplined temperament—reunite as a mismatched crimefighting team to tackle New York’s gritty underbelly. The stories mix punchy action and dry humor as the pair balance superheroics with personal stakes, confront old enemies and local corruption, and deepen a friendship tested by differing values and responsibilities, all while exploring community, identity, and what it means to protect a neighborhood from both overt threats and hidden injustices.

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  17. 22. Ant Man

    Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, all of whom can shrink to the size of an ant and usually have telepathic control over ants.

  18. 23. Action Philosophers! Giant Sized Thing, Vol. 1

    Giant Sized Thing

    A fast-paced, irreverent graphic anthology that transforms the lives and ideas of famous philosophers into action-packed, cartoonish biographies, using humor, pop-culture riffs, and clear, punchy explanations to make dense concepts approachable and entertaining for readers new to philosophy while still amusing those who know the material.

  19. 24. Hulk

    A contemporary retelling of a scientist transformed by a catastrophic experiment into a towering green powerhouse, the story follows his struggle to control the volatile split between human intelligence and uncontrollable rage. Hunted by military forces and hounded by the press, he wrestles with protecting loved ones, the collateral damage caused by his alter ego, and what it means to live with a monster inside; the narrative mixes action and personal drama to explore themes of anger, identity, responsibility, and the costs of power.