Written by Christos Gage
Illustrated by Rebekah IsaacsFollowing some bad–many would say unforgivable–choices as Twilight, Angel needed to hide away and wallow in his guilt. But with a little TLC–courtesy of his only remaining ally, Faith, Angel is back to fighting the good fight and taking demons down one by one. With the Watcher files at their disposal, Angel comes up with the ultimate plan for redemption.
It’s been a month, and they’re back! Buffy’s ex and bff are continuing their adventures in Jolly Old England, living at Giles’ estate and…trying to bring him back to life? Hey, there have been worse plots to guide stories. And with a writer like Christos Gage and an artist like Rebekah Isaacs, this book made it to my Budget List yesterday! But was it worthy of being part of that almighty list?
Check the cut for the review!
Note: There are some SPOILERS discussed.
Well, in my estimation, it really was. Angel and Faith, while disconnected from the rest of the gang by at least 8 time zones, two nations and an ocean, feel like they’re just as important to the mythology as the main book. Angel’s quest to redeem himself feels like a continuation of his eponymous TV series, but Gage finds a way to ground the series by keeping Faith there. Faith has always been the darker half of Buffy; but with Angel, she’s the fun half, she even brings a bit of Buffy’s levity to the series without her having to Wolverine-it and be in every book ever.
Gage understands the complexity of Faith’s character. And you can tell he’s having fun playing with the ideas of redemption in her just as much as Angel, as she can never fully atone for the evils she did working for The Mayor, or afterwards. Her redemption started with Angel and Wesley, and continuing it here really works. But while I love what he’s working with here, I feel I must point out a continuity error. In the book, Faith dismisses her killing of [Sunnydale] Deputy Mayor Finch as something that he deserved for working with Mayor Wilkins; but it was heavily hinted that he was coming to help the Scooby’s because he didn’t trust Wilkins. But giving credit where it’s due, he also brought up some continuity which is largely forgotten. Killing the paleontology Professor Worth was a minor plot point in the third season, but it makes a lot of sense she would feel more guilt than the DM. Where Finch might have been an accident, the Professor’s murder was premeditated and directed by her old boss. There was no accident here. This small moment is the darkest time of her life, and it’s one that most people might not think of when they think of her darkness.
But perhaps the best part of the series is the dual narrative being told. It’s true that both Angel and Faith are on the side of the good guys, and they want to help out as much as they can. But what they plan on doing to further those goals are setting them up for a clash down the road. It will be an epic battle, and the seed has been planted here; or rather, Giles planted that seed during Season Eight.
It would be a perfectly logical clash too. Angel wants to fix the mistakes he made as Stephanie Meyer’s wet dream (or should I say that? Apparently she’s extremely litigious); the biggest being Giles being killed in the same manner that he killed Giles’ true love Jenny. But in a twist, Faith may not be able to let Angel fix those mistakes, as directed by Giles.
Giles feels a lot like the Christian Shepherd of the book, if you pardon my LOST reference. He may not be alive at any point during the present timeline of the book itself, but the weight of his actions in flashbacks are extremely important to the series as a whole, guiding the characters to the final climax. The only differences I can see are that he won’t show up as a ghost just to mess with Angel (just flashbacks), and he’ll likely show up more often than our favorite casket-dwelling father non-figure.
Continued belowBut if there’s one thing that still feels out of place, it’s the Wonder Demon Twins that were introduced in the debut issue. Sure they caused more carnage and mayhem (which was beautifully rendered by Rebekah Isaacs, more on that later), but it doesn’t quite feel like they’re meshing as well as they should, even as early in the series as they are. I hope I get more about them soon, because I waited too long to find out about Twilight, and I don’t want to wait that long again.
On the bright side, Rebekah Isaacs continues her awesome work in the book, with even more detail sprinkled throughout the book. Her art is just so intricate and detailed that it makes the book so immersive, you can’t help but feel the grimy, demonic atmosphere. And speaking as a former Church Kid, I could not be happier with that. The Demon underworld was one of the favorite parts of the TV show, as it gave Angel an Old West quality without the appropriative garbage that normally accompanies such movies; and Isaacs recaptures the feeling, much to my delight.
But there is something I did not touch upon last issue. Her facial expressions are top-notch. From the determined “I will kill you as soon as look at you” Angel face to the sassy raised eyebrow that Faith would give to the demons whose grotesque visages help give the book the atmosphere that was sorely missed when Angel left the airwaves. After she’s done with Angel and Faith, she’ll likely be one of the most in-demand artists in comics. Or at least she should be.
If you couldn’t tell, from one Whedonite to others, I really enjoy this book. There’s not much to really complain about here. If you like the franchise, I don’t think you’ll be very disappointed with this entry.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
