It’s a “Family Reunion!” Willow, along with a couple other familiar faces, visit “Angel & Faith” in the first part of the new arc! Also: Spoiler Alert!
Written by Christos Gage
Illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs
When yet another unexpected visitor shows up on Faith and Angel’s doorstep, the pair are pulled into a quest that has the potential to give Angel everything he’s been looking for–you know, if they succeed and survive.
- First issue in a new arc!
- Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
- Angel returns to Los Angeles!
In a stark departure from the previous arcs “Live Through This” and “Daddy Issues,” “Family Reunion” brings a bit more high adventure to the series. It starts with Willow appearing at the beginning, magic scythe in hand. It seems she heard about Angel’s little plan and hopped on the first plane to Britain to smack some sense into Angel.
Well, not really. She came with the scythe to help Angel in exchange for her getting her hands on Connor (no not in that way, he’s 17…or 5, if you think about it…).
One of the most welcome parts of this series is the addition of Angel’s old supporting cast from Angel Investigations. Connor figures heavily into the arc, and will be in it for the foreseeable future, and since Angel, Faith and Willow head back to LA, it only seemed logical to bring Gunn into the book as well. Yes, Gunn appears! However, there are other characters that are still unaccounted for, but Gunn fills Angel in on their whereabouts. As it turns out, we don’t actually know where Illyria is, but everyone else is accounted for, albeit off screen.
Something else that had been added to the series that had been lacking was the sense of humor Whedonverse books are known for. While the two previous issues were good, they lacked that magic that makes Angel and Faith part of the Buffyverse.
Speaking of magic, however, the consequences of the lack of magic in the world reached a new sense of despair. As Willow explained, magic was vital to not only the creation of vampires or the ability to bring stuffy old English men back from the dead, but even seemingly mundane things like a good song or an enjoyable movie were all influenced by magic. Even something as basic a hope or have a foothold in magic. Without hope, the world is falling further and further into a world of despair.
However, now that there seems to be more adventure in the book, Angel seems a bit more at home in the series. The personalities of the characters are starting to show, possibly because Christos Gages feels more comfortable writing the characters. They’re much more likeable and affable than they were just two issues before. Even the inclusion of the two family members in Giles’ family ignites a certain bit of chemistry between all of the characters involved in the series. The change in locales probably helped as well. London is a great city to base the characters in for a while, but the return to LA opened up Angel as well. LA had always been a sort of character in its own right on Angel and the levity within the pages of the book prove that pretty well.
Even Isaacs, the artist on the series, feels more comfortable with the characters and it shows from her ability to make the already expressive characters she drew even more full of life and dynamic. One character are of particular distinction was Connor, who was ironically one of the least angst-filled characters in the book.
Final Thoughts:
Illyria, the one-time Winifred Burkle, is missing as of this issue, but I would not put it past the creators to raise this thread for later use. In fact, she will likely become important as the series rolls along, either in this series or Willow’s series, or finally, Spike’s series. She could fit in any of the books, for different reasons, and would, at least in my opinion, be a welcome addition in any of them. I would even wager most of the characters would show up again in the series, even, Lorne. He’s always been a confidante of Angel’s, and with his new mission, he’s got to head there soon. Bonus points if we head to Pylea too.
Continued belowGiles’ family, Sophie and Lavinia, who were tasked with housesitting while everyone is away, decided to leave at nearly the drop of a hat. How will this figure into the series? Will someone ransack or destroy Faith’s new digs? Will something of Giles’ be stolen? I have a feeling that it will which will be the set-up for our next series of issues after they return of Quor’toth.
It’s astounding how much less annoying Connor is when Vincent Kartheiser is nowhere to be found.
Any more thoughts? Leave them in the comments!
