Better than Buffy: Angel and Faith #3
Written by: Gary M. Kenny, CC2K Comics Editor
IDW lost Angel when Dark Horse bought the rights to the Buffyverse. Angel and Faith is a new book by Dark Horse following, you guessed it Angel and Faith after the conclusion of (comic book) season 9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though only on their third issue, A&F is proving to be a “dark horse” contendor and possibly a better book then the flagship title.
Angel and Faith #3
Writer – Christos Gage
Artist – Rebekah Issacs
First off Christos Gage is slowly becoming a big name in the comic community. His run on Avenger’s Academy has been a real delight, it’s well written, smart and gripping. Though I love the Buffy books, I wasn’t sure if I would be interested in Angel and Faith, until I saw his name on the cover. Rebekah Issacs is that wonderful artist that drew the new DV8 books for Wild Storm. She has a great sense of pace for action books and though she’s only been in the comic business a short time, Dark Horse was smart enough to grab her for this title. This book will establish her name in the comic artist community.
Since this is the third issue, you are not to late to jump on board. Instead of a traditional review, i’m offering a quick recap to help you partake in this fun new title: As unbelievable as it was Angel turned out to be the masked bad guy in season 9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Angel used the name “Twilight” to hide his villainous persona in order to bring about the apocalypse. It just so happens that “Twilight” was actually an entity that manipulated both Buffy and Angel. This entity wanted to be born and needed Buffy and Angel to have sex in order to do it. Confused? There is a lot to take in. All in all, Angel was possessed into doing some bad things, one of which was killing Buffy and Faith’s watcher: Giles. The outcome of BVS season 9 was that all world’s magic had been destroyed, Giles was dead, Angel was left in a comma (of sorts) and the Buffyverse had been completely changed.
Pre-end of all magic: Faith was working close with Giles and doing some 007 type espionage for the Slayer Organization. They basically tried to stop Slayers from going rogue and helped prevent small problems into turning into big problems for Buffy and Co. As it turns out, Giles is murdered and Faith is left his estate (all the watcher files).
Angel and Faith #1-2: Angel is left in a near-catatonic state following the events of BVS season 9. When he awakes he is guilt stricken and only wants to hide and wallow. Enter Faith, she too knows what its like to be the rebel, the one that screwed everything up, so she forgives Angel and helps him with a new purpose: redemption. Along with Faith’s watcher files, Angel conjures up a plan to bring Giles back to life. Faith jumps on board, knowing that this is crazy but maybe a little crazy is what Angel needs in order to set things right.
In this issue Angel and Faith are on the hunt for a demon whose blood can rejuvenate ones limbs and quite possibly resurrect. Only to find that said demon is being held captive by other demons so that they may sell his blood. Things get out of control and by the end Faith is questioning whether or not Angel shouldn’t be staked for his crimes. Gage’s script is well written and fun. It can be wordy at times but Angel and Buffy books always tend to be. His story is smart and there are lots of little twists to make the reader entertained. This guy knows how to write a comic. The real knock out is Issacs. Her craft is really building up. You really feel the action and her flow is perfect with Gage’s story. As this title flourishes, her work will really start to shine.
It’s a bit to early to really judge this title. It’s only in it’s third issue and this arc is the first. However, A & F is a surprisingly fun title. It offers a bit more experimentation within the Buffyverse and it’s loaded with charm. I see this title becoming more popular in time and i’m sticking around with it. Dark Horse has a real gem in this title, I bet IDW wishes they still had Angel within their wings.
3.8 out of 5.0