Take on someone your own size.
In the fallout of London
becoming Magic Town due to Whistler’s ambitious plans
to bring magic back, a new status quo has emerged.
And Angel has to re-establish ground.
Elsewhere near Santa Rosita, Kennedy, Faith and co reunite
with Buffy (as seen in the pages of Buffy Season 10 #1).
The new team on Angel is a total unknown, and the first
impression is a good one. A good one, not an excellent one though.
SPOILERS FOLLOW……………
London
becoming the hub of magic has created all sorts of problems. Now there is a
pecking order among mystical beings and the ‘normals’ serve as the bottom cow
class.
Angel steps out to try and play the gallant knight, but
apparently no one wants his help, as ‘she’ has ordered the ‘normals’ to stay clear
of the vampire.
While Angel scours the town looking for the mysterious
woman, the pixie mob that he fought in the beginning leave a gift at his home
in the sewers underneath London.
Elsewhere, Faith and a teenage Giles have joined up with
Kennedy’s group of company slayers as they head to Santa Rosita, where Buffy
and the Scooby Gang are holed up. Seeing Buffy-Giles reunion leaves Faith a
little broken, and she decides to join Kennedy’s company.
Angel goes through the hierarchy and finally ends up at the
mysterious woman’s stage. And it’s Nadira.
Unlike Buffy, Angel has gone through some major changes
since the show ended. Wesley, Connor, Gunn and Illryia are either dead or
missing. The new players include Giles’ aunts, a Slayer grieving the death of
her fellow mates at the hands of two of Angel’s cronies and Faith. With Faith
gone, the entire cast of this book is a virtual unknown for the Television
migrating audience.
There are no explanations given as to how this situation
came to be and we are thrust into the current status quo from the get go. While
I have no trouble following the plot, most new readers will.
Making Nadira the focal point (whether she is bad or good is
a secondary concern) is a little disconcerting. Angel’s book was mostly about
redemption and that worked during the last season. But this season, it’s a
little blurry. It’s somewhat Angel’s fault again that magic has so forcibly
invaded the town, but the conflict feels a little manufactured.
SPOILERS END………………
With the new status quo, come new possibilities. But the
Angel route of redemption after messing up yet again is becoming a little too
rote.
But by positioning Angel as the person caught between the
mystical and the normal without fitting in, is slightly interesting. The main
appeal comes from Faith though, who is recovering from yet another parental
loss in Giles. She’s a little aimless and that isn’t a good sign for the
Slayer.
The new reader friendly approach is absent here with a full
Season 9 introduced supporting cast, but it makes for a nice change of pace as
Angel is all alone with all sides closing in.
So, I give it 8.0 out of 10.
+Angel does what he does best – alone, back against the wall
+Faith gets a nice character moment
+Adequate artwork
-Non new-reader friendly
-A little repeatability is creeping in
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