Whedonverse comics roundup: Angel & Faith

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Anika

by Gabby

I was never a huge fan of Angel, the TV series, as a whole. However, I believe that it is made up of amazing moments. One such moment that stuck with me happened in the Season 1 episode, “Five by Five”. Faith had just run away from Sunnydale after body-switching with Buffy, and she was wreaking havoc in Los Angeles. She’d been hired by Wolfram & Hart to kill Angel, so she kidnapped and tortured Wesley to lure Angel. When he got there, they got into a huge fight, with Angel mostly blocking her shots, acting on the defensive. Then, this happens, as the rain is pouring down on the two anti-heroes:

Angel: “I’m not gonna make it easy for you.”
Faith: “I’m evil! I’m bad! I’m evil! Do you hear me? I’m bad! Angel, I’m bad! I’m ba-ad. Do you hear me? I’m bad! I’m bad! I’m bad. Please. Angel, please, just do it.”
Faith, sobbing: “Angel please, just do it. Just do it. Just kill me. Just kill me.”
(Angel wraps his arms around her shoulders and pulls her against him. She over balances them and they sink to their knees, Angel still holding her as she cries.)
Angel: “Shh. It’s all right. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m right here. Shh.”

Thus began the rehabilitation of Faith by Angel, which ends with her accepting her fate: jail. Nevertheless, she always maintained a close relationship with Angel, as he was “the only one in [her] life who’s never given up on [her]”. Now, in a post-Buffy: Season 8 world, where Angel must atone for his sins (of becoming Twilight and killing Giles, that is), it’s Faith’s turn to return the favor.

I will be reviewing the first “season” of Angel & Faith by story arcs, like I did for my Buffy: Season 9 review. Onwards and forwards!

LIVE THROUGH THIS, parts 1 to 4

My three first impressions about this new title were (1) Rebekah Isaacs is an amazing artist, (2) the characters’ voices are genuine and (3) I love the attention paid to the continuity and history of the Buffyverse throughout the issues, like this little bit here:

Storywise, Angel and Faith are now living in Giles’ old flat in London, and they have decided to read his “Watcher’s Files” to pick up where the Watcher left off. This means that they follow up on his old cases, making sure that the people involved are safe. Faith notices a change in Angel; he’s invigorated, as if the Files give him a purpose.

What Faith hasn’t realized is that Angel is still reeling from the aftermath of Twilight and the guilt he feels about killing Giles.

How does Angel plan on making everything better? By resurrecting Giles.

Faith thinks he’s crazy (and so do I; move on, Angel! You saw what happened to Buffy in season 6!), but she sticks with him because, again, she can’t turn her back on the only person who believed in her. So they take off on a search for the blood of a Mohra demon, a substance that can revive necrotic flesh. Angel isn’t quite sure yet how to retrieve Giles’ soul, but with the Mohra blood, he thinks he can put his body back together. They enlist the help of Alasdair Coames, an old friend of Giles’ who is an expert on demon biology. He confirms what the pair thought: a Mohra demon is most probably held captive, while low level demons are bleeding him dry to sell the goods on the black market.

There’s another thread running under the main one, where Faith is acting as a “slayer social worker” to some Slayers who are dealing with their own post-”destruction of the seed of wonder” troubles. I must say this is not my favorite thing about this series; I feel for these ex-slayer soldiers like I did for the Potentials in Buffy’s seventh season. That is to say, nothing. The main slayer with a problem, Nadira, is not fleshed out enough to make me care about her fate. So I don’t.

As the search for Mohra blood gets them closer to their goal, Faith is still second guessing Angel’s action. She’s certain there is no way to bring someone back from a natural death. When they finally find the blood, she grabs a vial and promises herself that instead of giving it to Angel, she will smash it over his head, rendering him human (reminder: Mohra blood is what made Angel human in the gut wrenching episode “I Will Remember You”). Suddenly, they get attacked by Nash and Pearl, who are also after the blood. In fact, they are executing orders from Whistler (http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Whistler). At this point, I have no idea if this guy is considered “good” or “bad”, but I have a feeling he’s nursing some hurt feelings that Angel didn’t go through with the Twilight plan. I’m rooting for him, because I always did. I remember my giddiness when I watched the episode where Whistler and Angel witness Buffy being “chosen” at her old L.A. high school. I want that Whistler back, but I’m afraid he’s long gone. Angel and Faith fight it out with the twins and get away. Then, Angel smells something, so they decide to follow the trail. Faith, still thinking about forcing the blood on Angel, is just about to perform the act when they stumble upon citizens who had ingested the blood to cure their various ills. These people are grotesque, tumors growing all over their bodies. The blood changed, when the world lost magic: it’s now useless, and what’s more, dangerous. Faith has to deal with the guilt of almost maiming Angel, and Angel has to deal with the disappointment he feels. They need to find another way to bring Giles back.

The arc finishes with Faith telling Nadira she knows that Nash and Pearl are in London, and Angel acting bizarrely like Giles…

IN PERFECT HARMONY

Clem and Harmony pay a visit to Angel and Faith in this stand alone issue. It’s basically a feel-good story about Clem wanting Harmony to recognize the hard work he is doing for her as her life manager (ever since she became the world’s most famous vampire). Oh, and he’s in love with her.

The most interesting thing about the issue is that Angel and Faith are confronted with the fact that Harmony knows how to let go of the past, while the two of them cling to it, letting it guide their lives. Harmony peps talk Angel into letting her PR person write up a campaign to clear Angel’s name in the Supernatural community because, in her words, “[...] in our circles? Right now you’re lower than Buffy”. Here is the exchange Faith and Angel have following this:

Faith: [...] maybe we should think about letting go of the past a little.
Angel: What scares you more? The idea that we might be thinking too much about what we’ve done? Or what we’d become if we forgot?

When Harmony hands over the PR dossier to Angel, Faith asks him what he’s going to do about it, as he sacks the dossier in the garbage. Angel is aware that people hate him, and I think it is a huge part of what fuels him. I know Angel gets a lot of flack for his “broody vampire” act, but I’m intrigued by it. His history is so rich, and his heart is in the right place, so no matter how many times he’ll fall, I’ll be there to watch him claw his way back up.

I’ll leave you with Harmony’s wise words:

DADDY ISSUES, parts 1 to 4

This arc is all about, well, daddy issues, though they are in all shapes and form.

Firstly, Giles is back! In flashback form, anyway. I like to think this is a part of the “Ripper” series that never came to be. These flashbacks are what make Angel & Faith. Though Giles is dead, I feel like he isn’t gone, and that soothes my aching heart. We find him as a young Watcher’s Academy student, sent on an assignment to kill a vampire in a cemetery with a bunch of schoolmates. Unfortunately, the vampire turns out to be a Lorophage demon; a demon with needle-like fingers, he feeds on trauma from his victim’s brain. Giles has to witness all of his friends’ death and is finally rescued by adult Watchers.

Furious, he confronts his father. How dare he put them through this? Giles didn’t even want to be a Watcher! But his father is adamant; it’s his destiny. We are then told that Giles walked out on his “destiny” of being a watcher. The scene ends with an intriguing excerpt from his diary:

Giles: And with the righteousness of youth, I walked out on the life of a watcher… Though I was hardly done with dark magic and death. But those events, I will recount in due course…

So excited to read more about that! I think I would faint if we finally got to see the “real” Ripper in action.

Secondly, Faith has to deal with her father coming back to town. And I must say, I didn’t see the unfolding his visit eventually took coming. At first, we think he’s seeking out Faith for all the right reasons; he’s finally sober and he misses his little girl.

We quickly learn that this isn’t the case. He’s running away from the Boston Irish mob, and he ran to Faith because he deduced that she was a slayer, and worse, a slayer who has killed humans. He wants her to kill the mob boss. As if Faith needed another reason to hate the world! Poor girl can’t catch a break, and I really hoped that, for once, a male figure (other than Angel) in her life hadn’t deceived her. Understandably, Faith is shaken to her core about this, and these events will dictate the actions she takes at the end of the arc…

Lastly, Angel is chasing the lorophage demon, as he was alerted that it feeds on a cycle and this time period coincides with the last time he was around: when Giles was a student and the demon killed his friends. He’s also heard about someone called “Mother superior”; now who could that be? It turns out to be a sane Drusilla, Angel’s “daughter”. She’s using the lorophage demon to feed on people’s traumas, but not too much, just enough to erase the pain they are feeling. Angel finds this, predictably, preposterous, since pain is what fuels him. Faith, however… after what her father does to her, she seeks out Drusilla and asks her to take the pain away. Angel is not having any of that. He turns the demon’s claws on itself, sending the pain right back into all of its victims, including Drusilla. It was great to see the different Drusilla; so on top of things, completely aware of her surroundings. I could see the Spike in her, and I do so hope we get to see more of her. Her backstory as a clairvoyant nun has always peaked my curiosity, and I loved that these issues delved a little into this. Angel and she have an encounter, where she tries to force the lorophage on him as she thinks she’s doing Angel a favor. It doesn’t work, but she figures out what Angel is up to. He is wearing the “tooth of ammut”. It looks like a nipple ring, and it is a magnet for fragments of the spirit. Giles’ spirit, that is! The pieces of Giles’ soul, once Angel finds them, will go into the tooth and merge with his flesh. This explains why he sounded so much like him in the last arc! Interesting…

But, eventually, Drusilla gets back to her normal self, and she leaves us with a view of the future:

Drusilla: There’s not enough help for you. Now I’m myself again, I’ve skipped ahead in the book. And oh, the awful pictures. It’s coming, you see… For both of us. The pieces come together in your heart. Too many voices. All the broken children, cutting each other like shards of glass. Oh, oh, oh, the places you’ll go. The ghosts of the past come visit you again. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men. Together in the bath… The drake in the field and the white coach…

I can’t really decipher it, other than I think the “pieces” are the pieces of Giles’ soul, and the “ghosts of the past”, well… I know who they are, and I’m excited to get to that arc in this review. In the end, Faith figures out what Angel is doing with the tooth of ammut, for she saw his new “piercing” glowing when they killed the lorophage demon and the first demon from Giles’ diary. The good part of this is that now that he has a tangible plan, Faith is on board.

WOMEN OF A CERTAIN AGE

In which we meet Giles’ “aunties”.

Two striking young women await Angel and Faith in Giles’ manor, and we learn that they are, in fact, Giles’ great-aunts who have used magic to stay forever young. In flashbacks (yay! more flashbacks!), we also learn that they were the one to awaken magic in Rupert. Before they showed up looking for the shard of Stronnos, Giles was a little boy who played with planes. But the aunts had wanted to bring their ex-lovers back from the grave with the shard, and a light demon showed up. Rupert picked up the shard and transformed the light into matter so that his grandmother could kill it. From that point on, his father was strict about him getting the “proper” training at the Watcher’s Academy.

Back in present day, Lavinia and Sophie, Giles’ aunts, are aware of Angel’s plan, and they want to give him the shard which they think possesses Giles’ innocence. However, I’m thinking they have other plans. Firstly, because magic has now disappeared, they are rapidly growing older. As the vain, shallow women that they are I would imagine that they’re not quite fond of this turn of events. Secondly, Lavinia tells Angel that he simply must go through with the plan, while Sophie tells Faith that she needs to stop him if things get out of control. Whatever their motives, they provided much appreciated comedic relief, gave us another glimpse into Giles’ past and it is clear that they dearly loved him.

The stand alone issue ends with a knock at the door: it’s Willow, holding the broken scythe. I basically jumped out of my chair from sheer excitement the first time I saw that panel!

FAMILY REUNION, parts 1 to 4

What does Willow want? Well the return of magic, of course!

And she’s ready to barter for it; if Angel helps her convince Connor to help her get to Quor’toth to get her plan moving, she’ll give him the scythe, containing a piece of Giles’ soul. At first, Angel is furious that she would even consider putting him in danger like this, but he changes his mind when they bump heads. The tension between these two is palpable, even in comic form. Willow is also really angry at Angel; he killed Giles, and rid the world of magic. But Angel and Willow both want crazy things, so Angel decides to let Connor choose if he’s up for it or not.

I loved this arc; going back to L.A., seeing Connor and Gunn and glimpses of the Hyperion. I loved how focused it was on character dynamics, how real and thoughtful the dialogues were.

I especially loved it because, and I’m bracing myself for tomatoes here: I’ve always loved Connor. I don’t like most of the things he did, but I always loved the idea of Connor. I feel like, finally, his depiction in Angel & Faith gives him his due. He’s a social work major at university, and sensible about how the loss of magic has affected the world. He’s honest, intelligent, and feels really human. I’ve always looked forward to moments between him and Angel; that’s why I was so angry when Angel erased his memories and planted him with a muggle family. But, in these issues? I feel vindicated. With the loss of magic, the memories of his fake family have been erased.

Predictably, Connor’s on board with the plan, so off to Quor’toth they go, as the scythe and Connor are both powerful enough to open a tear to access that world. There, he is revered as a God (the Destroyer) by some natives, and the power gets to Willow’s head, as she turns into Dark!Willow for a spell (teehee!). After much fighting, they finally get want they want. Willow used Quor’toth to recharge, and now she’s off to other worlds on a quest to find magic and restore the earth. Her adventures continue in a mini-series, in stores now. For his part, Angel gets the scythe, and another week in L.A. with Connor.

Meanwhile, Sophie and Lavinia are still staying at Giles/Faith’s flat, and decided to skip on the housesitting to attend a Morrissey concert. They realise they have gotten robbed when they get back, as Whistler, Pearl and Nash are loading bags full of Giles’ magical family heirlooms. Whistler seems to still be on his path to Twilight-ville, righting what he thinks Angel wronged. I genuinely feel he thinks he’s doing the “right thing”, trying to create another world where balance can be restored. I just think he’s a little off his rocker.

And I’ll think I’ll stop the review here! There’s a stand alone issue on the shelves right now, “The Hero of his Own Story”, that I haven’t read yet, and the next arc, “Death and Consequences”, starts on November 28th. I’m beyond thrilled with how they’ve handled the series so far, and how they’re really focused on the “family” aspect of Angel I loved so much. Now that there’s only one piece of Giles’ soul missing, I’m excited to see what comes next. I highly recommend it. And I mean, if these don’t make you want to read this series? I don’t know what will.

Whedonverse comics roundup: Buffy: Season 9

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Anika

by Gabby

When we left Buffy at the end of season 8, she was returning to her roots, staking a lowly vampire in an alley.

Joss Whedon himself confirmed the feeling I had gotten while reading the last issue of the season, “Last Gleaming, Part Five”. He wrote, in his epilogue: “If you’ve read this issue, you’ve got a sense of where we’re heading for Season 9. Back, a bit, to the everyday trials that made Buffy more than a superhero. That made her us.” (the whole thing is really worth a read; you can do so here).

I have to be honest, I had no qualms with Buffy: season 8. Yes, it was kooky and crazy. Yes, Dawn became a giant, Buffy went to the future, the scooby gang travelled the world and Angel was the Big Bad (not to mention an… *ahem*, active partner in the insane invincible-sex). However, I personally jumped in to the comics right after I finished the series finale, “Chosen”. I was just happy that the universe I’d fallen in love with wasn’t obliterated. It lives on, albeit in comic form.

I must add, though, that I was elated that Mr. Whedon himself felt a return to Buffy’s human complexities was in order. So I am happy to say that season 9 for me has been a big hit (if only for the wonderful opening cover by Steve Morris which I find breathtaking).

cover of Buffy Season 9

I will review in broad strokes the arcs of season 9, and explore a little bit more one issue in particular. I will conclude with my hopes for the culmination of this season.

FREEFALL, parts 1 to 4

In the first arc, we get a glimpse of Buffy circa season 1; the fun loving young woman who just wants to be normal.

I loved the opening party scene (which will be a factor in a significant plot twist later on) where we are privy to the camaraderie between the scoobies. Willow spends this arc warning Buffy that destroying the seed of wonder will have consequences (which is most evident in the form of Zompires – feral vampires sired after the obliteration of the seed). Xander and Dawn are trying desperately to live a normal life, and I appreciated the authenticity of their relationship (for instance, Xander having to sleep on the couch because he forgot Dawn’s birthday).

Spike, in the meantime, is also warning Buffy; there are rumors that a Big Bad is after her. At first, it is implied that Eldre Koh, a demon who was wrongly imprisoned by magic, was after Buffy. It turns out that he just wanted to thank her, following his release after the destruction of the seed.

The real threat to Buffy, however, is a siphon demon named Severin. I really enjoyed his backstory: how his girlfriend wanted to turn herself into a vampire and he agreed to follow suit. However, things backfired when she turned full-on zompire and tried to kill him. This unleashed his siphon abilities and he killed her, sapping the vampire energy out of her and into himself. He then goes on a rampage, killing vampires to exact revenge. This felt real, and heartbreaking, and is a great nod to the “vampire reality TV” phenomenon that Harmony unleashed last season. In the end, Severin is exposed as a pawn. Simone, a gun-loving power hungry ex-member of the Slayer Organization, hired him to kill Buffy. It is unclear at this time what her motives are, but since the current world order prefers vampires to slayers, it is easy to imagine that Simone isn’t liking that one bit. The arc ends with my favorite TV friendship ever, Willow and Buffy, sharing a great moment.

SLAYER, INTERRUPTED

This issue, George Jeanty took a break from pencilling and Karl Moline replaced him. I love his style; slightly cartoonish, but really precise. Here, Buffy’s having weird “slayer” dreams and feeling sick. When I first read the issue, I loved it for the moments between Willow and Buffy. They have a sleepover so that Willow can monitor Buffy’s dreams. What the First Slayer is trying to tell Buffy is that she needs to undo what she did (destroy the seed), and the slayer scythe is a clue to the undoing. But the scythe isn’t for Buffy, it’s for Willow, and the latter enters Buffy’s dream to grab it and leave. When Buffy wakes up, Willow’s gone and has left a note.

However, upon a re-read, I paid more attention to the fairy Buffy refers to as “Tink”. She keeps telling Buffy she “isn’t the slayer” and that she’s “not a girl anymore”. I guess I just glossed it over the first time, but these clues are very important for the coming arc.

Finally, there is also shock value in this issue: the last panel is a positive pregnancy test.

ON YOUR OWN, parts 1 and 2

This arc got a lot of ink in the news.

What’s so great about a return to Buffy’s roots is that we get to see human relationships in very real situations. Buffy believes she got pregnant when she blacked out from alcohol at her party (from “Freefall”, part 1). What does Buffy do when she finds out she’s pregnant? She weighs her options, as the situation warrants. She arranges a date with Robin, the son of a slayer, to see what he has to say about the whole thing, and he gives her a ringing endorsement for future mother of the year.

But then she invites Spike over, and tells him she’s getting an abortion. The following dialogue is very poignant, so much so that I’m reproducing it here:

Buffy: I’m going to have an abortion.
Spike: You’re pregnant?
Buffy: Robin told me how Nikki tried to run away from slaying after he was born. And I thought I could do what she couldn’t. I thought I had everything that Nikki didn’t. Dawn, Xander, Willow… You… I was ready to ask you to run away with me. But then I realized… I’m barely able to hold onto a job. I live with roommates who are about to kick me out. And I can’t even hold my alcohol well enough to remember who got me pregnant. I can handle the slayer stuff. I can do what Nikki couldn’t. But everything else? I’m not ready. At least not now. It’s not the slaying. It’s me. Will you come with me when I do this?
Spike: Yeah.

We’ll come back to this.

In part 2, Buffy lets it slip that if she were to run away with the baby, she wouldn’t have brought Spike, because that would be the antithesis of having a “normal” life. This is the catalyst Spike needs to detach himself from Buffy. He’s still in love with her, and can’t “be the dark place [she] runs to when things aren’t working”. So after the whole ordeal is over, he’s leaving San Francisco (and starring in his own miniseries).

But THEN! A zompire rips out Buffy’s arm and we learn that she’s a robot (read: “not a girl anymore”).

Ok. So I think this could make a lot of people angry. So far, the abortion story had been handled quite brilliantly. The circumstances surrounding the pregnancy were murky at best; Buffy was, for all she knew, raped that night (like the pin stuck on my lunch box says, “drunk means no”!). She weighed the pros and cons, and decided that she, as a person, was not ready to have a child, and took the decision to end the pregnancy. It could be qualified as a cop out to have her be a robot and bypass the troubles of going through the abortion. It could be a way to appease the pro-lifers. It could, but it’s not. I don’t want to tarnish this incredibly forward way of tackling social issues in comic book form. To pick up a comic and be confronted with the reality a significant amount of young women have to face every day? That’s incredible. I can understand the disappointment that we don’t get to see the process Buffy would have had to go through, but this is an action comic after all. The plot needs to move forward. And Buffy did make a choice. And I think that is the important thing to take away from this arc.

APART OF ME, part 1 to 3

This arc felt a little disjointed, and I had a hard time following most of it. What I did understand was that Andrew was the mastermind behind making Buffy a robot. He roofied her at the party and pulled a Dollhouse: he swapped her consciousness inside a robot and stuffed her real body with a yuppie persona living in suburbia.

I felt like this was a really elaborate way of making Buffy come to terms with the whole “having a normal life” thing. She was envious of the yuppie Buffy, living a quaint life sipping Californian merlot. But after having a conversation with that version of herself, she realized she needs to earn this life. Andrew was just trying to fast track her there.

It was the point of departure for Spike, who reaffirmed that he can’t be her puppy dog anymore. He will explore his new found independence in a 5 part miniseries, which I will review at a later date. Oh, and Simone had something to do with this arc, too: she kidnapped Yuppie-Buffy and tried to make her join her rebel-slayer side. Then she ran away when things got punchy? I don’t know what to make of that girl.

GUARDED, parts 1 to 3

This arc introduces Kennedy as the boss of Deepscan, an organization made of ex-slayers (who still have their power) who act as bodyguards for the rich and famous. Kennedy hires Buffy, and she accepts, willing to try something other than slaying for a change. She can’t shake who she is, though. While trying to protect a client, she attacks the bellhop demon instead of the maid, acting on her slayer instincts instead of Kennedy’s orders (in a bid that reminds me of [HUNGER GAMES SPOILER] Katniss’ military test in Mockingjay).

I loved how this arc seemed to take a page out of Angel’s book; not all demons are evil, and Buffy has to deal with Wolfram&Hart (the evil interdimensional law firm) and its senior partners. They are in a hell dimension and can contact all the realms with the help of Tincan, a social networking site. The only way to sever the connection is to destroy the servers, and Buffy has to talk Theo, the C.E.O., into destroying his life’s work. Through his ordeal, Buffy confronts the fact that she had to destroy the seed. She finally accepts that she had to do it, but she also learns a lesson along the way. She can’t forget to protect the little guy, as Kennedy so brutally reminds her (speaking about Giles being a casualty of the seed’s destruction). In the end, Kennedy offers her a very high paying job at Deepscan, something that would help Buffy achieve the normal life she’s been striving for. But she refuses:

Buffy: I can’t do it.
Kennedy: Is it because of what I said about Giles? ‘Cause I was out of line. You made a tough call, and we need someone who can make decisions like that.
Buffy: But you were right. I keep trying to save the world, when sometimes I should just save a single person. It was different when I was younger. Something changed. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing. And if I took this job, I’d be doing it for just one person: me.
Kennedy: After all you’ve been through, don’t you think you deserve that? To finally have the kind of life you want.
Buffy: Maybe. But that’s just not who I am. I’m the slayer.

As for the future of Buffy: Season 9, I’ve read the first part of “Billy the Vampire Slayer” and I’m very excited to see how the dynamic between a gay boy self-made slayer and Buffy will go down. I think it’s a very positive and empowering way to move forward, and will give Buffy the motivation she needs to keep on fighting the good fight. I’m also looking forward to the Willow miniseries, especially after having seen her in Angel&Faith (which I will also review at a later date). I love the wonderful moments we’ve gotten between the characters so far, and I’m hoping they will continue.

Here’s the thing I hope to (1) get more information about and (2) see resolved.

Something’s up with Xander. There was a really great moment, in the “Apart of me” arc, between himself and detective Dowling. Xander reminisced about killing Jesse (“The Harvest”, season 1), and while on a zompire hunt, he felt the opposite of nostalgia, remembering the feeling of being frightened for your life. But the panel above is too violent to just be about bad memories. It happened after he asked Dawn to bring him his eyepatch and she took 5 seconds too long. I think there’s something more there, and I will keep my eye on him.

This brings us up to date! I would like to hear from you, now; how are you feeling about Buffy: Season 9? Did I miss anything? Any great Scoobies moment I should’ve mentioned?

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Whedonverse comics roundup: Angel & Faith

Whedonverse comics roundup: Buffy: Season 9