Angel #17 and specs on Angel and Spike's prospects
Angel *did* manage to destroy W&H, or, at least, its LA branch. Wesley is gone (*sniffle*), Gunn is in coma, Illyria reconciles with her inability to be a geniune Fred, Lorne is just there on the couple of panels, because he's a regular, Spike and Angel got married , snark like old-married, but ultimately agree they brought up Connor well. Awww...
Angel confronts Burge, whose son he killed in the first issue. After the reload Burge's son is alive - as well as Angel's son. Angel's confrontation with Burge ends with a line: "Leave while you can". He lets him live. He has to confront "his inner Burge" so-to-speak, as he visit unconscious Gunn in the hospital. He wants to help him. But would he if Connor was really dead?
The last panel shows Angel walking away to his next adventures in a separate series by Kelly Armstrong. Spike heads to Las-Vegas to his own series by Brian Lynch. We've been promised frequent crossovers.
It was a great ride - dark, controversial and twisted. Sometimes storylines were a bit too complicated. Time-loop device, time-travel plan, universe reload - all these twists within the same story are an overkill. But plot had never been the crucial element in Jossverse4; it was character's journeys that mattered. And Angel's journey to hell and back was gripping and inventive - he shanshued, found his son, lost him and found again. The experience has profoundly changed him - he became more understanding and less ruthless, more human and less desperate.
For the first time his arc ends with him having family and friends. Connor is there, and Nina, and Spike, and Gwen, and Lorne. Angel is accepted, he gets recognition. Unique, unusual situation. So, what's in store for him? At first sight his story came full circle, back to the first episode, "City Of" in which he arrived to LA to help the helpless. Looks like in "Aftermath" he'll start from square A, with new supporting characters and new storyarcs.
I wonder if the idea of Angel-as-a-celebrity will be fleshed out in "Aftermath". The premise is incredibly interesting. But it seems to me that Lynch saves the concept to himself and he plans to explore it in his upcoming Spike series. I have the impression that in Spike: Shadow Puppets Lynch was zeroing in on the idea to make Spike his alter ego as well as the ultimate camp hero and use him to mock showbiz as much as possible. Spike is a perfect candidate for such a role. Lynch has always been reveling in showbiz references and Spike will be a perfect mouthpiece for his snarky humor.
If Lynch handles it carefully, Spike's transition to the world of showbiz may go pretty smoothly. I'm rereading Cynthea Masson and Marni Stanley's essay Queer Eye of that Vampire Guy: Spike and the Aesthetics of Camp. Some ideas are arguable, but, overall - yes, I agree, that Spike is the character who subverts genre convention. The more outrageous the situation, the more effectively he works as a fool in a royal court. Spike-the-showbiz-slayer is a funny and promising path.
But. There are two "buts". The comic Spike consistently becomes less James Marsters' Spike and more Bryan Lynch's Spike. The character loses his sensitive side, he becomes "a man's man". Yes, I realize it's inevitable. Every writer has his own Spike. But on the TV show writers' interpretations were anchored by James' acting. BTW, during a recent Q&As with Lynch I asked him if he met actors who played the characters from the comics and if he tried to incorporate their personal traits into the characters. He didn't reply.
Writers get brilliant results if they're inspired by actors personalities - even when they write comics. Fresh example: in 2004 Jane Espenson met Mercedes MacNab during Queen Mary Con, where Mercedes showed off her Chihuahua; in 2008 Espenson used her experience when she wrote Harmony on BtVS s8. Spike's character mostly depends on the Lynch's take on him. And the way he writes Spike I slowly lose connection to the character. I know that many fans, especially male, prefer that new macho Spike to the one we saw onscreen. But I'm not sure I can relate to that Spike.
Other "but" is connected with crossover prospects. Since on BtVS vampires suddenly became popular and Buffy has serious PR problems, Spike-the-showbiz-slayer is more likely candidate for crossing over to BtVS s8. And I feel very uncomfortable about the possibility of a crossover. I guess people already know about Joss' recent Q&As:
Question: Will we see an actual Buffy/Angel reunion and/or a reaffirmation of their romantic feelings?
Joss Whedon: They're gonna have sex for 3 issues straight. Nothing but porn. Because that's what America needs.
Question: Will Buffy ever know that Spike is alive?
Joss Whedon: Spike will appear in two of the three issues. I can't really describe how.
While Buffy/Angel shippers are already celebrating and looking forward to jealous Spike discovering Buffy and Angel during their epic love-making session I'm pretty sure that Joss was kidding (although after monstrous success of Twilight he couldn't but consider a happy reunion with a high school sweetheart as the only way to mainstream recognition). But, in any case, a crossover seems inevitable - and, knowing Joss, I suspect Spike will play the same role Angel played in EoD/Chosen. He'll give Buffy a shiny bauble (or something else) to help in her fight against evil and the duo will perform a requisite "once we had a chance but we moved on" routine. Color me fastidious - I just don't want to see a generic closure to the most amazing and unusual love story I know.
So... where it leaves Angel? I don't know but I'm curious to find out. I'm not acquainted with Kelly Armstrong's work; I read her interview where she says that "with the events of After the Fall he’s [Angel] finally paid his dues" - a statement that, frankly, baffled me. But I don't want to criticize the comic I haven't read yet, so I'm looking forward to the first issue of Aftermath.