Angel: After the Fall No 15, plus a bit about Buffy season 8 no 20.
Can't be bothered to do a full review of the Buffy comic this month, so thought I'd combine the two.
More behind cut with spoilers for both comics.
It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I wasn't going to like this issue of BtVS season 8. For one thing, I can't stand that kind of kids' cartoony art. For another, I don't think much of Jeph Loeb as a comics writer and never have done. Okay, so this issue is dedicated to a good cause and I hope lots of copies are sold and it makes lots of money, but that doesn't change that fact that it was dull, didn't tell us anything we didn't already know (ie. that Buffy's upset about killing Future Willow - she even does the "Oh Will, I'm so pleased to see you!" hug that she already did in no 19 again), and manages to put off yet again any real forward momentum in the story. I'm bored with it, and definitely of the opinion that the people not bothering with the individual issues but instead buying the TPBs have got a better idea. Maybe then it wouldn't seem so horribly long drawn out.
The cover was great, though, which Comic Shop Boy agreed with. He showed me some other examples of Joan Chen's art - mostly manga-type stuff- and I was very impressed.
Angel: After the Fall no 15 is more interesting. For one thing, it sees the return of Franco Urru to the main book, which serves as a reminder not only of how much he's been missed but of how badly the art has served this story in the issues since he left. At long last, the panels have movement in them again and the characters are drawn without slavish reference to (often ill-chosen) screen caps. The colouring is better too - less muddy.
As for the subject matter, I have rather mixed feelings. I like the way Wesley and Spike use their memories of Fred to talk Illyria down - and unlike some of the posters on Whedonesque, I think Spike is the right person to choose to stand with Wesley. I'm assuming that most of the people who said that haven't read (and have no intention of reading) Spike: After the Fall, because if they had they would realise that Spike is the one with the most immediate memories of Illyria-as-Fred and the one she's had the most contact with for we don't actually know how long. Of course it should be him.
I don't really understand Angel's reasons for not killing Gunn. Not that I want Gunn to die, but I don't see any other option for him now, except to be killed by Angel or Spike. Angel says he doesn't do it because it would prove he can be the monster Wolfram & Hart want him to be, but I'm really not sure that follows. However, Gunn lives on -for now - even though he's just killed Connor.
Which, yes, brings me on to the most controversial incident in this book, the death of Connor. It's not that it's not well written. It is. It's not that it's not moving. It is. However, I wish it hadn't happened for two reasons: the first of these is that - come on, this is Angel's son we're talking about. His only child. The love of his life. He was prepared to damn his friends to hell for Connor's sake, and now Connor is dead. I can't think of anything worse that could happen to a parent. This should be something that Angel will never, ever, in his whole life get over. It should drastically affect his character. I don't mean I think he should go mad with grief or turn evil or anything like that. After Connor's last words to him, the opposite would probably be true. But if he's being true to the character of Angel as I perceive it, he should never, ever recover from it. That being so, I doubt the wisdom of going there. It's just too much, IMO.
The second reason is that the cast of AtS - by which I mean the characters we know and love from the show - seems to be being slowly whittled down. Wesley is a ghost, Fred is dead, Cordelia is dead, Gunn's a vampire and will probably be dead before the story's finished, Gwen's dead, Groo seems to be dead. And now Connor. At this rate, there'll be no one left except Angel himself (which would be my cue to walk away, because without those other characters and Spike, my interest will drop off sharply), and comics only characters like Spider are no more replacements for those beloved show characters than Satsu or Renee or any of the boring, interchangeable baby Slayers in season 8 could ever replace Ethan Rayne.
That all being said, I do like the comic. I very much like Spike's contribution to it (the first time since his scene with Wesley way back), and the art is great.
8 out of 10.
More behind cut with spoilers for both comics.
It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I wasn't going to like this issue of BtVS season 8. For one thing, I can't stand that kind of kids' cartoony art. For another, I don't think much of Jeph Loeb as a comics writer and never have done. Okay, so this issue is dedicated to a good cause and I hope lots of copies are sold and it makes lots of money, but that doesn't change that fact that it was dull, didn't tell us anything we didn't already know (ie. that Buffy's upset about killing Future Willow - she even does the "Oh Will, I'm so pleased to see you!" hug that she already did in no 19 again), and manages to put off yet again any real forward momentum in the story. I'm bored with it, and definitely of the opinion that the people not bothering with the individual issues but instead buying the TPBs have got a better idea. Maybe then it wouldn't seem so horribly long drawn out.
The cover was great, though, which Comic Shop Boy agreed with. He showed me some other examples of Joan Chen's art - mostly manga-type stuff- and I was very impressed.
Angel: After the Fall no 15 is more interesting. For one thing, it sees the return of Franco Urru to the main book, which serves as a reminder not only of how much he's been missed but of how badly the art has served this story in the issues since he left. At long last, the panels have movement in them again and the characters are drawn without slavish reference to (often ill-chosen) screen caps. The colouring is better too - less muddy.
As for the subject matter, I have rather mixed feelings. I like the way Wesley and Spike use their memories of Fred to talk Illyria down - and unlike some of the posters on Whedonesque, I think Spike is the right person to choose to stand with Wesley. I'm assuming that most of the people who said that haven't read (and have no intention of reading) Spike: After the Fall, because if they had they would realise that Spike is the one with the most immediate memories of Illyria-as-Fred and the one she's had the most contact with for we don't actually know how long. Of course it should be him.
I don't really understand Angel's reasons for not killing Gunn. Not that I want Gunn to die, but I don't see any other option for him now, except to be killed by Angel or Spike. Angel says he doesn't do it because it would prove he can be the monster Wolfram & Hart want him to be, but I'm really not sure that follows. However, Gunn lives on -for now - even though he's just killed Connor.
Which, yes, brings me on to the most controversial incident in this book, the death of Connor. It's not that it's not well written. It is. It's not that it's not moving. It is. However, I wish it hadn't happened for two reasons: the first of these is that - come on, this is Angel's son we're talking about. His only child. The love of his life. He was prepared to damn his friends to hell for Connor's sake, and now Connor is dead. I can't think of anything worse that could happen to a parent. This should be something that Angel will never, ever, in his whole life get over. It should drastically affect his character. I don't mean I think he should go mad with grief or turn evil or anything like that. After Connor's last words to him, the opposite would probably be true. But if he's being true to the character of Angel as I perceive it, he should never, ever recover from it. That being so, I doubt the wisdom of going there. It's just too much, IMO.
The second reason is that the cast of AtS - by which I mean the characters we know and love from the show - seems to be being slowly whittled down. Wesley is a ghost, Fred is dead, Cordelia is dead, Gunn's a vampire and will probably be dead before the story's finished, Gwen's dead, Groo seems to be dead. And now Connor. At this rate, there'll be no one left except Angel himself (which would be my cue to walk away, because without those other characters and Spike, my interest will drop off sharply), and comics only characters like Spider are no more replacements for those beloved show characters than Satsu or Renee or any of the boring, interchangeable baby Slayers in season 8 could ever replace Ethan Rayne.
That all being said, I do like the comic. I very much like Spike's contribution to it (the first time since his scene with Wesley way back), and the art is great.
8 out of 10.