What happened: Picking up right where we left off, we get official confirmation that Electro Gwen has betrayed the gang because of Gunn's promise to return everything to the way it was. Spike snarks, Connor broods, business as usual right up until we find out Angel's dragon's name: Cordelia.Speaking of Cordelia: Hey, look! It's Cordelia. Oh, and Angel's there too. Except, according to Cordelia, Angel is dead and she's here to help him pass to the other side. Cordy snarks, Angel broods because someone always has to be doing one or the other in this universe. Oh, and vampire Gunn is in the background trying to figure out why Angel is dead now as opposed to later.
Meanwhile, Frillyria franticly looks for answers in books even though she's not really book girl anymore. Wes and Nina are there too. Wes does the disappearing dance of "Oooo, I'm a ghost!" apparently not of his own volition (though, I think secretly, like me, he just wanted to escape the boring, dimensionless Nina). Frillyria flips a shit, time goes wonky, Nina says something unimportant, and Illyria hates walls almost as much as Angel hates doors. Illyria looks to the sky and, hey, dragon. Also something about Doyle coming soon. More on that travesty later.
Back to vamp Gunn, dead Angel, and questionably Cordy. Scotty beams up Wes to the scene. Wes gets an impromptu vision quest. Guess what? Gunn's visions were kind of a lie. What a surprise. Wes expositions that Wolfram & Hart were behind it all like they always are. Gunn insists that the Shanshu prophecy is all about him because, apparently, vamp Gunn is very, very stupid. Wes insists that it's all about Angel. I agree since the show and subsequent comic's title kind of support that theory.
Angel tells Cordy it's not his time to die because there's still work to do. Wes shares the vision with Angel. The vision is of a vamped out Angel(us?) standing amongst countless corpses, both human and demon. Angel to Cordy: "I'm ready to go".
What did I think: I loved or hated this issue depending on which page I read. I'm a firm believer in letting characters stay dead once their story has been told. I really think Cordy has had her day in the sun and that, each time the writers bring her back, it weakens everything that came before. That said, she actually was really great here and I think the artist did an exceptional job of bringing her facial expressions to life.
Doyle. There is no reason you could ever justify bringing him back. His story is so perfect, his death so poignant, that reintroducing him into the plot for any reason will do nothing but tarnish arguably the best character arc this show has seen.
Thankfully the issue was saved by the official announcement that the Shanshu Prophecy is absolutely about Angel. I can't tell you how much it has bothered me that anyone could even consider that it could be about anyone else. It's so important that we reconnect everything to Angel. He is, after all, the titular character and he is fantastic in this issue.
Best Dialogue:
I couldn't agree more when it comes to the Shanshu prophecy. One of the most infuriating things about season five was that they introduced Spike with the premise that the Shanshu prophecy may have been about him, which - no offense to Spike (at this point, anyway) - kind of seems like a big kick in the balls to both Angel and everything that he'd done on the show up until that point. Way to respect four years of the show, guys.
ReplyDeleteIt was made even worse for me at the time because back then I hadn't seen a whole lot of Buffy seasons six and seven, so Spike turning up and trying to steal the spotlight really came out of left field for me.
On Doyle: I've never been a huge fan of the character (he didn't really seem to do anything worthwhile or notable other than die (albeit for a good cause), as far as I can see), and I get a little uneasy around seeming Doyle-worship, but yes, bringing him back would be completely ludicrous and arguably really, really spoil the character.
I've pretty much been avoiding the Angel:ATF comics thus far, as every time I take a wee look I just get frustrated by what I see. Seems like I'll be avoiding them for a little while longer.
Yeah, I totally agree. I'm just so happy the Shanshu question is now answered either way. The whole thing been nagging at me for too long.
ReplyDeleteThe Cordy thing was kind of cheap. And do we really believe that Angel would be thinking about her during his months of pain? He didn't even give her a fricken funeral.
here are some character thoughts:
Fred - still lame
Illyria - still cool
Gunn - dumb
Nina - annoying
Connor - sad
Cordy - cheap
Angel - exhausted