After the Fall
Issue #3
Warning: All reviews may contain spoilers.
Well, I'm eating my words more and more each week. It seems that Lynch really does know what he's doing and it's just taken a couple of issues to really get that point across. And here, in issue 3, I think that message has finally come through, loud and clear. I finished this issue with sincere regret that it could not continue, something that has not happened with the previous two. But now I find myself lamenting the fact that it will be a month before I get my next Angel fix. I'm almost ready to accept it as Canon. Almost.
This issue picks up with the Angel/Illyria battle we were promised last issue. And, as bad ass as the battle really is, it's only a front for the real momentum of the issue. Spike and Illyria, as it turns out, have been actively helping Connor rescue humans trapped in the hellish dimension. In fact, they've rescued so many people, they're actually running out of room for them all. With Illyria as the reigning leader of Beverly Hills, Spike has been free to do as he pleased ever night, making him quite the hero in the publics eye. Now, when has that ever gone down well with Angel? In a moment of stupid heroism, Angel challenges not one, not two, but every demon lord in Los Angeles to single combat. Winner take all. If he succeeds, that would leave Angel in charge of the whole city, and free to do whatever he wanted with it and it's masses of enslaved humans, telling himself all the while that he is not doing this to one up Spike. But there's one slight problem with the plan. His wounds from his fight with Illyria have not healed. Vampiric healing is pretty speedy but, on the last page, we're informed that he is no longer a vampire. What does that mean exactly? Is he human? Is he something else? We won't know until next month, unfortunately. So Lynch is definitely taking some risks, which I respect him for. And, what's more, he's managed to capture the characters brilliantly, as usual. And, as the cherry on top, he's actually made me like Connor. I have hated Connor through his entire existence and now I'm really starting to respect him and enjoy his scenes. His bumbling relationship with Angel is fun to read, and his role as leader of the refugees is very believable. I do feel some regret that we haven't heard anything from Gunn in the past two issues, but I also respect Lynch for that. He's not giving us everything all at once, and that's the sign of a great writer. And if Angel stays on the path it's on, I'm just going to have to become a solid Lynch fangirl. |