- Title: Angel & Faith #1
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Christos Gage
- Artist: Rebekah Isaacs
There are parts of Buffy Season Eight I enjoyed (the start, Faith’s arc, the final issue, and most importantly “Wolves at the Gate“), but as the season continued there’s more than a little I’d just as soon forget (super-Angel and super-Buffy, the reveal of Twilight’s identity, and the complicated and convoluted story arc which ended the series). From this first issue it looks like we’re sadly going to be mired in the post-Twilight angst for a little while longer. Sigh.
Season Nine begins, not with Buffy, but with Angel and Faith and the repercussions of the Twilight story arc and Angel’s return to form as a cursed vampire with a soul seeking redemption. After the death of Giles, Faith and Angel have teamed-up to fill his role, including saving a possessed young girl in this issue. Giles left the Watcher’s Chronicles and a hole to be filled, and Angel has a plan on what to do next.
This first issue isn’t awful, but it’s pretty disappointing. Season Nine, the first full comic season with all the characters under one publisher’s banner, begins not with a bang but a whimper. Hit-and-Miss.
[Dark Horse, $2.99]